The Stroud Preserve, 18 December 2012

The day started out in dense fog, but despite that the bird life was pretty busy. As I got back to the parking lot I heard the distinctive flight call of a Horned Lark, then a few minutes later, I saw a flock of about 40 American Pipits! It’s always a good day when you see these two species!

Stat time: 8:45
End time: 11:10
Temp: 45-50
Wind: none
Skies: dense fog clearing to clear skies by 11:00 AM.
Species Total:
 
Black Vulture – 4
Turkey Vulture – approximately 25
Canada Goose – approximately 100
Mallard – 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Red-tailed Hawk – 4, adults
Mourning Dove – approximately 150
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 6
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 300
Fish Crow – 1, heard only
Horned Lark – 1, heard only
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 10
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – approximately 10
Carolina Wren – 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 25
American Robin – 6
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – approximately 10
American Pipit – approximately 40, Bird of the Day!
Song Sparrow – approximately 30
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 50
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 25
Northern Cardinal – 5
Red-winged Blackbird – approximately 12
Common Grackle – approximately 300
House Finch – approximately 30
American Goldfinch – approximately 10
 

The Stroud Preserve, 15 December 2012

The morning was beautiful and the birding was about as slow as it has ever been with absolutely nothing notable! In fact the bird of the day was mammal. I had the opportunity to watch a Red Fox foraging through the brush of the old pond bed for about 10 minutes before being scared away by a couple of joggers with their (off leash) dogs.

Stat time: 8:00
End time: 10:30
Temp: 32-37
Wind: none
Skies: clear
Species Total: 31
 
Great Blue Heron – 1
Turkey Vulture – 5
Snow Goose – 12
Canada Goose – approximately 100
Red-tailed Hawk – 4
Rock Dove – 6
Mourning Dove – approximately 75
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 4
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – approximately 12
American Crow – approximately 300
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 15
Tufted Titmouse – 3
White-breasted Nuthatch – approximately 5
Carolina Wren – approximately 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 3
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 20
American Robin – 2
Northern Mockingbird – 3
European Starling – approximately 10
Eastern Towhee – 1
Song Sparrow – approximately 75
Swamp Sparrow – 4
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 25
Northern Cardinal – approximately 10
Red-winged Blackbird – 5
House Finch – approximately 20
American Goldfinch – approximately 20

William’s 12th Birthday!

Twelve years ago today William came into the world in dramatic fashion. As many of you probably know, he was a wee bit early because a complication with Mary’s pregnancy (plecenta previa). His first couple of weeks were rough but he pulled through and is doing just great today, howerver he is still one of the smallest kids in his class. Friday we had a small birthday celebration for him with pizza and cake. Check out photos of his birthday party and a few from the past twelve years here.

Happy Birthday William!

The Stroud Preserve, 14 December 2012

I took a shortened walk today as I had a dentist appointed at 11:00 and I needed to get home to get ready for William’s birthday party. By far and away the bird of the day was Snow Goose! The photo above is a really crappy picture of a smal portion of the Snow Geese that flew over.

Stat time: 8:40
End time: 10:00
Temp: 32-36
Wind: None
Skies: clear
Species Total: 29
 
Black Vulture – approximately 15
Turkey Vulture – approximately 10
Snow Goose – approximately 2000! Bird(s) of the day! There were several waves of them flying over in the flocks of several hundred at a time. It seemed like they were flying up from the ground some where south of the preserve.
Canada Goose – approximately 150
Mallard – 6
Cooper's Hawk – 1, immature
Red-tailed Hawk – 4
Rock Dove – 2
Mourning Dove – approximately 50
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 200
Fish Crow – 1
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 10
Tufted Titmouse – 5
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
Carolina Wren – 2
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 15
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – approximately 12
Fox Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – approximately 15
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 20
Dark-eyed Junco – 2
Northern Cardinal – approximately 10
House Finch – approximately 10
American Goldfinch – approximately 10
 

The Stroud Preserve, 12 December 2012

Today it was a good deal colder than yesterday. When I got out of the car there was a dead silence that was hard to miss. I tallied a similar number of species as the day before but there were far fewer individual birds around. The highlight was right at the beginning of my day when 200 or so Snow Geese flew overhead going north. In amongst them was a single “Blue” Snow Goose. A big line of Snow Geese is always a nice sight to see. Also of interest were 5 Fox Sparrows all along the road as you enter the preserve.

