Birdwatch on the Road: A Trail Walk to Summer's End

Time: 10:30-11:45 a.m.

Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, 63°F, 54% Humidity, Winds: E @ 3 mph; feels like 63°F.

Location: The walking trails at Mendon Ponds Park, in Mendon, New York, a suburb of Rochester.

Bird Species/Markings/Features:--10 Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), 2 Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Sights/Sounds/Activities and Notes: Going to Mendon Ponds Park to walk along the trails and bird watch is knd of like taking a trip to Disney World; you know what to expect (Pirates of the Carribean ride, Mickey Mouse) but you go anyway because it has brought you joy in the past.

As my son and I walked the familiar trails, we took time to watch what was happening in the common trees and fields, and while we did not see anything "new," we were reminded of why we like this trip. Interestingly, I had come on very much the same walk with my step-son in June, so this return in some ways served as a bookend experience to my Summer.

The most unique "wildlife" we saw was one of the local high school cross-country teams running the trails in preparation for the coming season. Lithe and strong, these boys passed us twice on the trail. We managed to snap a picture of s straggler (pictured below), the second time they came by. The baseball rivalry could not be escaped even on the trails as one of the boys shouted "Go Yankees!" in acknowledgement of my son's Red Sox cap.



The big draw for folks who come to this area of the park most certainly is the opportunity to feed some of the park's considerable Black-capped Chickadee population from the palm of your hand. My very first trip to Mendon was about 12 years ago now, and as a result of that first experience of having the Chicks feed from my hand, I always keep a small bag of Nyjer seed in my day pack for just such occassions. My son (and step-son, before him) was nervous about having the bird on his hand, so I served as the subject and he as the photographer on a few pictures.



Conditioned to be fed, as soon as two birds saw me reaching into the clear baggie to pull out some food... the small trees and bushes along the trail were chock full of birds, each of who took turns swopping down to my hand and picking at a few seeds. There were a few Cardinals in the area, but they simply watched the activity and waited, I'm sure, for us to drop some seed to the ground after we had fed a few birds from our hands.



Breath in, Breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!