Birds In Your Backyard

Today we loaded up our binoculars and field guide and took our first “official” birding trip away from our backyard.  OK, we didn’t go to South America or anything, just to the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, GA.  The center is 127 acres in size and is along the Chattahoochee River.  It’s about 10 miles from our house and looked like an interesting place to go visit.

Misty And Cool

We arrived a little ofter 9AM with the weather cloudy and cool.  It was about 50 degrees and there was a very light mist/drizzle in the air.  We stopped in the visitor center and got a map of the grounds.  The center has a variety of exhibits including a number of large birds including owls, hawks and a Bald Eagle.  The birds are unable to live in the wild due to a variety of injuries or other problems.

Let The Birding Begin

We spent a few minutes looking at the caged birds then headed out on the many trails to see what we could see.  Here’s the list.  Most of the birds are the same as we see in the backyard.  But we did see some new species (Bolded) It’s easy to see new birds when you have seen so few :

The birds that we were most excited to see were the Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Great Blue Heron.  Were hoping to see more water birds but the marsh boardwalk was closed due to the wet weather (too slippery).  We’ll have to go back and try that out later.

We’re Getting Better At This

Both of us really tried to improve our “binocular handling” skills.  One of the hardest things for both Pam and I  is to be able to put the binoculars to your eyes and follow the movement of the birds.  We had lots of opportunities to practice and I think we’re getting better at it.

A Nice Way To Spend A Morning

We finished up around Noon.  I total we spent a little over 2 1/2 hours actively birdwatching.  It was a nice way to spend some time together.  We saw a lot of birds including some new ones, and got to practice our birding skills.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!