Bird Series
In January 2011, I was invited to join a new team competing in the Carden Challenge where teams compete to identify the greatest number of bird species in a 24 hour period. My song ID skills at the time were not great so I spent the next three months studying and listening and practicing. At the time, I thought I was doing it just for the Challenge. Now I realize that those months spent learning have led to some pretty fantastic work opportunities.
I was interested in birds long before I had any clue that geocaching existed. So when it came time to place some caches, what better way to combine the two interests. How many of these birds can you identify?
Osprey
I was living in Ottawa when I first decided to learn about birds. I took a continuing education course which included one classroom session and three field trips. Our first trip took us to Mud Lake and the Britannia Filtration Plant. It was late April and cold, cold, cold. There weren't many birds to see until someone pointed out a large bird flying over the icy water of the lake. Suddenly the wings folded back as the bird made a head first dive towards the water, came up with a fish and headed to a nearby tree. We looked a little closer then at the trees surrounding the water and came up with nine different osprey. It was magical and I was hooked on birding.
Studies have shown that osprey have an incredibly high success rate when it comes to fishing. They catch a fish at least once in four tries, taking on average 12 minutes to do so. Some studies have shown success rates as high as 70%.
Like the bald eagle, the osprey has made a remarkable comeback since the ban on DDT. This area is lucky enough to have several areas where these birds like to hang out. As you drive around, look for their big bulky nests at the top of hydro poles. When I was placing this cache, the resident osprey was screeching its high piercing call.
