... And Collectors

While this chap was sitting up in a tree, the City Nature Challenge was in progress.

A competition* amongst 'cites' run by the iNaturalist folks over an extended weekend, Friday through Monday, the goal being to submit the most observations during that period in a specific geographical area. I was in the greater Philadelphia area, consisting of the city and the counties which border it.

And as can be seen below, I did rather well, coming in 6th in the number of species seen. And (not shown) I was 9th in observations submitted.

The full results can be found here: Greater Philadelphia.

Some fun facts.

- All my observations were from my yard.

- I know the first, second, and fifth place finishers in the species list.

- At one point I was #2 in species, just six off the lead, but I faded as the others continued to submit observations.

Maybe next year I'll go across the street!

~~~~~~~~~

* Unlike past years, this year was not an official competition. Although it is not clear what difference that made.

Just Passing Through

Yet another spring migrant, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

This species has shown up every year since we've moved here.

And unlike the prior two migrant species, this one stays for a couple of weeks. So we get to enjoy its visits.

Sexually dimorphic, these four birds are all the same species. The gaudy males are quite a contrast with the more cryptic colored females.

Another difference from the others is that these birds show up in force. We've seen as many as eight  at one time in the yard this year.  Approaching trash bird numbers.

And all too soon they are gone. Off to their breeding territory, which begins just a little bit north of us. Which may explain why they linger here. 

It would be cool it a pair decided to stay and make our yard their nesting grounds.

Kitchen Optics

Les Cowley, the host of the Atmospheric Optics website, uses the term "Kitchen Optics" for everyday optical phenomena all around us.

And a couple of days ago I experienced some literal Kitchen Optics, as evidenced by these images of my kitchen sink.

As I was starting up the coffee maker that morning, I noticed the colors in the sink. The water in the wine glass was acting as a prism, or in this case multiple prisms, resulting in the colors in the sink. Or at least that is what I think is happening.

Les and I are kindred spirits, in that we find these phenomena fascinating. I suspect most people wouldn't even notice, or give them a second glance. I know that at least some readers have become interested as well. And that is cool. And if you haven't, that's ok too. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next post. :-)

I've sent these to Les, and I hope he enjoys them as well. And that they cheer him up. You see, when I sent him my Halo images from last month, to see if it really was a 9° Halo, I received an email stating that Les was recovering from major surgery. Not a response I was expecting nor wanted.

Get well soon Les, get well soon.

Hunters ...

I've blogged before about the deer stands in the State Forest behind our place. And how the hunters are not very good at what they do as evidenced by all the deer (and turkeys) in the area.

Well a couple of Mondays ago, Patty went wandering in the back woods, looking of course for birds. And she found a hunter.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

He too was looking for birds, or rather a specific bird, the Wild Turkey. Of course with Patty wandering around, scaring off all the birds, he was not able to take home a turkey. Of course, they are available in stores all throughout the area.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Patty chatted with him and it turns out his uncle owns some land down the road form us, so he visits during turkey season, driving up before sunrise from Hammonton, which is twenty some miles south of us. 

Seems like way too much work for a bird which, as I mentioned above, is readily available in supermarkets everywhere (and if you buy enough they'll give you one for free!).

But hey, we wake up well before dawn to go looking for birds. So to each their own.

Just Passing Through

Another spring migrant, the Baltimore Oriole.

Like the Indigo Bunting, this bird is just a visitor to our yard, on its way elsewhere.

And in prior years had been a one day wonder.

But in these work from home times, we've seen this species, and multiple individuals, all week.

And on Monday there were four (!!!) just outside my office window. An adult female, an adult male, and to sub-adult males. I grabbed my desk camera and shot away, getting great images of the birds interacting.

There was no card in the camera.

NNNNOOOO!

Maybe they'll come back?

Across the Street

Is Budd's Bogs. Literally, I can see their property from my living room window.

I know this because in the before times we chatted with a fellow who was marking the property line. Seems they had recently opened the land to deer hunters and he was seeing if there was access to the hunting area from the road between us. It turns out it is too swampy. But we asked if we could visit, and he said sure.

And then just last Friday, during my lunchtime walk, I met another fellow, coming out from the Bogs, listening. I asked, and he replied a bird he couldn't quite place. We agreed it was a Red-Bellied Woodpecker with an off call. We chatted about birding, and he to told me we could bird the Bogs.

And on Saturday, as part of our World Series of Birding efforts, we did visit.

And it is beautiful back there. Not at all what I expected.

Forested areas with ponds and lakes, along with Blueberry field and Cranberry bogs.

And plenty of birds.

We will be back.

Just Passing Through

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

If you are a birder that is. It is migration time. Where everyday something new may turn up at your feeders. Or in the tops of your trees.

And today's migrant is the Indigo Bunting.

This is actually the second individual of this species to visit our yard. The prior bird being a young male, who's color was not so bold at this mature individual.

I had spotted this bird in the shrubs at the edge of the yard just as Patty was returning home. I called her over but the bird had retreated into the underbrush. It was she who later spotted it a the feeder.

And now you get to enjoy it as well.