Birding the marsh

Song Sparrow

Equipped with a borrowed mountain bike, today I rode up the local bike trail all the way to its northern-most point, where it ends at a preserve area on the bay. The habitat is mostly marshy grasslands, but this made an ideal environment for practicing my very rusty sparrow IDing skills.

Barn Swallow

There were also mass quantities of Barn Swallows in the area, nesting underneath the few footbridges that crisscrossed the water. They would all explode out from the grass when anyone approached, and swoop around you chattering irritably until you left.

Savannah (Belding?) Sparrows

For all the sparrows that were hiding in the grass, it appeared that they were mostly Song Sparrows (with the exception of the questionable pair above), although I could be mistaken. Like I said, my sparrow identification skills are severely lacking in some areas.

Red-tailed Hawks

There were also these two raptors waaaaaaay far away on a power line.

Aside from the numerous swallows and sparrows, I also got a glimpse of a Common Yellowthroat! Beautiful bright yellow male, but barely got a glimpse and picture before he disappeared in the grass.

Heeey, another sparrow!

Above is a pretty good representation of what most of the area looked like -- lots of dense grasses, some dry brush, and a muddy stream. The birds loved it, as did the ground squirrels in some of the drier areas.

It was a fantastic park, and I will certainly be returning very soon to explore some other spots I didn't get to this morning.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Year list reaches 50 species

On the chipping sparrow: "This common little sparrow is esteemed more for his social disposition than for his talent as a musician." -- F. Schuyler Mathews

"WHAT?! I'm eating here!!"

Today, with the return of the chipping sparrows and goldfinches, my year list reached 50 species -- An interesting phenomen in at least two ways. First, I can honestly say this is the fastest I have ever reached 50 species for my year lists. And second, it is a little disheartening because thinking realistically, this means I have seen about half the species I will probably see for the entire year.

As I do not expect to have the means to travel or go after any special birds this year, I expect I won't get much past 100. Nonetheless, I am still more than inclined to continue trying for as many species I can get. :-)

Photo quiz! ;-) How many sparrows do you see in the above picture?

Along with the sparrows and goldfinches, I also saw a great egret today across the street when I headed out on a bike ride, and two female hooded mergansers down the road.

"Who YOU lookin' at?!"

Chipping sparrows. So photogenic. Well, until next time...

Happy birding!

after-Christmas Bird Count

"Birding, after all, is just a game. Going beyond that is what is important."- Roger Tory Peterson

I just spent the last 8 hours or so on my second Christmas Bird Count. This one was at a different park than the last one, but the procedure was more or less the same for the first few hours.

As the 5 of us in our group hiked out into an open field, the sun rose in a great burst of peach and orange rays off to our left. As it rose, the sky filled with a bubbly, chortling chorus of birdsong. Looking up, we observed a seemingly endless river of Tree Swallows flying south-west above us.

We counted them for what seemed like an eternity, and by the time they finally disappeared from sight, we had counted 409 of them. Not only did these count as year birds for my list, they were also lifers as well!

Further down the trail through the field, we stopped to try and identify some sparrows. This area was apparently known for its wide variety sparrow species, but the little birds proved impossible to ID, even by the experienced birder in our group.

After about an hour (perhaps a little less), we came to an area where there had been reports of an American Kestrel. Just as one of the birders was telling us this, I saw one land on top of a tree, and quickly pointed it out.

Kind of funny, I seem to be the one that has found the American Kestrel on both the CBCs I've attended so far. (Well, at least I'm good for something!)

Not far past the Kestrel, we found feathers from some kind of medium-sized black and white bird. Unfortunately, we weren't able to ID it, so we took some photos to look at them closer later on. I have a couple ideas of what it could be, but nothing I'm willing to bet on yet.

Hiking down another trail, we picked up some Eastern Towhees, a Swamp Sparrow (finally!!)Carolina and House Wrens, tons of Palm and Pine Warblers, Sandhill Cranes, and a few Tufted Titmice among other species.

At one point, we went along a bike path in search of a Brown-headed Nuthatch. I was especially eager to find this bird, as it would be another lifer for me. Just as we were nearing the very edge of our assigned CBC area, one of the birders spotted it. I got a brief, but sufficient look at the Nuthatch before it flew off.

Traveling around to different areas, we also picked up a Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Red-shouldered Hawks, a couple Ovenbirds, over 200 Robins, three different species of Woodpecker, and even heard a couple Barred Owls.

