Did a little birding this weekend. Not too many good pictures, but oh well, got outside all the same. I did 3 kinds of birding this weekend: marshes, hawk watching, and bird feeder watching.

From the marshes:
Maybe no one will notice I am not a Canada goose…

This “blue goose”, which is the blue morph of the snow goose, was the only one in this flock of Canada geese. They nest in the Arctic tundra.

Next, I got a nice glimpse of a blue-winged teal.

And a new bird for my list, ring-necked ducks.

Hawk watching:
I went up to Derby Hill, which I am told is one of the premier hawk watching spots in New York. When I got up there I spotted my first morning cloak butterfly of the season, though I don’t think anybody else noticed…

Nothing too impressive for the hawk watching yet, though it is a wee bit early. They should start really picking up in the next couple of weeks.

A red-tailed hawk

A red-shouldered hawk

And a ’sharpie’ or sharp-shinned hawk

Concerning other passerines, the blue birds are back…

And I had another first for my life list…a common redpole. Redpoles are an arctic finch that also nests in the tundra.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS