Route 153

Two Birthday Limericks for Amy April 10, 2018

An English professor–slash-writer
laughs loudly at things that delight her.
Her mirth is contagious—
guffaws so outrageous
we deliberately strive to incite her.

A woman wed ’midst the saguaros
bet wisely on happy tomorrows.
At fifty, still gorgeous,
Amy’s  heart  is enormous
and Ken never glances at bar hos.

7BY1: Quarterly Report April 1, 2018

Of course, as soon as the calendar turns to January 1 and my annual list turns to zero, species begin to elude me. That kestrel that is always on Route 30 on the wire goes into hiding. Snow buntings play at the corners of my vision while I am driving and can’t stop and get my 99% certainty to 100. I hear a raven but forget to write it down, then decide to wait til I hear one again, and they remain quiet.

Still, I’m doing all right (for me, not for a serious birder), because I’m two species ahead of my best first quarter (all those trips to Maryland and one to Maine). Here they are:

Dark-eyed junco, hairy woodpecker, tufted titmouse, downy woodpecker, American goldfinch, red-bellied woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, house finch, Carolina wren, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, American crow, European starling, rock pigeon, mourning dove, northern cardinal, purple finch, red-tailed hawk, rough-legged hawk, Canada goose, turkey vulture, herring gull, wild turkey, pileated woodpecker, eastern bluebird, snowy owl, mallard, American robin, northern harrier, short-eared owl, red-breasted merganser, common loon, surf scoter, house sparrow, common eider, northern mockingbird, common goldeneye, bufflehead, great black-backed gull, merlin, song sparrow, red-winged blackbird, cedar waxwing, fish crow, bald eagle, common grackle, greater scaup, lesser scaup, common merganser, American wigeon, ring-billed gull, hooded merganser, snow goose, American kestrel, brown creeper, black vulture, great blue heron, northern shoveler.

I got the northern shoveler in Central Park.

Year-to-date count: 58. (2012: 40. 2013: 53. 2014: 40. 2015: 43. 2016: 56. 2017: 50.)