Learning to Teach

This past weekend marked the first time I lead people on a bird walk.  I hadn't really done it before and I was quite nervous.  What if there were no birds?  What if it rained?  What if no one showed?  Well, all those fears aside, I caught a couple of lucky breaks.  Weather was good, people showed, and even better, the birds showed!  It was a quick one hour walk around a local state park but we got some impressive birds.  Wood Thrush, Prairie Warbler, Black-and-White Warblers were all out and calling.  It was great to see.  But the thing I appreciated the most was that throughout the walk, the other people on the walk were excited and enthralled by every bird we saw.  Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice were enchanting to them and helped me appreciate how much birding can connect us to nature.  I know that I'd like to lead more walks and I hope I get the opportunity soon!  In the mean time, enjoy some of my recent photos!

Lovely Shorebirds

A Tern

Terns and Turnstones

Fighting Orioles

Room to Spare

So this post has been a long time coming.  I've been working for a long time at becoming a better birder, naturalist, and outdoor enthusiast.  For this year, I set the goal of getting my life list up to 300 Birds and my Year list up to 200.  Its been slow going with my list and ebird has been a tremendous help.  Its helped me keep an excellent record of my birds and where I've seen them.  So I am pleased to announced that I've met both Goals.  My Life List stands at 307 and my Year List Stands at 216.

So here's an update of the Birds that got me over the hump:
Cerulean Warbler
Veery
White-Eyed Vireo
And all the Texas Birds I got last weekend

A Cerulean Warbler (C) Mdf

Veery (C) All about Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

White-Eyed Vireo (C) Alastair Rae

Visiting the Junkyard

I accomplished a birding first this past weekend.  I went and visited a landfill to see some gulls.  While I had heard of a couple rare gulls at the landfill, I was really going to learn more about gulls as a whole.  In the end, I was confronted with a lot of smells and similarity.  I can't tell you that I was hit with a moment of transient and profound wisdom.  But I did gain a better appreciation of gulls.  I know how that I am getting ready to look at more gulls and really embrace that challenge.

I've never asked for comments but I'd like 2 things if you read this.  #1 what's the best book on gulls out there and #2 what are good sites to get close to some gulls?

Thanks and hope to hear from you all soon!

2013 Year List: 80 (120 to Go!)
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Long Tailed Duck

The Joys of Gulls

Gulls still remain a mystery to me.  And several other people in fact.  Due to the recovery efforts from the recent Blizzard, I am missing out on a Gull Class.  While the glamours of migration bring in different Warblers and raptors is quite alluring, Gulls don't offer any flashy colors or amazing habitats like some warblers and other birds do.  Lush forests to find warblers versus landfills to find Gulls.  In any case, I am excited about going gulling this weekend.  I wish that I was going to be attending the class as well but alas, such is life.

I am going to keep this post short since I've have so many pictures!

 2 Gulls hanging out in a local pond (C)

Western Gulls roosting above the Seattle Aquarium (C)

 A Black Headed Gull (C)

A Laughing Gull (C) Me

Bonaparte Gull hanging near the rocks (c) me

A Northern Cardinal (c) Me

2013 Year List: 76 (123 to go!)

Notable Additions:

Chipping Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Owling...

The Holidays are coming and going and I am spending my time outside owling of course.  Once again, I am being met with failure, however, I am starting to get closer at identifying owl habitat and evidence of owls.  While the other day, I did manage to hear a Eastern Screech Owl, I am continuing my quest to find owls in the wild.  At the end of the day, I am enjoying the challenge.  Of course, I am stuck between owling and and shorebirding.  But that's a post for another day

Happy holidays to all!

White Wash on a Cedar in Connecticut (C) Mine

2012 List:
251 (eastern screech owl and white ibis)

A Hurricane and New Feeder

While I may have dipped on the birds that Hurricane Sandy brought in, I did get a new feeder.  It was a squirrel proof Peanut Feeder.  Before Sandy Struck, Birds were going crazy getting food and getting ready to hunker down before the storm.  We were lucky as the storm had only knocked out our power.  The storm, as the news has broadcasted, has caused massive devastation in the neighboring states.  The storm brought in a wide array of birds and walking through my favorite parks made it easy to see the damage the storm did.  I managed to find a couple of Kestrel, A Leucistic Wren and a Laughing Gull.  But the real success lately has been my new feeder.  Its bringing in a great collection of birds.  I've had a Red-Breasted Nuthatch come to my feeder for a few days in a row and I snapped a few pictures of him below.  I've also had Tufted Titmouse, BC Chickadees and all sorts of sparrows and finches.  My suet feeder is getting, starlings and woodpeckers and I hope that I can keep getting good birds.

Reports are that the Tundra had a bad season so lots of winter birds will be hitting areas more southern than usual...  Gonna be a fun winter!

Life List:
224
Fox Sparrow!

Sparrows, Sparrows and More Sparrows!

This past weekend, I took a Sparrow Class offered by the Connecticut Ornithological Association.  So in the Early Morning, I headed out to Allen's Meadow to try and find some sparrows.  With about 30 other eager birders, we started to walk around the park.  At first it seemed like we'd find everything but sparrows.  We found Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Winter Wrens, Butterbutts, Cardinals and even some loud and active Pileated Woodpeckers.  We even found some Pine Siskens before we found some sparrows.
Eventually, we started to find some sparrows.  The first few sparrows we saw were White-Throateds and Savannahs.  They were later joined by Juvenile White-Crowned.  We heard of some Vesper Sparrows, but by the time we got over there, a dog had scared away the Vespers.  But we waited patiently and then they returned!  The eye ring is one of the key marks of the Vesper.  As I was looking at a Vesper, there's a call that someone found a Clay-Colored Sparrow!  (picture below)  The Buff Coloring near the eye and the rich coloration on the back help id this bird.  Its also a useful indicator to know where to look.  Both Vespers and Clay-Colored, Like many sparrows, enjoy open grassfields as  places to eat and fly about.  They'll be moving through to their wintering grounds these weeks so I will be on the lookout for more birds to see!

(c) goingslo on Flickr

2012 Life List
223!