Day 25 - January 25, 2012

Ever think of why things happen the way they do?

Today was a hectic day and a little stressful.  I woke up knowing that I had to run off copies of my midterm exam for tomorrow while thinking  (maybe actually hoping) that the photocopiers would not be down and or used constantly.  Then I knew students would be a bit in panic mode over midterms - can't blame them for being that way (I still have problems trying to justify a 2 hour test that covers 16 weeks worth of material, skills, and knowledge.  But to paraphrase Tennyson, mine's not to question why - or is it?  That's a whole other issue - back to birding!)

Then after school, there was a building meeting that I attended so I did not get out of school until close to 3:45/4:00. 

I knew I needed down time, so I stopped at the new Panera Bread in Southbury for a coffee and blueberry.  But that still wasn't enough to let me wind down.  So, I knew I had to do some birding.

I needed to figure where I could go that would be short but potentially rewarding.  I decided to walk along Trolley Bed Road.

So at 4:20pm, I got out of my car and started walking along the pond to my left.  Then I crossed over to check out the shrubs that border the private house on the corner.  I quickly saw a bird and using the binocs I noticed wing bars and for some reason I thought American Goldfinch but something was not right.  The bird was too big and not olive drab enough even for a winter female.  So I looked at the head, bill, tail, and coloration and said to myself "duhhhhhhh, it's a Mockingbird!"

And now the data:  Time was 4:20 - 4:50pm; temp was 41F; cloudy skies; somewhat breezy at times.

29)  Mockingbird  1

With 6 more days left in January, maybe I can see 2 more birds so I can average 1 a day for the month.  Based on my past records, there are some possibilities and maybe, just maybe, that red breasted nuthatch will come back for a positive ID.