Before we headed out into the country, we made a short stop at Duluth’s Park Point, where saw some COMMON RAVENS. Our next stop was Aiken County (again). We were driving along Route 5, Pole poring over maps and guides, when I saw a flash directly in front of me. It was a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. I had only a short glimpse, but it was mostly dark with some white, and a long, long tail. Pole didn’t see it, and by the time she unearthed herself from her library, the bird had gone. We saw it in the distance with another, too far off to identify. Pole was disappointed and pissed to say the least, so I kept my mouth shut. When I first saw it, I yelled “Oh my God!”, so she knew it was a good one. It was spectacular in fact, but I was a gentleman and didn’t gloat.
Category Archives: LIST
the great muddy north [28 – 33]
Today is the first day of a birding trip to Minnesota. We took a shorter trip last year during the unprecedented owl irruption, but don’t expect such luck this year. We left Chicago yesterday after work, but spent the night in Wisconsin, making today our first in the beautiful North Star State.
While on route to St. Paul, a BALD EAGLE flew low across our path. It’s always easy to ID, so I don’t mind it flying in front of me while I’m going 75 mph. Still heading north, Pole saw another bird fly past. (I was too busy driving the car, so couldn’t get a good look.) At first she thought it was a Northern Harrier, but after carefully reviewing both the Peterson and Sibley guides, she decided it was a NORTHERN GOSHAWK.
another week, another bird [27]
We’ve been very busy this weekend, what with this, that, and the other. I guess if we were psycho birders, nothing could have stopped us, but being lousy birders . . .
Anyway, we were able to make one short trip today to Glencoe Beach (Glencoe’s another northern suburb of Chicago) to see if there was any action on the lake. There was, and we saw a nice raft of ducks. Amongst the scaup, redheads, and goldeneyes, we saw a single RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.
So if we keep this up and manage to see one new bird a week, we’ll reach an annual total of 75. I guess choosing the name “Little Year” is finally starting to pay off.
one for three in the owl dept. [13 – 26]
Having a job sucks. But money = good, so not having a job sucks even worse. Basically, then, suckage is all that’s on the menu.
I’m getting philosophical here because having a job really cuts into my birding time. That means my Little Year just gets littler and littler. I’m hopeful it won’t be littler when it’s lighter, because then I can do a little birding after work. Going out before work isn’t likely. I’m pretty damn lazy and like my sleep. The point of all my whining is that I didn’t see squat all week. Pole was lucky and stumbled upon a MOURNING DOVE last Monday. It’s only a week into our Little Year and she’s already ahead of me. Oh, well. She usually wins at everything, and I’m resigned to it.
the first day [2 – 12]
Considering this is the first day of our little year, I did my best to get up early, but I was still late meeting up with Scrubb. Last night, we had decided to bird the Morton Arboretum, some miles west of Chicago, with an advertised morning bird walk given by the DuPage County Birding Club. This is a top-rated area for winter birds in our region. Not only was I hoping to add birds to our little year list, but with a guided tour, I was also hoping to add a few lifers — birds I had never seen, such as pine siskins or saw-whet owls — to my own personal life list. Well, I was disappointed in my selfish pursuit of lifers, but the little year list has grown slightly.