Lucky Day

We are all a great deal luckier than we realize, 
we usually get what we want - 
or near enough. 
~ Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I was thinking about fate and luck and life today as I drove slowly down the roads looking for birds. I would like to say I was only on untraveled country roads, but I cannot. I can say that I mostly pulled over and never got a honk or a shaking fist from another driver. It's Sunday. Traffic is light.

Zelda waited patiently for me to finish (and twice I left the car - I almost never do that. It turns out that it was part of today's luck). And this time I had her belted in. For some reason I was nervous about her safety. Perhaps it did matter. just before the final turn back towards our town a stray dog was guarding the pothole-riddled road that marked the end of the bird-crawl. The dog jumped up when it saw us coming - it wanted to play chase and the passenger-side window was open. I've heard nightmare stories of dogs jumping out the window of a moving car. I'm not sure that Z would consider it. She made no move to jump, but she did see the dog and looked over at me. She could have been thinking "what's the matter with that dog?" or "aren't you proud of me for staying put? Whatever. I probably need to make belting her in a habit.

The state highway traffic was slow enough for me to be lured to a stop (I pulled in by a gate, people. I'm not completely crazy.) to photograph the eagle's nest.* The grey and gloomy day did not lend itself to good photos. I will play with it, but will likely have to try again - before the trees leaf-out.

I noticed very few birds in the usual spots so slowing for a group of "little brown birds" seemed important - I might not see many birds today (and I was later in the day than normal - already not expecting much). Then, in a location I've never seen one before, I recognized the weird low swooping - unmistakeable black and with wings - of the Pileated Woodpecker.** 

I feel like I'm always trying to shoot through a fence or twigs or something. Still, there is no mistaking this bird.

Woohoo!

 It stopped near the turtle pond and I fumbled for a few shots. There are moments on this little stretch of road that are hard to describe. 

I laughed away the tears and moved along to grab some photos of the usual suspects...mockers and grebes, teals and cormorants, killdeer and vultures, and cardinals - the cardinals were everywhere. I missed a photo of the lone hawk (probably Red-shouldered) that refused to wait as I made the u-turn. Meadowlarks, phoebes, and bluebirds showed up. And I finally saw some Cedar Waxwings. [Last winter giant flocks showed up everywhere and often - in the parks, along the country roads, and in the neighborhood. We usually see them starting in early January. But this year was dramatically different.] Today I watched a large flock of birds fly across the road and perch in our red oak. Finally, the Cedar Waxwings showed up.

I think the Robins have been here all winter.

One grebe at the ponds and two down the road near the "ford."

Terrible shots from below, but you can at least see the black mask and yellow-tipped tail that say  Cedar Waxwing.

A number of cardinals were just across the highway from the ponds

That showy male cardinal often gets all the attention. The female is a beautiful bird. This one was feeding on a hackberry, I think.

I'm closing in on getting a new camera...maybe...

Another red bird at the turtle pond...

...and one at my house.

Zelda had to wait again as I watched, but missed documenting, another six or so different woodpeckers.  She is a good dog - asleep now and bubble-barking as she chases squirrels in her sleep. 

It is big enough to see from the highway, but only in the winter when the trees have shed their leaves.

NOTES:

* I have a crazy thought rattling around in my head that I'd like to hike closer for some photos. First I'll need to research the property owner and hone my approach. The last time I sought access to someone's property I got a multi-call runaround followed by a reluctant sounding, but firm "NO." 

**Other people have reported seeing the pileated over the last few weeks, but I don't know that I have seen it since the CBC. And, since that was the important day, I tried not to be impatient or frustrated. If I had not delayed going out today, if I had not stopped to photograph the eagle's nest...lucky, lucky me.

FOOTNOTE:

A friend called to let me know she was going to be in town and would be able to pick up some materials I was going to donate to our Junior Master Naturalist group. I asked her if she would have time to come to this place with me. Once I introduced her I knew she would be able to navigate the "bird crawl" on her own. 

We checked on the location of the Spotted Chorus Frog from last weekend. We heard no calls, but saw Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer.

So we took a couple of hours and identified ducks (!) and other birds. We saw many more than I'd seen earlier AND the Vermilion Flycatcher appears at the very end and there is a strong suspicion that we saw the juvenile Bald Eagle as well. What a day!

The coot shook out its wings.

Redheads and a coot.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The final list of birds:

Red-shouldered Hawks
Bald Eagle
Merlin
American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Logerhead Shrike
Vermilion Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-winged Blackbird
Pine Warbler
Red-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Chickadee
Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Meadowlarks
Eastern Bluebird
Ring-billed Gull
Greater Yellowlegs
Wilson's Snipe
Canada Goose
American Crow
American Coot
Pied-billed Grebe
Chipping Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow

Oh, heavens! And the ducks...

Redheads
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Gadwall
Northern Shoveler
American Widgeon

And the one frog:

Spotted Chorus Frog (heard along Shallow Ford Road just to the west/southwest of Slough Pond)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Great Blue Heron

Vermilion Flycatcher