Adventures in Birding

#111 and 112

Well, the owl/woodock walk wasn't quite as successful as we had hoped. We didn't get an owl to call (we play tapes of the owl's call to try to lure it in and call back), but we had a nice time otherwise. We did see American Woodcock, which is always cool!

We're entering prime birding time, so I'm pretty much going to go out birding every day unless it's a downpour or I'm exhausted!

Friday morning, I went to a new birding spot, a local reservoir. I didn't see a whole lot of activity, but I did hear #111, a Ruffed Grouse drumming! If you've never heard it, it's like this:



The thing that doesn't come across in video (unless you listen with headphones and have a good stereo system) is how eerie it can be. It's such a low frequency that you can almost feel it! It's so cool! There's no mistaking it if one starts drumming near you in the woods!

After the reservoir, I went to Landingville Marsh again for a quick walk. At home, I went for a third walk near my house and heard #112, a Broad-winged Hawk! I also saw it fly away from me. Shortly after, I heard the call again, but this time it was a Blue Jay mimicking the hawk! I had heard Blue Jays imitate a Red-tailed Hawk before, but never a Broad-winged Hawk! They can imitate a variety of other birds and odd noises.

Yesterday morning I went with my sister to Montour Preserve. We didn't see anything new, but I got some good photos. There was a nice flat trail (we were both tired and a bit sore from too much activity earlier in the week) that went around a pond. Lots of warbler activity there! Warblers seem to like water and bushes to hide in nearby.

Palm Warbler   (Probably my best ever Palm Warbler photo!

Eastern Phoebe  

Greater Yellowlegs  

This morning I went to Locust Lake because I'm on a mission to see a Waterthrush. We have two in our area, Louisiana and Northern, and I've never seen either! I almost didn't stay because the lake seemed pretty busy with people on a Sunny Sunday morning, but I thought I'd at least walk around a little. I'm so glad I stayed! There was a Horned Grebe   on the lake, my first sighting in my county this year of that species, and three Common Loons. I got some nice views of a Hermit Thrush   and a Bald Eagle was hanging out at the lake, too.

As I was going to leave (I thought about maybe visiting another birding spot since it was early-ish), I saw a table set up near the parking lot. It was a local conservancy group, and they invited me to stay for their bird walk! It was hosted by the same birder that guided the owl/woodcock event! It wasn't a public event, meant mostly for members of their group, but they invited me along (and I think I'm going to join their group now)!

In addition to the birds I saw on my first loop around the lake, we spotted a Blue-headed Vireo   and another rare (for our area) Caspian Tern  ! Another local birder joined us by the end, and all three of us were super excited to see the tern! I had spotted four last week during a storm that blew through our area but they hadn't seen it. It's hard explaining to non-birders why it's so exciting to see a bird like this in our area. The guide for our walk has been birding for over 20 years in our county and this was the second time he's seen one of these in our county!

It was a great birding weekend, beautiful weather and lots of birds! I hope it continues through May and the rest of the year!