Have you ever seen a meadowlark? I am a birdwatcher and had never seen a meadowlark prior to this sighting. I had never even heard of a meadowlark! A few years ago (Christmas 2005) we had a very cold winter that must have been hard on all wildlife. Unusually cold. The snow pictured came the day before Christmas and stayed for several weeks. Everything and everyone was frozen! It was cold. Did I say it was cold? It was freezing, it almost reminded me of Maine and of our current weather:) I think we all can agree it is cold today. To help the birds I always throw sunflowers seeds out in the snow. Many ground feeders survive on this type of feeding. Can you see the black oil sunflower seeds all over the snow? The meadowlarks sure did. Several of these large distinctive birds showed up to eat the sunflower seeds. I looked through my bird book to find a picture of them with no luck. My bird book, while a good book simply did not consider meadowlarks all that important to picture them. I finally had to search on the Internet for 'a bird with a yellow breast and black necklace'. Then my mystery bird was identified. A meadowlark!
These birds are HIGHLY skittish. If I even moved the curtain to peek at them they would disperse. I did manage to get a few photos through much diligence. Since that winter I have seen a few meadowlarks in barren fields and at the dump. I have never seen a big group of them though. There were maybe a half a dozen visiting my front yard on this day in 2005. If you would like to hear their lovely call and learn more about them, click here.
I believe this bird is very likely an Eastern Meadowlark. In its southern range these birds do not migrate. If you see some around at this time of year, it is likely they are year round residents. But good luck finding one.....
in the garden....
