More birding again today and got out early before work again with Alan hoping to catch some migrators and headed off to Butler Farm again to see if we could get more birds with the winds calming down some. As soon as we got out of the car, we would hear many warlbers including a Black-and white, American Redstart, Ovenbird and the Blue-winged Warbler above. We would search around for a Magnolia Warbler as that is what's on the target list at the moment but alas, there would be none that we would know of. I was very happy to get my first of the year Red-eyed Vireo though and was happy getting the views of warblers that I did compared to how challenging it was seeing them last week.
After work, we decided to look for Bobolinks in a place in Sutton where they usually are every year.
We wouldn't be dissapointed because we spotted them shortly after arriving. I had forgotten how much I missed their song and unique way of flying so it was nice to see they have returned.
After that we would take off to another place in Sutton where Grasshopper Sparrows are known to breed, but we didn't hold out much hope due to a project the owner of the land has going on, that we thought may turn the sparrows away so imagine our delight when we saw and heard them doing their "tick tack da zeeeeee" song.
The birds would fly out of the grass and land in deep brush which made getting a really good look at them somewhat challenging, but I was able to get a couple of pretty good record shots of one using Alan's scope.
And check out this photo with its wings spread. So wish the camera was more in focus as this was just such a wonderful pose!
I would have my eye on a couple of Red-tailed Hawks the whole time I was there including this male above who is flying with its legs down which is usually part of the mating ritual these hawks do and sure enough, there would be another right along side of him. Not sure what this means as most Red-tailed Hawks have bred already, but it was interesting to see just the same.
After work, we decided to look for Bobolinks in a place in Sutton where they usually are every year.
We wouldn't be dissapointed because we spotted them shortly after arriving. I had forgotten how much I missed their song and unique way of flying so it was nice to see they have returned.
After that we would take off to another place in Sutton where Grasshopper Sparrows are known to breed, but we didn't hold out much hope due to a project the owner of the land has going on, that we thought may turn the sparrows away so imagine our delight when we saw and heard them doing their "tick tack da zeeeeee" song.
The birds would fly out of the grass and land in deep brush which made getting a really good look at them somewhat challenging, but I was able to get a couple of pretty good record shots of one using Alan's scope.
And check out this photo with its wings spread. So wish the camera was more in focus as this was just such a wonderful pose!
I would have my eye on a couple of Red-tailed Hawks the whole time I was there including this male above who is flying with its legs down which is usually part of the mating ritual these hawks do and sure enough, there would be another right along side of him. Not sure what this means as most Red-tailed Hawks have bred already, but it was interesting to see just the same.Take care all.
3 comments:
And another great day of birding. The weather surely seems to have cooperated. Beautiful.
Wonderful Blue-winged warbler. If only they came ~before~ the canopy filled out! Say, thanks for the help with the Black-throated Green!
Grasshopper Sparrows are hard species to photograph. A few years ago, I spent a whole day at the blueberry barrens near Kennebunk, Maine trying to get a photo of one. You had much better luck than I did!
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