I started my blog in February of this year so this will be my first “new year” with an audience. I am taking this opportunity to do what many others do this time of year – reflect on my year, with a focus on my best birds and experiences. Personally 2013 brought many changes to my life – I started the year in New York and am ending in Pennsylvania. As far as birds go, I got 36 life birds, a great oppurtunity to be a part of the birding community and unforgettable trips with friends.
I started out with a bang doing New Years birding with my friend; the first bird we spotted together was a life bird for me – the Northern Shrike. This bird eluded me any time I would look for it during the previous season. The scope views were great, but he was too far for good photos.
Documentation shot of the Northern Shrike
Halfway into the month, my friends and I went up to the Cayuga Lake region to search for a Townsend’s Solitaire that had been reliably seen. We searched for two hours and never found the bird. Of course, the bird was spotted about ten minutes after we left – go figure. As we were making our way back down the lake I received an email about a juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon that was spotted at Montezuma NWR. A Gyrfalcon?? We turned right around and chased this bird which would have been a lifer for all three of us. We had our sights on a bird that we thought was the Gyrfalcon, but it was too far even for scope views and concluded that it was a Rough-legged Hawk (shadows played tricks on us). We went to another area to get a better view and the bird we were looking at was, indeed, the Gyr. It was a great turn-around to our otherwise disappointing day!
I promise you that this is a Gyrfalcon
This month was the start of my interest in falconry. My friends caught and hunted with a handsome male Red-tailed Hawk who they named Rusty.
Rusty, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
I watched birds hunt for the first time at the New Jersey Falconry Club Annual Meet. I hope to have the time to hunt with birds one day in the future. For now, I will follow around my friends and photograph them with their birds.
Rogue, my friend’s Harris’s Hawk
January was also the start of my Redpoll invasion that ran well into February. I had over 100 birds at my feeders – they cleaned me out, but it was a great experience. Within the Common Redpoll flocks, I also spotted a couple of Hoary Redpolls.
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
The winter months bring tons of waterfowl to the finger lakes. This year was my first time seeing rafts of ducks swimming close together – this raft included great views at a life bird, the Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
In March, my friends and I did a winter big day where we found a flock of Red Crossbills at a residential feeder. My next lifer was seen on the very next day – a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Horned Larks.
Red Crossbills
Later in the month, after multiple attempts at finding Short-eared Owls both locally and further north, we finally had one fly over low as the sun was setting. I didn’t even lift my camera for it, because I did not want to lose this beautiful sight by playing with settings and focus.
My biggest highlight this month was not an actual bird – earlier in the season, I submitted a photo to Project Feederwatch that was recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on their Facebook page. An editor at National Wildlife Magazine saw this photo and asked me if she could use it in an article. The magazine arrived in my mail box on March 15th. I was published in a national magazine for the first time!
My photo in National Wildlife Magazine
April brought another really great life bird – the Bohemian Waxwing. A friend and I went up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to photograph birds. As soon as we parked the car, I received an email that the Waxwings were nearby. We packed back up and headed to the location. We ended up getting permission to go in private woods and were surrounded by these beautiful birds!
Bohemian Waxwings
May was highlighted by The Biggest Week in American Birding. Back in February, I volunteered to be on the events blogging team. I ended up getting a bit more involved than last year, met many new friends and walked away with a lot of great memories – and 12 life birds.
This Long-eared Owl was the most unexpected life bird at Magee Marsh
Cape May Warbler at Magee
Things slowed down in June and July. We did, however, get to see the return of a local family of Barred Owls. At about the same time, I also had a guest Great Horned Owl in my own woods. All of these birds proved to be great subjects and were fun to watch.
Young Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
In August, I added some more really good life birds – An American White Pelican who was out of range at Montezuma NWR and some Least Bitterns that I was able to self-identify in the field. A Black-billed Cuckoo also flew into my yard – this was a very unexpected visitor!
Black-billed Cuckoo
Then came September and our annual trip to Cape May. For me, this trip started last year and both visits were beyond my expectations. While the morning flight at Higbee was not as great as last year, we still went on a good day and saw many birds zip by.
Cedar Waxwings morning flight
I finally saw a Marsh Wren – a bird that I had previously only heard… many times… many many times.
Marsh Wren
We also found out where the Black Skimmer flock likes to hang out during the fall – a beach near the 2nd Avenue jetty. I was in Skimmer heaven!
Black Skimmers
Endless Black Skimmers
I moved to my new house in Pennsylvania – this was a big change for me. Leaving New York was difficult, but it had to be done. Before I left, however, I was given the opportunity to hold my favorite bird, the American Kestrel, for the first time thanks to my friends.
Me with an American Kestrel
Birding slowed down for me in October. I spent a lot of time settling into my new house and only went birding once with a new friend. Other than that, I watched as migrants passed through my yard. In November, this same friend also brought me to Barnegat on the coast of New Jersey – a first for me. The trip yielded five life birds including the Harlequin Duck – our target bird.