After lunch, we drove back to the education center where all the CBC groups were gathering to turn in their midday reports. Most seemed to be leaving by the time we got there, but there was still a significant number of birders milling about. The above picture is of a giant checklist taped to the wall of all the birds that had been seen that morning (I was really bummed out to find I my photo cut off the last panel of the checklist! :-().

The man in charge of this CBC was intent upon checking off every single bird, and was sending out groups to find certain target species. It was then that I realized how competitive this Audubon chapter was, and how they had managed to have allegedly gotten so many local records in the past.

After turning in our reports, we were getting ready to head out again, when a reporter for the local newspaper walked up to me and asked if I was "the college student."

Oh god, I thought, my heart sinking. I hate reporters. I did a lot of journalism in high school so I do have sympathy for them, but I hate being the interviewee.

After having to carefully spell out my name for him, he asked me various questions about how long I had been birding, how I got into it, my favorite birds had I seen today. At this last question, I was not feeling too happy about being interviewed, and I drew a complete blank.

"Nuthatches," I said off the top of my head, feeling myself blush. "Uh, Brown-headed... Nuthatches. And an American Kestrel. I like those."

Real smooth, I thought to myself. Just blurt something out.

The reporter and his photographer decided to follow our group for a little while, so we headed out around the education center. We didn't see much, and after about 15 minutes we came back out to the parking lot, at which point the journalists left claiming they had everything they needed. I guess we'll see -- I might be in the newspaper in a couple weeks! It'll be interesting to see what the article is like when it comes out.

After that little adventure, we birded for another couple hours. We found more Palm and Pine Warblers, like those in the picture above, and I and another birder even heard a Bald Eagle in the distance. One of our last birds we saw as we were heading out was another lifer for me -- a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Our final list count was 45 species, which I would say is a pretty good start for the year!

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Wind, Weather, and Whatnot

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” - Rachel Carson

Yesterday was hot and windy, and then there was a huge storm, which brought a cold front with it this morning. It's 62 degrees outside with nearly 50mph gusts. Although this is hardly notable, I have come to notice an interesting occurrence whenever cold fronts come through.

Before a cold front, all the birds disappear. The feeders are deserted, the skies mostly empty. And then, the morning after, when the weather clears and the air is chilly, there are TONS of birds, often birds I don't usually see in the area.

I have concluded two things from this. 1) I have way too much time on my hands, and 2) birds are endlessly fascinating. :-)

This morning, I went to check out a wild rabbit sitting in the yard, and got a picture of a Red Shouldered Hawk circling above.

Then, a little while later, I noticed this finch sitting at my window-front feeder! At first I wasn't sure exactly what kind of finch it was, but as I was snapping pictures, my mom pointed out the male sitting on the feeder in the Elm.
Now it became clear -- House Finches! The pair are hanging around in the elms (trying not to blow away, from the looks of it), and visiting the feeders every so often with the Goldfinches.

(Female on the left, Goldfinch in the middle, Male on the right) I've only seen a House Finch once before, and that was last month in Ocala. What a fun find! I wonder how long they'll stay?

And finally, I finished a new sketch last night. Two common birds, the Tufted Titmouse and the Carolina Wren.

That's all for now.

Happy birding!

Did you know...? ... and other thoughts

Did you know Valentines Day originally celebrated birds? Well, that's the story, anyway.

In the 14th century, Geoffery Chaucer wrote a poem for a royal wedding, entitled "Parliament of Fowls." While this piece of epic poetry spans for pages and pages, telling some long, convuluted story, its direct reference to birds can be find halfway through:

For this was Saint Valentines Day,
When every fowl comes there to choose his mate,
Of every kind, that men may think of,
And that they began to make so huge a noise,
That earth, and air, and tree, and every lake
was so full that there hardly was space
For me to stand, so full was all the place.

The poem goes on to describe dozens of birds gathering on Valentines Day: Doves, Goshawks, Owls, Cranes, Starlings, Robins, Sparrows, Swallows, Eagles, Cormorants, Lapwings, etc. Although the poem is written in old English and is hard to fully understand, it is really an incredible piece of work.

Now, on a completely and utterly unrelated subject...

There were tons of birds on my feeder today. It's really warming up outside (70s), and the Titmice, Cardinals, and Chipping Sparrows are extremely active.

I set up my camera on my windowsill, and tried getting some close-ups. Most of them didn't come out, but I got a couple amusing shots.

Little Chipping Sparrow... cute, eh?

Tufted Titmouse, trying to break into a seed. It's pretty cool how they hammer away at it until they break the shell!

This is my favorite: I was about to delete the picture, thinking the Titmouse flew away before I got the shot, when I noticed what was looking through the birdfeeder at me... :-)

Happy birding!