Hey, Dad, this Bird's for You

Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, and who knows what else

My father is 84 today. Although some of my passions seem to have been inborn..... horses for example.... I was horse crazy from infancy....and some grew on me over the ages, like gardening and dairy farming, birding is all Dad.

Today it is pretty much my favorite thing, after spending time with family, of course.

Hunkered down after the attack.
This is how we first spotted them, a very tight knot of a big mess of birds.

Dad got me interested in birds, which I have been since as early as I can remember. Oddly enough, although when I was six or seven I didn't know a Rusty Blackbird from a California Condor, I remember seeing white-eyed, brownish black birds that weren't grackles, when we still lived in Gloversville.....we moved from there the year I turned eight. How I wish I could see one now!

He also fed the fire so to speak by getting me involved in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, in which I have participated eagerly for more years than I can count.

I thank him for that and for feeding interests in nature, biology and history in particular, and in learning in general.

He is a pretty great dad.

I hope you will join me in wishing him a very happy birthday and many more of the same.

I love you dad!

American Crows, gleaning a corn field after all the excitement.
If you are interested in Bald Eagles, there are almost always spot them near the boat launch
 and surrounding fields. Lots of other goodies there too.

***A little about these photos and video. Alan and I spotted these gulls and crows on Saturday and pulled down into the Schoharie boat launch area to see what was up. Turns out a Bald Eagle was stirring up the gulls and crows were mobbing the eagle. It was pretty cool.