I think one of the most wonderful parts of yesterday morning's walk in the woods was the fact that it was totally dark and silent (except for the noise of the wire grass brushing against our pants' legs) when we first arrived in the nesting area, and then the sun slowly began to rise, and dawn was upon us. As that happened the birds began to chirp. During our 'briefing' the night before, we learned the lovely call of the Bachman's Sparrow, and saw many pictures of it to help
us identify it in the field. While not endangered, the Bachman's is considered 'near threatened' because as with the RCW and the Gopher Tortoise, its piney woods habitat is rapidly being destroyed. The forest service is doing all that it can to preserve some of these areas from developers, and I hope that they are not too late.
us identify it in the field. While not endangered, the Bachman's is considered 'near threatened' because as with the RCW and the Gopher Tortoise, its piney woods habitat is rapidly being destroyed. The forest service is doing all that it can to preserve some of these areas from developers, and I hope that they are not too late.
So, as we were waiting for the RCWs to emerge from their nesting cavities, we were serenaded by perhaps 25 Bachman's Sparrows. Their song is lovely and sweet, and we were surrounded by this incredible choir. You can hear it here.............just imagine 25 or 30 at dawn, out in the woods: marvelous!
As we walked back to our vehicle, we were able to see several very large gopher tortoise holes...lucky for us and the tortoises, none of us stepped in any holes!
It was a great trip: we met a lot of fine folks and saw some very beautiful birds. Barker greeted us warmly this morning and hasn't left our sides since we got home!
Hope you're having a great day!
PEACE
5 comments:
woo hoo, indeed!
My parents were birdwatchers, too, and to a certain degree, I am. My most beautiful observation were bee-eaters in Portugal.
I just listened to the voice of this sparrow -- completely different from our sparrows, rather like warblers.
What a wonderful song. I am so glad you got to see the birds you wanted to see. It should be warming up in your neck of the woods because we are supposed to get snow! ;-)
What a over the top successful adventure you had this week.
I would ahve joined you with tears. Moments like those are so special!! Thanks for sharing so much with us!!
Hugs!
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