Noah's Blog - March

It was not exactly spring-like, as there was a fresh five inches of snow on the ground with big flakes still falling, but a large group of all ages set off early in the morning to find avian signs of spring at the Garden of Ideas on North Salem Road.  Bird song filled the air, mostly from the red-winged blackbirds, one of the earliest spring migrants to fly up from the southern states.  The males, with their black bodies and yellow and red shoulder badges, were easy to spot in the area around the marsh.  Noah taught us to listen for the common grackle, another early migrant that often comes up in large flocks that include other birds such as the red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, European starlings, and even American robins.  A red-tailed hawk sat all puffed up on a tree limb surveying the area, and was unperturbed by the audience observing from below.  Birds fluff up their feathers in the cold to trap air between them for better insulation, and the oils on the feathers provide waterproofing.  A member of the buteo genus, the red-tailed hawk preys mostly upon rodents, and is one of the most common hawks found in our area, staying year-round.   Perched in another tree was another year-round inhabitant, the mourning dove, whose graceful silhouette with a rather small head and long tapering tail, and its mournful call, make it easy to identify.  As we crossed the boardwalk over the marsh, we found a pair of rather shy ring-necked ducks that were swimming near the reeds.  The male ring-necked is beautifully marked in black, grey and white, while the female is brown with a darker crown above a paler face.  Both have a peaked head and a distinctive white ring on their bills, which looks a bit like a “mustache” from a distance.  In fact, the ring around its neck for which it is named is rather hard to see, so it is much easier to go by the other features to identify it.  Even though they are one of the ducks that dive for their food, they often frequent shallow ponds, lakes and marshes.  Mallards were also spotted, one of our most familiar and easily identified ducks with the iridescent green heads and yellow bills on the males.  They are “dabbling ducks,” as they feed by tipping forward to eat water plants and hardly ever dive.  Woodpeckers were heard in the distance, both the “wuk” sound of the pileated and the “kwirr” call of the red-bellied woodpecker.  Also in the back of the Garden of Ideas property are some domesticated birds: about a half dozen hens and a rooster.  We were interested to learn that Joe Keller’s chickens stay outside in their coop year round, and stop laying eggs for only about six weeks of the year.  Joe plans to fence in a larger area for them to roam in the spring, so they won’t fall prey to fox and other predators.  We all agreed it was a beautiful day of birding despite the snow! Picture:  Ring-necked ducks Credit:  Chris Burke