a birding story
(This story is mostly for aych, but maybe someone else cares about my awesome old lady hobby of birdwatching.) So, today I stopped by Miller/Knox Park to grade finals and look at birds. I figured I'd reward myself after reading a few papers by walking around to look at the birds.
Lots of my favorite local birds were around, including Yellow-Rumped Warblers, a Black Phoebe, and plenty of Western Bluebirds.
I didn't see anything new on the pond (the Brant that had been reported there recently wasn't hanging around) but it was still a nice stroll. At Ferry Point I even added a new bird to my list, the Western Meadowlark.
At one point, I came across one tree that was (by the sounds of it) full of birds. There was a pair of hummingbirds flying around, and a bunch of other small warblers hiding behind some leaves. I stood there for a while searching the tree, hoping the hummingbirds would come out long enough for me to get them in my binocular or camera sights, but had no luck,
I was getting cold and had more papers to grade, so I turned around to head back to the car. Then I turned around to take one last look at the tree for those tiny little hummingbirds. Wait, I thought to myself, seeing an enormous lump on one branch. Is that a... pinecone? The pinecone moved its head.
Holy shit, it was a hawk! My binoculars got me an even closer view than this picture, since they have a higher magnification than my camera's zoom lens. So I just stood there for while, checking out this bird. Honestly, majestic is the only word that came to mind. It was an incredibly majestic red-shouldered hawk.
After a few minutes, I noticed the bird stretching its neck like it was going to take off, so I stuffed my binoculars in my pocket and pulled out my camera just in time to barely get these shots.
Amazing, right? (I got four shots off, and in two of them, all that's visible is the tip of a wing. And then these two are perfect.) And as a bonus, while I still had my camera in my hand, the hummingbird even came back.
Lots of my favorite local birds were around, including Yellow-Rumped Warblers, a Black Phoebe, and plenty of Western Bluebirds.
I didn't see anything new on the pond (the Brant that had been reported there recently wasn't hanging around) but it was still a nice stroll. At Ferry Point I even added a new bird to my list, the Western Meadowlark.
At one point, I came across one tree that was (by the sounds of it) full of birds. There was a pair of hummingbirds flying around, and a bunch of other small warblers hiding behind some leaves. I stood there for a while searching the tree, hoping the hummingbirds would come out long enough for me to get them in my binocular or camera sights, but had no luck,
I was getting cold and had more papers to grade, so I turned around to head back to the car. Then I turned around to take one last look at the tree for those tiny little hummingbirds. Wait, I thought to myself, seeing an enormous lump on one branch. Is that a... pinecone? The pinecone moved its head.
Holy shit, it was a hawk! My binoculars got me an even closer view than this picture, since they have a higher magnification than my camera's zoom lens. So I just stood there for while, checking out this bird. Honestly, majestic is the only word that came to mind. It was an incredibly majestic red-shouldered hawk.
After a few minutes, I noticed the bird stretching its neck like it was going to take off, so I stuffed my binoculars in my pocket and pulled out my camera just in time to barely get these shots.
Amazing, right? (I got four shots off, and in two of them, all that's visible is the tip of a wing. And then these two are perfect.) And as a bonus, while I still had my camera in my hand, the hummingbird even came back.