Sunny, calm and cool
(46 degrees)
It’s a classic fall day with
cool crisp air and bright sunny skies.
Now that the foliage has fallen from most of the deciduous trees,
spotting the smaller birds is so much easier. Granted, many of the little guys have flown the coop,
heading for points south.
But those that remain or have flown in for the winter make for enjoyable
and less frustrating birding.
We found reports on the web of
Fox sparrows about 45 minutes away.
The dark russet colored sparrows are always a real plus on the check
list, and although we don’t know for sure if the birds will still be on site
today, it’s a location we have never birded and holds promise for sparrows and
songbirds.
The area is located in New
Hampton, a farming area well known for its orchards. We are looking for Lynch Road and are happy to see that the
road, although dirt, is in the GPS library and should not be difficult to
find. Indeed, the unit takes us
right to the desired location and puts us right on some brush along the
roadside that is really active with birds. We have missed the target, the Fox sparrows, but there are
other winter birds to keep us busy.
One of the nicest finds of the
day was a House finch which was a yellow “variant”. Normally, these birds are washed in a light rosy red color,
but the color is dependant on diet and occasionally the birds will end up with
yellow or partially yellow plumage as was the case with this bird.
Speaking of diet and plumage
coloration, I noted that the male cardinal I found along Lynch Road was also
more lightly hued that I would normally expect. I’m wondering if both these birds have had some alternate coloration
caused by something locally found in their diet.
The White-throated sparrows of
winter have made the push into the county and most of the sparrows I found
today were of this species. It’s
one of those birds we just don’t see that often during the summer months.
The Dark-eyed junco (below) is another
of our winter birds, and although he is found in the county during the summer
months, it is usually confined to the higher elevation of our region, so seeing
this bird at lower elevations is one of our sure signs that winter is on its way.
There were two more additions
to the list which are quite a bit larger than these little songbirds we
photographed today. One was spotted
in the rear view mirror of the RAV after we had already passed by. We’ve heard a lot of shots being fired
by hunters in the area and pheasant hunting season began way back on the first
of October. I’m figuring this is
one of the lucky guys that got away!
The final bird of the day was
a Red-tailed hawk perched along the road-side. We saw him as we entered the Lynch Road access and then later
when we departed. We also saw a
murder of crows as they are known chasing a Red-tail high over the fields and
wondered if this could be the mate of the one we saw. At any rate, it was a great day to be out in the field and
it was so nice of the birds to cooperate.
The Fox sparrows will have to wait for another day, I suppose, but you
can’t always get the ones you were planning on. Playing on the lyrics of an old rock song, “If you can’t be
with the birds you love, love the birds you’re with”!
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