Winter Day One

 

Mature Cooper's Hawk

So, it's the first day of Winter. Do you know where your lawn ornaments are?

(Under the snow I expect.)

Around Northview we have a few inches, the boss is sick, although improving (man cold...he will get over it in time I expect) and birding is still lackluster. I am barely tempted to go down to the river a couple of times a week. Sure saves on gas.

If you are local you are probably aware of the rodeo on the roads yesterday. A few inches of snow brought so many crashes and near disasters that it was just plain nutz. Sirens and fire alarms were the song of the day...all day. We stayed off the roads except for getting Becky to and from work and were thankful that we could.

I mean, seriously, there was even a plane involved. On the Thruway no less.

An interesting few moments in the backyard yesterday morning. I was in the kitchen when I heard two Black-capped Chickadees alarm-calling in exact unison. That was enough for me to drape my bins and camera around my neck and sneak out into the yard to see what was up. By the time I got out there there were at least five chickees, a couple of Tufted Titmice, and an assortment of other small birds complaining noisily.

Up on the hill in the old heifer pasture there is a tree, quite distant from the house, where passing birds particularly raptors, like to perch. There was a Merlin sitting on the very topmost twig. At first I thought that he was the reason for all the drama, but it seemed odd that the feeder birds would get so excited about so distant a bird. He was obviously uninterested in hunting, as he was still sitting there half an hour later.

I walked around the corner.

There was a small, mature Cooper's Hawk, staring intently at the feeders. I was able to grab a couple of photos before he flew. I think he hung around in the brush for a bit though, although I couldn't see him, as the birds still alarmed for a bit before they settled back down to nomming sunflower seeds.

I have learned to go right out if I hear that chorus of danger calls, as you never know what you will find right there in the backyard.

Anyhow, welcome to Winter. Ticks and mosquitoes are less of a problem than in sunnier months, the next season in the sequence is Spring...and that is the best I can offer you today.

Invasive

 

Eastern White Pine

The  boss kindly ventured out on Seven-county Hill to collect two Christmas trees, one for our house and one for the eastern extension of the family.

In recent years the hill has slowly been colonized by fluffy Eastern White Pine trees, pinus strobus, after decades in pasture and years in hay.

He found two nicely shaped ones, a little too tall even for our high ceilings, but what are chainsaws for? I had to choose. Last year I left the nicest one for Liz, but this year they were nearly identical.

Or so I thought until I brushed my hand affectionately over them.

One of these things is not like the other.

The first tree had soft, silky needles in clusters of five. The bark was greyish green and smooth.

The other had greenish-yellow-gold bark and needles in pairs. Stiff, sharp needles.

Becky went to work on the conundrum.

Her verdict was Scotch Pine, pinus sylvestris. My folks chose this tree almost exclusively when we were kids, but white pine has a special history here at Northview, so I chose that one.

I was astonished to find a wild growing Scotch Pine and to discover that they are considered invasive in many parts of the county, as they often invade prairie areas. 

I guess the old saw that you learn something every day is true...and I like it that way.

Scotch Pine

Two CBCs

 

Red-tailed Hawk from Count One

Over the past four days I was privileged to participate in two Christmas Bird Counts. The first was in an area that was partly small town/suburban and partly the rural borders thereof. We saw the usual suspects expected in such an environment and had a good time looking for them.

Then yesterday I had the opportunity to be a small part of the Montezuma National Wildlife count circle. That was exciting! I have always wanted to see the refuge in winter, and although it was something of a November-like day (and no complaints from me about that!) it was still quite different from the busy days of summer. I got all ten-thousand steps in one wandering bird walk.

My favorite memories include the sound of Trumpeter Swans winging their muscular way through the air right over our heads, bugling unmistakable and hair-raising calls, as if rallying the world to follow. They are BIG birds and impressive indeed.

Red-tailed Hawk Count Two

And of skeins of Snow Geese stretching from horizon to horizon, their calls sharper and more piercing than the lower pitched honks of the Canada Geese. They seemed to go on forever, and I was pretty happy that they were outside our bit of the circle so we didn't have to count them all.

Sandhill Cranes

Best of all was the flock of 27 Sandhill Cranes on the way back to the compilation. I may or may not have exclaimed like a little kid and fan-girled over the sight like same. Cranes always make my day! There were huge numbers reported count week, which I found downright pleasing. Maybe over the next few years they will nudge their boundaries our way and we won't have to drive two hours to see them.

The Bridge of Dread

Least favorite memory...climbing through the gates on the derelict bridge we needed to cross. There was a time in my life when I would have scampered over or through without a single thought. This is not that time. Besides being older than dirt and build for comfort not for speed, I was wearing four shirts and my father's huge, thick, Carhartt hoodie. I got through all right going in but had an awful...and embarrassing...time on the way out. Just call me not nimble.

I am hoping to be involved in three more counts in the coming weeks. Let's hold good thoughts for favorable weather and wider gates where that situation applies.

Oh, and Cheerios and dried cherries are good trip food. Their are a lot of them, and although they are reasonably satisfying, there is no urge to devour them all at a sitting.

Also vegan spicy sweet potato/black bean chili is really good. Hot but tasty.

The Year in Birds (Part Two) Lifers

Red-headed Woodpecker

 Seven new birds for me this year, two more than last year. Some of them were relatively common and at least one not really a lifer as they were nearly ubiquitous when I was younger, but new to my eBird list.

 

1) Last winter saw daily reports of a Tufted Duck being observed in Saratoga Lake. It took several March trips with Ralph and my good friend Kris, but we finally got to see it among a huge number of scaup and other winter ducks. Thanks to you both for getting me there, and Kris for helping me get on it.

