June 9th –
15th
This past week was the 45th
Annual Reunion of the Class of ’68 at Lafayette College. Several of my old (should I say former)
friends from my college days have remained close and we try to get together whenever
possible. We had a great time in
spite of some rather dreadful weather which seems to be the norm lately. The plan was that we would all travel
to Gettysburg National Military Park to revisit these hallowed grounds on the
occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the famed Battle of
Gettysburg.
And so, in spite of continuing
downpours, we headed southwest for a short 2 ½ hour journey down to the
park. The weather was dreary but
not a total washout when we arrived, and we spent the afternoon touring the
newly renovated Visitors Center, Cyclorama, and Museum. Later in the afternoon, we visited the
Mills House where Lincoln wrote the last section of his famous Gettysburg
Address. With all these indoor
activities, little birding took place other than Sharon and I trying to spot
any little brown jobs along the way.
The following day was even
wetter, but we were determined to tour the battle field, so we signed up for a
guided tour. Being outdoors, even
if it was in a steady downpour, we began to appreciate the number of species
which were present in the fields and along the forested edges of the park. As we looked over the landscape from a
landmark known as Little Round Top, we gained an awareness of the true horror
of the battle that took place here 150 years ago.
In direct contrast to this
image, a beautiful soaking wet Indigo bunting (left) flew onto the scene and sang its
song to those of us in tune with such things. Sadly, I was the lone observer present and managed to
capture a quick image with the little SONY Point-and-shoot.
Among the other species of
note we saw but failed to photograph were a number of Bobolinks, Eastern
meadowlarks, and Field sparrows. The
weather was simply not conducive to photographing wildlife.
The next day, as
we prepared to head back north to New York, Sharon and I managed to take a
quick ride back to some of the areas we had visited with the tour the previous
day. We actually had a short
period of sunshine which we relished for the 45 minutes of its presence. As we drove up to the Gettsburg Eternal
Light Peace Monument, we found a number of avian visitors including a singing
Chipping sparrow, Gray catbird, and Field sparrows.
 |
| Gray catbird |
Further along the route, we
stopped to check out the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers monument
which caught our eyes. The entire
monument is in the shape of a tree, complete with nesting birds captured in
stone.
We wondered how much
thinking of such peaceful settings were on the minds of those thousands of young
soldiers facing almost certain death.
As we looked at the various monuments, a Song sparrow lighted upon the
top of a nearby obelisk and began to sing out its familiar refrain. Again, no one nearby really paid it any
heed other than the two of us. How
much richer our world is since we began to bird and pay closer attention to
what is constantly in close proximity to us regardless of what else we are
doing.
Eventually, we found ourselves
back home. We had reports of a
Mississippi kite that was being spotted back up in Saugerties, not far from
where we traveled last week to find the King rail! And so, off we went once again. When we arrived on site, we both saw the bird flying off to
the east. We both had good looks
through the bins, but the cameras were both in the back seat. Not to bother. Surely the bird would
return to its reported perch and allow me to get some nice photos. As luck would have it, after three
hours of patiently waiting for the kite’s return, we realized that we had
gotten our one and only sighting as we drove in. Better than nothing, but it would have been nice to get a
little better view!
As we waited, we did get some
nice birds who came by our own perch.
A Wood thrush sang loudly and closely, though as usually the case, out
of view. Several Great-crested
flycatchers put on quite a show for us high in the bare trees as did a small contingent
of Cedar waxwings. A phoebe came
in close to allow me a decent shot (above), but it was little consolation for not
getting a good look at the kite.
Summer is only beginning, so maybe we’ll have another shot at the bird
later.
After a rain-laden week, the
forecast for the upcoming days looks a bit better and we will be happy to get
out and get some more comfortable birding in. In just a matter of weeks, we’ll be visiting North Dakota
and we are both really looking forward to that!
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