How Did They Know to Show? Counting Birds

Hear how the birds, 

on every blooming spray, 

With joyous music 

wake the dawning day.

~ Alexander Pope

I had hoped to do a couple of Christmas Bird Counts (hereafter CBC) this year. We learn so much from the experts we accompany. We are more spotters than anything, however we surprise ourselves with how many birds we have learned in these few years we have been paying attention.  Of course that was before the broken ankle* and before DH landed in the hospital for a couple of days** after Thanksgiving.

But then a friend suggested I just go park the car at the ponds and see what might show up. 

I agreed as long as I did not have to be responsible for the ducks. I'm still learning the ducks.***

I started going back to the ponds after an absence of a month (because I wasn't driving yet). There were a lot of ducks and the usual suspects including the Vermilion Flycatcher. I saw it a couple of times (I'll add those photos at the end), but I had not seen the Pileated Woodpecker (although others were reporting it). So those were the birds at the top of my list - let's call them the Vermilion and Pileated as we proceed. They are rare birds for our area and they are known to be at this location. No pressure.

Of course there were others I hoped to see - hawks, herons, egrets, and eagles. Would I see the Crested Caracara? What about the Bald Eagle? They seemed to like hanging out at the ponds and I have seen them here multiple times in the past. Would the Cattle Egrets show one last time? They had been at the pond as recently as the beginning of the week. Still, it is rare to see one on a CBC.

There is no way to guarantee any particular bird will show up on a particular day, but I mentally called them to me for a couple of days and tried a little birding magic. Mom and Dad were avid birders. I brought Daddy's binoculars.**** and a recycled envelope (Mom always used the backs of envelopes for lists and I have to keep a paper-pencil tally - works for me). 

I tried to travel light even though I was going to bird from the car. I had to get out of the house on one trip so everything had to hang on me or fit in a pocket...camera, cell phone, and coffee.

It was another beautiful day at the ponds. A blanket of fog gently covered the fields and water. The just-past-full moon hung in the sky as the sun blasted the fog away. The birds huddled in the cold air until the day warmed. 

I drove the length of the road and turned back to a spot I'd selected where the angle would give me the best view of the pond. It is actually a man-made tank where high water extends the banks into the surrounding field. This is where the Pileated nests and feeds and swoops in with it's black and white wings. This is where the Vermilion perches on the snag and moves up and down the fence line. This is where anyone who birds here can provide a long list of amazing sights.

Would they come?

I started noting old friends, took photos of strangers, watched, and listened. And I heard the odd calls of the Pileated off to the south. It called - they called. And then they flew in - one and then two. They disappeared into the hollow tree we think is their nesting tree. They called some more. They moved from this tree to that. It was the longest display I have seen with these birds. Snapping photo after photo (after some fumbling with and cursing of the camera). I did not have time to celebrate as I heard the Vermilion behind me. I only managed a few photos, but I had enough.

Whew! My mission was accomplished before 9 o'clock. Anything else would be a bonus.

And they continued to appear - the Crested Caracara, White-faced Ibis, Meadowlarks, Belted Kingfisher, and a juvenile Bald Eagle. All in all I observed 30 species and most of those I'd hoped to see on this day.

Other birders arrived to identify the ducks.  Thank heaven!

The following photos will give you a little taste of the day.*****

Dawn was lovely.

Black birds...mostly common grackles and starlings. 

The camera did not like this light, but I do not trust the birds. They tend to fly from pond to pond. So one must take the shot one is given.

Greater Yellow Leg. I would get better photos, but this gives you an idea of the initial visibility.

Killdeer, Shovelers, and Wilson's Snipe (I thought the snipe were one of the varieties of sandpipers we see here. I knew I'd be looking these birds up).

Up in a tree there was COLOR - American Kestrel

On the ground the fog made everything over in shades of grey.

Sorry, I love Killdeer.

I kept hearing a Red-Shouldered Hawk and found it in a tree across the pond. I would hear and see another further to the  west southwest.

Did I mention I love Killdeer? I may have to take this shot out - or not.

I wanted to laugh - Would I be interested in hanging out at the ponds for the CBC? Of course I would!

My assigned pond -- Sit here for a few hours, drink coffee, watch, listen...tough gig.

Watch and listen.

Behold!

Another Great Blue Heron

Northern Shoveler

Greater Yellowlegs in the dawn. They have color.

Sometimes the reflection is best.

Darn. I'm not exactly sure what this is. I suppose I have a little more work to do.

How many birds? It is only a cormorant. This tree fools me all the time.

I heard the calls of the Pileated starting about 8:30 or so. They called and stopped; called and stopped; called and appeared around 8:45. The first bird disappeared into a hole in the nesting tree. then it came out and started to drum on nearby trees and I could not seem to get the camera to work (what I did not realize - in my near panic of excitement - was that I had hit the video button.  I thought I had ruined my chance for a decent photo, but then another bird flew over and disappeared. Calling continued. Then I lost track of which bird was where. I just took photos until the birds took a break. The best of my abysmal photos of the Pileated.

This is not a good shot, but it shows how far the Pileated was from me and this tree is one with multiple holes (see two about a bird's-length above the bird on the left side of the tree).

Half of the problem is finding the bird as it moves around from tree to tree. Yeah, I intended this "artsy" shot.

