By six a.m., as the worm moon orb was waning in the west, Am. Robin was singing a greeting to a springly sort of day, finally for an outist. Once among the naturistic space minutes later, vivacious cardinals were heard expressing the same perspective. Nearby a single crow sat in the arboreal splendor, occasionally giving an occasional caw or two. A dove was cooing.
Surrounded by the vigor of song, fresh water was placed in the bird bath, and the bird-feeder was filled so the local birdlife of Carthage would have a nourishing and fresh morning.
Upon departure, via self-propelled conveyance, my route went through kingly Dundee to the Happy Hollow. Along the stream at the latter space, more cardinals were singing, and the mating flight of a pair of Mallards was noticed as they flew above the trees.
Above the scene, upon passing the park of memorials, regular streams of gulls were going westward, as they regularly do during their passage from a riverside lake to a suitable foraging ground.
After a ride along the golden way towards the muddy river, past the wall of many deaths, through the zone of toil, and along the place with eagles of stone, to reach the fowl waters.
Feathery antics meant lingering under a bright and warming sun, with little wind to roil the seen.
More than two hours were taken to determine the sorts of birds specific about the oxbox. An initial highlight were the eleven Red-breasted Mergansers along the eastern shore of an Iowa ranch. Nearby were many Hooded Mergansers. Eventually after continuing along, there were several Common Mergansers.
It was something of a merganser morning of the worm moon. It sounds like the title of some tepid personal novel of some sort or another.
There is so much more to the species seen, with 46 noted during the morning visit among the environs of the lake district. There were no new species observed. But every sort seen, usually through a spotting scope, were indicated by numerous scribbles upon a well-used piece of paper using a sharp pencil.
After pedaling then along the busy Ames way, and continuing push-by-push along the gritty boulevard, the next place to watch was the park of Fontenelle.
The situation was typical ... being a regular dearth of species since there is an obvious lack of habitat. The primary attraction for fowl is the pond, or if you prefer, it is a lagoon.
Many of the Canada Goose were expressive and involved in antics concerned with pairing and territory and other sorts of things associated with the breeding season, which is underway.
On the north side of the island, there was a congregation of ducks, which necessitated a closer look. There were drakes and females, with the males vividly resting, and it meant a couple of views to determine a particular identity to be certain.
They were Ring-necked Ducks, that were gone in minutes. The way of the day's morning went past the desecratory construction comprised of a concrete route on the north side. It is a new place for vehicles so people can loiter or linger and leave their litter behind. It's an instance of an supposed improvement degrading the park green space. It isn't quite an instance of paving paradise to put in a parking lot, but the result will be more bland and hard concrete.
The flock of ring-necks was the latest species to add to the tally for Fontenelle Park. Notably a Lesser Scaup. was also seen this month, which was another addition to the avifauna.
It was a special worm moon daytime, on the 28th.