An unbelievably perfect day.....

......despite the tired feet, aching shoulders, and sore neck that we both had by the end of the day!  We could not have asked for better weather.  70's and sunny.  Light breeze.  Low humidity.  If only Jehovah could have made the sun stand still so that it would have lasted a little longer! 

We got a fairly early start.  Arrived at David Weld Sanctuary before 10:00 a.m.  The sanctuary was a feast for the auditory senses.  There was birdsong everywhere.  The birds were there too, but not satisfying the optical senses quite as much.  It took much more effort to find those virtuosos!  There were many common, backyard birds and a few summer migrants.  (They will be mentioned in another post.)  For the purpose of our blog, we record only the year-round residents.  Our first find was a Brown Thrasher.  (Two actually.)  They posed so beautifully in front of us on tree branches covering our path.  Not quite close enough for a photo, but we were able to get a good long look at them with our binoculars.  After realizing we walked for an hour in a big circle, we set off on another path.  Along the way we heard a beautiful, rich, loud song.  We stopped and scanned the trees.  Nothing.  The sound grew louder.  Nothing.  Finally, the bird flew onto a branch right in front of us.  This loud song was coming from a little Carolina Wren!  What lungs!  After that we continued heading north.  The trees gave way to the blue of the Long Island Sound.  Might as well use these chairs that we've been carrying!  Sat in the sun on the bluff.  We could have stayed there all afternoon, but, of course, we had places to go and birds to see.  While not much was happening birdwise along the shore, we did see some Common Mergansers.  (We had seen them before today, but were not familiar enough with them to make a positive i.d.)  At about noon we decided to head back to the car.  We had a lunch date with our friend affectionately known as "the Napster."  We were treated to a delicious and relaxing lunch at B.L.T.'s in St. James.  "The Napster" would love to bird with us, but today was not a good day.  Maybe next time!

After lunch we moved on to our second birding locale for the day.  The East Farm Preserve, which adjoins the Avalon Preserve.  Started out following the yellow trail at the East Farm Preserve.  We meandered through the woods on this trail for about an hour.  We have come to realize that there is always a midday lull, when it comes to birds.  Perhaps they take a siesta.  We followed the yellow trail north into the adjoining Avalon Preserve.  Our book says that Great Horned Owls and their fledglings can sometimes be seen in these woods from late April to early May.  We saw some nests that looked like they could have been made by owls, but no owls.  No worries.  We kept on walking, and walking, and walking.  Finally, we thought it would be a good time to use these chairs we were still carrying!  They started out this morning weighing about 5 or 6 pounds.  Now at about 4:00 p.m., after carrying them ALL DAY, it seems like they weigh more like 15 or 20 pounds!  So we set a spell, right in the middle of the trail.  And it felt good!  At this point we weren't sure where we were or how far away the car was.  So we packed up our 25 pound chairs and moved on.  We finally came to the parking lot, only to realize that this is not the lot we parked in.  This is the lot for the Avalon Preserve.  We had to continue on the yellow trail.  Even though we were carrying 30 pound chairs, it was a beautiful walk.  The trail took us through open fields of grassland and hedgerows.  We spotted our fourth bird for our list, soaring over the treetops.  He was unmistakable in the afternoon sun, which was shining on his bright red tail.  A Red-Tailed Hawk!  As we approached the end of our trail, (or so we thought,) we lingered near a hedgerow.  By late afternoon, the bird activity picks up again.  We were rewarded with a Northern Flicker sighting.  Onward to the car.  As we crossed the road, we soon found out that the yellow trail takes us through yet another field (there are five fields in all) before we get to the parking lot.  Even though we were very tired, it was still a nice walk, despite having to carry 35 pound chairs.  We really need someone to caddy for us!  Any volunteers?  We finally arrived back at the car about three hours after we started.  Though totally exhausted, we had a great day.  Can't wait to do it again. 

Kudos to our birding friend Louie, (whom we have never met) for suggesting these wonderful birding spots to us.

Wire Bird Feeder

We have a few more projects that we want you guys to take a look at before our shindig.  This one is called the Wire Bird Feeder.  It looks pretty interesting.  I am sure everyone has an old umbrella that is either bent or otherwise not perfect that  you could use for this project.  You can just make the individual feeders and hang them up by themselves.

I know just where I would hang this in my backyard. 
So save your soda cans, because this is better than recyling.  Albeit this one is not for apartment dwellers but most of our bloggers have yards, so go to it!

