Lifer in the Middle of Bio Lab

Today while I was in the woods on campus working on a group project for Field Biology with a couple of my classmates, I suddenly saw a Pileated Woodpecker fly to a nearby tree and land there. I freaked out--"oh my god, guys, come here, come here! I can't believe this, it's a Pileated Woodpecker....come here, guys! No, really, I want to show this to you, it's a really cool bird." I've been wanting to see one for a little while now, and I honestly can't believe that I saw one on campus while technically in-class. My classmates weren't as enthused as I was, and I don't blame them a bit. If I were hanging out with a geologist and he started excitedly pointing out kinds of rocks, I wouldn't really care. *shrug* Just not my thing.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the bird since I didn't have my camera on me, and it also flew away while I was trying to get my classmates to look up at the tree where it was. Oh well.

Despite the weather predictions for the day, I raced against the rain and tried to get in a little birding. Then, even when it did start to rain, I just went back to my apartment to re-outfit myself: plastic bag and a solo cup with the bottom cut out to protect my camera against the rain. This provided more proof that I have no inclination whatsoever toward engineering, but it kind of worked. I only needed it to work for a little while, anyway. I'm glad I went out (to Mendon Ponds) because I saw lots of sparrows and Yellow Warblers. I can now check White-crowned Sparrow off of my life list. I also saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Thrashers, and Chipping Sparrows.
I'm not sure if I'd call this a lifer or not--I can't remember if I've seen a Field Sparrow before and somehow forgot to check it off my list, or if I really haven't seen one until today. In any case, I got very close views of a couple of them today.

Take nothing but pictures (and maybe the trash of jerks who came before you), leave nothing but footprints.

Wigeon, Ruddy Ducks, Siskin, Coot, and Cooper's

It's been more than two weeks since I've posted, so I'm playing catch-up again. On the 19th I visited Ontario Beach Park (as well as a few other places) and took these pictures of mallard drakes bathing. I like the candid poses I caught them in, and have been looking forward to posting the series of photos I wound up with. These are not all images of the same drake, but it still paints a decent picture of the antics of a bathing duck.



I've added several lifers to my list since the last time I posted. At Braddock Bay on March 14 I checked off American Wigeon:
On March 15, Ruddy Ducks at Braddock Bay:
On the 17th I did some birding around Canadice Lake, and was thrilled to finally see Pine Siskins. Even better-I pished them in. I noticed a few birds flitting around the tree branches overhead, but it was too high up for me to make out any details. I began pishing for them, and just like black-capped chickadees, 4 siskins came down almost immediately. They remained just overhead in the branches for quite some time, allowing me to take plenty of pictures.
At Mendon Ponds Park on March 19, I saw my first American Coot. Unfortunately, none of the pictures came out too great since the bird was quite a ways out on the lake, but it's a distinctive bird, so someone was able to identify it for me through BirdForum. I got back from birding that day, looked through my pictures, and tried to ID the bird. I only really flipped through the ducks, geese, loons, and grebes in my guidebook--completely ignoring the famile Rallidae. Stumped, I do the same thing I always do when I'm stumped--ask the good folks at BirdForum.
I consulted other birders at BirdForum again on the 23rd. On my way out the door to class, I noticed a petite raptor (Merlin-sized) land in a tree in my backyard. I was quite surprised, and ran back into the house to grab my camera. I managed to get a couple shots before he flew off. When I looked at the pictures later I couldn't ID the bird (my bird of prey experience is pretty limited) and again went to BirdForum for help. Cooper's Hawk is the general consensus.

One last note to catch you up with news on my birding--saw my first 2009 Northern Flicker today. :-)

Take nothing but pictures (and maybe the trash of jerks who came before you), leave nothing but footprints.