Harlequin Ducks
We stopped by Sandy Hook Gateway National Park to check in on some Snowy Owl sightings. Just as we were about to give up, a fisherman told us where to find the one of the birds on the north beach. The photo op was unbeatable. This was one of the earlier Owls from this years irruption.
Snowy Owl
Last week, my best Christmas present was in the form of votes – I won week 7 of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Contest. This was completely unexpected since I never asked anyone for votes – it just happened!
My winning House Finch photo
We visited Barnegat again in December with another friend to show her the Harlequins. Once again, the trip did not disappoint us. Not only were we rewarded with great views at Harlequins, we also had up-close looks at Northern Gannets and an unexpected visit from two Razorbills off shore.
Northern Gannet
I look forward to seeing new birds in new places for 2014. Every year keeps getting better as I add more places to visit. More trips to Cape May are already planned, the Biggest Week is already in discussion and we are even considering going to the Rio grande Birding Festival this year. Perhaps my post a year from now will be even better than this one!
This is my favorite time of year for backyard birding. Parent birds are bringing their begging babies to my yard and tirelessly giving them food from my bird feeders.
Common Grackle family
The parents are very often attentive and I hardly ever see them actually feed themselves.
Northern Cardinal mom feeding young
Chipping Sparrow feeding young
House Finch Family
American Goldfinch dad feeding young
The young woodpeckers seem to be the most patient and often quietly wait for their meal, not far off from Mom and Dad. They are also the most fun to watch as they attempt to cling anywhere and everywhere.
Hairy Woodpecker
Young Downy Woodpecker
Some birds, like the Crows and Jays will continuously beg even though the parents ignore them.
Young American Crow begging to an adult
Begging Blue Jay
Others show up after they are already on their own and shyly feed themselves.
Young Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Young male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Young Cedar Waxwing
Feeding young is a tough job, but someone has to do it!
Today, I took a better look at my yard bird list because I thought I hit the 100th milestone with a singing Wood Thrush. Well, it turns out that I did not hit it today – I hit it last month without realizing it! The Thrush ended up being number 103, making a Barn Swallow that I saw two days ago number 102 and an Eastern Screech-Owl that I heard number 101. Number 100 went to a good one and I wish I knew it at the time – I was outside talking to a friend about yard birds and I mentioned that I have been trying to see Bald Eagles migrate overhead so that I can get it as a yard bird. Ten minutes later, guess who came flying low over the creek while we were standing in my driveway? A Bald Eagle. I did not know it then, but that was yard bird number 100!
I will celebrate this huge milestone with a list of my yard birds and, of course, some photos taken from my yard.
I have some birds who stick around all throughout the year, my true residents and feeder birds
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
American Crow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
European Starling
Tufted Titmouse
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Some birds are here year-round but do not show up often, or show up more in one season than another
Eastern Bluebird
Brown Creeper
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-necked Pheasant
And Hawks who watch them or are seen flying over the house
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Some birds stay to breed and I see or hear them throughout the summer, but they migrate south in the winter
Gray Catbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Purple Finch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Phoebe
Chipping Sparrow
American Robin
Field Sparrow (heard only, seen in woods)
Veery (heard only, seen in woods)
Red-eyed Vireo
Turkey Vulture (flying)
Common Yellowthroat (heard only)
Cedar Waxwing
House Wren
Others stay to breed but I only see or hear them once in a while
Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Northern Flicker
Ruffed Grouse (heard only)
Ovenbird (heard only, seen in woods)
American Redstart
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Barn Swallow (flying)
Tree Swallow (flying)
Chimney Swift (flying)
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Yellow Warbler
These birds stay throughout the winter but breed further north
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Tree Sparrow
My yard gets a lot of migrating birds who come through in waves
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
And birds who come during migration and stay for a few days or even weeks
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Also birds who I’ve seen migrating over my house, both high and low
These birds are usually flying to or from the neighborhood creek
Mallard (flying, vocalizing)
Canada Goose (foraging across the street)
Green Heron (perched in a tree!)
Great Blue Heron (flying)
Killdeer (flying, vocalizing)
Belted Kingfisher (flying, vocalizing)
Common Merganser (flying, vocalizing)
I’ve only seen or heard these birds once, but hope they return soon
Bald Eagle (flying)
Northern Mockingbird
Osprey (flying)
Rock Pigeon (flying)
Eastern Screech-Owl (heard only)
Swainson’s Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Wood Thrush (heard only, seen in woods)
American Woodcock (heard only)
It is exciting to think about who will show up next or which birds I will see in my yard that I’ve only heard so far. Fall migration is when I get most of my new surprises but hopefully I do not have to wait that long for the next one.
My friend and I made a trip up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for some photo ops. My original reason for wanting to go up there were to see some Bohemian Waxwings that have been reported during the week. They were not seen all day yesterday, but we ended up going anyway to see other birds. When we parked the car at the Lab, I checked my email to see if anything interesting had been sighted and it turned out that Bohemian Waxwings were reported not far from us on Cayuga’s birding listserv. We hopped right back into the car and made our way to the birds.
