Birder PapaRrazi
An Amateur Birdwatcher's tally
I’m posting this February blog in the second week of March. I can’t really say I have an excuse except I’m just getting it done now. The birds partied and played throughout February and I enjoyed watching them. It snowed, a perfect snow for a working person. The flakes began on Saturday, ended on Sunday, and disappeared after a heavy rain on a holiday Monday. I’m still working at home, but I was awed at how well that worked out for folks who have to commute. Beside the pure white of snow it was a blue month bird wise. We saw blue herons, western scrub jays, stellar jays, and kingfishers – all prominent in blue. But we also saw robins, starlings, Canada geese, mallards, ring neck ducks (rare here for King County, Washington), song and house and white crowned sparrows, wrens, eagles, hawks, kestrels, house and gold finches, crows, seagulls, and juncos and towees. It was a busy month indeed. As I mentioned last month, there have been outbreaks of salmonella amongst birds here in King county. I’ve tried to be responsible – before putting out food I’ve been cleaning all the feeders. I also didn’t fill all the feeders every day. But my birds still return, looking for insects and seeds and anything they can forage. On our trips to parks and bird hotspots we didn’t see much of birds gathering – this isn’t a season for migration it would seem. Of course, birds can flock together anyway. Robins are quite social, as are sparrows and finches. We keep hoping for Canada geese babies – this is a good time of year for them despite the cold. We also traveled up to an annual heronry in the county but it was empty in the second week of February. Perhaps in March it will be populated? I’ll let you know. Check out my birding gallery for some fun snow pictures among others. And read about Katies adventures of walking with a bird watcher. Katies talesMy name is Katie. I am a Chihuahua skipperke mix, happy and excitable, easily scared, and one of my favorite hobbies is to bark! Another is related loosely to Pamela and mama’s birdwatching. I love to hang my head out of the car window and feel the wind in my ears. I’d dangle my whole self out if I could! But I must be buckled in safely, my people say. Pamela is just my mothers kid sister, but she acts like she is the boss of me. Sigh. She can pick me up with 1 hand so I guess she has a point. Anyway, I love ridin’ in the car. While the folks are looking for eagles and other birds I am monitoring the road. Maggie likes to bark at bicyclist and I join her but then I go a step further. Pedestrians, cars breezing by, even a set of silhouettes that line one of our favorite drives. The people get a kick out of the last of my passions. But this set is of wolves, howling to the sky. Who could resist such a noble group? I also love strolling through the neighborhood. While Maggie and I sniff and roll in our favorite smells Pamela or Mama, whoever is walking us, will bird watch. “Look, there’s a flock of tiny birds. Tiny, tiny.” Pamela will gawk up into the trees. She doesn’t realize the good smells are down below. I don’t deign to notice birds, except sometimes crows. They are admirable creatures, almost my size, sleek and they can run. I like to run to keep up with them, but Pamela fusses. She say’s I’ll scare the birds. How pathetic. If anything scary comes along I’m right behind my person, guarding her back while she takes care of what’s up front. But if my neighbor friends come along I greet them happily, 2 feet or 4 paws. I have little to add to the birdwatching saga, but I get to participate. And I love it.
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AuthorI love birdwatching. It's relaxing and fun. Even though I've been birding for over 10 years I classify myself as an amateur birder. I plan to write a blog each month about my experiences. Hope you enjoy them! Categories |
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