Birding in College

Fall migration is in full swing, and my first papers are due this coming Thursday. In response to this, I have ingeniously planned a big day around my class schedule... I made a dry run this afternoon, with great results. From 3-4 pm, with NO binoculars and plenty of spishing, I checked off an even 20 species on campus and nearby nature trail. I am hoping this is a good omen, but we'll see tomorrow.

Big Day Test Run:
Canada Goose
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

For the real deal, I will cover the HVCC campus, Nature Trail, Landfill, Vischer Ferry Preserve, Hudson-Mohawk Bike path, and anything in between that looks promising...

And then I have to study....

Narrow Fellow in the Water

Juvenal Northern Water Snake

A few weeks ago some friends and I spent the day at Lock 7, Colonie. The birding was reasonably good for a muggy afternoon, and I observed and identified my first Epidonax flycatcher!

Highlights:
Green Heron (3)
Great Blue Heron
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER
Yellow Warbler
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
OSPREY

After I realized that the flycatcher might be difficult to ID, my sister helped me come up with a mnemonic to remember the calls. She came up with Phoo-eee! In the end, this is what clinched the ID. Now, the birding might have been decent, but the herping was better. The woods were teeming with toads... So many that at one point we stopped, and gathered up the taods within reach and plunked them in my hat for a picture.

We also saw a number of Garter Snakes; there was no scale counting going on, so Eastern or Common was left a mystery. Then at the end of the hike we were wading through a deep creek, when a small (12") Northern Water Snake swims across my feet.
I grabbed it for a quick picture, received a few tiny bites, and then released it.

Turdus migratorius

Now that migration is coming to a close, some birds are already getting ready to hatch out their second batch. This A. Robin (T. migratorius) seems to be doing just that. This bird made trip after trip to a leaf-filled gutter carrying away beak-fulls of muddy nesting material, while a fledgling perched nearby ready with begging calls every time the adult passed overhead.
Something I wonder sometimes is who actually gave the American Robin its binomial name...

Fledglings Everywhere!

The wind has been strong the past couple of days, and it has blown fledglings out of their nests and trees just a day or two too soon. One morning I counted three American Robins, (Turdus migratorius) and two European Starlings, (Sturnus vulgaris).
This little starling was sitting in the tomato garden, frowning up at my sister and me while we were weeding.
Other fledglings appearing since the beginning of the week include House Finches, (Carpodacus mexicanus) and House Sparrows, (Passer domesticus).

Migrants

White-crowned Sparrow, (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is one of the few migrants I have had visiting my feeder this May.
I had three adults and one immature frequenting my feeder for about a week and a half. I was disappointed to see them move on. After I heard two males singing up a storm right outside my window, I was hoping that they had decided to hunker down.
It took me a few days to ID the immature WCS. With so many female House Sparrows, (Passer domesticus) swarming the feeder, the first thing that caught my eye was a conspicuously raised crown...

Hello, hello...

Hello, welcome to my new blog!

As the title implies, I'm somewhat of an aspiring naturalist, though I really don't like to use the word 'aspiring'. I was homeschooled throughout grade and high school, and am pursuing a degree in biology. Over this spring semester, I took an ornithology course at my local community college. It opened my eyes. Now, I will admit, that I have been converted. I am a birder. I own binoculars. I go looking for birds.
I've never kept a blog before, so I'll just do my own thing here. I intend to keep my entries short and sweet, focusing on my field notes, observations, and photographs.

All the best.
Hannah B.