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January 9, 2010 [LINK / comment]

Nice drive in the country

I got a call today from my friend Steve Kijak, who said he's pretty sure he saw a Bald eagle at the Middle River while driving along Interstate 81. The perfect excuse for me to do a little weekend birding in the countryside! So, I hopped in my car and (after attending to an obligation) found a suitable place to park at the corner of Routes 780 and 781 east of Verona. There was a Kestrel perched on an electrical wire (see below), and a Phoebe showed up soon afterwards, but no eagles were to be found. After waiting for 15 minutes or so, I decided to head east along Route 781, which dead-ends in a stretch of land that is surrounded on three sides by the extremely [winding] Middle River. It was the first time I had ever driven on that stretch of road. I saw several Bluebirds along the way, and took a nice photo of one.

Just as I was turning around a bend as the road entered a wooded area, a Red fox ran across the road less than fifty feet in front of me! It was the closest view I had ever had of the animal. It did not stick around, so I had no chance to get a photo. The rest of the drive was full of interesting scenery, with several nice houses and a few interesting birds here and there. Here are the feathered highlights of the day:

Kestrel on wire

American Kestrel; the blue-gray wings indicate that it is a male.

Bluebird on wire 2

Eastern Bluebird; the bright blue and orange colors indicate that it is a male.

River Bend Farm

Route 781, which terminates at the aptly-named River Bend Farm. The Middle River closely parallels this ridge-top road on both sides for over a mile!

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 10 Jan 2010, 10: 11 AM

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Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.


Explanation

The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:

  1. Wild birds (LAST)
  2. War
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  4. Politics
  5. Latin America
  6. Culture & Travel
  7. Canaries ("Home birds")
  8. Baseball (FIRST)