Sylvia

Activity #1: The course reinforced my feeling that birds are endlessly fascinating, and symbols of a healthy environment, wherever they are. I never want to experience a "Silent Spring." Also as a musician, I relate so intensely to birds' music...happily anyone can enjoy birdsong though!! Activity #2: I live in a sixth-floor NYC apt., so don't have garden or lawn. But if I did, I now have your lists of ways to keep them healthy. Bird strikes are not an issue because of the bars on my windows (but if I ever move to the country, I like knowing how to make sure my windows are not death traps, thanks to this course). I drink tea, not coffee, so I thought I was off the hook on this one -- HOWEVER, it turns out that my favorite brand of tea might use pesticides. So I'm doing the research, and if it's not organic pesticide-free, I'll change tea brands! My cats have always been indoor cats; and I shop with reusable cloth bags and recycle any kind of plastic (and paper and glass...). Activity #3: Yes, I've noticed bird populations going down; i.e., here were no chickadees or robins wintering over in my northern Manhattan neighborhood this year. Activity #4: Changes I'll make include (a) seeing about doing e-Bird (thanks for offering a whole course on e-Bird since I'm a bit of a luddite), (b) changing my tea brand, and (c) continuing to support conservation organizations like the Lab, Audubon, and EarthJustice.

Activity #1. Yes, my notes were helpful...I noted the size and color of some birds, and what the habitat was like. In a forested area, I saw robins, flickers, house sparrows, and a couple of warblers (it is May, after all!). In a marshy area, I saw Canada geese (including mom and four goslings), gulls (we only seem to have ring-billed gulls around Inwood Hill Park), and a solitary egret (it was distant, but I think it was a great egret. And I tried to describe some songs I heard, when I didn't see the birds...e.g. the three "warm-up notes" of the song sparrow; and the "conkaree" of the red-winged blackbird. Activity #2. I actually signed up for a NYC listserve last year: ebirds.nyc. It's been quiet because of the corona virus lockdown here, but today there was a burst of emails because people are starting to see warblers: one woman saw 19 species of warblers early this morning in a park I hadn't heard of, but will now check out (when lockdown is over, that is)

Activity #1: I was interested to learn that the Northern Cardinal is a year-found bird in NE U.S. (the abundance didn't really change throughout the year); whereas the Blackburnian Warbler only summers in the NE U.S., while wintering in Northern South America. The tanagers were very different: the Scarlet Tanager is a migrant, living in the NE U.S. May-Sept, and wintering way down in northern and northwestern South America. The Western Tanager lives in western U.S. about May-Sept., and winters in Mexico and Central America (it doesn't go as far as the Scarlet Tanager). The ruby-throated hummer lives in the Eastern U.S. and southern Canada about May-Sept., and winters in southern Mexico and Central America...whereas the rufous hummer lives in western U.S. (NW mostly) May-Sept., and winters in southern Mexico. As for the sandhill cranes, they summer in northern Canada and Alaska (which surprised me), and winter in FL and TX; whereas the smaller yellow-bellied flycatchers summer way up in western Canada and NE U.S., and winter in Central America. Activity#2: I've seen the following three birds year round in NY: Northern Cardinal, Chickadee, and Rock Pigeon....although I didn't see many Chickadees this winter (someone said they were cyclical, so I hope we see more next winter.) Three birds I see onl part of the year are Scarlet Tanager (which winter in Central America); Wood Thrush, and Yellow Warbler, which winters in northern and Central America. Activity #3: In summer, NY Goldfinches have their black caps, and bright yellow breast and back. In winter, the black cap disappears, and their yellow is very pale. But, I noticed that the black wings with white wing bars stay year-round. As for the Common Loons: in summer, they have a dark black head, striped necklace, and checkered back; whereas in winter the black in the head and the checkered back are muted, and there's no necklace. The neck and breast are white. Activity#4: Now (April) in NYC's Inwood Hill Park, I'm seeing Northern Cardinals, Robins, Rock Pigeons, Starlings, Mockingbirds, Flickers, House Sparrows...the spring migration (which  I think peaks in May) hasn't really started yet. In six months, I'll probably see most of these same birds, many of which don't migrate. If I see migrating warblers in May, they won't be here in six months.

Activity 1. Two birds with different shape: Canada goose and red-winged blackbird Activity 2. Three red birds: male northern cardinal (red all over), red-winged blackbird (red on shoulders), and downy woodpecker (red on nape of head) Activity 3. Three foraging styles: house sparrow (ground), great egret (staring/stalking in water), blue jays - seemingly eating anything at all (attacking robin nest, eating seed from a feeder...) Activity 4: Baltimore oriole (I think I posted this already): black head, orange breast; robin size, beautiful flute-like jazzy song, build hanging nest.