Pre-finals birding !!
Still have some exams I'm studying for, but what's a life lived without lifers? Was that heat lmk
Tracked and found a wonderful Eastern warbling vireo, he was very patient with me... It took me 15 minutes to finally spot him! I accidentally watched another bird for a few minutes during that chase, and I still don't know for certain what it was ,, but that vireo was a darling! He looked like a vanilla macaron. :)
Somehow stumbled across a Red-breasted nuthatch ON my campus! My birder professor told me they were leaving, so I was under the impression I wouldn't be seeing one--then I see this weird little guy scurrying around a tree in nuthatch fashion, but not the white-breasts I'm used to .. I stopped to look at him a little closer and he basically crawls down to my eye level to peer back. I hope he knows he made my whole day.
Nuthatches are genuinely cocaine pallets in songbird form. I get enough dopamine from hearing/seeing one to last me a week.
Chased Killdeer again. Did not fucking find them. I actually heard them very nearby on my campus this morning, but of course I wasn't equipped to spot them. These birds avoid me like the plague. Why do I love them so dearly.
I think I had an odd run-in with a juvenile Peregrine falcon! I was walking on a trail when a MASSIVE brown hawk/falcon swooped low to my left and vanished into the trees... I was in awe because of how big it seemed. I was convinced I saw a Great horned owl. As I continue walking, I look down at what my Merlin ID has picked up--a Peregrine falcon!! I do a little Googling and find out that baby Peregrines tend to be browner, which fits. It totally may not have been one, but I feel pretty safe thinking it.
I got visited by a banditry!! :) All the chickadees were so cute, it's always a joy to see them.
Followed a Carolina wren, but it started pouring as I got closer... I'm fine with it since those little shits are so loud for their size. I won't miss them.
Chased a Northern yellow warbler, but my binoculars were too busted to help me find him. There were a lot of birds in the tree I thought he was in, which made things harder.
The Northern cardinals around here have been a bit brave, one landed on a tree a foot away from my face! I also got to see a husband and wife pair bathing in a puddle together.
I've heard a few Cedar waxwings, but I want some new binoculars before I spot them. I find them too beautiful to waste my naked eyes on..
Pretty long one today, but I've been storing some of these for a bit. It's been pretty rainy/windy/busy where I'm at, but it's an honor to still see so much in the small windows I snatch. :) I wonder what the summer will bring..









