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Phoebe
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Morning Birds
We went for a walk at the University nature preserve and saw some ruby-crowned kinglets. There was a winter wren singing in the brush near a creek, a pair of wood ducks, a broad-winged hawk and a kingfisher, along with the other tough birds who’ve been here all winter. (Actually the kingfisher may have stayed — we saw one last year in the dead of winter. This was a colder, longer winter though.) There was one I didn’t recognize: a dark reddish-brown, warbler-sized bird working the ground among the marsh grasses. We also saw what may have been an oven bird, as well as a startled (I think) flicker.
Only a few posed for pictures, of course. But it was a great way to start the day — right around freezing, but with plenty of activity indicating that spring is underway.
There was a whole treetop full of blue jays warning that this hawk was around, though we didn’t realize what was bothering them till he flew overhead.
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Glen
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Song Sparrow
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Crocuses
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Big Red
We were in Ithaca on Saturday, so we stopped by the site of the the Cornell hawks’ nest for awhile. This is Big Red on a light post next to the one where her nest is. The nest itself is in a difficult spot to observe — at least, compared to the one they used the year before last. I visited a few times last year but didn’t take many pictures. Luckily lots of other folks did, though.
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Spring Robin
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Waterfall
This is a favorite picnic spot. I was able to get in close for the first time the other day; it’s been a steep and icy descent until now.
Another welcome sign of spring: water. Most of these streams have been silent, but now the woods are full of the sound of rushing water. It corresponds to the freedom I feel as winter releases its grip.
Always I am reminded that we are only the most recent of a long line of visitors here.
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Best Kept Secrets of the Woods
The woods were full of them today: soft, high-pitched peepings and flashes of bark-colored movement. There’s one on this tree. See it? It’s a brown creeper.
I love these tiny birds with their amazing protective coloration.
I have no idea how many there were; I saw one at a time. But they seemed to cover a wide area. There must have been quite a few.
I watched them hop up the trunks, checking under each flake of bark or lichen for insects.
They would hop to the top, then drop back down to the base and start back up again.
For them, the wood full of trees must have been an absolute delight — kind of like I’d feel in a chocolate factory acres wide.
They are always a treat to see, and seeing them feels like an accomplishment — so tiny, quick, and camouflaged.
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Bridge to Spring?
