Like many birders I am cursed with a job. Considering the economic times we live in that is probably not the most politic way of putting it but when there are good birds around (And when isn’t there?) a job can feel more like an albatross around your neck than a goose laying golden eggs. Or something.
Anyway, one of my defense mechanisms from the work-a-day world is finding little bits of time before, during, or after the work day to look for birds. There are several parks in Bergen County, New Jersey, that I can stop at on my way to work and there are a couple of favorite spots I like to hit back in Queens on my way home. (I usually try to sneak my en route birding in closer to my destination simply because traffic on my two-bridge, two-borough, two-state commute is so unpredictable.)
Yesterday, I took advantage of the friendly precincts of Van Saun Park in Paramus on my way to work. I have to find a really stunning bird there but I have had luck photographing some common species. While I once again didn’t see anything particularly noteworthy I was pleased to find five species of wood-warbler, including this inquisitive Magnolia Warbler.
Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia
It’s wonderful that land-bird migration has really gotten moving over the last week and a dedicated birder can find birds almost anywhere.
On my way home I stopped at the park that is closest to my house and on my way home from work, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, another place that has frequently earned my attention. The usual suspects were around in numbers – a host of Mallards, a swarm of European Starlings, scads of Rock Pigeons, and a bunch of Double-crested Cormorants. The early evening sun was getting low in the sky and providing perfect illumination for the Ring-billed Gulls that are always on the prowl for a handout.
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis (click it for a bigger version)
I spent maybe ten minutes and then got back in my car to head home. But I was momentarily distracted by a trio of juvenile Least Sandpipers feeding from the edges of a rapidly fading puddle in the parking lot. I have a soft spot for what I consider the most beautiful shorebird and couldn’t resist pausing to rattle off a hundred shots or so. They were continually coming with some kind of invertebrate from the pavement but I have no idea what it was. Then again, I might not want to know what kind of creepy-crawlies are living in parking lot puddles because they might give me nightmares.
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Considering that I put in a full day of work I was pretty pleased with my day’s birding. How about you? How do you get birds in on days when you have earn your living?
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I am in the fortunate position that my office south of Heidelberg/Germany is on the third floor at the edge of town, overlooking a small garden, a vineyard, a former quarry and some forested hills. I can get my bird fix by just opening the window.
Highlights today: Common Raven, Eagle Owl, Green Woodpecker, migrating House Martins with a Common Swift, small flocks of Coal Tits, Jay, Magpie, a Great Spotted Woodpecker 15 feet away, Crested Tits,…
I hope my boss never finds out how much time I spend staring out of a window! I commonly see Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Great Blue Herons, and have also seen Sandhill Cranes and Red Tailed Hawks. So many birds, so little time!
@Jochen- Eagle Owl and while working! Ok, you might have the best office location around.
I have to watch birds when guiding but most of the time, I work from home and occasionally see swifts, swallows, and raptors from the window. Best birds have been Chestnut-collared and Spot-fronted Swifts and flyover Brown-hooded Parrot. Regulars are common backyard species along with occasional Black-shouldered Kite and Short-tailed Hawk.
@Pat: they are breeding in the quarry a short walk away (3 minutes?). I don’t usually see them from my desk as I can’t see onto the cliffs, but today a bird flew up into one of the trees that are lining the quarry. If I visit a colleague across the corridor, I can see into a Peregrine’s nest box. Yeah, I guess I could do worse… 😉
I work in a dreaded strip-mall type of area where the only birds I see every day are seagulls and starlings (which I still appreciate.) However, it’s a 15 minute walk to a river and I try to visit every day before I catch my train home. There are mallards, geese, and red winged black birds there every day but yesterday I saw FOUR black-crowned night herons fishing in the river. Two adults and two juveniles. Sometimes I see one but never four! I was thrilled. There are also two great blues who frequent the area and sometimes I’ve even seen them fishing not 10 feet away from the night herons. I think I would lose it if I saw an eagle owl.
I walk around the building at lunch. It’s located just outside Austin, TX in a prairie environment different than the hill country one in which I live in Austin. I usually see vultures, mockingbirds, loggerhead shrikes and meadowlarks, but on occasion I see kestrels and other than winter lots of scissor-tailed flycatchers, a favorite of mine. It’s stunning how a 20 minute bird walk at lunch can reset me for the rest of the day!
I take my dog for a walk every morning in a city park near my house. It’s been quiet the last few days but I’ve seen goldfinches, hungry robins, and other common birds most of the time. Once at work, there’s a nice park with a pond that’s an 8 minute drive away – Pine sisken(?), coots, GBH’s – I don’t get out there as often as I like. I’ll go tomorrow since it’s too late to head over for lunch. On the way home, there’s a reclaimed superfund site that I’ve birded at many times – short-eared owls, woodcocks (peent peent), waterfowl galore. This makes me realize I haven’t been there in a while so maybe today after work…! Work really does get in the way! I’ve been behind so working later & pre-occupied with catching up. Time to reorder those priorities =)
I am fortunate enough to have to visit clients onsite which gives me the opportunity to detour for birding now and then. Case in point, I swung by Forsythe on Tuesday to seek the Reddish Egret that was reported over the weekend. No REEG, but I still got alot of birds. Check out my latest post http://www.phillybirdnerd.net
I bird from my yard for about an hour before my 40 minute commute, which I bird during driving. I try to get out at lunch time at least once per week to a local park or reserve and bird on my return journey home. I then bird for an hour from my yard whilst gardening or whatever requires doing. Reducing daylight will put a stop to morning and evening birding so i will try and increase lunchtime birding.
You guys should get a proper job!
May I recommend one that takes you to exotic locations and leaves you to your own devices for the rest of the day!
Exotic location this week – Dallas, Tx. Lifer Scissor-tail Flycatcher! Next week Miami!
Livin’ the dream.
ps, that is beautiful light on the sandpiper.
@Redgannet: I so wish…and the light at the beginning and end of the day is another nice part about birding on a work day.