HAWKS at a Distance

HAWKS at a Distance

by Jerry Liguori

Circumstances while traveling, and inclement weather, have kept me from actively birding these past few months.  Literally, spring migrants came to me this year, as I had the good fortune to spend a few weeks in a delightful log cabin at the forest’s edge in central Maine.  It was only a matter of stepping out the front door, listening, and then searching amidst the branches of the trees.


Spring, however, did not follow me across the border and onto the shores of eastern Cape Breton, where the cold, wet, and windy days lend themselves, instead, to nestling in front of a warming fire for some quiet reading time.

On the very top of my ‘must read’ pile has been Jerry Liguori’s new book, HAWKS at a Distance, published by Princeton University Press.  Although I not have yet needed to reference this book, as the few raptors I have had the pleasure of observing have been easily identifiable, I am delighted with what I have found between the covers.  Perhaps they were easy because I’ve been reading this book!

Obviously, considerable forethought took place at the conception of the idea for this book, because it is easy to read and to understand, making it a viable resource for the beginner and the experienced birder alike.  This endears the book to me even more, reflecting Jerry’s attitude that anything is possible, even working through and overcoming the difficulties that accompany hawk identification.   I will be an apt pupil, because they almost all look the same to me at a distance!

Jerry uses key identification traits in bold print and keeps the text short, sweet, and to the point, accompanying the well-thought out and expertly displayed images, of which there are many.  In his own words, the purpose of this format is “so that it is easy to remember and so that the book is uncluttered.”


As he points out in his introduction,  people can identify friends and family from a distance because they are so familiar with them - the way they walk or stand or gesture when speaking. His intention is to provide the reader with that same sense of familiarity that is required to identify these magnificent birds from afar, which is where we usually see them.  Consequently, this book is more than a field guide, more than a reference book, and one that should be read and reviewed repeatedly, making it a valuable resource to be included on every birder’s bookshelf.  I will treasure my copy for many years to come.


I have developed the habit of using sticky notes to add key information to the pages of the field guides I carry along with me, and while reading HAWKS at a Distance, I have added many more notes to my birding field guide to help me tease out the difficulties in identifying hawks 'on the spot' until my memory kicks in and hawk identification becomes second nature.   It’s tough getting old!

American Bittern - CHECK!

Spring weather did not follow me to Cape Breton,

but I had a lovely ride up

through central Maine to Caribou and beyond!!

We happened across a very large flock of the ubiquitous 

Yellow-rumped Warblers (Dendroica coronata),

feasting along the banks of a river,

which afforded a great photo op!

Generally, I'll take several pictures,

hoping for one or two keepers,

but this day, they were all good.

Further along on our trip north, we pulled into a nice, bug infested spot,

hoping to see a Rail or perhaps a Sora.  Much to our surprise, we

found an American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus!),

who graced us with his appearance for quite a long while.

Funny how the black flies didn't seem to be a bother at all

while  I was consumed with the excitementitis at 

the arrival of this bird.

I was amazed at the size of this wading bird

as it flew in to check us out. 

It's wingspan was between 37" - 45" wide.

But then I learned the American Bittern 

is a member of the heron family

and it's size made a little more sense.

If the Bittern thinks it has been seen, it will point it's bill upward,

and blend right in with the reeds and cattails.

If you've never heard a Bittern, you need to

take an extra moment to give a listen!!

You won't be disappointed, but you might be a little surprised.

American Bittern - CHECK!

Number 299 on my life list!!  Yay!

I owe a lot of thanks to my brother-in-law,

who made a special effort to stop here,

knowing I'd never seen any of these three elusive birds

(a Sora, a Rail, or a Bittern).

More Quilters Helping Tornado Victims

I posted this just a right about the time Blogger was having issues.
It was removed and I thought it was lost, but here it is!!

More Quilter's Helping Tornado Victims

NEA Modern Quilt Guild in Huntsville Alabama
will be sponsoring a quilt-a-thon to make quilts for the Tornado victims.
They are looking for donations of finished quilts Lap sizes or larger,
Quilt Tops or other quilting supplies such as Batting, thread or fabric.
They will be hosting a sewing day/weekend soon,
dates and time will be announced.

If you are interested in participating
or can donate materials, please contact them at:

Debby Reed at 256-683-2668
or you can go to
NEAModernQuiltGuild@yahoogroups.com
for more information.

