Ann's Bird Blog: April 2022

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Birds We Observed April 11-13, 2022 - Huntington Beach State Park and Santee Coastal Reserve

In no particular order:

Blue winged teal
American wigeon
willet
Lesser yellowlegs
Anhinga
Great blue heron
Snowy egret
Great egret
Little blue heron
Tricolored heron
Turkey vulture
Bald eagle
Blue jay
Fish crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted titmouse
Tree swallow
Gray catbird (heard)
Eastern bluebird
Red-winged blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Boat-tailed grackle
Common gallinule
American coot
Anhinga
Yellow-crowned night heron
Red-bellied woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker (heard)
Fish crow
Carolina wren
House finch
Orchard oriole
Summer tanager
Northern cardinal
Canada goose
Spotted sandpiper
Bonaparte's gull
Least tern
Double crested cormorant
Blue jay
Tree swallow
Barn swallow
Prothonotary warbler
Ruby throated hummingbird
White throated sparrow
Yellow rumped warbler
Chimney swift
Red-cockaded woodpecker
Great crested flycatcher
Eastern kingbird
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Brown thrasher

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.