Snow Bunting in foreground, originally uploaded by Goyo P.
What’s the point of birding in the Winter? Well, besides the fact that I enjoy being outdoors there’s a scientific benefit to counting birds. After I count birds I record my findings at Ebird.org Ebird states, “Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales” For an even more detailed explanation go to their website and check it out.
I took a day off work yesterday to do an all day bird count. My objective was to find some Arctic variety birds. Specifically, I was looking for Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks. My objective was to drive the country roads to Ramsdell Park near Devils Lake, go for a quick ski, and then take the country roads home. Well I didn’t have to drive one mile out of Tecumseh before I spotted a flock of birds circling the Dairy Farm on Russell Road. I pulled over, got out my binoculars and started counting. I counted approximately 100-150 birds. While I was counting the farmer came out on his John Deere tractor to see if I was ok. We had a brief conversation. I told him about the birds and he looked at me like I was crazy…ha! Story of my life. Anyway, he let me walk in his field to get some close-up pictures. That’s where I took the picture above. In this picture there are several Longspurs, a few Horned Larks and one Snow Bunting in the foreground.
I spotted a few other flocks of Horned Larks on my way to Ramsdell Park. But the most exciting sighting was a flock of 92 Wild Turkeys crossing the road. They were skittish when I pulled up. I got a few out of focus pics before they exploded into the sky, half running, half flying, wings crashing into the woodland trees. In an instant they were gone…disappeared…vanished like ghosts.
When I arrived at Ramsdell Park I wasnt planning on counting birds. I was planning on skiing. But when I clicked into my binding something felt wrong. I looked down and noticed my shoe has peeled away from the sole…total boot failure. I swore a little but then realized I had my hiking boots in the car and my snow cleats. So instead of skiing I hoofed it into the park with my camera and binoculars. I didn’t expect to see much. Half of the park is prairie grass, all of the water was frozen and it was snowing. But, it is a great place to see woodpeckers in the woods. When I did get to the woods I heard some very loud drumming and that perked me up a bit. It sounded like a Pileated. The trail seemed to be heading right towards the drumming sound. I walked slowly. But by the time I got to the end of the trail the drumming stopped. He must have seen me. So I turned around to head back, but as soon as I did he started to call….that loooooong kak, kak, kak which goes on for about a minute. I turned around and sat on a bench and waited. Suddenly he flushed, I raised my binoculars and saw him flying deeper into the woods which happens to be private property. I wouldn’t chase him anyway. Pileated Woodpeckers are very skitterish. They always flush and fly away before I spot them.
Today the plan was to head to Hidden Lake Gardens to see if I could spot the Purple Finches. I just recently spotted my first Purple Finch there about two weeks ago. Others have also seen them. So I headed down the old Munger road on the east side of the property. There’s a cold front moving through. It’s windier today than it was yesterday. It’s harder to find birds on windy days…harder to see movement…harder to hear the birds…and I’m not as patient. I get cold standing around too much. I have to keep moving to stay warm. I didn’t see any Purple Finches and I wasnt seeing too many birds in general so I decided to do some bushwhacking. I took a deer path into the woods and came upon a hidden little grassy knoll. It was beautiful even in the winter. I made a mental note to return there in the Spring. Eventually I made it back to an “official” trail. I wasnt having much luck so i just decided to head back to the car. But then I heard some Barred Owls calling in the distance. That was pretty exciting. I was half temped to see if I could go find them, but I was getting chilled. I was pretty much done for the day but that’s usually when you see good birds…when you least expect it. When I entered the north parking lot I saw a solitary bird fly in front of me. It looked like a Junco but it was too big. I wandered over to the bush it went into and spotted an Eastern Towhee….figures I didn’t have my good camera. I could have gotten some nice pics since he let me stand 20′ away to watch him. Oh well, that’s usually the way it goes.
All in all I’ve seen some good birds the last two days. Highlights being the Arctic varieties, the large flock of Turkeys, the Pileated, the Barred Owls and then the Eastern Towhee. I got some good exercise and lots of fresh air. Now it’s time to relax. I picked up some Ann Arbor Brewing Co Stout on my way home. Time to chill and get back to my kindle.
The Heron 