Ann's Bird Blog: January 2020

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Big Morning at the Farm Ponds

Trip to the farm ponds this morning. We've not been out there much since getting our own farm. It turned out to be a very good trip!

First, an immature hawk species. I cannot tell the immature hawks apart. This was either a red-tail or a red-shouldered.

And then this was at the edge of the ponds. Looks like the heron is keeping guard over the mallards.

Buffleheads (female) on the lower pond. One male was with several females, but he's not in this picture.

Then - we saw a large bird circling fairly far away, decided it was a vulture - until we spotted the white tail and head. A mature bald eagle!!! It decided to fly to a spot closer to us. Still not great pics, but definitely enough to see what it was.

Finally - something was in the snag at the top of a dead tree, where we usually say "Is that something?" and it turns out just to be the top of the snag. Well, this time it was something. A peregrine falcon. A first for both of us. The clincher was when it flew to get a dove for lunch. Hugely powerful wingbeats, and FAST. Classic for a peregrine. This was also larger than a merlin, and much larger than a kestrel. And the cheek patch fits a peregrine. Great way to end the trip!

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Farm Ponds 1/2/2020

Rainy morning - cold - but we went to see what was out there. Beautiful male bufflehead with two females was about all that was interesting.

We did see two loons on Hartwell on the way out there. I got this snapshot. I almost think it was a red-throated (red does not show in the winter), but probably it was a common loon.

How This Bird-Watching Happened

I'm always a little self-conscious and reticent about telling people that I like to watch birds. Somehow that hobby conjures up pictures of little old women in khaki shorts and boots, peering through binoculars at some little spot in the woods. Maybe wearing a pith helmet.

But birdwatching is something that really brought my husband and me together in the early years of our marriage. He was a huge hunter; I had never picked up a gun. We were very different. But we discovered that we were quite a team about birdwatching - I was the bookworm about them, and he had the outdoors knowledge to pick up sounds and motion in the woods. We kept lists and watched everywhere we went. I picked up some of his extensive knowledge about wildlife. And it was fascinating.

Even after our son was born, we still could keep up with this hobby somewhat. Our home had a great shelf feeder, directly out of our second-story bedroom window, that was about fifty yards from woods and stream. So we had great variety coming directly to our house.

After moving to Mike's hometown, the hobby waned. Two children, not a good location for much variety at a feeder, not as easy to take trips, either short or long ones. So it became an occasional thing rather than a main focus.

On our trip to the northwest, fourteen years ago, we put fifteen new species on our lists and got excited about it once again. And on our recent California trip, we got a few more.

Now that our children are gone, we're intent on watching birds again. It is still bringing us together. And we don't even need khaki shorts or pith helmets.