Finally, I get a decent shot of a red-tailed hawk in flight. I got that one sitting on a pole back in December, and this might even be that very bird as he was patrolling the same area. Either way, I was glad to have the camera in the car and not much traffic on the road.
They’re pretty common around here; one of the more common birds of prey in North America, actually, but I still love to watch to them. They’re definitely slow-down-and-stare birds.
Though he wasn’t making any noise, the red-tail’s raspy call is the one usually used for all hawks and eagles in movies according to All About Birds.
Yesterday, I decided to count birds at the small lake at the end of the trail that runs through our neighborhood. I ride my bike along there all the time, but I’ve never walked around and really tried to check out the birds.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a chickadee who immediately hopped into a tree that seemed filled with singing birds. I listened for a few minutes and then headed down to the water to see what birds were hanging around. In the summer, it’s mostly egrets and herons, but yesterday it was filled with birds wintering over.
I ate my sandwich at a bench on the lakefront where I was joined by a couple of coots who eyed me suspiciously. What really surprised me were the fishing buoys hanging in all the trees. Careless casters had decorated the trees as for an angler’s Christmas.
After lunch, I walked along the lake, which was filled with ring-billed gulls and more American coots. I easily forget that some gulls like lakes and so I’m always pleasantly surprised to see them floating on an inland lake. A few soared overhead, the sun shining behind their wings in a way that made them glow brilliant against the crisp blue sky. Gulls have always been favorites of mine, despite that incident back in ’90.
Other ducks bobbed along the far shore, but even with binoculars, I couldn’t make out what kind of ducks they were. Probably northern shovelers or mallards, but too far to tell for sure.
I did get a good look at a new bird for my life list, the double-crested cormorant. They bobbed along beyond the gulls, looking down their sharp-looking beaks at the world. The only picture I got was this, very blurry, of one flying by.
Double-crested Cormorant
After the lake, I walked back up to the woods and wandered among the cedar and oak. In a clearing I found a labyrinth trail and walked through it, winding toward the center and back out again. Along the way, I caught a glimpse of another blue jay.
Before returning to the car, I saw a small flock of chipping sparrows and even got a shot of this guy:
Chipping Sparrow
My favorite, though, was this shot of a black-crested titmouse, seed in mouth:
Black-crested Titmouse
I love watching these little guys hop around in my backyard. I think it’s those huge black eyes or maybe that pointy head, but somehow, the black-crested titmouse has become my favorite backyard bird.
Yesterday, I decided to do my Great Backyard Bird Count counting along the trail in our neighborhood. I left at 3:15. The weather was early-spring perfect, and a welcome treat after the previous day’s drizzle and rain.
I spotted a few mockingbirds, including this one:
Northern Mockingbird
I love listening to them sing; it’s like having all the other birds wrapped up in one. I guess they’re like the ipod of birds, set on permanent shuffle.
Often, I’ll follow a bird’s song only to find a mockingbird, but this time, there was a little chickadee bouncing in the tree. The number of dee’s in their call gives their assessment of any threat. I only rated one dee.
Carolina Chickadee
As I walked down the trail, I saw both turkey and black vultures spiraling overhead. I saw two hawks, but even with the binoculars, I couldn’t ID them as they were too far away. I suspect they were red-tails, though, since most of the hawks around here are.
At the bottom of the hill, the trail opens up into a kind of grassy meadow along the creek. A crow sat on the highest tree calling out to anyone who would listen. While studying the trees around the meadow, I saw a great blue heron glide past, slowly flapping its great wings.
Walking back up the hill, I heard a number of other birds chirping in the trees. I caught glimpses of chipping sparrows and even a blue jay, the first one I’ve seen since August.
Up near the trailhead, I ventured into a meadow where a small creek runs narrow and quiet beneath thick undergrowth. Looking up, I noticed a woodpecker clinging to the tree and apparently feeding or depositing something in a hole. He was either a golden-fronted or a red-bellied woodpecker, but he hopped into the hole before I could get close enough (even with binoculars) to figure out what he was.
I did get this shot of his head, as he sat there surveying the woods around him.
Mystery Woodpecker
It’s not enough to ID him for sure, though.
And, here are my “official” counts for the birds I could ID:
The Audubon Society and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology are sponsoring The Great Backyard Bird Count running from today through Feb 18. Anyone can participate. All you have to do is count birds over a span of at least 15 minutes and record the number of individuals you see. This helps the Audubon Society “create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent.” You don’t even have to do it in your backyard.
I walked down to the pond by the house and watched birds from 4:05-4:35 pm. Overcast, breezy, mid-60’s. Here’s what I saw:
3 American crows
3 Northern shovelers
1 White-winged dove
2 Mourning doves
1 Lesser scaup
1 Great blue heron
4 Black vultures
1 Eastern phoebe
The phoebe and the scaup are ones I had not seen before, so I get to add a few to my life list.
Today was a beautiful day for a ride. The sky was clearÂwinter blue with temps in the 70’s and a constant chill breeze making it seem even milder. The sweet warm smell of cedar was thick on the air along the trails. So glad I don’t get cedar fever.
As I rode, I watched a ghostly pale moon slowly climb the afternoon sky, and I decided to count birds species as I did last June on the day after the Summer Solstice.
That day, I saw 20 birds on a 20 mile ride. Today, two days before the first day of winter, I saw 8 birds in 14 miles:
Turkey Vulture… circling lazy, selecting from a veritable buffet of dead deer along the road
Black Vulture… three circling, as lackadaisical as their cousins
Common Grackle… swarming the parking lot at HEB
Great-tailed Grackle… also at HEB, but looking more regal in their iridescent purple than the common ones
American Coot… paddling the lake
Mockingbird… cut fast across the trail and away to the trees
Mallard… a small flock kicking it in a secluded bend in the creek shielded by cedar
American Crow… exploded from a tree on the edge of a meadow, caw-cawing in angry circles as I rode below
Yesterday we had one of those bracing cold mornings. The sky was a crisp blue, and frost covered many of the fields along the highway. It’s the kind of morning that seems to bring out the birds of prey.
I see this red-tailed hawk on many of the cold mornings on my way to work. Except when I have my camera. Yesterday, though, I had the camera, and there was the bird, chillin’ on the pole.
I pulled over and shot a few frames from the car before he flew off. I should have driven past him and shot back so the sun would be behind me. I wouldn’t have had to dodge him as much to bring out the detail on his wings. Next time I’ll try not to be so excited about the bird so I can give just a bit more thought to the photography.
They are magnificant creatures, though. It’s easy to just watch the bird and forget the machine in my hands.
I drove on to work, part of me wishing I had his job…
I’m trying to identify the ducks that are suddenly showing up now that it’s getting cold up north. I finally managed to ID the mystery ducks that spent last winter on the pond near the house when they came back this year. It was easy to figure it out, once I realized they weren’t ducks, but were American Coots.
The other day, I rode down to a small lake near the house and saw these guys cruising along in the fading light.
The one in the back is a mallard, but I don’t know what the two ducks in front of him are. There were a few female mallards farther ahead, out of frame, but these aren’t female mallards.
This fellow has been hanging around our local pond lately. I know nothing of his personality, but around here being a great egret is simply a matter of not being a snowy egret or a cattle egret.
