more highway birding

Well, I couldn't let April pass without a single blog post. So today, the last day of the month, I've just done one of my commuter-birding surveys. I didn't do one for the first of April, and this one will cover the first of May, so, here we go.

Friday, April 30th - 7:08 to 8:11 am.
Just before getting in my car, I had to scrape ice off the windows. You read that correctly I-C-E. The morning at home was bright and clear, and in addition to the ice on my car, there was frost in the shady places of the yard.

On the drive, sky conditions varied from clear to high overcast with sun slanting under the clouds to complete cloud cover and back to part sun towards the end. It wasn't particularly windy - the last two days have been extremely windy.

Okay, now the birds.
7:08 to 7:20
Blue Jay - 5
Pigeon - 8
Grackle - 1
Starling - 3
Cardinal - 1
Cowbird - 1
and one road-kill Canada Goose

7:21-7:30
Pigeon - 7
Grackle - 10
Starling - 13
Cowbird - 2
Crow - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1

7:31-7:40
Red-winged Blackbird - 1
Robin - 2
Pigeon - 3
Grackle - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Starling - 3
Crow - 1

7:41-750
Starling - 2
Crow - 2
Pigeon - 1
Blue Jay - 1

7:51-8:00
Starling - 2
Crow - 4
Grackle - 9
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Osprey, Pandion haliaetus - 1
Gulls - 20

8:01-8:11
Starling - 9
Crow - 2
Pigeon - 7
Gulls - 7
Robin - 3
Cardinal - 1
Mourning Dove - 1

You can see that I added one new species - hooray! The Osprey was perched on a roadside utility pole topped by an antenna of some sort, and the bird was actually on top of the antenna.

Since the last survey I have also seen an adult Bald Eagle, a Green Heron and a Double-crested Cormorant - those three during the afternoon commute, on different occasions.

One of the more curious sights was a female cowbird perched about thirty feet from a male cardinal on the railing of a highway overpass. I'd like to learn how the cowbird targets her host. Was she waiting for him to fly to the nest?