I had a hankerin' for some prairie today, so I spent a few hours birding Neal Smith this afternoon, and since there have been quite a few reports lately I had Redpolls on my mind.
Call me crazy, but I really think the tans and browns and beiges and blacks of the dormant prairie is quite spectacular. Sure, there is nothing like the prairie in full bloom in the summer, but the fall doesn't leave me wanting either. The wide-open spaces were uplifting, the Bison and Elk were as entertaining as ever, and even a sizeable buck Whitetail made an appeareance, but the birding was a bit slow. I'm sure the wind wasn't helping things. The most common bird was definitely the American Tree Sparrow. I had a good time watching a male Northern Harrier soaring a swooping in the breeze. Being overcast and stating to near dusk, I decided to cruise around in hopes of finding the Short-eared Owls reported there recently, but to no avail. On my way out, in the fading light, I saw some little birds in the distance feeding on some seed heads. I decided to just snap a few pictures of them and try to identify them later on my computer, thinking they were probably just more Tree Sparrows. Yep, you guessed it. Turned out to be Common Redpolls, and I have the really bad pictures to prove it! Now, I wish I had stopped and put the scope on them! Eric Ollie Ames, IA --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
