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March 11th, 2004  Embedded With Birds Last Saturday I began a series of spring bird walks for the public. This year I decided it would be a good strategy to seek out and learn about over wintering species on the first few walks and then build on that with the incoming migrant species. The day dawned clear, it was only a few degrees below zero and I was well prepared. I even constructed a directional sign to put in Parkside Centre it was a well-disguised pizza box with a photo of a great horned owl and an arrow directing would-be bird walkers to the downstairs portion of the gallery. I also prepared a list of 40 or so over wintering bird species and a calendar of future walks so we could track incoming species over time and see how the numbers grew as spring progressed. I decided to convene the bird walkers downstairs because I am the ‘artist of the month’ in the upstairs gallery and I wanted to keep the two of me - me as artist and me as birder - somewhat separate. It’s hard to discuss birding while explaining why I painted a series of plump, bright red figures working on a broken down car. The starting time of eight AM soon arrived and two people signed up. We waited a little longer until it became apparent that this morning’s group of walkers would consist only of us three. On the previous day I took a preliminary scouting walk in order to assess what birds might be about and determine the walk-ability of certain trails. As I suspected some areas were very slippery especially under canopies of trees where melt water was frozen on slopes. Despite this knowledge I thought I would see what sort of day it was before deciding which direction we would set out in. I stepped out of the building with my two intrepid walkers and decided a stroll through the northern end of the town was in order. As we started down the street the call of a Varied Thrush was heard. It was obvious that the bird was tucked up in an evergreen tree and if we wanted a closer look we would have to enter some unknown person’s property, something I'm not inclined to do on a quiet Saturday morning. We settled for an audio identification and moved on. There are several houses on the edge of town that have bird feeders and they were my first destination. Even before we closed on the feeders the raucous calling of Red-winged Blackbirds floated to us on the cool morning air. Soon we stood in front of a driveway alive with spirited birds. On the ground a flock of Redpolls hopped and jabbered. In the trees Red-winged Blackbirds flew about constantly. We took some time and used our binoculars to study the birds in the trees above the houses but there were only two species present. Urban birding (with binoculars) is something I do only with several other people present, because a lone person armed with binoculars and peering about in a sleepy subdivision might seem suspect. As we moved down the street toward the next feeder I caught the furtive movement of a Sparrow as it flashed across a lawn. Before I had time to visually confirm its identity, the song of a Song Sparrow floated out amid the calls of blackbirds. This was my first Song Sparrow sighting of the year. As our walk proceeded we spotted a cluster of Blackbirds huddled in a small pine tree. The morning sun danced on their metallic-blue chests and one glance told me these were all male Brewers Blackbirds, another first species sighting for me this year. At the edge of town we passed through a gate and onto a pasture still covered in snow. A lone black cow wandered aimlessly about. It stepped off the path to let us pass. We continued down to an area know as the old sewer lagoons. I hoped to see a Northern Shrike that often hunts the riparian area but it was nowhere in sight. Suddenly a large bird launched itself from a stand of lodgepole pines and flapped ponderously away. It was an immature Bald Eagle. As I followed its flight with binoculars I noticed two Ravens, looking exceptionally large, perched on the ground down the fence line. Immediately I suspected that this gathering was due to a carcass in the area. As if to punctuate that thought a coyote suddenly burst into view from the sloped ground where the Ravens stood. The coyote ran across the edge of a big cattail bed and seemed in no hurry to hide itself from us. As I scanned the fence line I saw another immature Eagle standing on a cross member of the fence. It was about 80 feet away and in good light, which provided us with a great opportunity to study its mottled plumage. Its head, neck and bib areas were dark, giving us the impression that it was a Black Headed Eagle instead of a Bald Eagle. I consulted the books later and found that this is the plumage of a second year bird. After we studied the eagle for some time I decided to go to the pasture above and see what attracted these various creatures. From some distance I spotted the carcass of a black cow. It was obviously dead and showed signs of scavenging. I did not approach any nearer. The return to the Centre was rather uneventful; suffice it to say that walking was tough through uneven deep snow. A Flicker called loudly doing its best to put a spring frame of mind on what was still a wintry landscape. The area of the park I call "cat alley" held no birds. The previous day it was alive with singing Juncos and a few House Finches. It wasn’t a bad outing for a first walk and I thought that what we saw fitted well with the theme of my art show in the upstairs gallery entitled ‘embedded with beef.’ To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
