As soon as I turned off the engine, I heard the sliding song of a Prairie Warbler. While not one of the targeted species, at least it was something. The grassland survey has been a disappointment so far. The route maps were vague, and the variety and number of species were so low that I [...]
Entries from May 2009
May 26, 2009
Mouths to Feed
A flutter of movement drew me across the street. A dark bird flashed away. I was scanning the trees when a hole in an adjacent snag suddenly filled up. The phrase “gaping maw” leapt to mind. If he had had a spoon he would have been banging it against the table. It must be hard [...]
May 25, 2009
Bird Photography Weekly
Sitting in the car with all the windows and sunroof open, I leaned back with my eyes closed to revel in the cascade of voices around me. Wood Warblers were singing, off in the distance a Black-billed Cuckoo called, the Wood Thrushes led the flute section of the woodland orchestra, a Scarlet Tanager chatted hoarsely, [...]
May 23, 2009
Birding Doodletown
Seriously. There is actually a place called Doodletown. It is one of the local hotspots and the one place were many of the hard-to-see warblers nest; think Cerulean. Doodletown always pops up on the local ListServ and in conversation when the topics of warblers comes up. I finally made the trek because there was a [...]
May 17, 2009
Birding Duke Farms
Once upon a time, friends and I would go to Duke Gardens every February to walk in the greenhouses and feast on the riotous color of spring flowers; a treat for our winter-weary eyes. We did it for years. Then Doris Duke died, we all scattered to the winds and the annual pilgrimage fell by the wayside. So when [...]
May 13, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
My favorite green frog quote “They seldom scream in alarm when caught.”
May 12, 2009
World Series of Birding
I peered into the darkness as the windshield wipers slapped a path through the driving rain. The guard lights in the parking lot cast long eerie shadows. Straining to hear night sounds with my ear angled toward the crack of the window; headlights flashed against the side of the car, sparkling the drops. More birders [...]
May 11, 2009
Bird Photography Weekly
The song of the Louisiana Waterthrush bounces through the forest; loud enough that I can hear it as I drive. This is one warbler that is not a neck-craner. When you hear it, pull over and scan the forest floor for it walks along the edge of woodland streams bobbing its tail and flipping over [...]
May 8, 2009
Through the Eyes of a Child
The phone rang as I was on the way out the door. I dashed back up the front stairs to get it. The little girl across the street was bubbling with excitement; partly because she had been allowed to use the phone but mostly because she had seen a bird. When I asked what it [...]
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