It's not too often my son, Tom, is available to join me on one of my birding outings, but today was an exception. I had more fun birding than usual with his pleasant companionship. Tom and I headed out early afternoon and trekked through Bird Song, an Orchard Park preserve that is rich with water, deciduous forest, and field life.
My son, Tom at Bird Song Preserve in Orchard Park, NYAt first, we only saw what we thought were Black-capped Chickadees, but later, our enlarged photos showed many of our little friends were actually Golden-Crowned Kinglets. They were very high in the trees, and dummy me, forgot my binoculars! I would have spent more time trying to entice the little guys to come closer, had I known - and had I also not forgotten the seed I usually take with me! My excitement over Tom coming along must have thrown all of my preparations off today!
We spied several woodpeckers: Downy, Hairy, and Red-Bellied, but no Pileated, as we had hoped. We thought we heard a Pileated at one point, but as much as we tried, we couldn't find it. A Song Sparrow was the highlight for me, as I had never seen one, let alone as close as the little one we spied was. At first, I thought he might be a Lincoln Sparrow, but again, those photos helped identify him positively later on. Fortunately, he wasn't shy and we were able to grab several photos before he decided he was tired of the paparazzi and disappeared into the thicket.
We ended with a Red-Tailed Hawk flying low over the skyline, which was a treat. I wasn't able to get a focus on the magnificent creature soon enough to get a clear photo, but it was still a thrill watching him soar and swoop and dive before disappearing out of sight.
This birding trip included:
- Song Sparrow - 1
- Golden-Crowned Kinglet - 6
- Black-Capped Chickadee - 8
- Red-Bellied Woodpecker - 1
- Hairy Woodpecker - 1
- Downy Woodpecker - 2
- Dark-Eyed Junco - 4
- Northern Cardinal - 3
- Red-Tailed Hawk - 1