Our state poultry tester is a big bird watcher too. She even takes vacation time in the spring to watch the warblers migrate through. One bird she wanted to see but hadn't yet was a pileated woodpecker. While we were testing my birds one day a pair flew through so she finally got to see one. We could hear them coming our way from a long way off.
I think it was that same year a fieldfare (a robin sized visitor from Europe) was discovered in the conservation land behind us. I couldn't believe all the bird watchers that showed up to see it. Cars from the entire eastern seaboard, and ones from as far away as Michigan and Texas.
Surprisingly the state tester had never managed to get a good look at a wood duck either. They are all over the place here. Once while walking past the pond down the road I managed to spook a whole migrating flock of 35-40 of them that I didn't even see because they were in leftover cattails from the prior year. Last year I got to see a mother wood duck with 8 babies.
I think it was that same year a fieldfare (a robin sized visitor from Europe) was discovered in the conservation land behind us. I couldn't believe all the bird watchers that showed up to see it. Cars from the entire eastern seaboard, and ones from as far away as Michigan and Texas.
Surprisingly the state tester had never managed to get a good look at a wood duck either. They are all over the place here. Once while walking past the pond down the road I managed to spook a whole migrating flock of 35-40 of them that I didn't even see because they were in leftover cattails from the prior year. Last year I got to see a mother wood duck with 8 babies.
