Bird of the Week!

Over the past several years, Bird of the Week has become, I guess you could say, a spring tradition.  Now thanks to technology, Bird of the Week can move into the 21st century.  Gone are the days of popping in the cassette, searching for the correct spot on the tape, listening to a bird call while looking at the picture of the bird from my Peterson's Guide.  Then if we needed to hear it a second time, the process would begin all over again.   And while many of my friends appreciated learning about the birds this way, I look forward to implementing Bird of the Week here on the blog.   As most of my day is spent outdoors, I have opportunity to hear the birds heralding the coming of spring with song.  By about the end of February or the beginning of March, there is enough singing going on that it becomes easy to identify who's singing what if you learn a few of the common songs and calls.  It adds another dimension to bird watching that I hope you will enjoy.  With that said, I will begin Bird of the Week within a week or two.  It will continue for about eight to ten weeks.  Each week I will focus on a bird that can be heard frequently at that particular time, in the Long Island area.  The new posts will appear on Saturday or Sunday of each week.  Listen to the call or song, then go outside and enjoy the symphony!  I will also give tips on how to locate the birds that you (hopefully) are hearing.  Once your ear becomes attuned to these songs, it really enlivens the world around you.  As the weeks progress, I would love to hear from you, to know how you're doing.  So stay tuned.  I look forward to sharing with you our first "Bird of the Week!"

Eagerly awaiting B.O.T.W.

This morning as I left for work I could hear the American Goldfinch happily chatting in the Oak trees in my backyard.  I heard Canada Geese flying above.  On my drive this morning I saw a few American Crows having breakfast along side the road.  Lots of activity, lots of bird calls, but what I want to know is what is the Bird of the Week?  Well San??? 

Who knew?

You learn something new every day!  Just found out that a group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle.  (I knew that!)  A group of geese in the air is called a skein!  (Didn't know that!)  This is courtesy of a Snapple bottle cap.  I checked it out though.  It's true. 

Spent some time with my BFF on another project, but we didn't even see any birds that we could add to our list!  Looking forward to our next birding get together.

Long time no see...

Haven't blogged all week, not sure where the time went.  I must say though living in the northeast definitely has it's advantages.  Thursday morning when all the trees were still covered in snow on a beautiful sunny morning, my Coral barked Japanese Maple was an absolutely radiant contrast against the white snow.   My thistle feeders were full of American Goldfinch and Dark Eyed, Slate colored Junco's.  I was on the lookout for Bob White all day long, but nothing yet.  I will keep you posted.

Caleb Smith State Park Preserve

Our first official birding day was last week.  We never ventured out of the yard!  Today, we began our birding day from the yard, but then we actually traveled to a state park.  It was a beautiful day!  Very cold, but not a cloud in the sky.  Light wind.  Our birding foray that began in the yard, started with a Tufted Titmouse, a House Finch, a Cardinal, and several American Goldfinches.  Once we entered the park, the birds became more vocal but less visible.  There is a great need to brush up on our bird calls!  However, we must both see the bird in order to add it to our list.  The exception might be our quest for owls, but we're not there yet.  As we ventured further into the park, it was unusually quiet.  Not a movement, not a sound.  Once we passed the "Creaking Tree," we spotted a lake.  There must be birds there!!  Nothing unusual here, however, we did find some birds that we could add to our list.  There were some Mute Swans, Canada Geese, and Mallards and American Crows.  Those pictured on the left hand side are:  American Crow; Tufted Titmouse; Mute Swan; Mallard.  Those on the right side are:  House Finch; Cardinal; Canada Goose; American Goldfinch.  Don't forget to visit the following two sites if you are interested in the calls of these birds:  www.birdjam.com/learn.php and www.enature.com/birding/audio.asp.   This excursion has really whetted our appetite for future visits to many of the other parks and preserves on Long Island.  Stay tuned....

A Clear View

In preparation for birding this afternoon with San, my husband cleans the kitchen windows so as to have a clear view of my thistle feeders.  As he moves on to the French doors to our deck he is outside in his pajamas windexing the outside of the doors, but the windex freezes and now what we have is frozen windex all over the doors and we can't see out at all.  Perhaps when it warms up to say a wind chill of 10 we can try and scrape off the windex.  Good idea, bad timing.  

Road kill...

Driving home this afternoon I came across a couple of American Crow feasting on some new road kill.  As gross as this may seem, so it goes in nature.  On the other hand, I did however see some less threatening birds today.  At my kitchen window, my thistle feeders were packed with American Goldfinch and Dark-Eyed Juncos. 

Looking forward to birding tomorrow with my BFF.