What was it this morning - the overcast sky? the blustery weekend? the cold night? As we sat through our morning meeting, we watched a large flock of Juncos flying back and forth (feeding) outside in the courtyard of A21. We mentioned wanting to do something about window-strikes, and offered to prepare a cost estimate for screening over the glass corridors. But nothing could prepare us for the death toll outside later in the morning.
today's somber birders: Nick, Lynn and Sue
today's surviving birds:
Canada Goose
Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
American Crow
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinal
American Robin
White-breasted Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
While out on our birdwalk, we met one of the West Campus grounds crew. Seems like we bird watchers weren't the only ones noticing dead birds all over the place this morning.
today's dead birds:
Golden-crowned Kinglet - one
Song Sparrow - one
White-throated Sparrow - two
Dark-eyed Junco - I'm having trouble writing this...
fifty two
fifty two that we counted with our own eyes
how many more that we never saw?
Eighteen birds were picked up along the glass corridors of A21, and the fellow on the grounds crew picked up the other 38 from other locations on campus.
As soon as I returned from our walk I went off to the store to get estimates on protective screening for our deadly windows.
In case you still can't believe this, here is a link to the pictures that I took. A sad day. http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnjones11/BIRDS#5399638075608820050
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