Urban Kestrels

This morning, while helping with a furniture installation in Hamden at Hamden Elementary School, I stepped outside to make a phone call. While I was on the phone, a vibrant and vocal male AMERICAN KESTREL streaked past in the skies, eventually perching in a tree on the next block.It would seem that I find more Kestrels in Baltimore City in the summer months than I do (in what one would think is a more appropriate habitat) on the entire Eastern Shore of Maryland!So, I propose this: go bird Baltimore sometime soon. There are only a handful of parks and cemeteries, but I've found Kestrels in the middle of neighborhoods where there is little to no parkland (wild areas).Since I have to be in the city for work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, I think I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled for urban falcons. And of course, I'll eBird the results!

Good Birding,

Dan

Declan and the Northern Wheatear

Declan and I went to Wilmington to see a bird. The bird was a NORTHERN WHEATEAR. They breed in Northern Canada, Greenland and Alaska. They winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Go ahead... check out a map and you will better understand why it is so impressive to have one of these birds land in our region.This bird was the 2nd sighting EVER recorded in the great state of Delaware. The first sighting was by Maryland birder Sam Dyke near the Indian River Inlet on September 21st, 1957.According to Cornell's 'The Birds of North America', "This may be the only regularly breeding passerine bird of North America that migrates to wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa, crossing either the Atlantic Ocean or the continent of Eurasia."Birders all over the region are delighted that this one stopped in Wilmington, Delaware. Lucky us, although next time, I'd prefer this bird land in our state. This NORTHERN WHEATEAR was my 100th bird in that flat state just to the East of Maryland, and it was a lifer for both Declan and me.Finally, this falcon (the photos above and below) is far more likely to be observed in our neck of the woods... an AMERICAN KESTREL.Here is Declan, thrilled to have seen such a wonderful wayward migrant, as well as three speeding Acela trains.Merry Christmas!

Dan

Existential Bird Metaphoring

Some of us are content to simply sit still... to hang out... to lie there and wait for something to happen. Take for example this WILSON'S SNIPE.Others of us have that constant, almost burning desire to push ahead... to drive on... to stand out from the crowd... to get unstuck from the jam.Yes, and like this REDHEAD, simply swim on through the traffic.Yet sometimes we find ourselves hovering, or worse... endlessly circling like this ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.Some 'fate-based' folks prefer to float through life. Sure there are those occasional ups and downs... or in the case of this WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, dives and flights. You've got to take the good with the bad. The rough with the smooth. The sweet with the sour. It's all about achieving balance.Some of us look pretty good when we stretch our wings. Take for example this AMERICAN WIGEON in flight.And yet, there are those who shine their brightest when simply taking the time to stop and relax.There are others who prefer the direct route, like this BALD EAGLE. No stop lights. No waiting. Who wants to slow down when there is something one needs to catch?Picking one self up and getting off the ground is always a chore. And some look better than others at doing it, like this EURASIAN WIGEON.But it's something we all must do to get to where we want to be...So spread those wings, get on up and enjoy the view once you're there... like this AMERICAN KESTREL.On a serious note, I had a blast this past Sunday on the Eastern Shore with my son Declan, my friend Chris Murray and his girlfriend Eliza Toomey (my wife Emery's sister), Ross Geredien, Paul Baicich and the BIRD COUPLE, Warren and Lisa Strobel. It's good friends like these, and a wonderful son like Declan that keep me anchored in life... tied down safe, floating in my safe little harbour... a river of my own happiness.Enjoy your week!

-Dan

Anne Arundel County Photos

All I really feel the need to tell you is this:

- Any bird can be any where during migration.
- Anne Arundel County has got some great birds.
- And my wife and son are the most adorable things I've ever seen.

Declan & Emery are all smiles these days. That makes Dad/Dan smile as well. We hope you're smiling as you read this blog.

Please enjoy some of my latest photographs.

A MALE WILD TURKEY IN FULL STRIDE

RUNNING ALONGSIDE HIS LADY FRIEND

AN EASTERN MEADOWLARK IN FLIGHT

AN AMERICAN BITTERN IN A STILL POSE

SAME EASTERN MEADOWLARK... STILL IN FLIGHT

AN AMERICAN KESTREL IN FLIGHT

A SAVANNAH SPARROW IN THE BRUSH

A KILLDEER ON NEST (BY THE MALL)

AN AMERICAN BITTERN... STILL POSING

A MALE AMERICAN KESTREL... PERCHED

MAYBE THAT REALLY ISN'T A BITTERN?

...STILL FLYING

Have a fine week,

Dan

American Kestrels

There is an unexplainable fascination that I have with the AMERICAN KESTREL. Whether it's this bird's striking blues and burnt orange coloring, or it's falcon features, a KESTREL certainly stands out when spotted perched on a power line, or in this case, a steel post. I have swum with PEREGRINE FALCONS, but I assure you that the AMERICAN KESTREL (North America's smallest falcon) is just as stunning a raptor. The KESTREL is a more accessible and certainly more visible bird of prey. I see them regularly while traveling for work and the sight of them never gets old. Today, while driving in St. Mary's County, Maryland, I spotted one on a country road (Rt. 5) on the way to the Board of Education.The AMERICAN KESTREL hunts from high perches or on the wing. When hunting in-flight, the KESTREL will hover while searching the ground for prey. However, when this bird wants to fly somewhere, it's flight graceful, rapid and unmistakable. Oh, and I almost forgot... the KESTREL has a high-pitched alarm call that can be heard frequently, especially when the pair have newly-fledged young, or when they swarm a larger bird of prey.Sue Ricciardi runs a HAWK WATCH every Spring at Anne Arundel County's Fort Smallwood Park. This year, she had a high count of 104 KESTRELS on March 20th, 2008. To date, there have been over 265 AMERICAN KESTRELS that have passed over the park on their migration North.There are two KESTRELS that have successfully raised a family in Baltimore City of all places. David Curson, of Baltimore's Audubon Office informed me that a pair of KESTRELS have raised a few broods in recent years just North of Patterson Park... on a city street no less!So the next time your driving through rural (or urban!) Maryland, think twice before assuming that the plump bird on the wire in a MOURNING DOVE. If it's got a bulbous head and some vibrant blue and orange hues... that more than likely is an AMERICAN KESTREL.Oh, but do pay attention to the roads!

-Dan

Struck Out On The Shrike

I drove. I looked. I searched. I scanned. I enjoyed. But I saw not a beak, nor a feather of the NORTHERN SHRIKE in Baltimore County's Cromwell Park this afternoon. A fellow birder saw the shrike mere minutes before my arrival. Ah, timing...

I think I'm staying inside tomorrow to do some taxes. It is supposed to be very windy and cold. That, my friends, is perfect tax-preparing weather.

These few photos were my consolation for missing the SHRIKE.That EASTERN BLUEBIRD I found on the Naval Academy's golf course on Greenbury Point. I assist my friend Doug Forsell, from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, with the monitoring of the points MANY bluebird boxes over the spring and summer. I'd like to think I somehow helped that little bird grow up to be an upstanding bluebird on the course. At the very least, I kept an angry HOUSE SPARROW out of it's nest a time or two.

The other birds (above) are: an AMERICAN KESTREL that I saw at Cromwell Valley Park, and a RUBY CROWNED KINGLET and YELLOW RUMPED WARBLER that were seen this afternoon on Greenbury Point.

With the arrival of some afternoon sun, it turned out to be yet another fine, albeit quiet, day in the field.

Good Birding,

Dan