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| Coopers Hawk, spruce tree behind the house |
Birding....
What with the cost of every single thing being so much higher than it used to be and income not keeping up, we have been forced by circumstance to bird differently. We used to at least go down to the river almost every morning, year round.
Now we go out maybe once a week, and otherwise I bird at home. We also target exciting birds that other people find in the three-county area where we do most of our birding, and now and then hit places where we think we might find something good.
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| Broad-winged Hawk, bottom of the driveway |
This hasn't been all bad. There are birds everywhere, including in and around grocery store parking lots (Gloversville Walmart has a view of an active Osprey nest, and I have found all kinds of interesting birds along the edge of the parking lot at Runnings, including Fish Crows on a routine basis and once a Peregrine Falcon.)
Over the past three or four days there has been a decent showing of migrants right here in the yard. Vireos are everywhere! They are ridiculously hard to count, always on the move, and blending in with the surroundings really well.
Up until the day before yesterday warblers were like vitamins...one a day. However, now the trees are full of them. Alas, they always seem to be on the other side of the tree from me, and the lighting has been awful. Also....fall warblers... so some days I see forty and identify...you guessed it...one.
However, even with this targeted method of chasing birds, we are running ahead of 2020 for total number seen this year, and just behind 2021. Not terrible.
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler next to the clothesline |
Also getting a Sandhill Crane yesterday in Montgomery County made up for a lot of non- chasing days. We got two in Schoharie County a couple of years ago, and there is that family up in Fulton that we have seen two years running now. However, until last night we couldn't find one here. Happy me.
I do miss those morning trips out into the wilds. However, after hauling all the way to the other side of Amsterdam last night, and what with the fog today, it's the backyard for me this morning.
Wish me warblers...
...on the right side of the tree, in good light, and sitting still for more than 1/10 of a second.
Thanks!
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| Sandhill Crane from a targeted trip |
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3 comments:
My friend Shayla has resident sandhill cranes on one of her pastures. I hadn't seen one close up before- what a neat bird!
The geese are gathering here, partly because the farmers are combining their grain fields and they are gleaning the grain from the ground. I tried to get a photo of them against the waxing gibbous moon, but they weren't cooperating.
Wow! I'd say you sure do rack up the bird counts without even moving! I'd guess your own property and environs offers everything most birds need: water, food, and cover. And you're not far from the Mohawk either, are you? Do migrating birds follow rivers?
Shirley, I have also tried to get geese against the moon with similar results. I have a friend though, who caught swans flying across a full moon. Amazing shot!
Jacqueline, we do have everything birds could ask for and I have a little garden pond with a trickling fountain, which hopefully draws them in with sound. Alas, we have terrible traffic noise too. We are just a stone's throw from the river, which brings interesting fly byes and fly overs. The other day a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron flew over side-by-side. I was able to grab a quick photo as they went right over the house. Birds do follow rivers.
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