Wow! A Mountain Bluebird has graced us with his presence! Right here in Oak Openings! This is only the second recorded visit of this pretty bird to Ohio.
I get to see Mt. Bluebirds at work at YNP in spring and fall. They go higher up in elevation during the summer, but flit all over in May and September.
I do a Junior Ranger program I call "B3--Be a Better Birder." I picked a dozen birds to profile and let the kids show the pictures, guess its name, guess its wingspan (with rope samples from which to chose), figure out if it's a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore, etc.. I start with big, easy to see birds--eagle, pelicans, for example--then move to lesser known birds--Clark's Nutcracker, i.e.--then for the grand finale I go with the Mt. Bluebird, followed by the front-facing-fish carrying fish hawk. By the time I get to the MOBL, I've referenced Big Hungry Carnivores several times. That brings me to our dainty little MOBL. I have a piece of balsa wood that weighs an ounce to pass around to get the feel of the weight of a MOBL and a little short piece of rope for its wingspan. Then I finally get to the "What do you think it eats?" question--is it an omnivore, carnivore, or herbivore? Kids almost almost always go with herbivore. The first kid who says that is rewarded with my surprised look, followed by my NO IT'S A BIG MEAN MEAT EATIN' CARNIVORE! schtick. (Picture me with my claws and fangs at this point.) Great roll of laughter followed by "Well, what kind of meat does it eat? MOSQUITO'S! " Followed by a round of applause for the Mighty Mountain Bluebird.
And just think, there's one here practically in my back yard! Life is sweet.
Check out www.rarebird.org for directions, parking hints, and crazy birder Sherrie's 11 second video. Awesome dudes and dudettes. There's also a Golden-crowned sparrow about 40 miles south of here, but the land owners didn't want the location to be revealed. As soon as it appears "on the other side of the road" word will leak out.
The bluebird is a "chaser" bird, so tomorrow, er this, morning I'm going back over and sell coffee and donuts to the unsuspecting crowd! Bonus points for the person who drives the farthest for a little glimpse of blue!
No comments:
Post a Comment