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Six (MOURNING DOVE)

Well, I don't know about you, but I haven't heard too many Robins!  Keep their song in mind.  I know they will begin singing any day now!  We have an easy bird this week.  Very recognizable.  The Mourning Dove can be heard at different times during the day, but more so in the early morning.  They have a very hollow and mournful call, sometimes mistaken for an owl.  Oo ah, ooo, ooo, ooo. The other common sound they make is kind of a whistling twitter when they take off.  They are often seen in neighborhoods and roadsides.  If you are not familiar with their call, check out www.birdjam.com/learn.php.  Click on Mourning Dove.  Good birding to all!

Nest in a Boot Project

We have another birding project for our fellow birders.  This project looks really great!  Hopefully someone out there has an old boat laying around just waiting to become a bird house.

We will try to have a few more project ideas for our 'Birding and Bonding' soiree the end of May.  So let's see who all our adventurist birders are out there.  Even though many birds nest in the spring, there are quite a few birds that will lay eggs multiple times in a year.  And there is always next year.  According to my bird book, this house could attract the Tufted Titmouse, Black Capped Chickadee or a Wren.  So keep us posted with your comments and let us know what you think.

Some Updates

Found out a few days ago that my new friend Kimmy and my old friend Kimmy have lots of wild parakeets in their old Copaigue stomping ground.  Have pursuaded one of the Kimmys to give up the exact location, which she was more than happy to reveal.  It seems these birds make their nests on the warm electical transformers, and are here all year round.  Ar and I will have to go have a look-see.

Also found out today, (from a very reliable source), that Seatuck is now open to the public.  It has opened an Environmental and Educational Center.  There is a calendar of events at www.seatuck.org. Must have a look-see there as well.

Birding expedition planned for the end of the week.  Hope we have lots to share!

Twig Nest

We were working in the yard over the weekend when I happened to notice this fairly large twig nest.  We have been watching the nest off and on, but we can't identify who lives there.

It has been a few days now, and we still haven't seen a bird near the nest.  My husband wants to believe that it is an owl nest.  According to what I've read about Great Horned Owl, they can nest in a variety of sites including old stick nests of other birds (similar to the one pictured here).  They apparently do not build their own nests.  So my husband and I decided to put up our own Owl nest in our yard and see what happens.

When we first moved into our house, our oldest son was buzzed one night by an owl in our yard.  So we know they are close by.  We will keep everyone posted.

Wild Parrot Alert!

Got it from a good source (Virgie) that there is a big green bird hanging out in Rocco's backyard!  There are wild parrots here on Long Island.  They are often seen in Brooklyn.  The two photographs are pictures of Brooklyn parrots.  They have also been spotted in other locations across the Island.  We went to check it out for ourselves.  We found Rocco, but not the big green bird, although we did see the two nests that he was hanging around.  (The bird, that is, not Rocco)  Rocco is on birdwatch duty now and he said we could birdwatch in his backyard anytime.  So keep your eyes peeled next time you pay a visit to Rocco!

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Five (AMERICAN ROBIN)

Well, birding might have been a bust for alot of us this past week.  The weather compared to the week before was freezing!  Cold, damp, overcast - otherwise known as RAW!  (Really Awful Weather)  The birds were still doing their thing, but perhaps we were doing ours -- trying to stay warm, inside!  Anyway, we're focusing on another common backyard bird this week, the American Robin.  I, along with most people think of these birds as spring birds.  The truth is that they are here all year long, even though there is some seasonal movement.  We do, however, see very little of them in the winter.  Since the ground in winter is either snow-covered or hard, they are found more feeding in trees or shrubs, rather than on the ground.  But, come spring, and they are everywhere!  You will see them mainly in yards and open fields.  Something else interesting about American Robins is that the males do the singing and this singing is not to advertise territory or to attract a mate.  They sing just before their young hatch.  This singing is repeated with each brood, (2 to 3 broods throughout the summer.)  Listen for them early in the day and at dusk.  Their song is three or more song phrases seperated by a short space, then the pattern is repeated.  The verbal equivilent is cheeriup, cheerily, cheeriup.  They have several call notes:  teeek, teeek is one; tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk is another; and this one is from my source book and I am putting it in just because it made me laugh, teacheacheacheach-oochoochooch!  Check out their songs and calls at www.birdjam.com/learn.php.  Click on American Robin.  May we all enjoy a great birding week!

Mystery Solved!

It looks like our expert birder, Louie, whom I have never met, has identified the mystery ducks.  Sandy was right!  They are some offshoot of the Mallard.  He said the tell tale sign was the curled tail feathers.  I looked this up in the field guide and, sure enough, Mallards are the only ducks with curled tail feathers!  Thanks, Louie for solving the mystery and for the suggestions on some birding hotspots.  We'll try them out.

