Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
For the Birds
January has been a good month. I went on my first birding expedition. I've had a long interest in bird life and claim the bird nerd title proudly. It's a part of the animal kingdom that we can observe with immediacy and the more behavior I see, the more fascinated I become.
The Audubon Society of Portland sponsors small birding expeditions regularly. I was on their site a couple weeks ago and saw they were going on a birding trip at Summerlake Park, about ten minutes from where I live. I figured it was a good opportunity to get out of my comfort zone, meet some strangers, and look at birds. The park has a small lake with paths and bridges and a variety of resident and visiting birds. I introduced myself as a newbie at the outset and throughout the two-hour tour, the others made a point of showing me things and giving me identification tips and really making sure I had the best experience possible. I had so much fun! I saw birds I see all the time: varied thrushes, flickers, nuthatches, house finches, goldfinches, western gulls, etc and ones I don't get to see very often: egrets, blue herons, wood ducks, green-winged teals. I even saw birds I'd never seen before: buffleheads, mergansers, widgeons, ruby-headed kinglets, bewick's wren. I even saw a redtailed hawk perched up in a tree thanks to my companions.
We'd just had a freeze, so parts of the lake were still frozen, giving the birds the appearance of walking on water in some areas. The gulls, in particular, seemed to enjoy the ice as they came in for slip-sliding landings. They'd coast, land, slide, and repeat.
I was the youngest member of the group by at least 15 years but couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable experience. In a couple weeks, I'm going to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Preserve to participate in a night hike all about owls. I Can't Wait!!
The Audubon Society of Portland sponsors small birding expeditions regularly. I was on their site a couple weeks ago and saw they were going on a birding trip at Summerlake Park, about ten minutes from where I live. I figured it was a good opportunity to get out of my comfort zone, meet some strangers, and look at birds. The park has a small lake with paths and bridges and a variety of resident and visiting birds. I introduced myself as a newbie at the outset and throughout the two-hour tour, the others made a point of showing me things and giving me identification tips and really making sure I had the best experience possible. I had so much fun! I saw birds I see all the time: varied thrushes, flickers, nuthatches, house finches, goldfinches, western gulls, etc and ones I don't get to see very often: egrets, blue herons, wood ducks, green-winged teals. I even saw birds I'd never seen before: buffleheads, mergansers, widgeons, ruby-headed kinglets, bewick's wren. I even saw a redtailed hawk perched up in a tree thanks to my companions.
We'd just had a freeze, so parts of the lake were still frozen, giving the birds the appearance of walking on water in some areas. The gulls, in particular, seemed to enjoy the ice as they came in for slip-sliding landings. They'd coast, land, slide, and repeat.
I was the youngest member of the group by at least 15 years but couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable experience. In a couple weeks, I'm going to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Preserve to participate in a night hike all about owls. I Can't Wait!!
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