Buzzards are Back

[Dale Hatfield]

Leaving Nelsonville tuesday heading North  on 33 Their was about 50 ish  Birds  ketteling  of all places  above the Hospital.
I hope they brought their knitted caps cause it gonna be cold and snowy this weekend.
Dale
I ment to also mention that when we parked the tool truck tonight that we could hear spring peepers  singing .
I also seen the easter flowers were starting to sprout out of the ground today. They have been hiding under all of da white stuff.
Dale

[Furby]

Seen a flock of close to two dozen Geese heading North Monday.

[Norm]

No buzzards or geese here yet but Wednesday I saw a lone robin sitting in a walnut tree next to the office. I would have never noticed him except for his loud chirping. I interpreted it to be saying "who says the early bird gets the worm".  :D

[Tom]

All my life I have been corrected by people from other parts of the country that my names for things are wrong and I must be a stupid ignoramus.   The name of the Indian River was The Indian River.  Then, one day, some guy came along and told us how wrong we were.  "The Indian River", he said, "is really a lagoon and therefore you are wrong in calling it The Indian River".   The blue bloods in our town, those who would rather die than be perceived as "wrong", began calling it The Indian River Lagoon and that is what the majority of the influx of foreigners know it today.  To me, it is still the The Indian River.  That was the name, is the name and it doesn't make two hills of beans whether it's a river, a lagoon or a lake.

So, the other day, I was enjoying the Buzzards flying over the field next door.  It's a high spot and must create an uplifting draft in which the buzzards enjoy playing.   Buzzards are neat birds.  They are large and clumsy, hopping around like a teenager on a Pogo stick when on the ground, but, let them get in the air and they are as graceful as a Pelican, another bird I admire.  Liking these birds so much and admitting to their offering me so much entertainment, I came inside to find what, perhaps, someone may have written about their obvious penchant for "playing", like children, on the air currents.

Horrors!!  I was wrong again.  Did you know that a Buzzard is a woodpecker?   I didn't know that.  What to do, what to do?   All this time I have called the red headed ones Turkey Buzzards and the black headed ones Black Buzzards and now I find a Buzzard is a Woodpecker.   Should I just ignore the effort to correct my errant beliefs and continue to call them Buzzards, or, would you folks all of a sudden fain ignorance in understanding what I was talking about and start correcting me?   This really gets me in a dither. :-\ :D

[pineywoods]

Buzzards is still buzzards, red head and black head.  Been here all winter, plenty of road kill. Back yard is full of robins.

[Grawulf]

Red-wing blackbirds are back here - sure sign...........they gonna be hurtin' when we get the 12" of snow that's predicted...... :-\

[thecfarm]

Tom,you wiill have to start to call them Turkey woodpecker and Black woodpecker.  :D What's in a name? No I did not know a buzzard is a woodpecker.Who decides all this?keep calling it what you want,I'll figure it out what you mean.Watch out for them people away.they always want to change things for the better.  ;D I too enjoy watching the buzzards riding the air current.

[semologger]

We came about a foot from putting one thru the front windshield driveing yesterday. Had to slam on the brakes pretty hard. There was 4 in the middle of the road eatin lunch. They dont go away here. Hawks are bad also.

[ely]

that is exactly what i was gonna say, our buzzards here never leave but it does seem like they have several of their yankee kinfolks down to winter with them. i understand what you say about them tom, from your point of view.
to me they are pestelence i had one get up close and personal last year in the company truck, it was actually about 4 inches from my hand on the steering wheel. judgeing from the way he pushed the tempered glass in on the wind screen.

also on a side note, i would venture a guess you would not think they were so admirable of a bird if you climbed up a few structures that they like to roost on in our area. here they try there dead level best to paint the whole structure white, then we have to climb up there to do some sort of work on the powerline and that chalky stuff flakes off in a fine dust and gets everywhere. oh yeah i love them too. :(

[Dale Hatfield]

They dont normally winter here. I have seen some stay in mild times .