Bird Year

Bird Year

2022

This year was a very good bird year for me.

January- A Mandarin Duck was spotted in a local state park in Philly in December 2021and he captured everyone's attention.  He teamed up with a local wild wood duck.  They just floated around all way long, obvious to al the attention they were causing. Local birders speculated that this duck was probably someone's illegal pet who got away.  So I went to see him on January 1 and by January 4, he was dead.  He just died suddenly. And the birding community grieved for this beautiful bird.

February- I flew to CO to the Monta Vista Bird Refuge to see the migration of the Sandhill Cranes and the moment was more thrilling than I had anticipated.  They were magnificent and 5000 strong. We got up at 530 AM and went down to their pond and watched them leave for the day.  Then we came back at 6PM and watched them return for  the day.

March- Snow geese come to Middle Creek Reserve in  PA every year and I go to see them a couple of times each year. And these sighting never, ever disappoint.  They come in flocks of 100,000 and when they take off and soar through the air, I get so damn excited.

April- A Snowy White Owl spent a few months in Lancaster, PA.  People were posting photos of him, on social media,  every day as he roamed around the county.  And he seemed to be smiling in all of his photos. He had a great face.  So I wanted to go find him and I did.  But I forgot my good camera and the only shot I got of him was from quite a distance and he just looked like a big cotton ball.  But I got to see him.  So that is enough for me.

June/July-  Rookery in NJ- my friend posted her photos from this place and I just had to go here.  There is an area right near a very busy bridge in Stone Harbor.  Hundreds of Herons, egrets and ibis were nesting at this site.  I went there three different times and watched as mothers guarded eggs. I watched the eggs go from hatchling to fledging to flying the coup. It was thrilling.