Searching for Crossbills, etc

"Hey Mr. Hawk. Are there any Crossbills up there?," I ask. "No," said the RED-TAILED HAWK."Eh, one sec..." squawks the raptor. "Let me just have a quick look over here in these hemlock trees. "A Sharpie once told me that they like to eat those hemlock pine cones the best," screamed the Red-tail. "I've never eaten a Crossbill. I wonder if they taste like Grackle?""Tada! Here are three female WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS for you. I want you to enjoy them first," chirped the considerate Buteo. "So, I promise that I wont eat them... yet.""I've heard they have a nutty flavor," said the Red-Tail. "Since they're White-winged and not Red Crossbills, I suppose I should have them with a Sauvignon Blanc?"The large hawk wondered, "Since these little Crossbill characters don't come down to Anne Arundel County very often, I'm at a loss for the best way to prepare them." "I'm leaning towards having them with some fresh garlic, perhaps a sprig of rosemary and some fresh locally-grown vegetables," said the hungry hawk.""And of course, no finch feast would be complete without some pine nuts as a garnish," laughed the hawk."Now, you do know that I am only kidding with you," joked the Red-tailed Hawk. "I ONLY consume European Starlings, House Sparrows and other invasive species to our local ecosystem."Yes, the BIRDCOUPLE and the HAAS FAMILY went out birding this morning. Declan and I had a blast. Lisa made some homemade bread. Adam, Warren's son, was kind enough to take this photo of us on our bird-filled hike.

Enjoy your Monday!!!

-Dan

Sunday Birding with THE Bird Couple & Good Migrations

I was lucky enough to spend Sunday birding Harford and Cecil Counties (that's the Northeast corner of Maryland folks) with Warren & Lisa Strobel (AKA THE BIRD COUPLE) and Ross Geredien (AKA Good Migrations Photography). That's the crew scanning the horizon at the busy, but very quiet (bird-wise) Turkey Point.We saw quite a good number of birds. Rarities? Well, we didn't see the reported SANDHILL CRANES at the mouth of the Big Gunpowder River. But we did have some great highlights such as the RED NECKED GREBE on the Susquehanna River, the many BALD EAGLES and GREAT BLUE HERONS (they have a rookery there) at the base of the Conowingo Dam. By the way, 'rookery' is one of my new favorite words for absolutely no good reason, other than the fact that it's fun to say.

Go ahead, say it. No no no... try it with a 'Sean Connery' Scottish accent. See? Fun stuff.There was one fun moment I should mention. For several minutes, we enjoyed watching a GREAT BLUE HERON attempt to eat a carp that was far too big. The bird struggled hard and long trying to successfully move this fish down into his gullet. Fish=1 Heron=0. This fish got away. Bloodied, scared and with a stories it can brag about to all of his other fish friends, this carp now can now tell all of his underwater buddies about the time he saw inside a heron's belly.

Finally, as sunset approached, we viewed two enormous rafts of TUNDRA SWANS and AMERICAN COOT at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. No doubt they were at the headwaters of the Bay staging for their long migration North. It was like the line at the airport, but only miles long across the horizon! Well, almost exactly the same as those airport lines really.

I wish I could show you some amazing photos from yesterday, but there were very few that actually came out in focus. True... I did offer up that one of the BROWN CREEPER. But instead of my amateur bird photography, how about a blurry image of my amazingly handsome, now smiling often, cute-as-can-be son Declan? He is my favorite thing these days... all smiling and what not. That is of course, my favorite thing aside from his Mom! She's a cutie too. If I may borrow a phrase from a commercial, Emery is 'a hottie from hottingham'.

Lucky, I truly am.

Enjoy your week,

Dan