They are gorgeous birds.

There you go.

As the birds moved around, I attempted shot after shot because I never know...

At just after 9:00 I heard the chattery little call of the Vermillion and looked along the fence line to see where it might be. Of course it was behind me at an impossible angle.

I still don't believe this photo considering the contortion required to take it.

The bird moved closer and I got another few shots before it flew. This would be good enough for the identification.

 Then it was back to the Pileated.

You can see these trees are riddled with holes.

 I celebrated my success at the pond by heading home for a break and check of the photos. On the way back I watched a couple of Great Egrets flying over the area. One stopped high in one of the trees by my pond.

I saw a bunch of them - at least four. This was the only egret in a tree.

Panning out so you can see how far away we are.

Still see the egret?

See it now?

As I arrived back at what I think of as the front side of the pond I noticed the Vermilion at the snag in the middle of the pond.

Once again the bird flew. It came back briefly and another birder got a photo. This was it for me.

There are almost always hawks at the turnaround.

 Once back at the pond the Pileated continued the show.

Bad photo, but those two holes mentioned earlier.

Looking in the hole!

After 4 lousy photos of the inside of my car I managed one shot of the Crested Caracara.

Sometimes even a bad shot captures the beauty of this place!

And back to the Pileated again. They were busy and all over the trees at the pond. It was almost madness. How could I stop trying for a better shot?

This time the bird started about 8 feet above the ground and then worked its way down and around the tree.

Whew! I think that is the last of the Pileated. [Sorry!]

How about some other birds? One Great Blue Heron was especially feisty today. There was some display of plumage. It chased other heron and egrets away from certain fishing spots and sometimes out of the pond completely. We saw a total of about 4 Great Blues. I say "about" as they move around. In order to avoid double counting I try to be cautious. I would rather undercount than overcoat.

A GBH perched high in that strangely shaped tree.

And one below.

No good photos of the Meadowlarks so how about a European Starling. They are lovely, if a little overwhelming at times.

Now, there was also a question about Kingfishers. Belted Kingfishers are common here. But we did have a Ringed Kingfisher here in past months that is decidedly rare. I saw a bird twice on Saturday that I thought was the Ringed Kingfisher. It was flying across the road at the end (where I have seen it before) and I did not get a photo. I also believe I heard it calling briefly from the south side of the road where there is an extensive series of ponds and and the river beyond. I did not get a recording. In this case, no photo + no recording = NO SIGHTING.

My consolation prize arrived in the form of a very active Belted Kingfisher. [Yes, there may be more photos than necessary because this is such a cute little bird.]

A Belted Kingfisher flew in. Do you recognize the perch?

This is a favorite spot for birds.

Break - yes, M R Ducks! Northern Shovelers!

The BK moved around a great deal. Then it just perched and became quiet.

It stayed and stayed.

Eventually it flew on...

My closest photo of a "fight" as a  feisty GBH moved aggressively towards this GE and the egret moved along.

Then there was a bit of a stand-off. The GE was on the left....

The GBH was about 30 feet away on the right. [Sorry. The photo through the fence just isn't clear enough.]

Okay. Here it is. You didn't believe me, did you? They got a little closer, but there were no more close-combat situations.

The cormorants stayed out of trouble safely perched in one of the trees.

There might have been some "trash talking."

There were a few vultures - mostly Turkey Vultures...

...and crows. When nothing else was calling the crows were. I saw seven, but there were likely more.

Yes, there really are snipes.

I'm not exactly sure how they hid in this little bit of grass. There were three of them. They just blend in!

There you go - 3 Wilson's Snipe.

It may not look like much, but check out that beak! This is a juvenile Bald Eagle. Yup. It showed up just after 2.

It was something. I didn't hear it call and it didn't stay long.

White faced Ibis

They fought me all day. I finally won. Northern Mockingbird.

One last Great Egret.

 Done. No more birds (except the 3 or 4 I apparently still need to identify -- Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.). I may add them or may just pretend it didn't happen.

Just remember - CBC - Christmas Bird Count. They happen all over the place. There is definitely one near you. Check the Audubon website. They are fun. You learn a lot. You can get a bit of exercise or you can stake out a place - even a feeder. You don't have to spend the whole day, but you can.

Finally, NOT BIRDS, but I cannot help myself...I love the turtles. I saw a squirrel or two, but it was a day for the birds. [I wonder how many of these little ones I've encountered on the road. I'd have to go back and count, but I think I "rescued 4 or 5 this year.]

 Turtles happily sunning on this lovely day. 

NOTES:

* I missed a couple of steps on the stairs while thinking about where my cell phone might be so I guess it counts as an accident caused by cell phone.

** The day after he was released I commented that those 5 days he was in the hospital seemed like forever. He replied, "I was only in the hospital for two days." 

*** Give me the BIG birds and the RED birds. I know Shovelers (and I did see a good dozen and so reported), but most of the time I just say "M R Ducks" and leave it at that. Haha!

**** I'm not sure how we ended up with these binoculars. I think they were broken and DH found a former Naval optics man who fixed them.

***** The watch started just after 7 a.m. I made three (3) - eight-mile round-trips to the area and spent a total of 6 hours there. DH joined me for the last trip. 

FINAL NOTE: My CBC count can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S62298873

Handwritten and printed from eBird.