I've already posted about most of this past (long) weekend's birding. Sunday did not bode very well weather-wise compared to the other nice days that we had over the holiday weekend, so if we were going to go anywhere, we decided ahead of time that we'd be "car-birding". It was cold and damp, and we had intermittent snow that at times hardened into almost hail. After much hemming and hawing about where to go, I chose Mt. Auburn Cemetery. It's a beautiful drive, even if there are no birds around, and I was still smarting from missing the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers the previous weekend. (And the Screech Owl, but I knew it wouldn't be sitting out on the edge of a cavity on a day like this). Within a few minutes I heard a sapsucker call, so I killed the engine and walked around a bit to find the bird. (That link is of the call from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds web site.) It had started to rain a bit, so I decided to listen for the call again from the protection of a tree that still had leaves on it - and the next call came from right above my head! For the next several minutes I was able to watch it checking several sap wells that it had drilled previously and obviously had been enjoying success from.
I did have to lighten them a bit)
We did spend a bit of time looking for a second bird (there was a pair last weekend), but came up empty., then finished up our car birding by sitting quietly in front of a feeder that is near one of the small ponds, that attacts mostly House Sparrows, but also come other common feeder birds like chickadee, titmouse, cardinal, blue jay, and a few red-winged blackbirds.
