Still, one mustn’t be deterred by the weather so I have been
birding a few times. The first was a
visit to the Water Valley area to the northwest where there was a decent mix of
resident birds [Great Gray Owl], winter residents [Northern Shrike,
Rough-legged Hawk] and migrants [American Tree Sparrow].
Great Gray Owl |
Ferruginous Hawk |
Ferruginous Hawk |
Before the last storm hit, I drove east looking to
photograph some ducks. They all were
very skittish when I approached on foot so the only decent shots I got were
taken from my vehicle. I also enjoyed
observing different mannerisms of the ducks such as their take-off
methods. As shown below, the Northern
Pintail explodes upwards from the water whereas the Common Goldeneye runs along
the water (or ice) before taking flight.
Northern Pintail |
Common Goldeneye |
During last year’s big year, we went birding regardless of
the weather; this year I find that I am much more selective with my
outings. Similarly, the big year blog
had to be written otherwise we would fall too far behind; this year, my blogs
have been sporadic with little focus on my distant end target of 5000
species. While waiting for the birds to
come back, I am hoping to make some progress compiling my mammal list so I will
at least know how far I have to go.
Good birding,
Brian
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