Raphael

On my walk outside, I noticed a large flock of European starlings in a tree -- their "caw-ing" sounded similar to that of the Red-winged blackbird. There must have been 20 or so of them perched up in the tree, calling at each other. Then all of a sudden they all flew away at the same time. The way that they're able to move and act together can at times be mezmorizing.

Brooklyn, NY on 9.28.2021 reports Monk Parakeet as a likely bird sighting. I always thought parakeets were domesticated birds; I could never imagine seeing them in the wild in NYC. Their calls were more screechy than I would have imagined when I listened on the Merlin app.

I went birding in Central Park the other morning, and we noticed multiple warblers in the bushes/trees. Some included Northern Parulas, Magnolia Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and American Redstarts (to name a few.) To the untrained and novice eye, they all looked the same, and it was very difficult to realize what each bird truly was. The only one I was able to slowly recognize were the Northern Parulas because of the pale yellow's/gray's they were showing and their black and yellow bills. Warblers are going to be a fun challenge for me to learn and master; I can't wait.

I want to see a painted bunting in person!!!!!

  I took this photo at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge outside of Philadelphia earlier this year -- something about herons intrigues me. Their "dinosaur-esque" look is incredible and terrifying at the same time. I'm also a fan of the common loon, which I've now learned is part of the waterfowl/duck group. I'm also rather intrigued by the painted bunting, which I recently learned about and would really like to see in person. I would guess that they are considered song birds; however, I'm not too sure which group they would be part of. It'll take some work to be able to be mindful for (and remember) all of the groups and sub-groups for classification purposes.