**Official ATOT Bird Watching Thread**

[DomS]

So I thought I'd start a bird-watching / ornithology thread here, since it's something I love. My mom used to keep a 'baby journal' about me when I was an infant. At 2 weeks old she noticed how birds and airplanes captivated my attention more than anything else. The airplane thing fell off, but birds never did. I've had a lull of several years where I didn't actively go out bird watching, just saw what was around my yard and neighborhood really. I'm getting back into it now though, so I thought I'd start a thread here and see who else is interested.

 

[DomS]

My first trip back was yesterday!

I went to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Here's the link to their website. Winslow Homer, Josiah Quincy, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are among the people buried there. I had looked for places to go birding around Boston and this Cemetery was mentioned on a few of them so I decided to scope it out.

"Mount Auburn Cemetery has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior, recognizing it as one of the country's most significant cultural landscapes. Founded in 1831, it was the first large-scale designed landscape open to the public in the United States. Today its beauty, historical associations and horticultural collections are internationally renowned."


I can't believe how beautiful it is there, it's 150 acres or so, and it's just carpeted with landscaped vegetation. I found alake near the north side and parked near there. It's a gorgeous day out, 78, dry as a bone, light breeze, and some gorgeous late August sun. I figured there'd be action around the lake and I was right. I spotted a small heron almost immediately. I was baffled as to what it was though...looked too small to be a great blue, but the colors didn't match a little blue at all. Turns out it was an immature great blue heron. I managed to get pretty close to it and snapped some shots of it Under some brush. There was also a female mallard floating around. A friendly mouse even came to visit for a while, before I trekked off looking for other birds, and found plenty. I came across chipping sparrows, a friendly catbird, two cedar waxwings, jays, crows, cardinals, and some clanging robins. I got a ton of pictures of the graves too, and on my way back the Heron was out of his hidey hole and I got this picture before he floated off.

All in all I was there for about 2 hours and there is plenty left to explore out there. I'm probably going to go back this weekend, or early next week!

 

[Feanor727]

I used to bird-watch when I was at university... On campus, sometimes at the local mall... All the time at the various college bars...


Wait...

Wrong birds...

 

[imported_Imp]

My park supervisor keeps pointing out different bird species when I'm there, but they all look the same to me.

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: Imp
My park supervisor keeps pointing out different bird species when I'm there, but they all look the same to me.

get a book!

 

[Vehemence]

I like to watch chicken as I eat it.

 

[JakwoW]

Originally posted by: dNor
I like to watch chicken as I eat it.

I watch dove as I shoot them.