2) Next, also in March, was the Red-headed Woodpecker. Kris and I did a Montezuma run and met a pleasant gentleman who seemed quite knowledgeable about local birding. We asked him if he could direct us to it, he did, and the rest is history. This is the faux lifer. Up until I was in college they were the default woodpecker around here, and common even in the city. Then they vanished. Thanks, Kris for this one.

Common Tern

3) Third was a Common Tern spotted at the Schoharie Crossing boat launch, probably my favorite local birding site. I found him myself one cold and windy day in May.

4) In June I happened on a couple of Least Bitterns calling from a nearby marsh. Heard only, but that counts on eBird. Also self found.

Glossy Ibis

5) In August Ralph took me on another Montezuma run. We were almost done with the wildlife drive when I saw a lot of people staring into the cattails at a small marsh. I peered through my bins for a bit and spotted a little brown bird skulking through the shrubbery, a Glossy Ibis! Yay! Thanks, Ralph, and the nice birder who helped me know which ibis it was.

6) A pair of American Golden Plovers made my life list in Maine in October. This is a species I never expected to see and it was pretty darned thrilling for me. Another self found flyer, but many thanks to Ralph and Becky for being so patient about the hours I spend hiking beaches and marshes and woods and fields. Also thanks to Matt and family for making the trip so much easier.

7) I have told you before about the Ross's Goose chase. I spend a lot of time peering at geese, taking photos of geese and peering at same, and pondering geese and goose species. I think there are more Cackling Geese than we realize among the Canadas, some years it's easy...ish... to find a Greater White-fronted Goose committing vagrancy among the flocks, and once a top-notch birder I know put us on a Barnacle Goose. However, the Ross's was a big thrill and still delights me.

And there you have it, my year in lifers. I am downright pleased with these birds, but I am still out there looking for more, every chance I get. Just greedy I guess.

Not a lifer, but my favorite bird
Carolina Wren

The Year in Birds (Part One) NYBBA lll

Wilson's Snipe (H Appropriate Habitat)

Over the course of the past five years I have been privileged to participate in the third New York Breeding Bird Atlas. It was the first atlas for me and will undoubtedly be the last as well. Atlases take place every twenty years. When the next one rolls around, should I, by some strange and unlikely miracle, still be standing up and taking nourishment, I would be ninety-two. Pretty much of a nope.

House Wren in the act of fledging
(NY Nest with Young)

I loved doing the atlas and will continue to code breeding bird activity going forward. Thanks to it, I learned a lot about bird behavior, which added a rich new dimension to my favorite outdoor pastime.

I saw a Bald Eagle rebuilding after losing a known nest in a storm last spring. It was jumping up and down on a branch like a kid with a new trampoline. When the branch finally broke it carried it off to a new nest structure, much smaller and less ambitious than the many-years-old original. I don't know if there were new eggs, as timing would indicate that the downfall of the old nest took eggs too, but I can hope.

Through closer than previous observation and a little more detective work than we might have bothered with before the atlas, a friend and I discovered a brand new Bald Eagle nest adjacent to one of my favorite birding spots (I used to call it Snipe Central). Alas I don't know if this pair had success either, but it was fun to watch them.

Red-tailed Hawk ( P Pair in Suitable Habitat)

It was the same with many other species. I learned to watch more closely and to bird much more intensively, as I tried to help finish priority blocks.

I am most grateful to the people running things who took time to email corrections when I was wrong, thanks when I got something done, and suggestions for new places to bird. Also to people I was able to join on atlasing trips, who know a lot more than I do.

Thanks to atlasing while at camp I found one of the best birding spots I know of, where it was nothing to find thirty or forty nice species and to witness all kinds of breeding behavior in an hour or two. I cannot wait to get back there...if the road is passable...next spring in warbler time!

I am going to miss working on the atlas though. It brought me in contact with many birders I otherwise wouldn't have encountered and was a lot of fun besides.

Killdeer (C Courtship, Display, or Copulation)
(Get a room!)

Therapy

 I partook of a free therapy session yesterday, as the boss was sleeping in. Two days a week I take Becky down to open the store at five AM and my chores are soon done, leaving some blank spaces in what passes for my schedule.

I really want a Christmas tree this year so I picked out a beauty a few weeks ago when Alan took me touring the hills and creeks on the place in his bright red Jeep.

He was going to get it for me over the holiday but what with babies and hunting and eating turkey and all (which he and Amber raised and donated to the cause....I cooked it in my roaster, breast down, in a quart of chicken stock Becky and I made last summer...Yum!) the tree didn't get harvested.

I've been trying to explain to the boss just where it is so he can take the skid steer up and get it for me, but it is not easy to describe a single tree in a forest of same. Thus I grabbed a roll of surveyors' tape and my bins and camera and headed out on the hills to tag my prey.

It was a slippery climb, with the snow crusted to ice and the rough and rocky trail, but the Jeep tracks from holiday hunts got me to the top of the 30-acre Lot safely. From there I contemplated the lack of a path up to Seven-County Hill where the wild pines and Ruffed Grouse grow.

And noped my plans right there on the spot. No Jeep tracks, just sharp crusty snow, chest-high brush, and a mini mountain to climb. I really wanted to tag that darned tree, but if you don't respect your age and abilities you will wish you had. It was enough of a fool's errand climbing the front hill in winter without goating up the big hill.

I opted for a hike over to the deer blind and some time sitting on the ladder of same enjoying the company of an assortment of birds. It was peaceful up there despite the traffic noise and trains. I think I heard a Winter Wren check-checking from the bushes but Merlin couldn't hear him and I couldn't pish him out. Even without counting him the trip netted me 21 species, not bad for a winter walk just on our own place.

I came down....walking very gingerly...much refreshed and in a better frame of mind than when I started....despite the pine tree fail. You can't put a price on time outdoors....because it's priceless after all.