Back from Birding

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:33 am

Morning All,

So missed all of you and hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your families. Will never get to all the posts so welcome to any I missed who are new and Birthday wishes to others I missed.

Birding Chincoteage and Assateague, VA was really grand and we tallied 137 species. I think the climate change or the unusually warm weather there kept some birds at bay. Normally 50,000 Snow Goose at this time of the year but there were only about 1,500 and Egrets - both Snowy and Great - were lingering around. Best finds were White Ibis which is now nesting there - quite out of their region - and a late Blackpoll Warbler. All in all great time but really had to work to tally a count.

Christmas holds the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Rock Hall.

Love, Maggie

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:55 am

Welcome back, Maggie! Sounds like a truly beautiful trip. We've been having the most beautiful November here (just felt the weather turning during the morning session at our dog park... so our coming chill will probably be heading south to you, soon).

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 2:36 pm

Welcome back, Maggie. It sounds like your birding vacation was a success.

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 3:21 pm

Hi Maggie,

It sounds as though you had a good outing, and managed to get back home hale and healthy, which is always a bonus.

Welcome back.

Love,
Tex

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:11 pm

Hi Maggie,

Good to have you back - been missing you ......... So glad your trip was successful - 137 species - WOW !!!

Love,
Kari

Sheila · Post by **Sheila** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:11 pm

Your birding trip sounds fabulous and I'm very envious. My bucket list includes the King Ranch some day and the Sonoran desert, too.
I'm part of the Cornell Backyard Bird Count and am in despair over hawks dining from our feeders. There are days when I see only a few birds in the yard, usually ground doves, little blue heron or white ibis. With my husband so sick, I'm checking the yard frequently and know that the hawks are lurking. We have a Coopers here most of the year and now a Marsh hawk. A few months ago the Coopers had a mourning dove pinned to the ground near the feeder. A squirrel was on the palm tree enjoying sunflower seeds when this happened. Amazingly, the squirrel high tailed it down the tree, ran directly at the hawk and scared it away. The dove flew off across the canal to safety. I'm still amazed by this either brave or suicidal squirrel. I also saw a squirrel climb up the fence perhaps 10 feet from the marsh hawk that was also perched on the fence. She sort of thumbed her nose at the hawk while she enjoyed a peanut.

Sheila

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:28 pm

Well, Sheila, you've just added something to MY life list - a birder singing the praises of a squirrel!!! I never thought I'd encounter that rare species

Sheila · Post by **Sheila** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:41 am

Our small Florida squirrels are pretty cute and they can't get to either one of our bird feeders. Very frustrating for them. I put peanuts out for them on a shelf outside a kitchen window and they compete with the blue jays every morning. Of course, it got out of hand and now I feed them sunflower seeds on a tree shelf as well. They stand at the window with their little noses pressed against the glass if there are no peanuts. Then they get pissed off and start knocking on the window and trying to get through it. Pretty funny. Eventually, I give in and they get more peanuts. Being pretty much housebound as my DH undergoes chemo, the wildlife is a distraction.
Sheila

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:05 am

That does sound cute, actually...

A friend has bears that visit her bird feeders at her weekend house. They particularly like to take the hummingbird feeders down, and drink the nectar. She keeps an airhorn on the windowsill, for when they're really bold - but she also has terrifying soprano power, so when she's working in the garden, she can scare them off with her amazing voice. It's pretty funny to watch...

Thinking of you, wishing I could bring over dinner.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:59 pm

Hi Sheila,

What a special wildlife story - totally enjoyed it - thanks for sharing. Sending lots of positive thoughts your way for both you and your husband.

Love,
Kari

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:17 pm

Maggie,
My brother (a physiologist who did his doctorate in the Antarctic on king penguins, has always been an avid border, and has been awarded an honorary membership of the world ornithological society. His kids were brought up with binoculars glued to their hands. NONE of them are interested in birds. What does this tell you?

I lived in Erie, PA. I went birding there quite often.

Sheila, I love watching wildlife. The most exciting birds I see where I live are numerous hummingbirds. They are lovely. There are no squirrels in this complex. There were many at the one where I lived before. They are a nuisance, but so cute.

Sharaine · Post by **Sharaine** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:54 pm

Hi Maggie,

Welcome back. I really enjoyed your post about the birds. My husband is a nature photographer and actually grew up in Suitland, MD. I just told him where you'd gone and he said we need to go there! BTW, one of Randall's pictures is being considered by Audubon Society in one of their photo contests. He took a picture of a Kestrel up in a tree back in February. It was overcast and the picture came out looking like a painting instead of a photograph.

Sheila, your stories of the squirrels, pigeons and hawks made me smile. We've got lots of flickers, assorted sparrows, wrens, finches, and lots of hawks out this way. I saw a coyote the other day when I took Emily (my dog) for a walk.

Have a good evening everyone!

Sharaine

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:37 am

Good Morning Sheila,

Also am a member of Cornell and do the backyard bird count and have done a couple of special studies with another one of their excellent birder. I so love it and the White Ibis breeding in Maryland at Chincoteague is a special thing for me.

Sharine - Congrats to your husband and hope it gets published - also a member of Audubon and number of other societies. The most unusal on is probably RSPB - The Royal Society for Preservation of Birds based in the UK.

Love, Maggie

Sheila · Post by **Sheila** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:00 pm

Hi Maggie,
My backyard is pretty much an avian dessert because of the hawks. There are mornings when it is totally silent outside, no bird sounds at all. Before the hawks returned, the blue jays would be yelling at me if I was 2 minutes late putting their peanuts out. The past few days I haven't seen or heard a jay, a sparrow, a cardinal, nothing at all.There should be painted buntings at the feeder by now. I do have lots of white ibis poking around the yard along with little blue herons and a quartet of suicidal ground doves. I've sent in one report to Cornell because my feeders are not being used.
I've always found birders to be some of the nicest people in the world, always willing to share their knowledge.

Just made my first batch of dairy free ice cream out of coconut milk. It tastes great but has the consistency of concrete. I had to chop out chunks of it and then put it in the microwave to thaw. Has anyone else made coconut milk ice cream (really ice milk)?
Sheila

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:05 pm

Sheila,
I tried making coconut ice cream once. It had the same consistency that you described, but it tasted good. As I recall, insufficient churning results in a hard block of ice cream. My paddles are plastic and I didn't want to push it. I made ice cream with real cream years ago with a different ice cream maker, and remember that I had the same problem. Concentrate on the taste and enjoy it. I liked it with chocolate syrup.

Gloria