BIRDING AGAIN

Monday (2/11) was a cold but sunny day and very windy. We had errands to run in Lancaster so I checked out the Fruitville swap. It is frozen over of course. There were a few Canada Geese sleeping on the ice - I think I could find a better place to sleep on a cold windy day than on the ice but they did not seem to mind. The only activity was announced by several of the geese standing up and honking while the rest stuck up their heads to see what was happening. A large hawk flew across the lake and "hovered" in the air about 12 feet above our van. It was directly in the sun and it all happened too fast to get out and get a picture at another angle. I think it was a red tail but am not certain.

Florence was in a good mood so when I suggested a drive to Middle Creek she did not protest. I did my janitor duties ion Selock road again it was easy as the "parkers" and drinkers don't go there as much in the winter but I still had a little trash to pic up. I did not see one snow goose but I did not go out to the point as the wind was making the cold feel like single digits. There were Canadas, Tundras, Mallards, and Blacks sleeping on the ice in the big lake. When they did stir and fly they had to labor into a strong wind, I saw one group of Tundra who tried to fly into the wind and then decided to turn around and fly with it. That was a sight, at one point they were laboring yet "standing" still but as they turned they were propelled in the opposite direction. One highlight of the day was in the small pond. A pair of Hooded Mergansers - as always to shy to come close to the road but a treat to see with glasses and a long lens. With them were about six ducks that I could not identify. After an hour of watching and praying (Florence was sleeping) they worked there way to our side of the pond (yes. that's what I was praying for)but did not stay long. They were Ring Neck Ducks. I have never confirmed a sighting before but this time I got excellent pics. There were 5 males and one female. They seemed to be enjoying the cold water fishing as if it were play, and I enjoyed watching, again I could have stayed all day, but Florence woke up and I took pity on her. The Kingfisher was on the small pond as usual. Our thrill came when what we think was a great snowy owl landed in tall trees up the hill from the pond toward the visitor center. Even from the visitors center it was hard to confirm, It was too far away to get a good look or picture I tried to walk to the fence line to get a better look but just as I was loading more memory in the camera it flew. Judging from the size and the amount of white we saw we think it was a Great Snowy but our pics are to grainy, when blown up, to confirm. Florence is more confident than I am but since she has the better set of eyes I think she is right. (don't tell her I said that)

Today, Wednesday 2/12 was a great bird feeder day. An ice and snow storm was predicted to start in the early AM but it did not start snowing hard until noon. The calls are for up to 3 inches here and 4 to 6 north of Harrisburg. The birds must have been sitting on a windowsill and listening to the radio because they hit our feeders hard. I spent more than 3 hours in a rocker by the picture window and the show was great. I don't own a TV and don't want to, but I would not mind having a remote control for my feeders. Wouldn't it be nice to zoom in for a closer look to identify just what sparrow that is? and the pause bottom, I am so afraid I'll miss something when I get up that I almost pee my pants. I need to get to the kitchen for more coffee and to the bathroom to get rid of what I consumed earlier. I could hang the feeders outside the bathroom window and put the coffee pot on the sink counter, This way I would miss nothing. but, my rocker is a much more comfortable seat than the one available in there.

We had about 40 to 50 birds around and under the feeder for most of the day. They seemed to know the bad weather was coming and most of them were patiently sitting on the shrubs waiting for their turn at the seed. No less that 14 species showed up - Starling's, a blue-jay, a White Breasted Nuthatch, several pairs of Cardinals (did not see the pope), House finches, gold finches, White Throated Sparrows, several other sparrows that I did not identify, Juncos, Titmice, Chickadees, Doves, a beautiful Carolina wren, brown headed cow birds and some medium sized brown bird I did not know - I have so much to learn - at first I thought the wren was a brown creeper. Pictures to follow.