~

I have obtained, through Samaritan's Purse,
an address for the collection/distribution point for donations
to help the victims of the recent tornadoes.
This location will accept quilts for children and adults:

SCLC/Tuscaloosa Chapter (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

Point of Contact:
Rev Smith Moore (205) 310-9836

Bethel Baptist Church
3003 25th St.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

And pop on over to Stitchin' Mission to see how they are
gearing up to help!!


~karen

Quilter's Helping Tornado Victims

A message from The Quilt Show to all my quilting friends out there:

Joplin, MO Guild Loses Everything

The Town and Country Quilters Guild of Joplin, MO, is an active and vital source of charity quilts for the needy in the town of Joplin. Along with the loss of individual member's homes, the guild's "storage house" also was hit by last week's devastating tornado.

Gone are all of the supplies used in the making of charity quilts (rotary cutters, cutting mats, batting, fabric, etc.). If you or your quilt guild would like to donate items, please send them to the address shown below. If you'd rather, you can send a check for larger, more difficult-to-ship items, making the check payable to either Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Block by Block Quilt Shop.

Gloria Park
2921 N. Hickory
Joplin, Missouri 64801

Quilters Helping Tornado Victims

Every couple of days I check to see if there are any quilters or quilting organizations who have taken on the responsibility of organizing help for the tornado victims.

Happily, today, I was able to locate one effort.

http://bamaboundquilts.blogspot.com/

Also, the Terre Haute chapter of Project Linus

is collecting quilts for their area.

You can contact them by e-mail: 

ProjectLinusTerreHaute@hotmail.com

For two years in a row now, I've been blown away

by the efforts of the Australian quilting community

when their country has been struck by catastrophic weather. 

Quilts for Japan  also being a hot topic. 

Surely there are more groups and organizations out there

helping to soften the blow by wrapping our tornado victims

in the comfort of warm, handmade quilts.

Please pass this information along

and please, let me know of any other initiatives you have heard of! 

Lets make a difference, one quilt at a time.

~karen

Bugs Mean Birds

"Here I am....where are you?"  (Blue-headed Vireo)

I've been slowly making my way up the east coast after spending the most delicious winter in Texas, and out of range of reliable internet most of the way.  Photo opportunities have been scarce, as I've mostly been visiting friends and family in city settings. 
But now I am in Central Maine, staying in a log cabin at the forest's edge, and in Warbler Heaven.  Although I'm in jeopardy of being carried away by the black flies, I am surrounded by warblers and need only to step out the front door to view 6, 7, 8 different species in one small stand of trees! 
The air is rife with birdsong - the squeeky wheel of the Black and White Warblers, the over-the-top trill of the Northern Parula.  "Teacher, Teacher", says the Ovenbird, over and over again.  Chestnut-sided Warblers.  Black-throated Blues and Black-throated Greens ("one, two, three, four, five")....there are so many, I can't even remember them all.  Quite the symphony.  In the few days I've been here, I have accumulated over 35 birds on my yard list alone.  I'm so "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha", calls the Chestnut-sided Warbler!  Such a wondeful opportunity to hone my birding-by-ear skills.

Sadly, they are busy feeding among the treetops and elude the scope of my little camera.  But there are a few that frequent the feeding station.  (I apologize for the poor quality of the photos.)

White-throated Sparrow

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

White-breasted Nuthatch

Generally, we travel an hour, down to Portland, to bird the Evergreen Cemetary for all these species, but with the price of gas, it's nice to be able to stay put!

By the way, there's a new book soon to be released from Princeton University Press that looks quite tempting.  It's all about Avian Architecture.  You can check it out on their blog here!!

And a final note:  I usually take the bus from Maine to Cape Breton, however, when attempting to make my plans, I discovered that there is no longer bus service available.  They terminated the route in February.  So, I'm kind of stuck here for a little while, until the opportunity to continue my journey presents itself. 

 

Sure is a nice place to be stranded!!

 

Black-chinned Hummer

The last few days, I have made myself crazy

trying to identify this female hummingbird,

here in San Antonio (yes, I'm still in TX....long story).

I believed it to be a Black-chinned Hummingbird,
(Archilochus alexandri), 

but they are almost identical to the Ruby-throated female.
Sibley's said they pump their tails when hovering.
Yes, she pumped her tail.
And their bill is a little longer, slightly curved downward....
yes, yes, yes!

And then, this morning, the male showed up at the feeder,

and sure enough,

HE was a Black-chinned, with a beautiful

iridescent violet throat!!

Another check on my life list, YAY!

Again, I feel pretty fortunate, as I it appears that I am on the most Eastern fringes of their U.S. breeding range where they return after wintering in Mexico.