The weather is nice today, mild and sunny with a slight breeze. I’m at Mount Auburn Cemetery with Wendy to go bird watching. We started by heading down from the Washington Tower towards the dell. While on the rim above the dell and facing a stand of pine trees another person pointed out a male Great-Horned Owl. He appeared lethargic and sleepy, probably because it’s the day which is night for an owl. Another group of people passed by and told us that around the bend traveling away from the dell there was the owl nest, and that a female was in a tree along with two baby owls. We easily found the nest part way up the tree, and joined a crowd taking pictures. The young owls appeared to be attempting to squawk at passer-bys. I do not believe I’ve seen a Great-Horned Owl before; in Southwick I think we had Barn Owls that would whinny in the night.
After sitting there for a while I thought I heard a distinct “Towhee!” call coming back from the way we had come. I started walking back that way when I heard it again, and it was answered by another. I was happy since the Rufous-Sided Towhee is my favorite bird and I have not seen one in about 15 years. As I came around a bend I saw a flash of white on a tail as a Towhee dove into a hedge off to the left of the path, and continued to call from there. I walked around the hedge a ways until the bird eventually flew off, I’m not sure where its’ companion went. The towhee flew to another nearby hedge, and I followed; this was repeated for several minutes. Eventually I got a few somewhat blurry pictures on account of Towhees liking low hedges. It eventually started to sing from one of the hedges it was in, imploring me to drink my tea. It started to work its way down to the dell, stopping every few trees to sing. While in the Dell it flew back towards the tower, and I elected to hang out in the dell since it would take me quite some time to find the Towhee again, and there was some activity in the Dell. Flitting around in the underbrush I along with several photographers found a few Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, I believe they are the first ones I have ever seen. As soon as I spotted them I knew they were kinglets, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw their caps and they turned out to be the much less seen in these parts Ruby-Crowned. Also in the dell were a pair of mallards dabbling in the algae, which amused Wendy greatly.
Also of note as we headed back were the omnipresent Robins in the cemetery, as well as the usual crowd of Jays, the first Catbird I’ve seen there this year, and some titmice and chickadees. Overall it was a very busy day and we got to see a ton of birds; I got to see a Towhee for the first time in a decade and a half, and I saw two species I had not previously seen. Good time, good times.
No comments:
Post a Comment