March 20, 2007

Astounding!

I was taking the dog for a nice long walk today in an attempt to get both of us some much needed exercize and as we were walking I started hearing what sounded like pigeons, but very quietly like pigeons. As we kept walking, it gradually got louder and louder to the point that I started to wonder if perhaps the gangs had set up some sort of pigeon hutch or something. Hey, I never said I was smart, just that it sounded like about 100 pigeons!

I kept walking and the sound did not dimish, it got louder. It also started to sound like it was overhead. I look up, and I see about 150 large birds just circling along on the thermals. They were not flying in any recognizable pattern, other than circling. I thought WTF??? They weren’t hawks, I knew that. There is no way there were that many hawks in the area. I kept looking, they weren’t turkey vultures either, not the right shape. They were very high up, so I could not get color but they looked a grayish color to me.

As I was trying to figure out what they were, watching them circle overhead, more came along! Again, they sounded like a lot of pigeons! I began to think, could it be? Is it possible ? No way, it just can’t be! Geese don’t ride thermals and they fly in V’s. Can’t be geese. Well, knowing all that I decided to listen closer, to see if I could pick out an individual voice. I did, I could, it was geese.

I dunno bout you, but I have NEVER seen geese riding thermals and circling before! I always thought they were these big clumsy birds who did nothing but fly in V’s and eat the lawns so they could poop everywhere. I am SOOOO glad they actually did not stay overhead! There were like 200 of them at least by the time I gave up watching, I would have been trapped in a pile of green poop!

Anyway, I thought I would share that with you since the bluebirds are not here yet.

I did get to see about a half dozen of these guys:

They were just tap tap a tapping away in a grove of dead trees. They are hairy woodpeckers in case you are wondering. They were also juvenile as they did not have the red spots. Or maybe they were all female? Nah, juvenile, they were about 5" long. Cute.

No deer this time out, and like I said the bluebirds aren’t there. I did see a swift:

Which is what tries to keep the blue birds out of their nest boxes. We shall see who wins that one this summer.

Isn’t if funny how I live in a ghetto, yet all of this is less than 2/10 of a mile away? I can’t wait til the marsh birds come! Right now, there are a few egrets, but not anything like the variety I saw last year.

In case you were curious about where I am seeing all this:

http://www.pbase.com/corvidae/mckee_marsh this link has some great photos!

http://www.bcnbirds.org/dupage/sitephotos/mckee.html So does this one!

http://www.dupageforest.com/PRESERVES/blackwell.html this one gives some good info about the area.

Now that you know I am close, please don’t stalk me LOL