Susan
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Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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I looked up the Bald Eagle, which I had seen close up in October (a pair of them) while kayaking. I was surprised to see they migrate, and they're less present here in the height of summer. Dark-Eyed Junco. They are most abundant here in winter, which is what the map indicates, although since I'm near the Adirondacks, we actually have them year-round. I didn't realize this about them. I do see them much more as it gets colder. I also researched the Baltimore Oriole, since I had seen one here in late spring. They aren't very common, it would seem, so I feel lucky that I spotted it a few times. I also looked up the Scarlet Tanager. I had once accidentally seen this bird at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens much to the dismay of a group of birdwatchers who were looking for it! That was in May. I would love to see one again. It looks like they might travel through upstate New York in late spring and might even be spotted throughout the summer.
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I kept seeing an interesting bird while kayaking in the early autumn this year. When I looked it up in the bird book, it seemed to be an American Bittern, but I had never heard of them being in our area (actually, I knew very little about them in general). I just went onto eBird and discovered several sightings of American Bitterns over the past five years, all around the Hudson River within several miles of where I had been seeing one. Now I'm pretty sure that I was correct in my identification.
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I recently discovered that I have both the red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches coming to my feeders. (Although the red-breasted nuthatch hasn't been around since late October.) I was able to identify them not just by color, which can be a little confusing since the white-breasted still has some red, but by the markings on their heads and eyes. I also was able to identify the female house finches by the markings on their tails and the shapes of their beaks. I learned that cardinals are finches, and I now look at beaks as one way to identify finches.
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I chose the Belted Kingfisher. I met a few kingfishers this summer-fall while kayaking on the Hudson River. They come across as quite the characters: chatty and bossy, but so fun to watch. At first, I had mistaken them for blue jays since it seemed--from a distance--in flight they have similar markings on their wings. In researching them for this activity, I discovered that what I thought was a male is actually a female. This is one of the few species where the female is more brightly colored than the male. She has a rust band or belt, whereas the male does not. They burrow into fairly deep holes. I also looked up the red-breasted nuthatch since I have two who have been spending a lot of time at our feeder since October. They are often around chickadees and titmice, and I wasn't sure if that was just our two, or a coincidence. But apparently this is common behavior. I really love watching them hop up and down the tree, then dive in for a quick grab at the feeder. My source of information: Cornell Lab, All About Birds.
Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)