I've started seeing a lot of the same birds during my runs along the river. What amazes me is that what I always believed to be common birds have the most beautiful and most diverse range of calls. Just tonight I heard an interesting call while I was jogging and looked up to see a robin. Last week I saw a speckled bird that turned out to be a juvenile robin. It reminded me of the plovers I saw in Hawaii ,or some sort of shore bird but my Sibley Guide told me otherwise.
Another thing I've been noticing lately is how active hawks are. I was home on the Cape Sunday and saw 3 different hawks- one of which swooped down to grab a mouse in the grass by the side of the road and then flew up to the top of a telephone pole to eat it. When it came down it looked like it was going to hit the side of our car but obviously he had a precise flight plan. They really are amazing.
Speaking of hawks, there was a good article in the Cape Cod Times about this very subject: Bird scouts sound the alarm.
Later on Sunday while I was in my parents' yard I got to appreciate the songbirds that visit my mom's birdfeeders. She has an abundance of purple finches, gold finches, nuthatches, chickadees and cow birds. The gold finches are my favorite because of their vibrant color and amazing songs. I'm always surprised at how close they come to us too when we're sitting in the yard. There was a nuthatch that landed on the suet basket in the lilac bush right above where my mom was sitting in the yard. In addition to songbirds, she has hummingbirds that visit the feeders regularly. Without fail every time I'm home I see one. Usually they're on the fuschsia plant she has hanging in the front garden.
I still have Hawaii pictures to post so I'll get on top of that.
