Joy of Birdwatching

I looked at the bird sitings of Down House and Sevenoaks. I think Sevenoaks  must be an aquatic habitat  with a tidal pond and marsh/ wetlands as the birds sitings include  swimming birds, shore birds and sea birds. There bird sitings also included doves etc that are habitat sharers.  Down House  may be predominantly scrub-shrub (maybe a field) with a forested area. The sitings that made me think shrub-scrub were pheasants,  swallows, and larks.  I thought there was a forest because of the nuthatches, finches, jays and crows.

Exploring Bird Habitats Activty 1 visit 2 different habitats and look for differences In Estero FL (longer than usual due to COVID 19) and having hip issues so I went to my lanai (second story in a strip of big Live Oak trees and Palms) and  a spot on a nearby pond where I go all the time.  The rainy season has started and there is a rainy season puddle off my lanai making the sightings much more similar than they are in mid winter dry season. From lanai I only saw a blue jay in the tree but was slow with the camera and you all see them regularly.  Then a big bird flew in and landed in the puddle.  It was a little blue heron.  He stood still for a while and then dashed over to the edge of the puddle and speared a tree frog. He/she then went back to edge near the bushes and waited again.  A second one came but left quickly.  Based on the noises from the trees, most frogs have emerged from the pool and it is not yet full of this years crop of pollywogs and maturing frogs. When I went over to the pond I saw redwing blackbirds and two interesting waterside sites. One was a reddish egret (new bird for me this week) seen above with an Ibis. Below was where 2 of the ibis that are usually there went.  Lok in the tree to their right and there was also a great blue heron in a place one might expect a raptor. He was about 40 feet above the mangrove and most smaller pines.   I had seen the ibis but missed the great blue with out the aid of my 300mm of telephoto. I went to familiar places and saw unfamiliar sights.  Fun with birding..

I visited an area with open grassy fields alongside wetlands surrounded by a little bit of young forest. We were able to see Great Egrets, a Green Heron, and many Canada Geese in the wetlands, swallows and warblers in the grassy areas and trees, as well tons of Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere. In contrast, I live in an urban area, and the birds I observe are unlikely to be egrets and herons, but the Red-winged Blackbirds seem to really like it here too!

Activity 1:  We visited two of our favorite birding spots over the weekend.  The first one is Duranceau Park & Griggs Reservoir and the second is Walnut Woods Metro Park.  Both are in Columbus, Ohio.  The first area is the best area we've found to spot warblers, Baltimore Orioles, and river birds such as the Great Blue Heron.  The second area has two different sections - one section is meadow and open fields with ponds and the second section has tall trees, both deciduous and pine.  We have found Field Sparrows, Red-wing Blackbirds, Tree Swallows and numerous woodpeckers here. By the way, I observed a Great Blue Heron do the same side leg and wing stretch.  I never noticed any bird do this before until this course.  We also are loving the Merlin app!  My husband finally broke down and bought a good pair of binoculars on Amazon so he is much more interested now in birding with me than before.  I am noticing birds so much more now than I ever did before. Activity 2:  Both the Roger Road location in Arizona and the Sevenoaks location near London feature pond birds whereas the Mt. Lemmon and Down House locations have forest birds (and especially at Mt. Lemmon raptors).  These last two locations have a greater diversity of birds, not just waterfowl. Below are three photos of birds from our weekend birding, including a Canada Warbler, Indigo Bunting, and Red-eyed Vireo.

 We visited two local wooded trails (well known to us but now seen in a new light) with descriptions from our area Audubon birding map. The first site has a pond that attracts mallards, Wood Ducks, and (rarely) Green Herons. We didn't spot any ducks here although we had recently seen them at a National Wildlife Refuge Center (photo of mallard enclosed). One bonus of this hilly trail walk was noting we'd have a great high perch along this trail for viewing hawk migration in the fall. The second site visited was a trail alongside a creek that hosts large conifers and a shrubby understory used as habitat for migrant and wintering birds. We keep our Birding map in the car now---along with our binoculars!

Activity 1: I live in Maryland, and we have a very diverse habitat. In a commons by my house, there are 3 different habitats in small areas. It is a great birding area because of this diversity. First, there is a beautiful field bordering a forest, where we find robins, bluebirds, and sparrows. Then, as you get into the woods, we see warblers, thrushes, and woodpeckers. I recently spotted a black-throated green warbler on the edge of a field, which was a lifer for me. You then come out to a sizable creek, where warblers, sparrows, and shorebirds reside. There, I spotted an Osprey, which we have seen flying around our neighborhood. It’s amazing the birding hotspots you can find just mere blocks away from your home.

