Christine
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I helped at a bird count marking the birds spotted by different groups. A young man was seated in my area who was probably only 18 but he could identify all the birds we heard by their calls, chirps and songs. He had been studying them his whole life. It was fascinating and I was so jealous as I am 70 now. I thought what a wonderful gift he has to enjoy for his whole life. I don't see well enough to distinguish birds or locate them all that well quickly enough, but through this course and others taken here too have learned other ways to help me get to know them. I am a very early riser and I love to have my windows open (weather permitting in Minnesota!) So I can hear the pre-dawn chorus! It starts my day out right. Growing up I remember seeing more Bluebirds and Baltimore Orioles. I did Bluebird monitoring for a Nature Center a few years ago and it was disheartening to see how few hatchlings made it. I live in an apartment with no patio or deck and I don't drink coffee, so my biggest contributions are since covid I have done lots of walking in the neighborhoods around my house. I pick up all the plastic and other trash on my way and dispose of it properly and when we could, I worked at Earth day cleanups along the Mississippi and at native plant plantings and prairie restorations and seed gatherings. Thanks for a great course. I really learned a lot!
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Activity 3: male Am.Goldfinch in summer vs winter: In summer...bright yellow very black crown and wings, white wing bar and rump, orange beak. Winter looks almost olive gray like summer female, grayer overall, dusky beak, less yellow on breast, black wings and tail still with white bars on tail . Black crown gone-- now lighter olive with some black spots on the forehead. Common Loon summer: all black head with bright red eye, black bill, very contrasty black and white patterns on neck, chest and back, vibrant greenish teal neck collar. Winter: white on face neck and chest. Only a part band of black for a collar not all the way around. Bill is grayish. Back pattern more subtle brown/black, subdued, eye is darker, not vibrant red.
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Activity 2: Three year round birds in the greater MPLS/St. Paul área of MN até: Crows, Cedar Waxwings ( in the Twin Cities area anyway) and White-breasted Nuthatches. Turkey Vultures are in my area from April to Oct. Same for Tree Swallows. The Eastern Meadowlark only come up to the middle of the state and are here from about March to September. I have seen Cedar Waxwings, White-breasted Nuthatches, Turkey Vultures and Tree Swallows, and have a murder of Crows outside my apartment window. I'm not sure if I have seen an Eastern Meadowlark.
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Activity 1: the Northern Cardinal barely moves within the US. While the Blackburnian Warbler migrates from S. Am. To Canada and back. Scarlet Tanager goes from western S and central Am to the Eastern Half of the US. While the Western Tanager goes from west Central Am to Western Us and western Canada. Ruby-throated Hummingbird goes from Central Am to the Eastern Half of the US up into Canada. While the Rufous Hummingbird is in a small area of western Mexico and goes up a western strip of the western US and Canada. But the reverse migration covers most of the Rocky My states and more of Mexico. Sandhill Cranes: some always stay in Florida year-round. And a little along the center in California. But most are in TX OK and Ohio River Valley and then move straight north in the Midwest and Great Lakes area into N Alaska and northern Canada and around Hudson Bay. The go back mostly through the center of the US. Yellow-bellied Flycatchers go from Central Am and the Eastern Half of the US and from there high into central Canada up almost to Alaska but miss most of west Central Canada. On the way back they go along the east side of Mexico to Central Am.
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