On my way home from an appointment this morning, I decided to stop by "the Mounds" at Tillman WMA again.  When I last saw a Grasshopper Sparrow, it was a life list addition with looks long enough to ID it, but too short for my satisfaction.  Plus I really wanted to capture a photo of it.  And so, with my little lightweight chair in tow, I hiked on up to the Mounds, taking care not to step on any nesting sparrows, and found a spot to sit and wait one out.

I heard several of the sparrows in the tall grasses surrounding me - and I had a few nice views of some Savannahs that popped-up every now and then.  I enjoyed the melodious calls of Bobolinks that sporadically interrupted the buzzing of the Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows - and I puzzled over a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks that gave an unusually "gruff" call.  I had to look their calls up when I got home because I thought my eyes and ears were playing tricks on me.  But no, that rougher "chirp" is indeed, one of their calls!

I got some distant looks at some Grasshopper Sparrows and I even caught a couple of photos of one on one of the gas pipes.  But eventually, a little further away than I had hoped - but still relatively close - one popped up and balanced on a dead twig in the strong wind, swaying but staying long enough for me to study for a short while. He stayed for at least a couple of minutes, during which I grabbed as many photos as I could before he went on his way.  Other than a few more distant "teases", that was all I got - BUT it was a GREAT view this time!

In addition to the Savannah Sparrows, Bobolinks, and Eastern Meadowlarks seen during my short visit, I also saw:  an American Kestrel, an Eastern Kingbird, a Yellow Warbler, and a couple of fly-overs by a Great Blue Heron.

I also heard a song that sounded sweet, like some warbler songs - 3 long notes, then 3 short.  I tried finding it in my bird app after I got home, but no luck.  I wish I had been able to locate the singer!

There was a nice variety of birds at Majors Park yesterday, 24 species in all. For such a small park, I was surprised I did so well there.

My highlight was, perhaps, a Baltimore Oriole pair at their nest.  That was a treat!  A close second was some nice close up views of a pair of Field Sparrows.  I usually hear them without seeing them.  I may have even found where they are nesting too.

Just about when I reached my car to leave, a small flock of Cedar Waxwings flew up, followed by some American Goldfinches, a pair of Tree Swallows, a pair of House Finches, a Killdeer fly-by, and lastly, a solo Eastern Bluebird.  All within 2-3 minutes! Nice!

Yesterday, while I was birding at the Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area, my daughter messaged me that she and her husband had just rescued a young male American Kestrel from a cat. The bird's wing was extended and it couldn't fly.  We both thought of Hawk Creek Wildlife Center right away as they're known across the nation as one of the leading places for injured bird rehab.

Kate and her 2 young kiddos came out to our house with the kestrel and I drove the kestrel to out to Hawk Creek.  Even though I know the American Kestrel is our smallest falcon, I was still surprised at just how small he was.  Every time I've seen one in a tree or up on a phone line, they appeared much bigger.  This little fellow must be fairly young...

The only thing we could figure out how he was caught by the cat is that the kestrel was a recent fledgling and a novice at flying - maybe leaving its nest too soon, maybe walking around too long on the ground... My daughter didn't see how the cat had gotten to it - but when she and her husband, Lenny, startled the cat which caused the cat to let go of the bird, the kestrel began beating the cat with its wings!  Fiesty! That gave us good hope that he wasn't injured too badly.

I just got off the phone with Hawk Creek (Thursday morning) and they are very optimistic for the kestrel's survival!  He was standing up on his own, hopping around, and holding his wing normally.  He has received antibiotics due to it being a cat injury because cat injuries often cause infections.  Once the danger of infection is passed, they will do a more thorough check to see if his wing was, in fact, broken.

This is another bird whose populations are declining in some areas so I really hope he makes it.  You can find out how you can help American Kestrels by going to this website » American Kestrel Partnership.

And it's just horrible how many roaming cats (feral, stray, AND housecats with outdoor access) kill in a year. The American Bird Conservency estimates between 500 MILLION to 1 BILLION are killed per year or up to 14% of their total populations. A more recent study published by the Smithsonian estimates between 1.4 to 3.7 BILLION birds are killed per year!  Horrible! Here are a couple of online articles if you want to learn more:

• The Smithsonian: "Feral Cats Kill Billions of Small Critters Each Year"
• ABC News: "Roaming Cats Pose Big Threat to Bird Populations, Study Finds"

On a more positive note, there is a live web cam in a kestrel's nest box at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. You can view it here » Kestrel Webcam.  At the time of this writing, there are very young, little nestlings in the nestbox!  Note the white splashed on the inside nestbox walls. That is feces that the young ones squirt onto the walls where it dries and stays off the nestlings. The parents are spared the task of having to remove fecal sacks that other species need to do!