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Four (BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE)

If you've had any trouble identifying any of the bird calls over the past three weeks, fear not.  This week will be a breeze.  The Chickadee's call is the same as it's name:  Chick-a-dee-dee-dee.  It is very clear and enunciated as is the fee-bee call. In the fee-bee call, the first note is higher than the second note.  I think of it as someone saying you-who. This is usually followed by another Chickadee responding with the same call.  There are other various calls they make, but the above two are the most distinctinve.  Here's the link to have a listen, http://www.birdjam.com/learn.php. Click on Black-Capped Chickadee.  These adorable little birds are quite inquisitive and trusting.  They will even feed out of your hand once they become used to you.  Look for them just about everywhere:  deciduous trees and evergreen trees in neighborhoods and parks.  Common at feeders.  As always, Happy Birding!

Sandy's Ducks

As San mentioned, we always have good intentions but wherever the day takes us is sometimes even better than we hoped.  The sun was high in the sky, we were on a street near the water and a park so the birds were singing and our anticipation for birding later that day was high on our minds. 

Sandy had laid out a beautifully set table where we had lunch and a nice glass of wine.  Sandy had put out suet in the morning to make sure there were birds in her yard for us to watch.  So after lunch we headed into her back yard to watch some birds.  Since they are right on the water they have quite a few ducks that were taking in some sun on their beach.  (By the way, Sandy had her husband blow out all the 'duck doo' so we could walk about looking in the sky instead of on the ground watching our steps.  Thanks Warren!)  So the first ducks we saw were the Muscovy ducks with a face only a mother could love.

Then we saw the mystery ducks.  Trust me we looked through every book we had and could not find this duck in there.  So here is a picture of the ducks we saw.  There weren't any differences in them so we don't know if they were male, female or one of each.  Their heads were a greenish brown color and the feathers were somewhat black and white.  So if anyone can identify them please let us know.  The consensus is they are a cross between Mallards and something else, what we don't know.


Overall we had a great day.   We were exhausted from having to play with Sandy's dog Chloe. Chloe is the cutest little Papillon that apparently loves to play fetch, tirelessly.  She would bring you the ball and place it at your feet, and stare at you pleadingly until you threw the ball.  Once you did you couldn't stop.  If you dared to stop she would bring the ball to someone else.  Finally the ball went into the water so the games were over (I think someone threw it in there on purpose, not sure who).  So we went back to lounging on the deck and the next thing we know Chloe had the ball and was waiting for one of us to throw it.  When the sun left the backyard we followed it around to the front of the house and lounged yet again. 

So even though there was a back entrance to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum just a few yards away we never made it into the park.  We want to thank Sandy & Warren for having us over, we will try birding there again.  It is definitely a great birding spot.  Sandy is truly a nature lover.

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Three (NORTHERN CARDINAL)

Northern Cardinals sing all year long.  Their song is abundant at this time of year.  They are, of course, easy to spot by their bright color.  Look for them in evergreen trees, thickets and brushy areas, and suburban gardens.  They have various whistled phrases, often including either a down-slurred cheer or an up-slurred wheet, followed by a series of repetitious notes.  Also their purdy, purdy, purdy call is often heard.  They also have a distinctive call note which is a loud chip.  Please visit this link to hear a sample.  http://www.birdjam.com/learn.php.  When you get there, click on Northern Cardinal.  Keep in mind there are still some regional differences in their calls and songs.  The audio should still give you a good idea of what to listen for.  Happy birding!

Passive Birdwatching

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day.  Sunny and the temperature was in the high 60's.  While the plan was to do some "active birding" at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Ar and I, in a blissfully aimless state, just went with the flow.  And what flow was that, you may ask.  After spending a morning in the field, (ministry, that is), we had lunch with our friends Sandy and Christine at Sandy's house, which is located in close proximity to the Arboretum.  Close enough, in fact, that we were able to relax in her backyard and enjoy the birds coming to us!  Otherwise known as "passive birdwatching"!  While we saw many birds, some were already on our list. Others, such as the Ospreys and Swallows are here in the summer only, and therefore, could not be added to our list.  Her neighbor's Muscovy ducks also paid us a visit.  The concensus is still out on Frick and Frack, the two ducks we could not identify.  There was nothing similar to them in any of our field guides!  We have a photo and will keep you posted.  So even though our list hasn't grown, we had a really nice afternoon.  Thanks, Sandy, for your hospitality.