It's all gone to the birds

The Great Backyard Bird Count wrap-up, preparing for a possible nature illustration opportunity, and adding new sections to the newsletter

Dearest Reader,

How are you now that spring in the Northern Hemisphere has arrived? Or has it? Winter has not left my area yet. At the time of this writing, we’ve had another Nor’easter, and while the snow is melting at some point in the day, the temperature dips well below freezing at night. I am, however, seeing some signs of spring.

New birds are making their way back to the feeders. The two bushes next to my doorstep have the tiniest buds on them. The big grey squirrel is back trying to eat from the bird feeders. The robins have arrived, and the Barred Owls are hunting day and night to feed their young. The air smells a bit more earthy and a little less frosty. All signs that spring is imminent.

American Robin - When the robin arrives in my yard it’s exciting. Spring is on its way. I love to see them hopping around the patches of grass between snow mounds looking for worms and such. This guy was actually perched on a branch at the edge of our woods. Then he flew over the rooftop to the woodland in our backyard.

Did you participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count?

The first day - Friday - there was a violent storm in my area so I couldn’t go out, but I was able to observe my bird feeders for an hour in the morning. I was expecting to see the usual Black-Capped Chickadees, as these small, plump songbirds seem impervious to all kinds of weather events. Instead, I observed a flock of small brown birds that I had never seen in my yard before.

Song Sparrow - these were a surprise at the feeder this year! I was so unsure of my bird identification, I used two sources to determine his species. The Merlin app from Cornell Ornithology Lab is fantastic, but I believe in back up sources to clear up any doubt. For me, that’s my Sibley’s.

Using the Cornell Lab app Merlin to help me identify this “new” bird, I narrowed it down to Pine Siskins or Song Sparrows. So I turned to my backup reference, The Sibley Guide to Birds. Turns out they were Song Sparrows.

I also counted Black-capped Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, Herring Gulls, and some ducks in the ocean that were too far away to identify.

Black-capped Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco - the Dark-eyed Junco is a new bird this year, too. I love his shades of grey and bright peachy-colored beak. He looks taller from the side, but I adore his pear, heavy-bottomed shape.

I tried my best to sketch during my field trips, but birds do not stay still much! It forced me to work quickly and capture the most important identifying features of each species - great practice when drawing anything mobile. I had a lot of fun and already blocked time on my calendar for next year.

I am working on a project…

having to do with birds and illustration for a job I hope to get in 2024. The Great Backyard Bird Count, while not exactly the catalyst, definitely provided some momentum. As I was drafting my project objectives and outcomes, it became very apparent to me that I need some deeper ornithological training - mine is a very casual knowledge based on observation, a couple of general wildlife bio courses during college, reading, and drawing.

Nature journal for a while and you’ll see your natural history knowledge grow exponentially as you make connections, but I need more technical knowledge for this project so I applied for and got a scholarship for Cornell Ornithology’s online bird biology course. So far it’s giving me exactly what I need!

A bit of housekeeping…

A Naturalist’s Notebook has a few new sections: Prompts and Interesting Reads.

Prompts

These go out every Friday (you may have already started receiving these emails) and have a simple exercise to jumpstart your journal practice.

Interesting Reads

I’ve been reading some interesting articles here on Substack, around the web, and some excellent books that I want to share with you. These emails are sent sporadically - once or twice every few months.

If you aren’t receiving these new emails (or are, but would rather opt out), you can check your settings and opt in/out of these supplementary newsletters.

Well, that’s all for now.

Till next time,

Susannah