Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day


A nice fall day. 50 degrees and sunny at 7:30 a.m. First stop was the lower gardens where I was very excited to see an American tree sparrow. Haynes pointed one out last weekend and I forgot to mention it, but here they were! Saw a few song sparrows and goldfinches, but it was relatively quiet. Lots of nests showing now. I'm not sure who made some of them, so if you have any ideas, let me know.

While walking the path to the upper gardens the wind came up and blew a bunch of oak leaves up into the bright blue sky where they whirled around like large pieces of confetti! It was really pretty. Lots of chickadees and a white throated sparrow foraging on the ground. I could hear several sparrows in the wildflower field, but they were mostly hidden. A large group of juncos were diving and chasing around the upper gardens as well as a mockingbird chasing a cardinal. I see that some gardeners have planted their winter rye and it's coming up.

Down by the river was the red bellied woodpecker, some robins and lots of juncos. I saw a tree where I knew the orioles had nested, but now see a second nest of a different type of bird (about mid-way up) - a double decker! Watch out for the tics. Somehow, I had four or five on my leg and I have no idea where they came from. November seems to be especially bad for tics like early spring.

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