Too Cold To Swim

It has been quite some time since my last blog posting - I have been tied up with work and school unfortunately. I didn't have much time today to stray away from schoolwork, but since I was out and about I figured it would be a great opportunity to stop by Veteran's Park for a quick birding session. I was extremely under-dressed for the bitter Northeastern Ohio temperatures, but that's alright, I was only going to be out for a few minutes. I pulled into the parking lot and grabbed my spotting gear out of my trunk and proceeded into the park. Upon walking the path I heard a Kingfisher belting its rampant voice as it flew from one perch to the next. I stopped for a minute to see what the bird would do next; he (or she) left the perch, letting everyone in the park know that it was flying, then dove into the water and snagged some lunch! I then continued on to the observing deck to see what kind of migratory waterfowl was in the pond today. Doug Marcum has been telling me that there has been a wide variety of non-resident waterfowl there the past week or so. I decided to check it out for myself so I took out my binoculars and set up my spotting scope with tripod .

Barska 20 x 60 x 60mm spotting scope 

I looked through the eyepieces of the binoculars and focused in on a pluthera of dabbling and diving waterfowl. Among the group were Ring-Necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Mallards, and Redheads. After watching them for a while through the binoculars I decided to switch to the spotting scope to get an up-close view of them, even thought they were a good distance away from me. It has been one of my better purchases, coming in use many times when wanting to get a view of a distant bird. I highly recommend a spotting scope if you are wishing to observe waterfowl which you cannot get close to without scaring them away. The detail through the scope is unbelievable. You can see the Ring-Necked Duck's yellow eye, or a female Bufflehead's white spot on her cheek from a hundred plus yards away! I watched the Ring-Necked ducks dive below the surface while the mallards dabbled along the top and the Bufflehead just floated around. While watching them, the cold air and chilling wind were beginning to get to me so I decided to pack it up for the day. The water looked peaceful and calm, making me wish that summertime was closer so I could swim again. As for now, I will have to wait a few more months. The leaves will begin to come out on the trees in the next month and the world will be green again, making it more difficult to birdwatch, but I'm alright with a challenge. Soon, I will be able to go out and about and leave my jacket at home :)