today's at-home birding

I am once again playing with the idea of opening my cabin as a birds 'n bloggers bed 'n breakfast once we're moved into the new house. Because what city dwelling birder wouldn't relish waking up to the sounds of sandhill cranes, snipe, woodcock, ruffed grouse, spring peepers, ravens, purple finches, etc. AND, to walk out before breakfast, hearing a woodpecker tapping in the woods, and having it turn out to be a female black backed woodpecker! I should have had my camera, I was within twenty feet of her.

I was feeling a bit under the weather this morning with a cold bug, which was no doubt exacerbated by my going out on a lake Friday and Saturday in less than tolerable weather conditions to sample The Muskellunge. My butt hurts from being bounced over waves and hitting the steel platform bow of the boat, my arms hurt from bracing myself so my butt would not hit the bow of the boat so hard. I am now seriously considering a career change, possibly to a bed and breakfast keeper or market farmer, because I honestly cannot see myself doing this same job ten years from now. Not to mention, I just cannot tolerate working with men who make jokes about incidentally killing a horned grebe in a net, or nearly killing a common loon in a net. All to "assess the population" of a species that is only in that particular lake through stocking, and probably should not be there to begin with. Next time I pull a 50 inch muskie out of a net, I just may drop it on its head. Intentionally. And then step on its head. But no, answering violence with violence never solves anything.

Of course, these are my personal opinions and do not reflect the official opinion of the agency I work for. :)

So after a long overdue recycling run with The Hermit, long overdue because we were waiting for our driveway to dry out a little, we took a noontime nap, and then I tried to straighten out the bedroom a little. It was a huge effort to do anything. It was warm (if you call 55 warm, I'll take it) and sunny, and CALM (the wind has picked up as I type this, of course), so I decided to take Sally out for a little frolic in the pond.

When we arrived on the path over the outlet culvert, a large brown bird suddenly flew up from the vegetation in front of the culvert. My first bittern of the year! It settled just across the pond, and tried hard to camouflage itself. I knew better.

Ha ha, you can't see me! I'll just keep my bill in the air, and I'll look like a cattail...

Finally, when it thought the coast was clear and we weren't much of a threat, it flew.

As usual, Sally enjoyed her pond frolic.