Tweets,

In that I spend as much time in the air as most birds (140K miles so far in
2000), I don't really get that much time to spend observing our feathered
friends any more, or to let others know about the encounters I do have. I
actually have 10 minutes and thought I'd share some of the bird experiences
I've had over the summer.

Early June, Central Park, New York - I was on the small pier at the turtle
pond (a lake of a couple of acres) watching ducks and cormorants and fish.
There was a mother mallard with 4 half grown young right below me (being fed
bread by a little girl), suddenly all the fish in the water started jumping
up and the mother mallard gave a big alarm quack, and right before my eyes a
very large (50 lbs+) snapping turtle grabbed one of the half grown ducklings
and pulled it under water - not to be seen again. Life and death in the big
city indeed.

Late June, Flight from Seattle to San Diego - I was observing the
magnificent landscape on the eastern edge of the Sierras from 32,000 feet
up. Looking down on one of the large lakes (Pyramid? Washoe?) I could
actually see a very large flock of AMERICAN PELICANS riding thermals up in a
huge spiral. I can definitely see how the whole UFO pelican theory works.
Mind boggling that I could identify these birds from 6 miles away - but the
markings, size, and location made it easy - they appeared to be the same
width or wider than the teeny,tiny cars I could see on the roads nearby. On
takeoff on this same flight I watched a tiny helpless KILLDEER chick be
blown off of the runway and into the grassy margins by the 737 I was in.

All summer, for the few days I've been home. I now have a permanent
resident WESTERN SCREECH OWL in the trees right off of my deck. Over the
4th of July weekend I was at my computer typing when a mouse ran up the
screen for the window that I look out onto the greenbelt at - when boom! the
SCREECHY nailed it, right on the screen and not 2 feet from my face. I put
up a bird box for the owl just a couple of weeks ago and he has been
exploring it both day and evening - hopefully I'll get a family of owls next
year. This SCREECH OWL has replace the SAW WHET OWL that has been in the
territory for the past 4 years. The BARRED OWLS that used to visit
frequently have now moved a couple of hundred yards up the hill into the
larger greenbelt.

I've had chances to bird in Florida, New England, NYC, Chicago, San Diego,
San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington DC and Denver over the past couple of
months. Always a relaxing way to wind down a long work day or spend an
in-between weekend.

Good Birding to all!

Rob Conway
Bellevue, WA / NY,NY

robin_birder at hotmail.com




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