Looks like it is officially wintertime by the birding calendar. We had juncos show up at our feeders. Time to switch from gin and tonic to hot buttered rum.
Birding has been slow, at least for us. We have only gotten out once this past week. Even then we were chasing a lesser black-backed gull someone else had reported. Not getting out to see what we can see.
Others have been getting out and seeing some pretty neat things. The Detroit hawk watch reported 77,597 raptors coming through since fall migration started. I think the only break they have taken was to watch the Detroit Tigers send the New York Yankees into retreat. People around here are happier than Robert E. Lee watching the Yankees turn tail. If General Lee had the Tigers pitching crew at Gettysburg history may have been different. Instead of benching A-Rod maybe the Yankees should have started pumping him with steroids again. Maybe get some pointers from Lance Armstrong on undetectable doping.
One individual in the Ann Arbor area has been getting out birding and posting his results on the local listserve. He’s been doing a big year in just Superior Township with the added constraint that he doesn’t use a car. He either walks or travels by bicycle. Kind of an Amish thing. At last count he was at 186 species. A pretty good count for 36 square miles without any coastline or the use of the internal combustion engine.
This weekend we are going over to Dunes State Park in Indiana. The naturalist has a saw-whet owl banding station set up. Hopefully we will see adorable little owls and maybe can catch a few late migrants too.
We didn’t get in much birding this week but we did get in a swim meet. Molly did three events. She got a third in an individual event and was on two first place relay teams. On her birthday no less. While we were gone some of her friends decorated our house for her birthday. They needed a ladder and knew the combination to the garage so they helped themselves to our ladder to finish the job. Molly came home to find a 6 foot Thor cutout in the doorway. Thor and his big hammer.
We mere mortals just don’t stack up.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 