Category Archives: Birds

Birds, In the neighborhood, Snapshots

A bird in the hand

2 Comments

brings a quick smile to the face!

I wandered away for a bit on World Series Day to spend a couple minutes with Tom while he banded birds. This is his second spring at Sandy Hook and Saturday found his nets overflowing with migrants! Canadas, like this one, were everywhere… as were Magnolias and Wilson’s.

I hung around taking photos and waiting for the rest of the crowd to amble away… finally Tom asked me if I’d like to hold a Magnolia that he’d just finished processing.

Gasp!

I felt strangely hesitant and scared… I’d held birds before, hawks, even tiny hummingbirds, but only injured or window-strike dazed birds. These wide-awake and eager-to-go warblers frightened me with their flutterings and protests.

Silly me… it’s just a little bird!

I’m sure my face was as giddy as this lady’s was… to feel those feathers in my hand, that tiny beating heart beneath my fingers and its trembling…

A sweet unexpected gift.

: )

Birds, In the neighborhood, Pastimes, Snapshots

World Series 2010

4 Comments

They were almost delirious enough around 7 pm to smile at my camera without much prodding beyond, “Time for the obligatory group photo everyone!”

😉

We’d been out for better than 12 hours at that point and had just about tallied our total for the day, save for the odd swallow and a bittern that never materialized. It was a fabulous day for birds… the kind of day where you just want to plant yourself in one spot and watch wave after wave of migrants come to you; it was that good! Sandy Hook can be spectacular under the right conditions and this year’s World Series of Birding was just such a day. We ended with a record-setting (for us) 143 species!

And to think some birders go midnight to midnight and traipse across the whole state for less.

😉

Bad bird pics to follow, shortly. Previous posts about WSB are gathered here.

Birds, Snapshots, Whatever

Ave querida, amada peregrina

2 Comments

¿A dónde irá veloz y fatigada
la golondrina que de aquí se va?

Por si en el viento se hallará extraviada
buscando abrigo y no lo encontraré…

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Where are you going, swift and weary
swallow, why are you leaving here?

And what if you lose your way in
the wind, looking for a home you’ll never find…

A snippet of a traditional Mexican song, “La golondrina” is often sung as a farewell at funerals for those who’ve died far from home. I was reminded of it this afternoon watching the swallows feed low over the lake in the rain.

*Lyrics from “La golondrina” by Narciso Serradel Sevilla. The translation to English is mine and is far from precise.
😉
Birds, In the neighborhood, Snapshots

Occupied

2 Comments
Sandy Hook…

where every platform

and every chimney is occupied!

A couple hours this afternoon at the SHBO Migration Watch platform provided plenty of close looks at osprey – there are four active nests visible from the watch site alone – plus nice looks at some merlins and a couple sharpies. Turkey vultures were circling, hesitant to cross the bay. Plenty of gannets were flying close to the beach, as well. Some early butterflies were out, which along with airplanes overhead, provided ID challenges when the birds were slow.
😉
Our counter this year, John VanDort, maintains a well-written blog about his sightings at the Hook (and elsewhere) that I’ve enjoyed reading since discovering it. Have a look!
Birds, In the neighborhood, Seasons

Hope, muted

3 Comments

Winter just got a little sand-colored, orange-legged, breast-banded stake driven through its icy heart.*

I made my March pilgrimage this weekend to greet the newly-arrived Piping Plover at Sandy Hook, where it felt very gray and wet and winter-like, but hopeful, still. Woodcock are next, if it’ll ever stop raining and blowing!

*C. Vogel, quoted without permission from Jersey Birds, on his find of a Piping Plover at Cape May yesterday.

Birds, PSA, Whatever

We nearly froze, but…

4 Comments

A poor photo of a lovely group of people…

The Monmouth County Audubon Society sponsors free monthly walks, regardless of the weather.

😉

This day, early last month, we nearly froze to death at Sandy Hook, but saw Long-Tailed Ducks, Common Eiders, lots of Harbor Seals basking in the sun, and an Iceland Gull.

I’ve been responsible for planning these field trips for a couple years now and so have developed a sense of who our customers are… mostly beginners and plenty of kids dragged outdoors by their parents… plus there’s Marty.

😉

Marty (pictured far right, smiling) is a regular on our field trips, yet I’ve never seen him at any of our monthly meetings… curious, that.

Our next scheduled outing is Saturday, March 28th at Monmouth Battlefield State Park (Marty will be there, I’m sure!)… after that it’s Saturday, April 17th, again at Sandy Hook for Osprey, Piping Plovers and other early migrants…

We’d love to have you!