Tufted titmouse, Massachusetts December 2007
© Betty Jenewin
1 red-bellied woodpecker
7 song sparrows
8 white-breasted sparrows
3 mourning doves
14 juncos
2 blue jays
9 black-capped chickadees
3 white-breasted nuthatches
5 tufted titmice
3 crows
3 downy woodpeckers
11 American goldfinches
1 northern cardinal
24 mallards
2 American tree sparrows
6 house finches
No, it’s not my Christmas list, but a list of the birds I saw on Saturday morning at the Broad Meadow Brook Audubon Sanctuary in Massachusetts. I tagged along as volunteer naturalist Howard Sheinheit and fellow bird enthusiast Dick Auger conducted a winter count. I’ve been a casual birder for most of my adult life, but on Saturday, as we three traipsed quietly along the brook sharing sightings and debating identifications, I began to understand how birding the hobby can turn into birding the obsession.
In related news, I can finally announce why I have been doing so much monarch banding and bird watching. I’m researching a new book, aptly (but tentatively) called CITIZEN SCIENCE, which will be published by Henry Holt in 2011. I have some incredible research trips coming up, each of which will have me cavorting with scientists of all ages. Yippee!