FOY Dickcissel
Finally! I heard my first Dickcissel of the year along the Deming Way fields during my bike ride to work this morning. Sadly, more foreboding property signs dot the fields indicating they're for sale and slated for development in the near future. Little by little, I've watched these fields disappear over the past several years. But if one looks or listens carefully, feathered jewels like Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird and Eastern Meadowlark can still be found there. Like many other places around our country, the fields these birds have been using are slowly vanishing. One day I will no longer hear or see Grasshopper Sparrows along the trail during my ride - how very sad. Eventually, sights and sounds of business and commerce will replace the buzzes and whistles of these unique grassland birds.
© 2008 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 8:22 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Mike, I am so saddened to hear that! My husband and I have been discussing purchasing land in northern Michigan and giving it to the Nature conservancy specifically so it remains untouched for the birds and other wildlife. By the way - your Dickcisse bird reminds me of the evening grosbeak we have here!
I feel a sort of despair when open places start to fade and the birds and animals with them.
I live outside Philly and when I was a kid there Meadowlarks and Bobolinks everywhere.
Now it's a big deal if anyone has sighted one of these birds. This year during our local birdathon we spent almost an hour in one of the last remaining open fields where someone from another team heard a Meadowlark.
However, we didn't see it and wondered if it was just passing through.
I like hearing that somewhere these birds are still around.
I love the sparrow at the bottom of your post, with its tongue in action. Great shot.
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