Birdwatching

Yesterday my father in-law and I decided to go do a little bird watching in Goosepond FWA.  This is something that I really enjoy doing when I’m down in that area.  It is hard to believe that there were people that actually protested the creation of that area a few years ago, that’s not my point though.  Every year thousands of Sandhill Cranes flock to the marshland and make it their temporary home.  If you have not seen thousands of these birds in one group it is truly a site to see.

We had gotten a tip that there were some Whooping Cranes in there as well.  If you don’t know what they look like here it is: They are one of the most amazing birds I’ve ever seen. They were near extinction and are now divided into two groups in North America, one west of the Rocky Mountains, and one of roughly 100 birds east of the Rock Mountains, this was the flock that the ones that we saw were apart of, even though we only saw 3 of them.  These birds were first guided on their migration path by an ultralight aircraft all the way from Canada to Florida.  Each of the birds are banded and are able to be tracked through the reporting of the sightings by birdwatchers.  Seeing these birds created a sense of awe in me.

After we moved on from that location we drove on up the road to where a Bald Eagle had had its nest a couple of years ago, but hadn’t returned because of the encroachment on the nest by people trying to cause trouble.  Much to our surprise we were looking at the nest and saw something sitting on top of it, sure enough, the eagle was back!  That was just the icing on the cake, the bird was perched on top of the nest just like you would see in a picture.

My lesson for the day:  These wildlife areas are there for you so get out and enjoy them.  I would bet that you will enjoy the stillness of nature and watching these creatures.  They truly are a sight to be seen.

I’d love to hear about some places like this in your area, so leave me a comment telling me about it.

[photo #1 by ulisesgirl]

[photo #2 by ariseandrejoice]

[photo #3 by art photo]

Filed under: Nature , bald eagle, cranes, eagle, goosepond, marsh, migration, nest, sandhill cranes, whooping cranes, wildlife