Stat time: 9:00
End time: 11:40
Temp: 32-39
Wind: none to slight from the North
Skies: partly cloudy
Species Total: 37
 
Great Blue Heron – 1
Black Vulture – approximately 30
Turkey Vulture – approximately 30
Snow Goose – 200, Plus one “Blue” goose!, Bird of the Day! A long line over head going north.
Canada Goose – approximately 100
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1, immature
Red-tailed Hawk – 5, adults
American Kestrel – 1
Rock Dove – 4
Mourning Dove – approximately 40
Belted Kingfisher – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – approximately 10
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 150
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 10
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 50
White-breasted Nuthatch – 5
Carolina Wren – 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 1
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 50
American Robin – 2
Northern Mockingbird – 4
European Starling – approximately 20
Eastern Towhee – 1, heard only
Chipping Sparrow – 3
Fox Sparrow – 5, two were singing. In the Pacific Northwest where these were common I never heard them singing anywhere other than the breeding grounds. All 5 of these birds were also perched in the very top of tall trees, as if they were on territory. Pretty unusual behavior in my experience.
Song Sparrow – approximately 50
Swamp Sparrow – 1
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 40
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 60
Northern Cardinal – approximately 15
Red-winged Blackbird – 2
House Finch – approximately 15
American Goldfinch – approximately 45
 

Le Toux on Le Blog

About a year ago The Philadelphia Union traded one of their star players, Sebastian Le Toux, to the Vancouver Whitecaps. They then held a going away party for him at Kildare’s Irish Pub in West Chester, just a few blocks from our house. Since it was walking distance, I went, had a beer, and met Seba. He spent half the season playing for Vancouver then got traded to the New York Red Bulls where he finished out the season. The last game of the year, we all got to see him play before his real home crowd at PPL Park.

When the season was over, we were all surprised the hear that he had been traded back to Philly! Again, they held his welcome home party at Kildare’s last night starting at 6:30. Which was very convenient for me, as the boys religious education classes are just a block down the street at St. Agnes. I dropped the boys off at church then, like a good Irish dad, I headed to the pub. Again, I got to shake his hand and get a photo with him. After which I headed back over to church and picked up the boys.

As you probably know from reading Le Blog, Paddy likes soccer and has gone to many games with me. I asked him when he got out of religious ed if he would like to meet a famous soccer player. “Sure! I’d love to!” He asked “When we could do that”  and I said “hummm…how about now?” He said “what? You can just do that?”

So, we walked the short walk back to he pub and went in. Any kids that came to the pub to meet Seba were ushered up to the front of the line and were given the royal treatment. Paddy, who happen to be wearing his Union hat, was over joyed. William on the other hand, could have cared less and asked if he could get something to eat.

Nonetheless, it was a big thrill for Paddy and a lesser thrill for William. Seab bent down and talked to Paddy. He asked if he liked soccer and if he could expect to see Paddy in the stands at PPL Park next season. Paddy skipped all the way home. Check out photos of the evening here along with a few other recent family photos as well. 

The Stroud Preserve, 11 December 2012

In contrast to yesterday in which the skies had virtually no birds flying in it, today the skies were filled with birds. The first bird of the day was an adult Bald Eagle flying over the parking lot. Then a few minutes later a small group of Herring Gull flew over. Shortly after that I heard the very familiar sound of Horned Lark flight calls. I was easily able to find a small group of 5 larks flying overhead (finding larks on the wing is not always easy to do!). Later in the day I heard larks again. This time the flock numbered at least 10. And Shortly after than I heard the flight call of an American Pipit, then 9 more gulls, a flyby American Kestrel, several groups of highflying geese, another eagle, an so on.  So, as you can see, I got a pretty good workout with birds on the wing today. The (grainy) photo above is part of the "herd" of American Crows that frequent the perserve. 

Stat time: 8:50
End time: 11:30
Temp: 41-46
Wind: slight to brisk from the Northwest
Skies: partly cloudy
Species Total: 38
 
Black Vulture – approximately 75
Turkey Vulture – approximately 75
Canada Goose – approximately 400, only 75 or so were close to the ground. The others were flying high over the preserve heading elsewhere.
Bald Eagle – 2, 1 adult and 1 immature
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1, immature
Cooper's Hawk – 1, immature
Red-tailed Hawk – 7, 6 adults and 1 immature
American Kestrel – 1, male
Herring Gull – 14, one group of 5 then another group of 9 flying overhead. I don’t see these very often in the preserve. However, you can go two miles to the east and easily find them in their more usual habitat of a McDonalds parking lot.
Mourning Dove – approximately 40
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – approximately 15
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 500
Horned Lark – approximately 15! Bird of the Day! Two groups flying overhead, one with 5 birds and the other with approximately 10.
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 15
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 10
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Brown Creeper – 1
Carolina Wren – approximately 5
Winter Wren – 1, heard only
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 25
American Robin – approximately 35
Northern Mockingbird – 7
European Starling – approximately 20
American Pipit – 1, flying overhead.
Field Sparrow – 3
Song Sparrow – approximately 150
Swamp Sparrow – 1
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
White-crowned Sparrow – 1, immature
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 100
Northern Cardinal – approximately 25
Red-winged Blackbird – approximately 50
Common Grackle – approximately 1000
House Finch – approximately 20
American Goldfinch – approximately 20