sturnella (diminutive of starling) magna (great)
Tuesday, November 20, 1979 — 10:30 am
Conway, Arkansas — Happy Valley
My fiancée and I were walking through her parents’ backyard when we spotted several meadowlarks. They were feeding in the grass near the neighbor’s driveway. As we approached, they flushed, with white-edged tails flashing.
mimus (mimic) polyglottos (many-tongued)
Tuesday, November 20, 1979 — 10:00 am
Conway, Arkansas — Happy Valley
Two mockingbirds were foraging on the lawn and driveway in front of my in-law’s house.
parus (titmouse) bicolor (two-colored)
Tuesday, November 20, 1979 — 8:00 am
Conway, Arkansas — Happy Valley
Two Tufted Titmice were foraging through the scrubby oaks on the side of the hill across the road from my in-law’s house.
parus (titmouse) carolinensis (of Carolina)
Tuesday, November 20, 1979 — 8:00 am
Conway, Arkansas — Happy Valley
I had survived the ordeal of meeting my in-laws-to-be. Everyone had taken off to work or school and left my fiancée and me alone at the house. I wandered outside and strolled down the driveway. The Carolina Chickadees were foraging in the scrubby oaks on the side of the hill across the road from the house. They were calling as they moved through the trees.
buteo (hawk) jamaicensis (of Jamaica)
Friday, November 16, 1979 — 11:00 am
Deerfield, Illinois
Two days after I saw the Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers (previous posts), I walked to the pond along I-94 again. I don’t recall if I saw anything of interest, but on the way back to my car, I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk. I was walking across the cornfield when I spotted it circling high in the air over the field and nearby woods.
Later in the day (2:45 p.m.), after my last class, I went back and saw it, or another one, in the same area. It was being chased by an American Crow and was giving a screeching cry. I followed it into the woods for a while but stopped when I happened upon someone’s yard.
