First Group Walk

This past Saturday I attended my first group walk with my mom.  It was held at the Overland Park Arboretum. It was pretty chilly due to the frost of the previous night, but I had a great time.  I saw a new life bird---a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  Woo Hoo!  We even got to see it swoop aroud trying to catch it's breakfast.  Unfortunately I was so excited and distracted by the Hawk that I forgot entirely to try and ID the little bird it was chasing. 

I really enjoyed the walk and look forward to finding other bird walks to join.  It was wonderful to meet so many friendly people and hear identification tips from the more experienced birders. Hopefully I can attend another one soon!

Beautiful Weather

Carolina Wren

The weather for the past couple days has been absolutely beautiful. Naturally, I took this opportunity to head out and enjoy as many birds as possible. Yesterday we went to Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area. We didn't have a lot of time, but we did see two new birds for the year! Woo Hoo! We decided to walk one of the trails and had just stepped out of the car when we noticed a group of sparrow sized birds in some nearby shrubs. We stood still and waited for the birds to resume their foraging and come back into view. There were 3-4 White-throated Sparrows and 2-3 Dark-eyed Juncos. That little group of birds made my day!


After finishing some errands early today, my mom and I decided to visit a new site, Lakeside Nature Center. The trails lead down a limestone bluff and into a wooded valley with a creek. It was a wonderful walk that was peppered with Goldfinches, Carolina Wrens, Downy Woodpeckers, and Chickadees. We even watched a secretive little Winter Wren (A first for us!). All in all it was a great couple days.

The Most Curious Kinglet

I had a great weekend! I saw two new life birds (Ruby-Crowned Kinglet & Yellow Rumped Warbler) and had a lot of fun visiting family at a wedding.  On Saturday I went out and about with my binoculars in hand.  At the time I had no idea that the best birding experience wouldn't even require my binoculars! I was walking with my mom and we stopped to watch one of the foraging flocks of chickadee's, tufted titmouse, and downy's.  While we were enjoying the group darting around and chattering with each other we noticed a new bird had joined the mix.  It was a tiny Ruby Crowned Kinglet and he kept hopping out to peek at us.  Finally he built up enough courage to hop out and perch at a branch that was two feet away and at eye level.  He sat there long enough to get a really good look at us and for me to sneak my point & shoot out of my pocket and snap a picture.  It was wonderful!