After a ten-hour workday, there's nothing so restorative as coming out of a building and hearing the song of a wood thrush. I sat in my car, in the Robert Graves Elementary School parking lot on Wednesday night, and just listened until I felt whole again.
A magical day at Onteora Lake on Sunday, May 20th - trying to become a more self-reliant birder, I've been so dependent on our wonderful area experts (Mark, Steve, Peter, etc.) I try hard not to think of what I don't know. Birding as meditation. Not sport.
It's certainly easy to find things to write about as spring progresses, but this year is a little more interesting for me than usual as I just bought a house and am learning about the interesting things that live in my yard, as they awaken from their winter's nap. One day recently I was digging up a pile of mulch I found on the property and to my surprise I found a patch of Jack in the Pulpit growing in and around the mulch pile. As I worked on the mulch, my fiance cleared plants out of a cool old foundation that's on the property and found a bunch of Jefferson/Blue Spotted Salamanders and a few Red-backed Salamanders as well. I say Jefferson/Blue-Spotted because these closely related species often hybridize and it takes someone with much more expertise than I to identify them. There's a small wetland across the street from my house that provides a breeding ground for Spring Peepers and salamanders and possibly the Wood Duck pair that landed abruptly in one of my trees a few weeks ago.
These early days of May are bringing waves of new bird migrants and each day my yard list grows. At the same time the plants begin to reveal their identities and I learn a bit about the previous owners' tastes in gardening. I learn that we like some of the same plants but also that there are some plants that I wouldn't miss if they disappeared, and in some cases, I'm trying to hasten their disappearance. Has anyone ever heard of lemon balm? It's very tenacious. It's wonderful to uncover the little mysteries in my new home and I'll continue to share my observations from home and everywhere else!
Cool sighting in my yard the other day...a big stick insect on my car!! It was about 5 inches long....very cool! I guess I can't include a photo here...oh well...I also saw an enormous katydid!
Another day of "movement" at the FNC...most of the neotrops were gone today but first of season White-crowned Sparrows showed with a good size flock of White-throated Sparrows...the Lincoln's Sparrow continues to skulk around the Pondlife exhibit..."our" Merlin arrived today marking the tenth year one has stayed loyal to the greater park area....considering that Forsyth is not ideal habitat for a Merlin I have to believe this is the same bird that generally stays till April...first migrant Common Raven over the FNC as well today....best birds today, however, seemed to be found by Peter Schoenberger at the Ashokan Reservoir with an excellent selection of shorebirds including Americna Golden Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper
Forsyth Nature Center, Ulster, US-NY Oct 1, 2012 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM Protocol: Stationary 33 species
Canada Goose X Turkey Vulture 7 Osprey 1 Cooper's Hawk 2 Bald Eagle 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Ring-billed Gull X Rock Pigeon X Chimney Swift 2 two high flying migrants Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Merlin 1 Blue Jay X American Crow X Fish Crow X Cliff Swallow 1 trailing the swifts, no bins so I will say Cliff...would have loved to make it a Cave Black-capped Chickadee X White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 2 American Robin X Gray Catbird X European Starling X Cedar Waxwing 4 Common Yellowthroat X American Redstart 1 this bird spent the day in a Black Willow by the pondlife exhibit Palm Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 7 White-throated Sparrow X Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 American Goldfinch X House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Everybody needs to get outside and find an overgrown vegetable patch or weedy field and check each one of those LBJ's...or just come along on the next JBNHS walk!
Attention Holiday shoppers! a Snowy Owl was on a lightpole near Ollie's and Sam's Club in Kingston, first spotted by Jim Clinton this evening at 7:00pm and observed by several for the next hour or so before Jess Prockup saw it flying off toward the Hudson Valley Mall aorund 8:45...good luck if you go
After a ten-hour workday, there's nothing so restorative as coming out of a building and hearing the song of a wood thrush. I sat in my car, in the Robert Graves Elementary School parking lot on Wednesday night, and just listened until I felt whole again.
