Setting the Pace

Biking to work this morning, I found a Cooper's Hawk, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, and Chipping Sparrow before leaving Waunakee. On Woodland Drive, I passed the drainage pond I've been routinely checking and picked up Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Killdeer. There were probably a few other shorebirds I missed. South on Kingsley, I heard Horned Larks and a Song Sparrow. Along Pheasant Branch Road, Barn Swallows swept across the farm fields where two Sandhill Cranes foraged. West on Fisher Road, I added Indigo Bunting and Great Blue Heron. I got on the bike trail that would take me almost the rest of my trip to work. No Dickcissels were seen or heard as I buzzed down the stretch of trail along HWY 12; there were no Savannah or Grasshopper Sparrows either - the fields were quiet. Nearing the business park, I spotted a Green Heron on the shore of the big pond near Deming Way. A House Wren darted across the trail just before Pleasant View Road. Like kicking a stone while you walk, looking and listening for birds makes a bike trip go by a whole lot quicker.

"The love for all living creatures is the noblest attribute of man."

- Charles Darwin

Spotted Sandpiper © 2008 Mike McDowell