When we got there, we ran into a Cornell Spring Field Ornithology class who led us to the right location, but the birds were slowly trickling away from sight into private property. At that point, I only had binocular views of them with no real looks at field marks – you could tell they were Waxwings, but I wanted to see the key marks of a Bohemian. My friend decided to go see if she could get permission to go on the property and the owner allowed us in!
We came across a flock high up in the trees and got very nice scope views of about 30 birds. We went further in for a closer look and suddenly we were surrounded by Waxwings.
Bohemian Waxwing pair
Bohemian Waxwing pair
This is a bird that I have wanted to see for a long time. We estimated that there could have been up to 80 individuals (though, I put 70 on our eBird list), plus one lone Cedar Waxwing. In our area, it is usually the opposite! We had satisfying looks from every angle.
Bohemian Waxwing
We were pleased to see some of the birds exhibiting courtship behavior by exchanging small pieces of food back and forth.
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
It was one of the best “life bird” experiences I’ve had, especially considering that I would have never expected to see so many.
Bohemian Waxwing
After this wonderful experience, we went out to look for waterfowl. While the numbers are down from the winter-waterfowl birding, we still did see a good variety including Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, both Mergansers, Redhead, Ruddy Ducks, Common Loons, American Coot and a Pied-billed Grebe. I finally got some decent photos of Hooded Mergansers, thanks to another friend who joined us!
Hooded Merganser
All of us couldn’t help but get photos of this Mallard up close in the sun. As common as they are, you cannot dismiss their beauty!
Mallard
The last highlight was another good one. We went to find local nesting Great Horned Owls and did not come up empty handed.
Great Horned Owl
A great start to a birding weekend. I wonder what tomorrow will bring…
One of the things that I instantly fell in love with when I saw my neighborhood for the first time was the creek that runs along the road. It was in the summer, so the water flowed very peacefully. Little did I know that I would eventually become a birder and the creek would become my favorite birding patch.
Some of the regular visitors to the creek are very chatty Kingfishers.
Belted Kingfisher
And Green Herons, who I typically see flying away before I even spot them. Sometimes, they stay put.
Green Heron in breeding plumage
Green Heron, digiscoped with my Nikon EDG and Canon 7D
Great Blue Herons have been spotted a few times, even though the fish are pretty small.
Great Blue Heron
I often get waterfowl, mainly Canada Geese, Mallards and Common Mergansers.
Male and Female Common Mergansers
Two female Common Mergansers
… who also brought their families along.
Common Merganser Family
Canada Goose Family
I have some one-time visitors that are worth mentioning such as Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers.
Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers
As well as one lone Double-crested Cormorant.
Double-crested Cormorant
Some other nice surprises included a Veery, a very vocal Towhee and Great Crested Flycatchers.
Great Crested Flycatcher
I also often get Warblers, mostly during migration. However, the Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats sing throughout the summer.
The best life bird I had at the creek was such a huge surprise. Before I was a birder, I adored the beauty of Cedar Waxwings. You can imagine how excited I was when I found them hawking insects at my creek. Now I get to see them all the time!
Cedar Waxwing
They would perch on the rocks and on the fallen branches that were scattered throughout. They always seemed to return to the same perches making photos pretty easy.
Cedar Waxwings
At one point, a bit of flooding washed away the branches, so I replaced one in their favorite spot. Not a minute later, I had a taker.
Cedar Waxwing
This past summer I found a Louisiana Waterthrush fledgling.
Louisiana Waterthrush Fledgling
And then Mom showed up, gathering some grub. These birds were very reliable for about two weeks and very easy to spot as they pumped their butts up and down while foraging for food.
Louisiana Waterthrush
The creek gave me my first close up with Turkey Vultures, a bird who is normally seen soaring the skies. They didn’t mind my presence as long as they had their food. They were munching on the bones of a raccoon that is hidden behind a rock. The smell was awful, but the photos were well worth it!
Turkey Vultures
And of course, it is a creek, so birds will find shallow places to bathe…
Bathing Grackles
Bathing Robin and Catbird
… and sun bathe!
Sun Bathing Kingfisher and Catbird
It’s not just the birds that I enjoy here – there are also mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects!
This summer, a pair of Beavers were spotted, but did not stick around. They had many small trees that they chomped down, but perhaps the creek was too much for them to dam up.
Beavers Pair
I often see deer crossing the water.
White-tailed Deer
Deer Couple
Along with many frogs and snakes that I find if I look close enough in the water.
Snake in the Creek
Frogs in the water
The frogs also find their way on the rocks by the dozen. I have to really watch my step sometimes because they are everywhere.
And, of course, the outdoor and feral cats that rule the neighborhood have to cross over at some point.
Domestic Cat
All of this is seen within a quarter mile walk along (and through) the water. I really love this creek. Even on days that there are no birds or other animals, there is always something to enjoy.