1.  Wooded  valleys with old growth eucalypts. Nesting hollows for Powerful Owls and Cockatoos. Smaller hollows for other parrots. Lower bushes and undergrowth provide cover for smaller birds such as honey eater species and Silver Eyes. River banks often occupied by ducks, gulls, herons etc. Grassy areas and open woodland have Magpies and parrots.

Activity 1.  The area I live in is a peninsula between the George’s and Wa

Activity 1: I visited the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge this past Sunday. It's a big nesting spot for Wood Storks, and there were literally hundreds if not thousands of those guys. At Harris Neck, you can find a lot of species of coastal birds and waterfowl. One I was unfamiliar with was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck (pictured), and I used Merlin to identify them. While I didn't see one that day, Harris Neck is also home to the Painted Bunting - one of my favorite birds! Since the refuge consists of saltwater marsh, grassland, mixed deciduous woods, and cropland, this is a great spot to view a great variety of bird species. As I'm typing this, I'm at another location: my town's local high school (about 30 minutes from the refuge). I'm the librarian there, and I am currently sitting outside waiting for students to drop off their library books for the end of the year. Anyway, I'm facing an open athletic field and a few medium-sized trees and bushes. Besides the bunny that is hopping from bush cluster to bush cluster, there are about ten or so Boat-Tailed Grackles (thanks again to Merlin!) who appear to spend most of their day around this spot. While you would probably find these at Harris Neck also, they are unavoidably noticeable here. They are loud and extremely visible. Not shy at all. There is a also a mockingbird that drops by occasionally. At any rate, this place is definitely NOT conducive to species like Wood Storks or Painted Buntings.

I visited a certain suburban neighborhood that was recently constructed, and it is very hard to find birds in it. There aren't any mature trees or open natural grassy areas in the neighborhood for foraging. It's just planted sod with hardly any weeds, and the inhabitants use lawn chemicals all the time. It's very sad. However you can find some birds if you know where to look. In the one tree that is medium-sized, lots of House Sparrows chirp. They may be seen hopping on the sidewalk too. House Finches live nearby in the gutter of one of the cookie-cutter homes. If you look up in the sky for a while, you can spot soaring Turkey Vultures looking for road kill. All these birds are generalists, and they are able to make a home in the uninviting neighborhood. A little walk to the edge of the neighborhood reveals a small area of habitat that is easy to look past. Perhaps it is the only "eyesore" in the entire place, although a necessary one. It is the drainage ditch, and the water-loving plants that grow in the center are unable to be mowed down. On the electrical poles and from the cattails is the song of the Red-Winged Blackbird, which prefers a wetland habitat. The ditch is only big enough for one family group, but at least it's something.

Activity 1: The first place I went was my front yard, which is in a suburban area. There are a few big trees, and lots of wide open grassy yard. It is also near a busy road, and surrounded by houses and telephone poles. I House Sparrows and House Finches in the trees. I saw starlings poking around in the grass in my yard. I saw doves on the telephone poles. Next, I went to a nearby pond. Here, there is a large-ish body of water with a bridge over it. There's a rock barrier separating a secluded spot from the rest of the pond. There are a few smaller willows. Here, I see many Mallards and coots. I also see Barn Swallows catching bugs over the water and perching under the bridge. I see gulls and cormorants perching on the barrier.

I wonder if coastal dune scrub would fit under shrub habitats.  I find bluebirds, nuthatches, shrike, phoebes, kestrel, yellow-rumped warblers, gnatcatchers, tree swallows, mockingbirds, thrashers, towhees, dove, and a few sparrows if I'm lucky.

activity 2: Roger Road. Wetlands, mountains on both sides, parks, river, a large number of species, feeders of many varieties. Likely a large migration area due to the abundance of food. The many duck varieties would have leaves, reeds, small fish and crustaceans. Many tree feeders like the sparrows. Flowers for the hummingbirds. Park and open areas for hawks to hunt. Some flycatchers. Mt. Lemmon: Half the number of species as Roger Road. A great deal more larger birds; hawks hunting, woodpeckers who have a varied appetite for insects, nuts, sap and pine seeds. Being a mountain area there are likely a lot of evergreens; a perfect place for hawks and Ravens to sit and watch for rodents. A number of tree foragers like the sparrows. Colder temperatures and limited food sources, compared to Roger Road. Most of the species there likely are permanent/seasonal residents.

Activity 1: Surprising to me, by our large lake, there is not a lot of diversity. A lot of Canada Geese, some Mallards and other migrating ducks, Sandpipers, and a few birds in the large trees close by (American Goldfinch, European Starlings, ). In the marshes close by are Great Blue and Grey Herons, Mallards, Ruddy Ducks, Gadwall, American Coots, hybrid ducks, American Wigeon, sparrows, Osprey, and on and on. The marshes have so many food sources compared to the lake. I have seen the herons at the lakeshore, but not often. 

