Birding Locally

Local--it's all the rage right now, right. And for good reason. There are enormous benefits from living your life in as small a circle as possible. And whatever the activity is, the benefits are usually the same: protect the environment and create a better sense of community. This applies to birding as well, and it also follows the order to how one naturally learns to bird. You usually start with the birds in your backyard, then your neighborhood, your county, state, etc. The great thing is that as seasons change the birds in your neighborhood might change, and in varying years you might see species that were not there, or seen, the year before. Certainly, as your birding skills increase you will likely begin to notice all the variation "right outside the back door." I actually stumbled upon a great place in my area earlier this year when geocaching with my son. This is an area that you can not see from the window of your car, nor even if you were walking right next to it. From what I an tell there are about four entries into various sections along the creek, some less accessible than others. Once down along the creek the walking is relatively flat and easy, however. You could probably walk two miles total if you went up and down the whole length. There are a few small open areas, but mainly it is mostly narrow with mature trees: oaks, cottonwoods, chinaberry, cedar, etc. At one point the paved path elevates and you are almost canopy high on one side. There are a few spots up away from the creek where the ground dries out and becomes more arid scrub land. This variation is important because it also supports differing species. Like everywhere on earth these days there are people walking dogs off leash, but I long ago admitting to losing this battle. On Saturday, I went out and walked the length of the creek, mainly looking for migrating birds coming through, but trying to catalog all the birds I saw as well. A Downy Woodpecker, which is here year-round but a first on the creek for me, moved up and around a nearby tree. Lots of mothers on walks walked back and forth asking questions of what I was seeing. I told them about all the Warblers and Vireos and "Happy Mother's Day!" And it being that time of year, I saw adult Northern Cardinals feeding juveniles and other pairs of birds working on nests. This is a picture I took with my phone through my binoculars of the cavity nest being worked on by two Great Crested Flycatchers.

I saw a bunch of Summer resident birds including Summer Tanagers and Painted Buntings. The Bird of the Day, however, was a Yellow-throated Warbler that I saw high in the canopy where the path elevates. If it were not for this topography I don't think I would have seen this bird. If you are interested in know about the other birds I've see on the creek click on the link to the right that says "birds of bella vista". There is only a brief time left in migration, but still more Summer birds to see along the creek. Soon Winter will return a new wave of species will arrive. Hopefully, I'll see you on the creek. Gideon