Mary

For activity 2 we went to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and saw so many birds, even a Trumpeter swan (we think, as it was hard to see the bill color to be certain).  But what was challenging was seeing eagles, ospreys and turkey vultures.  At times it was hard to say for sure what was flying overhead due to the dark colors on all.  We used the Merlin app and it did help. For activity 1 at my home feeder, I can tell the difference by the shapes because I know the birds that regularly come to my feeder, and have identified them in the past.  It is more difficult to tell just by shape in the wild, it is needed to know the size also, and maybe the color or sound will help to.  We saw tree swallows and sparrows and the shape of the bird and its flight was enough to help differentiate. I love learning these new ways of looking at birds in this course!!!

Hello from Western New York. We are blessed by having the Niagara River, the Erie Canal and Ellicott Creek nearby so we get to see different birds of varied kinds. By the water, of course, we see many gulls, which I have to learn more about the varieties. Once at the river I saw a dunlin. I saw what I think were goldeneye ducks by the river a few weeks ago, I have never seen them here  before so I wondered if they were passing through. At my own birdfeeder we get sparrows, juncos, bluejays, cardinals, grackles, starlings, red wing blackbirds (which I just noticed a female for the first time), downy woodpeckers, mourning doves and an occasional goldfinch and Baltimore oriole.  Once I saw a flock (?) of Cedar waxwings on my crabapple tree. A drive of 40 minutes takes us to the Iroquois National Wildlife refuge where we see eagles, herons, terns, sandhill cranes, common yellowthroat, ducks, geese.  I can't wait to get back there to see if there are babies in the eagle nest. Today I went by the creek and saw robins, blackbirds, a pair of cardinals, a hawk being chased in flight by a small bird, a semipalmated plover, and some goslings feeding in the grass near mom, with dad nearby guarding them from intruders! Thanks for letting my share my excitement with you all.  I love hearing what you see from your neck of the woods!