KP birdwatching

The nature trail      I started birdwatching 7 years ago when I was 6-7. At that age, I didn't know much about birdwatching or how many bird species there were in the world. I spotted birds by going out to a nearby park filled with creeks, wooded areas, and marshland and looking for them with my naked eye. The American Goldfinch was the first "elusive" bird species I learned the name of. I was also amazed by the vibrant blue hues of the Blue Jay and learned about feather iridescence at an early age from Common Grackles and pigeons. Surprisingly, I also managed to spot warblers at that park, seeing the Yellow Warbler.       After about two years, I learned the primary bird species in my area and birdwatching tips, so I started going to a nearby nature trail that surrounded a lake. This nature trail had dense forest cover and was situated next to a river, so it was a phenomenal place to go birdwatching during migration months. When I went there for the f...

  Oradell Reservoir      Waterfowl/dabbling duck migration season starts in September and ends in February. I’m not talking about Mallard or Wood Duck migration, I’m talking about Merganser, Grebe, and Loon migration; these birds are rarely seen in the summer or spring. November and December are the peak time to go birdwatching for these birds, wherever you are. With these ducks lying around in large, open bodies of water, I decided to go and try to find some of these colorful waterfowl. I decided to go to Oradell Reservoir & Emerson Woods, which is a large reservoir surrounded by forest. This place is amazing during the spring, too, because warblers and other songbirds come to the riparian woods as a stopover point. Here is a comprehensive list of the 11 species of birds I saw: Canada Goose 50 Mallard 30 Hooded Merganser 3 Common Merganser 300 Red-breasted Merganser 1 Ruddy Duck 27 Ring-billed Gull 100 Herring Gull 100 Double-crested Cormorant 200 Great Blue ...

Common Nighthawk (Courtesy of All About Birds) In this blog post, I will explain everything about a lesser-known bird family commonly called the nightjars . Let me begin. Nightjars are a diverse group of bird species that belong to the family Caprimulgidae . There are 97 species in this family, with all species having brownish-grey mottled plumage, long tails, and pointed wings. Nightjars are found on every continent except Antarctica, with the USA having six species of nightjars. Identification Nightjars are commonly seen at dusk or night, idly perching on tree branches or the ground. If you find one during the day, pat yourself on the back; its camouflaged plumage and ability to stand still make them nearly invisible to a normal viewer. For this reason, the most common way to identify nightjars is through their sound. They will most likely be perched parallel to a tree branch. Within the USA, there are six species of nightjars: the Lesser Nighthawk, Common Nighthawk, Common Pau...

  House Sparrows fighting                I have always noticed that, whenever my family puts out leftover bread on our deck, the birds always reach it first in the early morning. They create a ruckus of sounds at around 6-7 AM as they fight over measly morsels of food. Let me give you a comprehensive timeline of their breakfast endeavors. At around 6 AM, a few birds(scouts, you can call them) from a variety of species come to survey the deck for any food. If they find some, they give a single, screeching call as a way to quickly tell their flock that they found food. They immediately fly away afterward. The most common species of bird that I have noticed doing this behavior is the Blue Jay, but I have also noticed other species such as Sparrows, Juncos, and Red-Headed Woodpeckers doing this too. Blue Jays tend to send only a single scout, while all others send at least two or three. The scouts give information to their respective flock...

  Birds are very similar to humans; they love warm weather and sunshine. Most won’t get up until the sun rises, as many people do. Knowing what birds come at what time of day is very important, along with knowing what time of year birds will come. Here is a comprehensive list of birds you can see throughout the day.  Dawn(4:00AM-6:30AM) Nearly all bird species, whether you live in Andorra or Zimbabwe, will start their chorus in the early morning at dawn. However, they will not start moving until the sun is out and it is much warmer. I would not recommend venturing out during daybreak to look for birds; it would be very dark, and all the birds would be stationary or sleeping. Many elusive bird species would be singing at this time, and a few tiny songbirds would be flitting. Overall, I would say this is the worst time to go birdwatching because of the low light conditions. If you are a fan of birding by ear, however, this is a great time. My rating for this time is 4/10 st...

    Barbour's Pond      With October 8, 2022, being  World Migratory Bird Day, it's time to go birdwatching again in the Northeast. Various warblers and other small birds migrate to the South during this period, making it one of the best times to go birdwatching. Make sure to plan a bird walk between October 8 and 23, when most songbirds are migrating. My trip to Garret Mountain     My trip to Garret Mountain went pretty well(by my standards). Here is a comprehensive list of all 18 species of birds I saw: Canada Goose 10 Turkey Vulture 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3 Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 Eastern Phoebe 2 Blue-headed Vireo 1 Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 White-Breasted Nuthatch 2 Brown Creeper 3 White-throated Sparrow 6 Song Sparrow 1 Eastern Towhee 1 Northern Parula 1 Palm Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 7 Yellow-rumped Warbler 3      I arrived at Barbour's Pond at 9 in the morning, since warblers are not r...