Sounds and Sights of Spring

In Philadelphia, the sounds and sights of impending Spring are all around. Residents are singing, often dueling with neighbors in their song:

Northern Cardinal vigilant on his territory

Tufted Titmouse singing with purpose.

 The Bald Eagle pair at Heinze NWR are well into their nesting, with hatching having occurred, or about to occur ...

Bald Eagle and aerie at Heinz NWR

 In parks, ponds, fields, and streams, the Canada Geese are in constant contention ...

Canada Goose confrontation

The first migrants are beginning to appear, such as this lone Great Egret ...

Great Egret - FOY

Through it all, the Northern Saw-whet Owl continues to roost in the same spot at Heinz Refuge ...

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Good Birding!

Heinz NWR redux

Last Sunday I returned to Heinz NWR in Philadelphia for another delightful morning walk. Still no sighting of the Northern Shrike that has been reported, but there were sights and sounds which provided evidence that Spring-time thoughts are in the minds of some birds, in spite of the recent winter storm.

For example, along Darby Creek, this Hooded Merganser had his crest up as he proclaimed his handsomeness to the nearby hen ...

Hooded Merganser - drake displaying

Many songbirds were trying out their territorial / attract a mate songs including White-throated and Song Sparrows ...

White-throated Sparrow - "pooor sam peabody peabody peabody"

Song Sparrow

Along Darby Creek, this Belted Kingfisher gave me an opportunity that the residents along the Rock River behind my Vermont home have not given me - a reasonable photo opportunity as it flew up and down the creek ...

Belted Kingfisher

Several minutes of entertainment were provided by the White-breasted Nuthatch displaying its acrobatic foraging techniques. The following photo does not conveys something of that acrobaticism. I include it because in this case I especially like the photo's composition, the texture of the branch, and the wispy details hanging from the branch. Deep in the rotting crevices, it found tasty morsels ...

White-breasted Nuthatch

And ... in the same tangled mass of bittersweet, the Northern Saw-whet Owl was once again roosting. Its position was just slightly different from my previous sighting, giving a better opportunity for a photograph ...

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Good birding!

Saw-whet & Great Horned

At my home in Vermont, I have had several oblique contacts with the Northern Saw-whet Owl. A neighbor who rehabs raptors had one in his barn that he was nursing back to health. Another neighbor found a dead saw-whet owl in his wood shed. Yet another sent me a photo of one on his front porch. And one more tells me about hearing them in the woods around his home. But until yesterday I have never seen or heard one.

Yesterday, I ticked my first Northern Saw-whet Owl - not in wilds of the Green Mountain State, but within the city limits of Philadelphia, at John Heinz NWR at Tinicum. The little fellow was tucked into a tangle of bittersweet vines about 20 feet from the bike and jogging trail ...

Northern Saw-whet Owl at Heinz NWR, Philadelphia

Northern Saw-whet Owl

It seems like a disconnect to see a "wilderness" bird within the city limits of a major city, but the Northern Saw-whet Owl was not the only such disconnect. Before seeing the saw-whet, a large brown mass in the top of a tall tree drew the focus of my binoculars - a Great-horned Owl. I have had good views of this fierce predator on several occasions in Arizona and Texas. But, around my home in Vermont on only a very few occasions have I heard the haunting hooting sometimes rendered as "who's awake ... you too." From his tree top perch, he followed my steps on the path below ...

Great Horned Owl - Heinze NWR, Philadelphia

Great Horned Owl

Though most of the impoundment and ponds of the refuge were in the frozen grip of winter, the Great Horned Owl was, or soon will be, on the nest. The resident Bald Eagle pair has been remodeling its tree top aerie and will also be on the nest soon. Nearby, planes took off and landed at the Philadelphia airport.

Frozen impoundment at Heinz NWR

Good birding!