Day 82

March 23, 2021

tried a new drive today.

a mistake selfie

The first thing that happened after I got in the car is a bald eagle was soaring overhead at the common.  I went to take his picture and my camera was jammed.  Very scary, it was not moving at all. When it did, it took the above selfie.

My ride started just after noon.  It was 62 degrees and sunny.  It was close to perfect out.  I took my lunch into the Green River Cemetery where I could not see any birds, but could hear many.  I played around with the camera and got it working again.  I'm a little afraid something is wrong, but it lasted through out the day.

Then I drove up a different way and went to Shelburne Center first, driving the Bardswell Ferry Rd from the other side and meeting up with Taylor Road at the top instead of off S. Shelburne.  The vistas are very different driving from that direction, one can see further towards the Berkshires.  

The ice is melting.  Apparently wood ducks were heard at the rookery this morning.  I didn't see any, but from the road I'm not sure one sees a lot of the open water .

I didn't find the heron, didn't hear any voice.  It was beautiful up there and 66 degrees, that let's fall in love feeling of perfection.  I wish I could walk through the middle of the back acres.

Today's bird list is divided into two sections, one, the birds I saw, and two, the birds I heard and identified either with my song ap or from memory.  I was very pleased with myself.  

1. Bald eagle, crow, jay, woodpecker, I'm not identifying, hermit thrush, tree sparrow, robin, chickadees and the pigeons. 

2,nuthatch, purple finch, house finch, hairy woodpecker, junco, cowbird, vireo, mourning dove, and a raven.  

I took a chair out to the backyard around 5.  The sun was down in the west and the trees to my right were black and white anyways, so I decided to try and identify the myriad of sounds and shoot in black and white.  The birch were lit up with a golden light, but the black and whites did it justice.  I love my yard, glad to be back in it.  Nothing is green yet, but buds are bursting in those trees.   I remembered about patience today.  And after a half hour of sitting up there quietly, the birds began to come closer..  Its the chickadees who are the least fearful.

And this is the very beginning of the quince.  The rabbit did not say hi, but the quince did have a small pop.