Look! A bird!

[Langue_doc]

On my way to get gas this morning, I saw a heron fly gracefully and sedately acroos the road. There's a river nearby, so he was flying quite low.

I'm surrounded by chipping sparrows here; I'm used to seeing them in parks and wildlife refuges, but not quite so close to living quarters. A few days ago, there was one by my window, chirping away from 4 AM onwards.

[apl68]

Yesterday morning I was out walking and took a break at the front of the local high school.  I got to observe a bunch of little sparrows or swifts flying around and chasing each other.  I'd never seen them there before.  It was quite the show.

At little later, I passed by the library to do a quick check of it before going home and getting ready for church.  There I found a bird in the process of expiring right in front of the main entrance.  So yesterday brought a sad bird sighting as well. 

[Langue_doc]

On the drive back yesterday, I drove over many rivers whose names I couldn't pronounce. There was an egret flying along the bank of one of them, quite close to the road. There were also assorted vulture/hawk birds flying overhead throughout the 3+ hour drive.

Now all I have to do is sit on the deck and see birds. Just as I was pulling into the driveway, I saw a hummingbird on the tree in front. Today he was in the backyard, flitting from bush to bush. Other birds included one or more red-shouldered hawks, which are quite loud, one or more belted kingfishers and pileated woodpeckers that I could hear, but not see, a large raptor that I couldn't identify circling overhead, and an assortment of other birds. I think I'm spending more time on the birds than on the friends I'm visiting.

[Langue_doc]

This morning, after much screeching, the red-shouldered hawk circled slowly overhead, settled on one of the topmost branches of a tree a few yards in front of me, and then took off. It's been non-stop screeching all morning. Yesterday evening, the hummingbird hovered over the potted plant on the table, just inches from me. Surprisingly, no northern mockingbirds yet in this neck of the woods.

[apl68]

Lately, in place of the great egret I've seen at the city park pond, we've had a much smaller egret instead. It's the type we sometimes call "cow birds," because you usually see flocks of them in cattle pastures.  I don't know that I've ever seen one by itself like this before.

[Langue_doc]

Fall migration has started--saw a Canada warbler who stayed in the same area for quite some time. I ran into a birder from one of my earlier bird walks yesterday (in one of my usual birding spots near a body of water) who alerted me to the bird and also to a solitary sandpiper that was flying back and forth across the water. Also saw what looked like a snowy egret, but had the coloring of a great blue heron along another body of water--the light was in my eyes, and I saw the bird out of the car window, so wasn't sure if thi was a heron with his feathers all fluffed up.

[Langue_doc]

During the bird walk this morning, I stumbled upon a green heron who was almost like an extension of the dead twig he was standing on. I saw the movement first, and then the bird. He was on the other side of the small pond, but I still had a good look at him until he stepped off the twig (from a dead bush just inside the pond) and disappeared into one of the holes alongside the pond wall. Later, at another pond, there was a red-tailed hawk, sitting smack in the middle of a bench, surveying the water. He flew off to the other side, then settled on top of one of the small structures, and remained there for some time.

Bird walks are starting, so I'm looking forward to getting out with birders and bird experts who can identify the birds on the walk. This morning, as is usually the case, I came across three birders, at least two of whom I've birded with before. We stopped briefly to chat about the birds we saw this morning. It never ceases to amaze me that during my solitary jaunts I usually run into birders I only know through bird walks, given that this is such a large city with so many birding spots.

[Sea_Ice]

Great Crested Flycatchers still hanging around; male Rubythroat hummers seem to all have migrated, as have the Mississippi Kites; Carolina Wrens still have nestlings!

[apl68]

Saw the sadly mangled remains of a large bird in the street this morning.  It was still dark and I didn't get a very good look at it.  The poor thing may have been a buzzard.

[apl68]

Wild geese sighting!  Much earlier than I would have expected.  It wasn't around here, it was on a visit to my brother out of state.  Though I wouldn't really have expected to see geese that early there either.

[Puget]

I startled a Coopers hawk (and it startled me) in the bushes right by my door when I arrived home the other day. Almost certainly relatedly, there are pigeon feathers all over my yard.

Also, saw a black-crowned night heron along the river the other day. I occasionally see them there, but more frequently there much bigger blue heron cousins.

[apl68]

I heard an owl hooting this morning at the beginning of my morning walk.  Sometimes owls for some reason hoot in a more extravagant manner than usual.  This bird sounded cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.  Wonder what brought that on?

[apl68]

Heard more hooting this morning at the city park.  This time it didn't sound nutty, but it was quite vigorous.  I heard the hooting more or less west of me, just as the dawn sky was brightening in the east.  Maybe that was the owl's way of greeting the dawn?  Otherwise I just heard the birds' morning shift starting to come on.

[Langue_doc]

The green heron's still in its usual spot. Last Wednesday a black crowned night heron was perched on a tree above the water--he didn't move for the longest time. I didn't see him today, but a birder walking past said that she saw him on another tree earlier this morning. The belted kingfisher did his usual loud squack before making his appearance. The second time around, the squacks were even louder, probably because of the red-tailed hawk circling overhead.

[apl68]

Dad saw a big blue heron by the roadside while he and Mom were driving to church on Sunday.  I haven't been spotting them at the city park, but I have heard one croaking in the dark a couple of times recently before dawn.  I think I heard wild geese in the distance this morning.