Activity 1: Two different habitats that I frequent when out birding are 1) a wooded and reedy riverbank, and 2) a wetland forest area. I definitely see different species in each, though there is an overlap. In the former, I see many water fowl (e.g., Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Double-Crested Cormorants, Greater Scaups, etc), as well as a large quantity of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Tree Swallows, and Song Sparrows. In the latter, I also see Red-Winged Blackbirds, but I rarely see any water fowl or Song Sparrows. Instead, I see American Robins, Common Grackles, sometimes White-Breasted Nuthatch, a few different species of woodpeckers, and a wider variety of warblers. Activity 2: I compared species at the two locations in Arizona. Roger Road seems to be a wetland. We see water fowl, a variety of sparrows, birds that forage in shallow water, like Great Egrets, and so on. By contrast, Mt. Lemmon seems to be, well, a mountain top. We see a larger variety of hawks, woodpeckers, and other birds that live in forests. I would guess it is a forested mountain trail.

I thought Roger Road in Arizona was more aquatic in nature (like a lake or pond) since I found swimming birds.  Mount Lemmon in Arizona was more like a scrub shrub because there were chicken like birds, hummingbirds, fliers, raptors and owls.  In London at the Down House it seemed to be more urban with Pigeon and Dove, songbirds and fliers.  Seven Oaks London had an aquatic nature (maybe a lake) with swimming birds; ducks, seabirds; gulls, pigeons and doves and fliers.  This was hard a hard exercise!

Activity 1: This optional activity was a bit more challenging given widespread park closures, uncooperative weather, etc., but I found it very rewarding: different habitat, different birds! I guess I’d never really paid careful attention to it — and especially not while traversing among habitats. Open habitats: I drove to a parking area along a road adjacent to cow pastures. Along the fence line, I spotted a number of Tree Swallows (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tree_Swallow/) going in and out of nest boxes there and also zipping and darting through the air above the field. Leaving the parking area on foot, I saw a Barn Swallow (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/), who, I kid you not, flew out of a barn! It was possible to further distinguish him by his deeply forked tail and orange-brown underside. Soaring above the fields were a few Turkey Vultures (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Turkey_Vulture/), judging by the gray flight feathers. They were riding thermals and looking for, presumably, dead stuff. Forested habitats: Following the trail led me first into a mature forest. I could hear a number of different songs and calls but, this being decidedly not my backyard, the sounds were unfamiliar to me. I found it frustrating to be very close to birds but not able to see any… until a brilliant red caught my eye, high in the canopy: Scarlet Tanager (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/) hunting (?) along a branch. Merlin helped me to quickly identify this bird and listening to the in-app sound clips made me realize that I’d been hearing him all along! In the more open, second-growth part of the forest, I saw a pair of familiar American Goldfinches (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/) and a few less familiar Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-gray_Gnatcatcher/) — the latter identified by their long, mostly black tails with white edges (helpful, since they were flitting about quickly overhead and hardly paused!). Finally, there was a bird that I wasn't able to see clearly enough to identify (I only have a pair of 8x21s after all): it was sparrow-sized and appeared to be feeding from a bloom high in the treetops. I guess it's good to always have at least one mystery to ponder.

Activity 1 - Place 1 - My office in industrial area - I saw jungle babblers, sunbirds, treepie, red vented bulbuls, tailor bird, Indian robin, Brown rock chat, francolin, swifts, green bee eaters, house sparrows and of course pigeons. Place 2 - Man Sagar lake, Jaipur  - I saw Mallards, Egrets, little cormorant, herons and other water birds.

I am blessed with living on a farm where we have several habitats, including crop fields, pasture with hedgerows, an orchard, pine forest, mature hardwood forest, pond and lakeshore.  I watch Canada Geese, mallards, wood ducks, mergansers and grebes on the pond and lake.  Osprey and kingfishers also choose to fish there.  The Kingbirds that spend time catching insects in the pasture will often come skim the pond surface for water bugs, or to get a sip of water.  (I’m not sure what they are getting, I just see them swooping down to the pond’s surface.) Great Blue Herons also stalk around the shallow edges of the pond and lake and they hunt for fish. The hedgerows along the pasture are home to field sparrows, Gold Finches, and Purple House Finches.  We often see Meadowlarks and Mourning Doves in the pasture, along with Redwing Blackbirds, Cowbirds, and Starlings. Bluebirds and Kingbirds perch on the power line above the pasture searching for insects to catch.  In the orchard, I see Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and sometime, Phoebes. The crop fields host a variety of birds, depending on the crop planted there.  Corn, soybeans, peanuts and cotton are the crops usually grown, rotated yearly.  Seagulls fill the field the days the fields are tilled, and for a couple days thereafter.  Tilling time is the only time I see Seagulls on our farm. Once the crops begin growing, the bird population in the field changes. Killdeer have been known to nest in the field between crops. The mature hardwood forest hosts Great-horned Owls, Wild Turkeys, and Pileated Woodpeckers.  Many small birds flit between trees and I struggle to identify them when I only get a brief glimpse. (this course is helping, as I am using Merlin, and a camera to capture pictures I can study)

