Birding!
- Thread starter jjohnwm
- Start date
Can't be seen in a pic, but the fabric now has the tensile strength of damp toilet tissue.
I have too much respect and love for this hat to treat it like one of those old axes...the ones so admired by their owners that they are now on their third heads and fourth handles...
Birding is pretty insane here recently, a bird that hasn’t been seen in california since 1996 (and previously only one other time before that in 1990) arrived in my county, San Diego County. A White-winged tern was spotted. The counties very first record?! They are residents of africa, eurasia, and western oceania, and they sometimes, but very rarely wander to the east coast via europe. Terns are highly migratory, and these ones nest in colonies in eastern eurasia before wintering in subsaharan africa, australia, and south asia. It is a mystery as to why it is here, as it is currently supposed to be on the other side of the world. Of note, it is an immature bird, and juveniles/younger birds are typically the vagrants. I saw it from afar through a spotting scope along with 100s of other birders days after it was first spotted. very unique and cool encounter!
As predicted, barn swallows moved into the Eastern Phoebe's nest when it was vacated.
I went snorkeling and I saw a couple unique birds, a Leach’s Storm-petrel (a 100% pelagic bird except for nesting) from shore actually foraging in the kelp beds, a couple oystercatchers, some Royal and Forster’s Terns, and then this!? I’ve lived in San Diego my whole life, very close to the beach, and I’ve only ever seen a green sea turtle once before, but I also don’t go snorkeling often so I’m not sure how common they are.
Sparrow's came to feed off the Japanese barberry bush.
I went on a Christmas Bird Count yesterday, had a lovely day driving the back roads in my assigned area and counting every individual bird we saw. These counts are held annually all throughout North America, and are apparently a valuable "census" of bird population trends. I'll take the word of the eggheads for that; a CBC is just a fun activity for nuts like me and gives us a chance to connect in person and socialize at the count "summary party" after all the driving' and cipherin' is completed.
My partner drove and I navigated and compiled. After a very slow start...this is Manitoba in December, so it ain't exactly pleasant weather for man or beast...we had not seen a single solitary bird for the first 30 minutes. Eventually we ended up with an even dozen species, including the only Bald Eagle found on this count and an astonishing find of two female Mallards on a short section of spring-fed stream; bear in mind that essentially all water is frozen a couple of feet thick in my region, so a live duck swimming in liquid water is a truly amazing rarity for this count.
A dicey section of road that started out nicely plowed and gradually deteriorated as we got further and further along it added some excitement...the kind that is looked back upon with a certain feeling of pride but makes you feel like a complete idiot when you are actually embroiled in it.
Probably the best part of the day occurred when I got home. For the past few winters we have hosted a delightful little Ermine throughout the cold season. The little guy was very active when I arrived home and putting on a nice show; I was too cold and tired to mess around with trying to get pics, but here are a few that were taken weeks ago, before we were inundated with snow.
Yeah, yeah, I know...Crocs 'n' socks...sue me...
My partner drove and I navigated and compiled. After a very slow start...this is Manitoba in December, so it ain't exactly pleasant weather for man or beast...we had not seen a single solitary bird for the first 30 minutes. Eventually we ended up with an even dozen species, including the only Bald Eagle found on this count and an astonishing find of two female Mallards on a short section of spring-fed stream; bear in mind that essentially all water is frozen a couple of feet thick in my region, so a live duck swimming in liquid water is a truly amazing rarity for this count.
A dicey section of road that started out nicely plowed and gradually deteriorated as we got further and further along it added some excitement...the kind that is looked back upon with a certain feeling of pride but makes you feel like a complete idiot when you are actually embroiled in it.
Probably the best part of the day occurred when I got home. For the past few winters we have hosted a delightful little Ermine throughout the cold season. The little guy was very active when I arrived home and putting on a nice show; I was too cold and tired to mess around with trying to get pics, but here are a few that were taken weeks ago, before we were inundated with snow.
Yeah, yeah, I know...Crocs 'n' socks...sue me...
