kdringer's equinox birds (Sept. 2009)
Who: kdringer
Where: Missouri, United States
Bird list: n/a
Report:
At dawn, the crickets dominated the sound scene ... their noise was rather intense ... deafening even ... which made hearing the birds almost impossible! The only bird I heard was a blue jay.
It was in the low 60's ... a misty, cloudy, brooding kind of day ... very still, peaceful even.
By 8:30 a.m., I still had seen no birds ... only a slug on the porch and a squirrel cavorting in the forest.
Finally saw a bird, but it was too far away to identify and by the time I grabbed my binoculars -- it was gone, of course!
A little later when at the kitchen sink, I glanced out and saw a hummingbird at the impatiens. That made me happy! They are still around although few and far between.
The titmice have been making an appearance in the red-twig dogwood bush by the house. They have been quite vocal.
I saw once and heard often, a red-bellied woodpecker. It almost rivaled the blue jay for frequency of expression throughout the day.
I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird again in the afternoon. And then when I thought all hope was gone for any other bird sightings for the day, as daylight was almost gone, three bluebirds came to check out the "old homestead." One sat on the fence by the birdhouse, another sat on the birdhouse roof, and the third actually went inside. I was very thankful for that gift."
But overall, this has been a decidedly "unbirdy" day ... the dearth of birds has been very disappointing. I neither saw nor heard any ground birds such as robins, sparrows or mourning doves. My husband said that on his commute home (about 50 miles), he saw no hawks, buzzards, or even crows, which was very unusual. I wonder why?
At dusk, the crickets were still going strong.
