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Journal


Feb 10, 2025

Cold, icy day with blue skies and clouds. A thin layer of ice coated all the twigs and leaves everywhere, making the world look like it was dipped in melted sugar, or blown from glass. I heard a lot of birds I'm not familiar with today! Excited to know that there's still a lot to learn.

    Birds Spotted
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Black-Capped Chickadee
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Red Shouldered Hawk
  • Red-Tailed Hawk (saw three!)
  • American Crow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Downy Woodpecker (both male and female!)


Feb 11, 2025

Another cold day. I went up to the lake between my classes today. The whole surface was an icy landscape that stretched all the way out to the horizon. Big piles of shattered blue-grey ice were on the shore, frozen back into place after the water re-froze. The rocks have huge icicles creating mini cliffs on their sides, and the ducks crowded in whatever areas of water were left unfrozen. It was really quiet, and the sky was a strange white-grey that made the sunlight look like bright indoor lighting. Walked through a couple herds of deer on my way back.

    Birds Spotted
  • Dark-Eyed Junco (soooo many!)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Wild Turkeys- such a beautiful and underrated bird
  • Carolina Wren
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Seagull (unclear what type, too far away)
  • Ducks (unclear what type)
  • Canada Goose
  • Large Crested Bird- my best guess is Belted Kingfisher but it could've been another Pileated Woodpecker- I couldn't make out the details from my binoculars!


March 10, 2025

A bright, blue-skied day! I was in Philadelphia with my dearest friends this week, and we walked along the Wissahickon tributary for one of their mom's birthdays, which was absolutely beautiful. Lots of big stone buildings, bridges, and mossy stones. Got what was maybe the best mocha of my entire life afterwards. Thinking about it forever.

    Birds Spotted
  • Red-Tailed Hawk
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Canada Goose
  • Red-Bellied Woodpecker (took forever to spot)
  • Mallard Duck
  • Song Sparrow


April 27, 2025

 Stopped at one of my favorite parks on my way back from dinner with a friend out in the country. It was sunset, and the wetland had tons of bright skunk cabbage and lily pads popping up. I identified and located a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, which I've never succeeded at with that particular bird before! Their song is so pretty. Semester's been loooong but it's nice to have moments out in nature between everything.
    Birds Spotted
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Bald Eagle
  • Red-Tailed Hawk
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Wood Duck
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
  • American Robin
  • Blue Jay
  • (Heard, not seen) Mockingbird!!


September 12, 2025

 Our first off-campus meeting of a birding class I'm taking through my university! It was a looong day for me, but the birds were a lovely distraction. It was nice to have our meeting at a nature center so close to my apartment, too! I was really proud of spotting the Hooded Warbler and the Cooper's Hawk :)
    Birds Spotted
  • Blue Jay
  • Green Heron (lifer!!!)
  • Red-bellied Wooedpecker
  • Hooded Warbler
  • Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (sitting on a branch way high up!!! amazing!!)
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Bay-Breasted Warbler
  • Cooper's Hawk
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Killdeer
  • Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
  • Great-Blue Heron


September 26, 2025

Birding class up at what I consider to be one of my emotional support parks, a small forest right on the water. It was a really bright, sunny day, and it was really nice to get outside and chat with my classmates, though I had to leave early for one of my jobs, boo. Saw a Palm Warbler for the first time, though!
    Birds Spotted
  • Palm Warbler (LIFER, LOL!!)
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Red-Tailed Hawk
  • Horned grebe
  • Northern Flicker
  • Goldfinch
  • Canada Goose
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Swainson's Thrush
  • Gray Catbird
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Double-Crested Cormorant
  • Kingfisher
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Bald Eagle
  • Blue Jay
  • American Robin
  • House Wren (one of my very favorite birds)
  • Song Sparrow


October 16, 2025

 It was such a beautiful day. I'd been pretty out of it recently and desperately needed some nature time. I was on my way to class after visiting my grandparents, and decided to stop at a park I used to walk to when I lived with them. It's along a beautiful creek that runs through a massive shale deposit, and the views are stunning. The autumn leaves were so beautiful against the bright blue sky, and though it's hard to stay present sometimes, this was a welcome break in routine and staring at screens or being stuck in the studio for hours.
    Birds Spotted
  • Red-bellied woodpecker
  • Downy woodpecker
  • Red-headed woodpecker (So beautiful! I got to watch him drink from a little water resevoir in a knot of a tree)
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Blue Jay
  • (Heard, not seen) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (One of my favorites!!)


October 25, 2025

Birding Class again! It was a moody, grey day that made the colors on the trees really pop. We saw so many birds at a wetland I had never been to before! Absolutely beautiful. Very cold, very beautiful. I have a newfound love of shorebirds.
    Birds Spotted
  • Cooper's Hawk
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Least Sandpiper (he's the most to me)
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Common Egret
  • Long-billed Dowitcher (very uncommon for our area!!!!)
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Lesser Yellowlegs (one of the best birds we saw)
  • Rough-winged Swallow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Blue Jay
  • Bald Eagle
  • Tumpeter Swan
  • Red-belled woodpecker
  • Yellow-rumped warbler
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Killdeer (so many!! they're so cute!!)
  • Green-winged Teal