Thanks, Dave. That brought back a memory of a similar Hairy Woodpecker going to bed at dusk in a slough in Michigan--sat in its hole, which was in a small dead tree centered over very wet marsh , surveying the snowy world and calling for about 5 min before retiring inside. Territorial reaffirmation? probably.
Second, bird sleep has become pretty interesting, especially since sleeping birds can do so with one hemisphere while the other eye/hemisphere remains more alert. There is a lovely short book by Skutch, called Birds Asleep, that sketches the subject from his own and other observations. More recently, I saw a pricey academic book on the topic, but cannot relocate it this morning. Anne On Jan 5, 2014, at 11:15 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: > This afternoon as I was leaving the lakeshore to walk home, I heard a HAIRY > WOODPECKER calling. After some searching, I saw it fly a short distance in > the tall trees overhead, and got it in binoculars - a male. It then flew > again in the same direction, but alit on the blue-painted shingle siding of a > house, which I noticed had a couple of woodpecker-workings drilled in it. In > fact it was perched at the largest of these holes, and it quickly dove in. > That was at 4:25pm. It was cool to see a bird go to bed, yet I was > uncomfortable about it being within the wall of a house. It made me think of > bot-flies. > > Often on my walks I am so late going home that I observe no birds on my > return trip. After actually seeing a bird go to bed, I thought that would be > the case. Then at 4:39 I heard a RED-TAILED HAWK call several times from the > Hog Hole woods, although I didn't see it. At 4:51 I was surprised to see a > single MOURNING DOVE flying north over Cass Park. In the gathering dusk at > 4:56 I saw a single MOURNING DOVE flying south and I wondered if it was the > same indecisive bird. At 4:57 a second RED-TAILED HAWK screamed once and flew > north past me. A couple minutes later, after I'd walked past where I last saw > the Mourning Dove, I again saw the/this insomniac dove fly farther south and > across the Inlet. How do birds decide where to sleep, and why couldn't this > one make up its mind? > > Those of you looking at eBird may notice a couple species recorded on 4 > January from Cass Park which look like they should have added to the count > week. The AMERICAN PIPIT and NORTHERN PINTAIL that a gang of us saw in > Sheldrake were recorded on our trip starting from Cass Park, but the eBird > marker stayed deceptively in Cass Park, as if we had gone 38 times around the > Cayuga Waterfront Trail instead going 19 miles up the lake. > --Dave Nutter > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
