NOTE: Post on the Snow Goose is directly below this one.
I decided to do nothing but relax this Easter Sunday with no running, chores, cooking, etc and headed out early to St Philips in Grafton to see if anything interesting had arrived the past day or so and I would be far from disappointed as I got my FOY Palm Warbler within 10 minutes of my being there. I did my usual get out of the car, listen to various bird songs to see if I can hear anything of interest and then go to the wetlands to scan right to left for waterfowl and a hopeful Egret (not quite time though), and then headed to a lot of brush where the sparrows like to hang out.
I would see a couple of White-throated Sparrows, one of which was in his beautiful breeding plumage so wanted to pish him out for a photo and as I had my binoculars on him, I would hear something flying out from some brush to the right of me and onto a tree and there was Palm Warbler as I tried to get my camera to focus on him. I had forgotten exactly how quick the Palm Warblers can be so I would follow his every move in hopes for a better shot, but my camera wanted to focus on everything but the warbler so I was lucky with what I would get. I ran home to look at the photos and email Alan just in case he wanted to get there to get the warbler himself and by the time he arrived the warbler had dissapeared.
We decided to check out the Osprey nest nearby to see if they had arrived yet, and were very happy to see the two of them in their nest which remains in very good condition much to our relief. So cute to see the two of them together again and in their nest. Another FOY bird.
After that it was off to Martha Deering to see if we could find the Winter Wren, but it doesn't look as if he's arrived yet, but we did see two Wood Ducks who were in trees again including the very handsome drake above.
And the misses of course who looked rather striking herself as she posed for the camera.
After that I went off on my own and decided to head to Brierly as I hadn't been there in over a week and was curious if anything new had shown up. There wouldn't be much there and as I was headed back to my car, I would see a Black-capped Chickadee who was very busy so I got a little closer to see what it was up to.
The chickadee was very busy in working on a hole and it would chip away furiously and then try and get its body in there every once in a while to check on its progress I am assuming.
The bird was so engrossed in the task at hand that it had no idea I was nearby, or if he did he didn't perceive me to be much of a threat as he just kept on working.
I would make a quick stop at the South Street Powerlines and would see nothing out oft the ordinary there, except for this Painted Turtle who looked thrilled to have met me as you can see in the photo above.
After that, it would be a quick stop to St Philips to see if I could spot the Palm Warbler again for a better photo and decided to get a picture of some buds just starting to bloom as they looked so pretty with the sun shining on them the way they did.
After watching a pair of Flickers chasing each other and the male displaying at times, I would finally see the Palm Warbler again and he would prove to be just as elusive as he was in the early morning.
Oh well, it was nice to see him just the same. I really love this time of the year as there are so many awesome birds coming back, especially some of the earlier warblers which is very welcome indeed!
Before I left I would see an Eastern Bluebird perched in a tree and just begging to have its picture taken and I just couldn't refuse.
I would make one more quick stop to the Millbury Cemetery and again, not see much but I did get a pretty cool photo of this drake Mallard above. The sun hit him just right which made the beautiful green of his as vivid as an emerald.
I would see a couple of White-throated Sparrows, one of which was in his beautiful breeding plumage so wanted to pish him out for a photo and as I had my binoculars on him, I would hear something flying out from some brush to the right of me and onto a tree and there was Palm Warbler as I tried to get my camera to focus on him. I had forgotten exactly how quick the Palm Warblers can be so I would follow his every move in hopes for a better shot, but my camera wanted to focus on everything but the warbler so I was lucky with what I would get. I ran home to look at the photos and email Alan just in case he wanted to get there to get the warbler himself and by the time he arrived the warbler had dissapeared.
We decided to check out the Osprey nest nearby to see if they had arrived yet, and were very happy to see the two of them in their nest which remains in very good condition much to our relief. So cute to see the two of them together again and in their nest. Another FOY bird.
After that it was off to Martha Deering to see if we could find the Winter Wren, but it doesn't look as if he's arrived yet, but we did see two Wood Ducks who were in trees again including the very handsome drake above.
And the misses of course who looked rather striking herself as she posed for the camera.
After that I went off on my own and decided to head to Brierly as I hadn't been there in over a week and was curious if anything new had shown up. There wouldn't be much there and as I was headed back to my car, I would see a Black-capped Chickadee who was very busy so I got a little closer to see what it was up to.
The chickadee was very busy in working on a hole and it would chip away furiously and then try and get its body in there every once in a while to check on its progress I am assuming.
The bird was so engrossed in the task at hand that it had no idea I was nearby, or if he did he didn't perceive me to be much of a threat as he just kept on working.
I would make a quick stop at the South Street Powerlines and would see nothing out oft the ordinary there, except for this Painted Turtle who looked thrilled to have met me as you can see in the photo above.
After that, it would be a quick stop to St Philips to see if I could spot the Palm Warbler again for a better photo and decided to get a picture of some buds just starting to bloom as they looked so pretty with the sun shining on them the way they did.
After watching a pair of Flickers chasing each other and the male displaying at times, I would finally see the Palm Warbler again and he would prove to be just as elusive as he was in the early morning.
Oh well, it was nice to see him just the same. I really love this time of the year as there are so many awesome birds coming back, especially some of the earlier warblers which is very welcome indeed!
Before I left I would see an Eastern Bluebird perched in a tree and just begging to have its picture taken and I just couldn't refuse.
I would make one more quick stop to the Millbury Cemetery and again, not see much but I did get a pretty cool photo of this drake Mallard above. The sun hit him just right which made the beautiful green of his as vivid as an emerald.Take care everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
2 comments:
wonderful photos, great you saw a palm warbler
I love the pics of the wood ducks in the tree too
dan
Misses wood duck looks like she a not even real--setting so still !! What a funny shot of the turtle!! He sure has a grumpy look!!
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