My One Year Blog Anniversary!

That's right all, today is my one year blog anniversary!!! A year ago today, I decided to start a blog as a way to journal the bird observations from my yard and other local places and little did I know it would grow into what it is today. I had one field guide, these tiny binoculars I couldn't use, I was very uncomfortable with a camera, and not only did I often mid ID birds, but I couldn't even call them by their right name. Let's see, seagull, Bafflehead and Canadian Goose are just a few to come to mind, HA! I have spotted the errors that I made earlier in my blog and chose to leave them there even though I know they were wrong because that was indeed who I was then and it serves as a reminder on how much I have grown (all though do have to admit I fixed some of my raptor mistakes because I just couldn't help it).

One of the first pictures I took above of a Tufted Titmouse in my yard on Thanksgiving morning. I decided to give all of the backyard birds and other critters a feast that day and will do the same this year! Will have more fun planning their menu than my own! ;-)

Anyhow, I thought I would reflect back a little on some of my more memorable experiences and just had to start with the Peregrine Falcon's which has been one of the biggest highlights of my first year blogging and birding. This is Mr Peregrine above who is my favorite of the two. He makes the funniest faces and comical antics of any bird I have ever seen.

And then of course Mrs Peregrine who is fierce. strong and made a wonderful parent this summer with her young. She hardly ever left that nest box and believe me, I kept my eye on it!

All of the parents hard work paid off as you all know resulting in three young Peregrine Falcon's like the two above. The highlight of my summer for certain!

How many people have the opportunity to see something as special as the picture above? After a while it became the norm and a Peregrine Falcon which is considered a special bird to most, became very common to me but still very special and remains my favorite bird of all. I will continue to track the parents and if I don't see them for a couple of days I worry. I have been told to never get too attached to wild life, but this was one situation where I couldn't avoid it. I worry about them the same way I do family and friends.

And now a glimpse of other things I did this year. Twitching like the photo above for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Orange, MA.
And the Henslow's Sparrow in Montague, MA.
My introduction to the Forbush Bird Club at Bolton Flats after birding on my own for a few months. Have seen a lot of things with the club and met a lot of wonderful people.
And a lot of cool birds like this Saw-whet Owl in Uxbridge.
My first Grasshopper Sparrow in Sutton
And my first Merlin at Quabbin.
I went from being uncomfortable with using a camera to attempting to digiscope with Alan's awesome scope.
And then there were the fantastic birds! I am telling you, November is probably a great time to start birding because it can only get better right!!! My first introduction to warblers like the Pine Warbler above checking out the Ipod in which his song is playing. I knew right then and there I was going to fall in love with warblers.
Such colorful and beautiful birds like the Blue-winged Warbler above.
And my favorite shot of any kind of warbler including this Prairie Warbler where they are perched in a tree and singing. Soon enough warbler activity lessened some but quickly found a way to fill that void by helping Alan out with his atlasing where we always found a cool bird or two on every trip. ;-)
And then there were the local birds in town like the Graylag Goose at Brierly. I have to admit when I first started birding I would make this a frequent stop and the goose would scare me. As soon as I got out of my car it would run after me making a gesture with his bill as if it were hissing like a cat. I would run back to my car and leave, afraid of that bill of his and what it could do to me. Now I regard it as a friend and am glad it makes the woman across the street happy.
And of course my obsession with gulls like the ones at Target at Lincoln Plaza.
And the more exotic gulls in more exotic locations.
And other exotic birds in other exotic locations like the Black Skimmer above. Another twitch that was successful!
And just when you thought summer birding was boring you were proven wrong by the various shorebirds like the Whimbrel's above.
And the Piping Plover above at Plum Island.
And the many shorebirds at Plymouth Beach!!! Overwhelming but awesome to say the least!

And in between the warblers and the shorebirds, there was July where bird activity seemed scarce so what does one do during that time. Why hike mountains of course, like Mount Monadnock where I got some of the best views of Common Raven's I have ever seen.

And then came phase two of my birding as I like to call it. I got myself some good binoculars and started Nighthawk watching and realized I love it. The binos were new to me but soon enough I got used to them and spent many nights in mid to late August scanning the skies for these special birds. I was sad when it was over with because it didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked it to have.

But soon enough I found something else to take its place like hawkwatching which is another highlight of the year and something I wasn't sure I would like, but like it I did!! Whether it be Mount Watatic where I saw my first migrating Osprey.
Or Barre Falls watching for Broad-winged Hawks, I was instantly drawn and is the one major thing I am planning to work on next year as a major birding objective of mine.
And then there were the sparrows and fall warblers. People say hawkwatching can be frustrating, but I found this to be more so. The fall warblers all look very similar and the sparrows are just too darn secretive!! I never did get a nice look at a White-crowned Sparrow, but I did see many others like the Savannah Sparrow above.
And now it duck and waterfowl time which has been a great way to end October and start November.
Who knew there were so many ducks out there!! So cool!

And of course another major highlight has been meeting a ton of people whether it be in person or here through my blog. What was once a journal from a beginning birders perspective has bloomed into so much more and has opened my eyes to a whole new world that was always there, but I just wasn't searching for it at that time.

I will continue to bird as hard as I did this first year but plan on giving back as well by doing more for citizen science, Heck, I bird so much why not make sure I put it into eBird for tracking, I bird in the dead of winter so why not participate in as many Christmas Bird Counts as I can and the Great Backyard Bird Count of course. I will improve my hawkwatching skills so I can contribute there as well. The sky is the limit!

Take care all!

City Slickers

I worked in Boston today and decided to spend a little bit of time in the AM over at Post Office Square since its on my way to the office from South Station. Post Office Square has a lovely public garden right in the middle of the city which serves as a mini-haven for birds who are migrating and those who call it their home either seasonally or year round. As soon as I got there I could hear the very familiar House Sparrows but then I heard the call of the White-throated Sparrow and realized there were quite a few of them there including the immature one above who is foraging with a Rock Pigeon.
The most amazing thing about these Boston White-throated Sparrows was the fact they were not their usual elusive selves. I was able to get fairly close to them with no fear on their part. They would even land on the crowded sidewalks right next to the House Sparrows which is by far the oddest thing I have ever seen a WT Sparrow do.
It got me thinking while continuing my walk to work at just how adaptable birds are and what I saw was yet again evidence of that. Most of the encounters I have with these sparrows is me putting my binoculars on them while they are in the middle of thick brush and I have to pish them out for a better view. These birds didn't even need pishing they were just mixed in with the other city birds right in the middle of the grass and paid no attention to the many people who walked past them.
My guess is that many of them have spent other winters here and just accept people, noise and nuisance birds as their every day life on their wintering grounds. The birds adapt to city life just as much as people do when making Boston their home. Very interesting.
And my last photo is proof of the hard time I have getting decent pictures of this bird. For some reason every time I try and get a photo of them it comes out over exposed or blurry. Check out the picture above. Everything around it is crisp and clear except for the bird! Go figure!

Take care everyone.

Hanging Out with Mrs Cooper

Well, I started feeding the birds again this past Friday and it only took 5 days for the Cooper's Hawk to get the 411 that the backyard diner is back in full swing with a tree that is perfect for perching no less. I was washing dishes this morning when I saw her fly in from the woods across the street and land on my tree.
The pictures are lousy but still post worthy because I want to point out to you how square the tail looks in the photo above. One of the many ways people attempt to tell the difference between a Cooper's Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk is by the shape of the tail. The Cooper's is round at the end and the Sharp-shinned is squared-right? Well yes in most circumstances but there are things that can effect that such as feather wear, molting, how it's perched or flying how it is in position to you. Here she is eyeballing the House Sparrows who are constantly in the shrubs in my neighbors yard.
Now look at this photo and see how it looks round. Confused yet?? I knew this was a Cooper's Hawk immediately based on its size. I will also bet it's the female Cooper's Hawk because she was very large like the same size as an American Crow but stockier. Also notice the neck and large head this accipiter has vs a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The female sharpie and male Cooper's can be very similar in size with the Male Cooper's Hawk and the female Sharp-shinned Hawk being the size of a Rock Pigeon. A Rock Pigeon the misses above wasn't!
And taking some time to preen a little before figuring out where her next stop would be because she soon gave up on having a House Sparrow for breakfast.
And here is 1 member of the gang of 12 who have done a number on my safflower! They were there this morning before the Cooper's arrived and once she came into my yard off they flew and into cover. The House Sparrows will continue to raid my feeders but will not be as frequent once winter comes. Why I don't know but that's what happened last year. Once winter starts the European Starlings come and take their place.
And one of the females too. I was keeping my eyes open for the leucistic female House Sparrow that was a regular in my yard last year. Her wings were totally white so she was the only House Sparrow I could identify. Plus, she used to get bullied a lot by the other HOSP's so I developed a liking to her because not only did she look different, but behaved different too. Not here this year, but as you can see, others were more than willing to take her place. More food for the hawks I suppose!

Take care all!

Cool Website Alert-Woodcreeper

I found a really cool blog called woodcreeper.com (click on links below if you want to see it for yourself.

This is a blog that is tracking migration throughout New Jersey using Doppler radar but they also study the New England radar as that is where many of the birds are coming from. They also participate in a fall Moonwaching Migration study that is very interesting and I can't wait to see what the results will be when all is said and done.

Just another bird nerd site I thought I would share is it is very interesting!

Most recent blog post

Birds over Jerze

Pre-work Birding

Had an extra 10 minutes or so this morning before work so I decided to do a quick back yard count to see who was in my yard. As soon as I headed out the door I could hear various bird calls and activity coming from my feeding stations, as well as many of the berry shrubs I allow to grow wild in my yard knowing it will provide food for the birds in late fall, early winter.

The family of Blue Jays have returned and are probably wondering where the peanuts are! Unless I can find them wholesale, they will not be getting them this year but its just as well because they seem to have developed a liking to Black Oil Sunflower Seed, which is much cheaper by the pound!
I have tons pokeberry growing all around my wild blackberry bushes in the section of my yard I allow to grow wild, so went over there and was amazed at how many birds were, The ones eating the pokeberry and yew were Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and European Starlings! Not too shabby at all!
The local House Sparrows are back and the gang of six a couple of days ago are now a gang of 12. They have redeveloped their liking of Safflower Seed which really ticks me off because it is so expensive and the birds are bullies. The little buggers have proceeded to spill about a third of it onto the ground, but its just as well because I find the Northern Cardinals prefer to feed that way most times. Hopefully they will eat it because there is nothing worse than trying to clean up spilled birdseed on grass! Grrrrrr, the perils of backyard bird feeding!
And speaking of pests, check out the Gray Squirrel. Have no idea what happened to it but it appears to have somewhat lost the battle.

List from this morning (note, some like the gulls, pigeons and crows were flying overhead and not in my yard).

6 -Ring-billed Gull 8 -Rock Pigeon 1 -Mourning Dove 1 -Downy Woodpecker 3 -Blue Jay 2 -American Crow 2 -Black-capped Chickadee 1 -Tufted Titmouse 1 -Carolina Wren 2 -American Robin 1 -Northern Mockingbird 7 -European Starling 5 -Cedar Waxwing 1 -Song Sparrow 2 -Dark-eyed Junco 1 -Northern Cardinal 2 -House Finch 12 -House Sparrow

The Brierly Bunch

I decided to do a quick stop at Brierly Pond in Millbury after work today after receiving a beginners spotting scope and tripod in the mail by a cyber birding friend of mine who was no longer using it anymore. Anyhow, I was very excited so dashed up there to test it out while there were still a few minutes of daylight left. After figuring out how to adjust the magnification and focus, I was very happy to spot the Black Ducks and Hooded Mergansers which I probably wouldn't have seen with my binoculars as I have noticed the scope makes you scan a lot slower and methodical than your bins which I have a tendency to scan very quickly with.

The usuals were there as well including the hybrid Canada Goose x Graylag Goose as shown above. These geese have gotten a little more interesting to look at now and you can really see the orange tinge in its bill as well as its bright yellow legs. While I was there the woman who feeds these geese poked her head out from her kitchen window across the street and called out to me which caused a wave of excitement in the geese as they know her voice so she came over with bread in tow!
I hadn't spoken with her in a while so she filled me in on the saga of the Canada Goose (the one in back) who was unfortunate enough to get a fishing hook caught in its leg. This happened a month ago and I had heard of it second hand through Alan, but this was the first time I heard the story from her who had experienced it all first hand.
So to make a long story short, the geese crossed the street into her yard when she noticed one of them limping very badly and bleeding all over her lawn. In a panic she goes out there to see what could have caused it. Her husband looks at the goose and tells her its fishing wire and they get the geese back across the street.

She calls the Dept of Fish and Wildlife and Tufts and Tufts tells her they will take the goose if she can transport it there. Fish and Wildlife are too backed up with other things so she is basically on her own. She goes over there trying to figure out how to get the goose and flags down the cable guy who is more than willing to assist and he brings out a big cardboard box while they strategize their plan. Alan gets involved somehow when he goes there to do his daily scan of the pond and he escapes unharmed but emails me to tell me the local saga. I don't dare go there myself because I know me and I would have looked at the poor little goose and the grief stricken woman and would have attempted to help even though I know it would be impossible to get the goose and very dangerous no less! What can I say, I am a sucker and hate seeing any kind of creature suffer.

The goose still has the wire embedded in its leg but there are no signs of infection. It limps only slightly now and from what I hear, the hook is starting to fall out some, but is still in the leg. And who says small towns are boring!!

So, besides that, the only interesting thing at Brierly were some Canada Geese that were not part of the clan. I am guessing they took a brief stop in the middle of migrating and decided to have a little bread themselves before the journey south. This caused a lot of goose fight and flight as the resident geese flew after them telling them to back off!

Am hoping I can get to Institute Park this week at lunch at some point for some birding. It is going to get tougher now that the sun is starting to set by the time I get home. Sigh, I already long for spring and we haven't even had Christmas yet.

Take care all.

Forbush Bird Club-Quabbin Reservoir

The Forbush Bird Club had a trip today at Quabbin Reservoir which started in New Salem and ended in Petersham and equated to a little over six miles on foot round trip. The weather was perfect and was led by Tom Pirro, who did a great job in finding us birds including unexpected shore birds which you will see below!

One of the first notable birds of the day were two Bald Eagles including the one above. Both of these eagles were perched up on trees on separate islands and remained there for a while which gave everyone a chance to get a good look at them.
Tom led us to a little island near the shore and we were thrilled to see some shorebirds including the Greater Yellowlegs above.

Such a cool bird to see mixed in with the fallen colorful leaves.
And this bird wasn't alone either. Mixed in with it were two Dunlin (left) and some Black-bellied Plover (right). A November treat to say the least and it was really nice to see them in non-breeding plumage and be able to get a record shot of them no less.
There were also more than a few Horned Grebes like the one above. The digiscoped picture is over exposed, but I was able to capture this birds gorgeous red eye.
These birds are not at all shy which allowed for some good views when ever they decided to stay above water for more than a few seconds. This is a life bird for me and my new favorite bird for the month of November! So handsome even in non-breeding plumage.
We also saw some Red-breasted Mergansers like the one above. This is the first of the season for me and they were fairly close which allowed for some good views of these birds too.
While I am dreading the winter, it is so nice to finally have all of the Mergansers back.
Tom also spotted out two deer for us on the point of an island as you can see in the picture above. They went to the edge of the water for a drink before returning back to the land. Another highlight of the day.
All in all it was a great trip with weather that was perfect for November. The majority of the birds were also fairly close up which was nice for a change.

Take care everyone.