Ten Weeks...and I Went Birding!

And I'm making progress...I think. It's sometimes difficult to tell when you ache so much after/during PT. I'm getting lots of stretching exercises that are supposed to improve my flexibility and stretch out the nerves at the same time. I have found it's getting easier to put my socks on but more difficult to get out of bed in the morning...or off the table after I've done my exercises.

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Anyway.... We finally got a really nice couple of days. After getting rid of almost all our snow on Monday, we got two inches of heavy white stuff on Tuesday afternoon. I actually went out on the driveway and helped Terry do some shoveling! Then Wednesday we got lots of sun and much of the new snow melted. And today, Thursday, we got even more sun and temperatures into the high 50s. Some spots nearby it actually reached 60 degrees! Now almost all the snow has melted away. BUT the lunatic on the TV out of Elmira is saying we may get two inches between tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening (two separate events).

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After PT this morning I went out to do some birding.

Hills Creek Lake is still frozen and even had some ice fishermen working a couple of spots on the north end. In the sunshine. With the temperature around 50 degrees. Our weekly bird walks there will start a week from Saturday because of that ice. Hopefully the ice will be gone by then.

Marsh Creek as it flows out of The Muck is ice free and there are open water areas around the blind. I spent 30 minutes there and got to see some Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers along with the usual suspects. Also had a friendly and fat Muskrat feeding about 15 feet away from the blind.

Muskrat at The Muck

 Hammond Lake at Ive's Run is also still frozen over, but Crooked Creek which flows into the lake is ice free and there's a little area where the two join that is open. I stayed around the western boat launch and the fishing pier area for 30 minutes and then drove the Rails-to-Trails path that parallels Crooked Creek for almost three miles. Got to see a couple of Killdeer, three Northern Flickers, lots of Common Mergansers, a pair of mated Osprey at the nest pole, several Wood Ducks, numerous Tree Swallows, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds and an Eastern Phoebe among other birds.

Then I drove up to the overlook at the spillway end of Hammond Lake where it joins Tioga Lake. A small bit of open water on Tioga lake held numerous Common Mergansers and there were four or five immature Bald Eagles hanging around the spillway area. I watched one swipe something from a group of Crows who were none too pleased with the transaction.

By then it was 1 PM and I decided I had had enough for the day and headed home.

There I was greeted by the usual cast of characters at the feeder and a new visitor in the form of a Purple Finch. Did not manage to get a photo of him, however. Did get a couple of good shots of some of the others, however.

I'll be posting some of the pictures in the next post(s).