Winter birds!
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PGBird
Nov 17, 2009, 4:35:27 PM11/17/09
to LMPBirders
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The winter birds are arriving!! By now I'm sure you've seen juncos in
your yard hanging around under the feeders -- I sprinkle cracked corn
on the ground for them, the mourning doves, and any sparrows that come
to visit. But the reports of other birds who breed in the Artic and
northern Canada are also in the vicinity.
Last Tuesday, during the weekly Tuesday morning Senior Hike at
Headlands Beach, we encountered 1 dozen or so tree sparrows feeding in
the grasses at the east end of the dunes. When we got out to the lake
and walked east along the breakwall towards the lighthouse, we scared
up a good size flock of snow buntings three different times. They
startled us each time because they don't seem to make any call like
the tree sparrows and they walk through the grass almost parallel to
the ground -- they seem to lean so far foward it's like they are
crawling along making them less obvious. Snow buntings were also seen
a few days earlier at the beach in Conneaut. So check out your book
for the field marks and be on the lookout when you walking along the
shoreline!
There have also been several tundra swan flights reported -- one was
here at Penitentiary Glen last Tuesday and another in the area of the
Willoughby Senior Center on Sunday. I always hear swans before I see
them -- so if you hear an unfamiliar somewhat distance "barking", look
up and turn around. At this time of year, they are generally headed
southeast as they winter along the central Atlantic seaboard -- most
notably in the Cheaspeake Bay.
Dan Donaldson and I have a trip to the Niagara area organized for
December 5 and 6 to take advantage of the final phase of migration --
waterfowl and gulls. We bird along the way, do the entire length of
the Niagara River and check out Lake Ontario at Niagara on the Lake.
The Niagara River and the area around the Falls is a food magnet for
birds since parts of the river stay open all winter and the Falls
never freezes. Birds that might be seen include long-tailed duck,
purple sandpiper, red-throated loon, a variety of gulls, and many of
the more common ducks. There are still a couple openings on this trip
and you can register by calling 800-669-9226. Here is a link to the
program description:
http://reservations.lakemetroparks.com/programs/10036/
If you would like help finding a roommate, let me know! The last day
to register for this program is Friday, November 27. It's a great
trip -- the cold weather is offset by the unbelievable quantity of
ducks and gulls!!! Why don't you join us?
So I'm away for a late afternoon walk in hopes of catching another
flock of tundra swans moving through!! Over the years, I've had the
best swan sightings in the area late in the afternoon or early in the
morning. I hope you catch sight of some in the next week!!
Mary Huey
Interpretive Naturalist
Lake Metroparks
mh...@lakemetroparks.com
The winter birds are arriving!! By now I'm sure you've seen juncos in
your yard hanging around under the feeders -- I sprinkle cracked corn
on the ground for them, the mourning doves, and any sparrows that come
to visit. But the reports of other birds who breed in the Artic and
northern Canada are also in the vicinity.
Last Tuesday, during the weekly Tuesday morning Senior Hike at
Headlands Beach, we encountered 1 dozen or so tree sparrows feeding in
the grasses at the east end of the dunes. When we got out to the lake
and walked east along the breakwall towards the lighthouse, we scared
up a good size flock of snow buntings three different times. They
startled us each time because they don't seem to make any call like
the tree sparrows and they walk through the grass almost parallel to
the ground -- they seem to lean so far foward it's like they are
crawling along making them less obvious. Snow buntings were also seen
a few days earlier at the beach in Conneaut. So check out your book
for the field marks and be on the lookout when you walking along the
shoreline!
There have also been several tundra swan flights reported -- one was
here at Penitentiary Glen last Tuesday and another in the area of the
Willoughby Senior Center on Sunday. I always hear swans before I see
them -- so if you hear an unfamiliar somewhat distance "barking", look
up and turn around. At this time of year, they are generally headed
southeast as they winter along the central Atlantic seaboard -- most
notably in the Cheaspeake Bay.
Dan Donaldson and I have a trip to the Niagara area organized for
December 5 and 6 to take advantage of the final phase of migration --
waterfowl and gulls. We bird along the way, do the entire length of
the Niagara River and check out Lake Ontario at Niagara on the Lake.
The Niagara River and the area around the Falls is a food magnet for
birds since parts of the river stay open all winter and the Falls
never freezes. Birds that might be seen include long-tailed duck,
purple sandpiper, red-throated loon, a variety of gulls, and many of
the more common ducks. There are still a couple openings on this trip
and you can register by calling 800-669-9226. Here is a link to the
program description:
http://reservations.lakemetroparks.com/programs/10036/
If you would like help finding a roommate, let me know! The last day
to register for this program is Friday, November 27. It's a great
trip -- the cold weather is offset by the unbelievable quantity of
ducks and gulls!!! Why don't you join us?
So I'm away for a late afternoon walk in hopes of catching another
flock of tundra swans moving through!! Over the years, I've had the
best swan sightings in the area late in the afternoon or early in the
morning. I hope you catch sight of some in the next week!!
Mary Huey
Interpretive Naturalist
Lake Metroparks
mh...@lakemetroparks.com
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