Activity 1 - Lockdown has been lifted partially , 7 Am to 11 AM only, will try to go to lake Mansagar tomorrow. Activity 2 - Two spots in Arizona: Roger Road and Mt. Lemmon Belted Kingfisher,Mallard,Great Egret,Snowy Egret,Double-crested Cormorant,Green winged teal, double crested cormorant and wood duck these birds indicate that there is a lake/river at Roger raod.  This is the only difference that I can prove through the difference is the species , without looking at the terrain maps of these two places.  

Activity 1: The land right around my home has both open field and trees/wooded areas so we have birds that one would expect in that habitat, but do not see water birds. When we ventured to a nature preserve nearby located on the Shenandoah river, we saw great blue herons nesting, plenty of Canada geese, and a bald eagle. When bicycling along the C&O Canal towpath we saw common loons and a green heron on the water in the canal.

Activity 2: Roger Rd. vs. Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ I know this area of Pima County well having lived there for over a decade.  Mt. Lemmon's peak is around 9,000 feet.  Switch-backing up the mountain, one begins in a lush riparian ecosystem called Sabino Canyon filled with seasonal waters from spring snow melt on the mountain.  Roger Road is in the arid, flat lands of the Sonoran Desert.  The Pima, who call themselves Tohono O'odham people, were early engineers channeling run off from the mountain and annual monsoon rains for agriculture whilst also utilizing desert native plans such as prickly pear cactus fruit and mesquite beans for flour.  These two location, as one would expect, are as geographically different as night and day--literally alpine forest vs. desert floor and the bird diversity or lack thereof is evidence of that.  Roger Rd. has no bird sightings yet for May on eBird and only a few bird sightings (2 doves, 1 vireo, 1 flycatcher) in April.  Contrast that with the bird diversity and abundance on Mt. Lemmon which had, in May so far, more than 10 each of:  yellow-eyed junco; house wren; violet-green swallow; stellar's jay; as well as a wide-array of other birds including robin, warblers, thrush, and hummingbird. Activity 1:  My neighborhood (Los Gatos, CA) vs. Los Gatos Creek/Vasona Lake My neighborhood has lots of both native (California Buckeye, Coast Live Oak, Redwood, Sycamore) and imported (Chinese Elm, Magnolia, etc.) and flowering bushes of lots of varieties (bottlebrush, oleander, etc.), so it attracts a wide-array of tree/shrub dwellers year round:  red tailed hawk; tree swallows; hummingbirds; wrens; oak titmouse; sparrows; etc.  At the end of my street is the entrance to the Los Gatos Creek trail.  The trail is fed bay Vasona Lake which is fed by the Lexington Resevoir in the hills.  The Creek is set about with willow, oak, and other native trees.  On the creek you'll find coots, mallards, egrets, herons, and Canada geese.

1.  Mowed acre field, north Florida: rose breasted grosbeak (immature male or female, migratory) ruby-throated hummingbird Carolina wren chickadee Adjacent Lobloly pine and sand pine forest: white eyed vireo cardinal Carolina wren whipporwill (evening)   2.  Roger Road: water/shore birds   Mount Lemmon: no water/shore birds

Activity 1 Our local pond has many species of birds. when walking around the pond we saw mallards, some with babies, Canadian geese, and we saw one white goose. downy woodpecker. We also saw a group of chimney swifts flying by. Our other habitat is our neighborhood. We saw European starlings - lots of them. Also we saw sparrows, robins, mourning doves, cardinals, turkey vultures and a flicker feeding on the ground.

In my area I have a more suburban stretch with flowing trees and gardens, and also not too far away a boardwalk along and estuary.  In the former I see and hear many types of sparrows, woodpeckers, robins, cardinals, blue jays, mourning doves, starlingss and red wing blackbirds.  These species also appear in the estuary area but join ring and herring gulls and mallard ducks, cormorants and fish crows.   Comparing Roger Road vs Mt Lemmon, we have a wetland or marsh area at Roger Rd vs a Moutainous region wt Mt Lemmon with both open and wooded areas. Looking at Down House and Seven oaks we have two areas in 'settled' zones. The former in the midst of rural fields with trees and hedges dividing them while Seven Oaks seems to be a small wood near a village.