As much as I love Herons , I am still giggeling over the "legs sticking up" ....
If you are familiar with the major migration routes in the country you can get an idea of my wealth of birding action in the St. Louis area. We are smack dab in the center of the Mississippi Flyway!
If you look at a map, the Ole Miss swings out to the east for a while around the metro area. The migrating flyers tend to take a short cut through west ST Louis county: right through my back yard!!!!
The fine featherd foul passing by would be too many to list quickly. Some of the highlights over the years include a Ross' Gull and a Red Crossbill that were accidentals way out of their normal range! The migrating warblers due to stop in to feast on the Hackberry in a couple of weeks always challenge identification!
I have only been successful in documenting about a dozen species. My favorite is still the American Redstart, although the Northern Parula is in close contention!!
As far as pics , my electronic is just not worth a d-m for birding !
I have collected a pile of (pat-on-back) nice shots with my old Minolta 35mm hard film camera sporting a telephoto zoom. I am not sure how to transform any of these into digital.
My most common back yard birds include Both Cooper and Red Tail hawks. The Great Horned Owls( they have been busily mating lately on moonlit nights) are always a real hoot!!( I can never resist that one!) There was Actually a Bald Eagle back in the big tree about 2 weeks ago. I had half the neighborhood back there gawking before He glided off across the field down towards Gravois Creek. Turkey Vultures hang out down that way waiting for road kill from Hwy 21. Kestrils are always chasing down the song birds. And the Hawks keep the dove population in check.
The night Hawks are always whoopin it up all night . But they are a real challenge to spot during the day. I once looked right at one with the Binocks for a long time before my brain decoded the disguise! Hummingbirds! Did someone say Woodpeckers!
Flickers, Yellow bellied sap suckers, Downeys, Hairys, Red Heads, and those awsome Pileated!!! Fly catchers, swallows, crows, Jays,
Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, Wrens, Kinglets, Thrashers, Mockingbirds, the ever present Cardinals and Robins, Bluebirds, Thrush, Waxwings, vireos, redwinged blackbirds, huge flocks of Grackles, Meadowlarks, Orioles, more Finches than I can grasp,
Grosbeaks, and Sparrows that baffel me. We also have a population of Eurasion tree sparrows!
As far as ducks and shore birds, I usually have to go up to the river near Portage De Sioux where I keep my sailboat. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you have a huge flock of Great Egrets circling overhead! More ducks than hunters can shoot (luckily its a protected area), and scores of waders.
We usually manage a trip to the Gulf in the fall. It is amazing that I have seen more Gulls here in the midwest around the Riverlands area (near the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi) than I have ever seen around the Mobile Bay area!!!
My favorite accidental at the Gulf was a Glossy Ibis!
Can you tell that I have been flipping through my Peterson's
Field Guide!!!!!
Let me see if I can dig up any pics..... Dr Don
