Chirps and Cheeps

Well, I finally resumed my task of surveying for Eastern Bluebirds for Audubon's Climate Watch the other day.  For this particular count, volunteers are asked to hold twelve five-minute counts in an assigned square of of a few miles - with each stop being at least 2 miles from any of the other stops.  Surprisingly, this takes quite awhile to accomplish.

Unfortunately, this year, there were only a few bluebirds to be seen.  I think, in part, because the weather has been so cold, with daytime highs under 20°F.

I did, however, find my FOY (first of year) Pileated Woodpecker at one of the stops.  I watched with fascination as this female flew up to a berry bush that was near where I was parked.  She contorted her body in all sorts of wild shapes as she downed quite a few berries in just a couple of minutes.

During the same week, I had two sightings of  Red-shouldered Hawks: one adult and one immature.  I had a distant view of a dark Rough-legged Hawk and a Northern Shrike too.

Heading up northward, to end one of my outings, I ended up at Sturgeon Point where again I saw the over-wintering Red-headed Woodpecker.  It's great he's still doing well!

Lastly, I saw my FOY Iceland Gull at La Salle Park in Buffalo.  It was a nice day out and I thought I'd take advantage of the sunshine and low winds to scope through gulls and ducks.  The Iceland Gull was pretty much the only thing to really note, other than a far out Snowy Owl on one of the breakwalls.

Many photos are distant, but hope you enjoy them...