ReplyDeleteA magical day at Onteora Lake on Sunday, May 20th - trying to become a more self-reliant birder, I've been so dependent on our wonderful area experts (Mark, Steve, Peter, etc.) I try hard not to think of what I don't know. Birding as meditation. Not sport.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly easy to find things to write about as spring progresses, but this year is a little more interesting for me than usual as I just bought a house and am learning about the interesting things that live in my yard, as they awaken from their winter's nap. One day recently I was digging up a pile of mulch I found on the property and to my surprise I found a patch of Jack in the Pulpit growing in and around the mulch pile. As I worked on the mulch, my fiance cleared plants out of a cool old foundation that's on the property and found a bunch of Jefferson/Blue Spotted Salamanders and a few Red-backed Salamanders as well. I say Jefferson/Blue-Spotted because these closely related species often hybridize and it takes someone with much more expertise than I to identify them. There's a small wetland across the street from my house that provides a breeding ground for Spring Peepers and salamanders and possibly the Wood Duck pair that landed abruptly in one of my trees a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteThese early days of May are bringing waves of new bird migrants and each day my yard list grows. At the same time the plants begin to reveal their identities and I learn a bit about the previous owners' tastes in gardening. I learn that we like some of the same plants but also that there are some plants that I wouldn't miss if they disappeared, and in some cases, I'm trying to hasten their disappearance. Has anyone ever heard of lemon balm? It's very tenacious. It's wonderful to uncover the little mysteries in my new home and I'll continue to share my observations from home and everywhere else!
Cool sighting in my yard the other day...a big stick insect on my car!! It was about 5 inches long....very cool! I guess I can't include a photo here...oh well...I also saw an enormous katydid!
ReplyDeleteAnother day of "movement" at the FNC...most of the neotrops were gone today but first of season White-crowned Sparrows showed with a good size flock of White-throated Sparrows...the Lincoln's Sparrow continues to skulk around the Pondlife exhibit..."our" Merlin arrived today marking the tenth year one has stayed loyal to the greater park area....considering that Forsyth is not ideal habitat for a Merlin I have to believe this is the same bird that generally stays till April...first migrant Common Raven over the FNC as well today....best birds today, however, seemed to be found by Peter Schoenberger at the Ashokan Reservoir with an excellent selection of shorebirds including Americna Golden Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper
ReplyDeleteForsyth Nature Center, Ulster, US-NY
ReplyDeleteOct 1, 2012 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Stationary
33 species
Canada Goose X
Turkey Vulture 7
Osprey 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ring-billed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Chimney Swift 2 two high flying migrants
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Merlin 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Cliff Swallow 1 trailing the swifts, no bins so I will say Cliff...would
have loved to make it a Cave
Black-capped Chickadee X
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 4
Common Yellowthroat X
American Redstart 1 this bird spent the day in a Black Willow by the
pondlife exhibit
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 7
White-throated Sparrow X
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Yeah, Mark! Thanks for posting. And signing in as an author.
ReplyDeleteEverybody needs to get outside and find an overgrown vegetable patch or weedy field and check each one of those LBJ's...or just come along on the next JBNHS walk!
ReplyDeleteA great memory rekindled today....six Evening Grosbeaks briefly visited the FNC...just like being in the late 70's again minus the hair
ReplyDeleteIs FNC the unofficial Kingston flyway? Evening Grosbeaks? That's rare, yes?
ReplyDeleteEvening Grosbeaks are nomads...more today...keep your feeder stocked Charlotte they are roaming the "hood"
ReplyDeleteAttention Holiday shoppers!
ReplyDeletea Snowy Owl was on a lightpole near Ollie's and Sam's Club in Kingston, first spotted by Jim Clinton this evening at 7:00pm and observed by several for the next hour or so before Jess Prockup saw it flying off toward the Hudson Valley Mall aorund 8:45...good luck if you go