Grassland Birds!

       When I left The Little House for the OFH last fall I gave KK permission to hunt on my land. In thanks for being allowed to hunt she's been trapping pocket gophers there. Perhaps that's why I didn't find any today. which is good news.

      Pausing to take in the view 

I was serenaded by many birds. Can you guess what came next? Yup, I activated the Merlin Bird App recorder and in 20 minutes recorded 20 varieties of birds. 

    This is what I heard: Goldfinch, Northern Yellow Warbler, Vesper Sparrow, Crow, Marsh Wren, Brown-headed Cowbird, Grasshopper Sparrow, Canada Goose, Eastern Kingbird, Barn Swallow, Mallard, Common Yellowthroat, Dickcissel, Sora, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bobolink, Song Sparrow and Pheasant.  It was an ideal spot to find grassland birds with over 600 acres of contiguous grass. Squared off it would be a mile on each side.  600 is very conservative estimate of its reach. 

Takk for alt,

Al

When I was a boy we called Bobolinks 'skunk birds' because of their color.

 

• The Bobolink is one of the world’s most impressive songbird migrants, traveling some 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers) to and from southern South America every year. Throughout its lifetime, it may travel the equivalent of 4 or 5 times around the circumference of the earth.
• The species name of the Bobolink, oryzivorus means “rice eating” and refers to this bird’s appetite for rice and other grains, especially during migration and in winter.

• It may not seem like it, because seeing a Sora takes some effort, but the Sora is the most abundant and widespread rail in North America.