Today I heard much White-throated Sparrow singing in my backyard. Later I saw a
Winter Wren pop out of the Greenbriar patch at the entrance trail from my
neighborhood to Long Branch Nature Center, and then from out of sight it began
singing its purty song, then popped out again for a better look.
Also, I followed the sound of American Crows scolding to find a group of four
of them in hot pursuit of the Barred Owl I saw at Long Branch mid-day
yesterday, when it was perched in a big tree above the Long Branch Nature
Center parking lot. I owe Helen and Neil from Chicago for having sighted it
there and pointed it out to me. Yesterday, the crows were not bothering it, but
that probably was because it kept quiet. Today, it started calling around 4:30
PM, and the resident crows seem to have learned to quickly home in on the
sound. I was able to shoot some photos and a tiny clip of video as the Crows
harassed the Owl; some of them were diving at its head. Yesterday Alonso said
he had seen the crows pursuing the owl earlier in the week at dusk, and the owl
turn and counterattack one of the crows, leading to a brief aerial dogfight.
There has been a fair amount of Pileated Woodpecker activity near the nature
center of late, suggesting nesting. I also suspect the female Mallard at Willow
Pond is sitting on a nest somewhere hidden away nearby. Definitely we have
migrants heading through but I have not been able to focus on tracking them
down and IDing.
Cheers,
Steve
Arlington
