A Dream come True

Since I met the boss and came back to this valley where some of the happiest times in my childhood were spent I have dreamed of being able to stand near the river and photograph the conventions of birds that occur in winter and spring.

Hoodie in good company

However, the busy traffic off the Thruway and the narrow, steep, river bank made doing so downright dangerous, if not illegal. I have spent plenty of time in the parking lots on the other side of the road, as have a number of other birders, if the people you see standing outside cars with binoculars and cameras is anything to go by. However, it is hard to see down into the river from there. 

This block of ice was speeding down the river in the racing current
the geese seemed to think they were all that and then some

Yesterday the snow was melted enough and the river opened up enough to go down to the new observation/boat docking spot the village put in and look at the hordes with binocs and camera....and yes, the old Bushnells with the broken eyepiece work just fine if you are the sort who only looks through one eye of binoculars anyhow.

Lesser Scaup (with hoodies)

There were swarms of geese, a nice assortment of gulls, and good ducks. Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and such. I constantly see flocks of small, fast ducks hurtling up the river, but I am just not good enough on ducks to id them from up here at the house. They are just speedy brown blobs. It was nice to ID at least a couple.

I am hoping to get the boss to take me down at least once a week until they shut the dams to see what is hanging out down there.