Birding News

Our fine feathered friends really got some pub today in the News Journal.

Of course, there's the developing story of the avian flu spreading to Great Britain. Get ready to wash your hands to your favorite tune or jingle of 20 seconds to protect yourself from picking up the bird bug.

On the more local front, there's the shocking story of the 184 dead bird carcasses found dumped on a road down by the C & D canal. Authorities have surmised that someone shot the birds for sport (if that's what you would call it) over a baited field or waterway, and then hauled the birds away to another spot so that their illegal and wasteful act wouldn't be discovered. I can only hope that somewhere the hunting gods are planning their revenge.

Last, there's the happier column on the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, an activity in which local birders report the different bird species at their feeders to the Cornell University Ornithology Center. According to today's article, this year's count is on track to break last year's record of the number of recorded species.

I'm not involved in any formal count, but last week's snow brought a host of visitors to my feeders, not all of them welcome. Blackbirds, cowbirds, starlings, and grackles have all the eating habits of Bluto Blutarski (John Belushi's character in Animal House), mobbing feeders and crowding out smaller birds, and then gorging themselves with any kind of food they can get their beaks on. Their belches can be heard from up to fifty yards away! (only kidding, got you there).

Other than the aforementioned "nuisance birds," here's what I've spotted in recent days: chickadee, titmouse, nuthatch, house finch, English sparrow, cardinal, junco, downy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker, flicker, blue jay (nasty birds, not bluebirds, folks), mourning dove, white throated sparrow, and the robin. A turkey vulture flew in real low yesterday; I guess it spotted some carrion in the area. Practicing some bird mimicry, I made a sound like a red-tailed hawk and it high-tailed away. I've seen hawks out back, too, of course, but I'm not sure if they were red tails or some other species. I know, I've got a lot to learn.

How about sharing your sightings with your classmates and me? If you're without a backyard and you're interested in observing avian activity, here's the link for the Cornell Lab live bird feeder camp. Happy birding.