Highlights from Sapsucker Woods on Sunday morning (8:45-10:15 AM):
* A marvelous and mystifying creature out on the tallest snag in the main pond. At first I thought it was an alien robot pod because its tapered shape and face panel seemed superficially similar to those of EVE from WALL-E. But then, from a better angle, I realized that it was more likely an actual alien LIFE FORM (!), not a mere robot – and indeed probably an intelligent one because it was wearing a thick, shaggy gray shawl. (Of course one can also infer its intelligence simply because it somehow got here from wherever it is from. But I did not find any signs of a spacecraft.) Animal taxonomy on this creature’s planet is evidently nothing like ours, but from its various features, one can see analogies to our lepidopterans (a pair of droopy antennae on a tiny black head), our macaques (a white mane/beard), and even our birds (one long leg, not two, but with a bird-like foot at the end). I know it is a little reckless to anthropomorphize, but the white beard and contemplative hunched posture make me think it could be a wise elder or even a royal figure in its society. I got a couple of photographs. https://goo.gl/photos/UUcGZgv96hEu4yLK8 https://goo.gl/photos/Z7hHAvTakYqVHvyXA This snag is where a pair of GREAT BLUE HERONS, including a male with a missing toe, nested a few years ago. The nest fell in high winds around 2014, but the male returned in 2015 and 2016 during the day in spring and summer to forage. Coincidentally, one of my photos shows the alien creature with three toes on its bird-like foot, just like that male heron. But my other photo shows four toes. This post isn’t entirely OT (or ET)…I had some nice bird moments too. * A male WOOD DUCK in the outlet stream along the Wilson Trail North. (I was hoping to find a woodcock, but alas, the snow still extended all the way to the edge of the stream, with no exposed ground anywhere.) * A FOX SPARROW in the feeder garden, among many American Tree Sparrows, one Song Sparrow, and one White-throated Sparrow. * Marie Read’s photo exhibit in the Visitor Center’s auditorium. It is a truly stirring and revelatory collection. Congratulations and many thanks, Marie! * Encounters with a couple of moms and precocious young kids building bonds and sharing learning moments over birds by the feeder garden. After picking through several species with his mother and sister, one boy exclaimed that he saw a “penguin bird.” His mom patiently tried to divert the conversation back to the real birds before us, including Red-winged Blackbirds and a male Northern Cardinal. But the boy continued, insistently, “I saw a penguin bird! It had a black head, and its back was all black too, and it was all white here [pointing to his own belly]!” Another glance at the garden, and I understood. If you squint and free your imagination, Dark-eyed Juncos DO look a little like puny penguin-birds on the deep snow… Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
