Thanksgiving is the one time each year that almost everyone in my family still gathers together. Traditionally, we meet at my brother Jamie's house in Raleigh, NC the day after Thanksgiving, and the whole family takes a walk through his neighborhood after we eat our Thanksgiving meal. Jamie's neighborhood is basically a pine forest with houses. The large pines attract Brown-headed Nuthatches and many other birds.
For the second year in a row, I saw and heard Brown-headed Nuthatches in the tall pines in my brother's neighborhood the day after Thanksgiving in 2012. A Brown-headed Nuthatch has an unmistakeable call. They sound like squeaky toys. Here is a photo I took of one of the Brown-headed Nuthatches I saw in the pines next to my brother's yard in 2011.
In 2011, I also saw my lifer Red-shouldered Hawks in Raleigh. However, it was still an unexpected surprise to see one in my brother's neighborhood this past day after Thanksgiving in 2012 on our after dinner walk.
After a few days in Raleigh, Carrie and I took my mother back home to Waynesville in Haywood County, where I grew up, which is in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The day before we returned home, I went birding at Lake Junaluska, which is also in Haywood County. After watching a bufflehead on the edge of the lake, I headed for the wetlands. While walking through the wetlands, I flushed a hawk that was on the ground. I followed the hawk to the tree it flew into, and it seemed reluctant to leave the area, thus I was able to take several photos of this young Cooper's Hawk.
As the Cooper's Hawk kept it's eyes on me, I walked back to the spot from which it had flushed and found the reason it seemed unwilling to fly away. Beside a pile of feathers was the fresh carcass of a Lesser Scaup.
It seemed such a feast for a Cooper's. No wonder this hawk did not want to leave.
I continued my walk, climbing to the top of a hill from where I had a nice vantage point to view the waterfowl on the lake. There was a nice smattering of Hooded Mergansers not far from shore.
They seemed very playful. This video shows some of their antics.
I started the trail around the lake over by the swimming pool. Before I crossed the bridge, I saw this Song Sparrow along the path.
As I walked across the bridge, I photographed this Mallard.
The area on the other side of the bridge is a great area to view songbirds. The birds here seem very accustomed to the walkers and the people who feed the ducks and geese. So it is easy to get close to these birds. In past years I have photographed Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Song Sparrows, Northern Mockingbirds, and Eastern Bluebirds. The first birds I noticed in this area on this walk were two Carolina Wrens, and they allowed great looks.
One of the wrens was scolding me so I recorded the scold on video.
The next bird I saw in the little trees by the sidewalk was another Song Sparrow.
Then a Northern Mockingbird flew in.
There were several Carolina Chickadees as well, but I was not able to get a photo of any of them. I was a little surprised that I did not see any Eastern Bluebirds on my walk. Here are a few shots I took of one of them in the same area in November of 2011.
As I continued around the lake, I took this shot of the Lambuth Inn.
I approached a little dock surrounded by a variety of mutt ducks. I am beginning to have a new appreciation for hybrid ducks because simply put, each of them is a one of a kind. Here is a short gallery.
Also near this little dock was a Mute Swan--one of several that have been brought to the lake.
The lake was full of American Coots, and there were a good number of Pied-billed Grebes as well.
Usually, I find it difficult to approach American Crows for photographs; however, this one seemed highly cooperative.
Indeed, it seemed that all of the birds were cooperating today, including this Rock Pigeon and this male Belted Kingfisher, which I saw near the dam.
Written and published on January 6, 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment