Me and my Sis

No bird blog entries for me today, so I thought I would share some pictures of my sisters wedding this past September in York, Maine. My sister and her husband are coming home tomorrow for the week and I can't wait as I have not seen them since last December.

They live in Washington DC which means I only see them about twice a year. They will be headed to Maine next week and sadly I can't join them as I am always up to my ears in deadlines at work the first week of every month.

A picture of my sister and my mom.

And my favorite picture of the two of them together taken immediately after the ceremony.

Take care all and for those of you in New England, enjoy the sun. Just make sure it doesn't blind you!! ;o)

Birding by Foot

I came home after work tonight determined to get a few things done around the house and putter around the kitchen to get some decent shots of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird that now comes to my yard hourly

Sure enough he was right on schedule and then I found myself getting bored and chores seemed too mundane so I laced up my hiking shoes and ventured out to bird in the rain. I decided to venture out to some woods and powerlines in my area (less than 1/4 mile away), as I had never really explored there before due to how inhospitable it is with vast growth and not that many paths.

I have become quite the expert at bush wacking recently and find that it doesn't bother me much. In fact sometimes its an adventure of sorts and I really like the challenge (kind of like the obstacle courses I used to love so much in gym class in elementary school!).

I made my way into some deep woods and there I could hear two families of Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmouses. I stood there for a while and watched them and it was very entertaining because sometimes the flocks of both species would all be in the same area doing their various calls. I watched them all interacting with each and thought it was amazing that both species could be in the same series of bushes and trees and not feel threatened by the others presence with their young. I always see them together in the winter, but this was the first time I have seen them together in the summer and with their young no less!

After making my way through some brambles and brush I finally came to a trail (due to dirt bikers I'm sure), that lead to a very overgrown powerline and not like any of the other powerlines I bird at. Right the minute I arrived I could hear begging young in a tree directly above me and realized it was most likely some Rose-breasted Grosbeaks due to how alarmed the male was above (as well as a female who remained hidden in those bushes).

He would fly around from tree to tree and make that little squeek call that these grosbeaks are so known for. I also came across a flock of Song Sparrows too. It was a very cool place to bird and I would have stuck around longer but it was getting close to 8PM so decided to head back home as I don't know the area well enough to try and get out of it in the dark! ;o)

Anyhow, I am getting really sick of this rain. After a while you learn to adapt to it and birding can actually be kind of pleasant with a light mist falling softly on your face but I do long for the sun.

EDITED TO ADD: I have not seen the Black-crowned Night Heron at St Philips since this past Sunday evening at 6:00PM. I was there both Monday and Tuesday and both days were no shows. Attention Beth: I heard one of the Pileated Woodpeckers doing its manic call that echoed throughout the wetlands followed by some loud territorial drumming about 15 minutes later . They are over at the part of the wetlands that is close to impossible to get to (where I reported I saw them this early April)-unless you are crazy enough to attempt as I did. I did not see them though as I believe they MAY be nesting over in a series of large pine trees in an area you can't get to unless you have a canoe. ;o). To be continued as always as I do intend to find them, now to find a canoe! HA. Joking of course.......Well kind of.......

Take care all.

This and That-Birds, etc

Just some pictures I have taken the past few days. The pictures of the Gray Catbird was taken on Sunday during the rain.

Sometimes cloudy skies can make for good photos if you can get close enough to your subject. The birds seem much more cooperative when it rains out as it's harder for them to fly so they tend to stick around if they don't think you mean any harm. I was very close to this Catbird and was able to manage my best shots of this bird thus far.

A juvenille Baltimore Oriole I saw this past Sunday as well. At first I thought it was a goldfinch because of the wingbars. It looked too orange to me so I decided to google a little bit more and am now 90% positive this is a juvie oriole. My field guide has the juvie Orioles with a darker bill and eyes though? These juvies are going to be the death of me people!

Looking toward the sky and wondering where they sunshine is I'm sure.

A very wet American Robin in my driveway this past Sunday. I have tons of robins in my yard now that the mulberry tree is ripe. They inhale these things right alongside the Cedar Waxwings. One thing to note is I don't have nearly as many Baltimore Orioles as I did last year at this tree. I tracked the orioles for Audubon last year and recorded at least 10 birds coming to my yard on a regular basis, this year I only have 2.

Still my favorite bird of all time (besides the Peregrine Falcon that is!!). Without a doubt one of the most optimistic birds of all. It takes a lot to bring a chickadee down!

Juvie Tree Swallow we saw on Friday in Rutland (digiscoped).

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my feeder. Yes I do still have feeders! I wish I were at home more often so I could see these birds more.

A Blue-jay flies out of a tree at me in outrage. I think I was near its nest.

Giving the alarm call to the others!

An American Robin building a nest in front of my building. Loved this shot with the police car in the background. City life at its best!

Working hard to get as much in her bill as she can so she doesn't have to make so many trips!

And going to the nest to tuck it all in. So fun to watch. The male joined in too and they are working really hard to build it. There is also another robin's nest 4 trees away from this one where a robin is busy incubating eggs.

The male Peregrine Falcon outside of City Hall today. Both the male and female are spending more of their time around City Hall hunting which I solely missed. The female was out yesterday and she was going after a Rock Pigeon. A co-worker and I watched the whole thing as I tried miserably to get shots through the window with the rain coming down as hard as it did. One thing that was VERY INTERESTING was that she was chasing a pigeon and another pigeon was chasing her!! I am guessing it was the other pigeons mate!! So cool to watch and yes the pigeon and its spouse escaped unharmed.

Th male perched upon the steeple of City Hall. NOTE: The juvie peregrine who was released this past Friday is doing fine. The entire family spends all of their time now on top of the Commerce building. It will only be a matter of time before they bring their young up on top of the 446 Main building for flying lessons and I can't wait. After that they will take off and I will miss them terribly.

Take care all

Really Weird Looking Yellow Warbler

I know, I know, I am posting like crazy today but have been on a birding roll if you will. I was going to wait to post these this week with some of my other bird photos I have taken today but decided to post this on its own as it is just too bizarre.

I went back to St Phils tonight to check on the Black-crowned Night Heron and was just about to leave (because it was pouring out!), when suddenly I could hear the chip call of a bird in some bushes directly in front of me. I stood back a little and did some pishing and out she came! I believe she is nesting in there and wanted to find out who the jerk was who was near her home and causing all the commotion. Check out the brown right between her eyes. I have looked at all four of my bird guides and none of them have this as a field mark. Perhaps it is a genetic mutation of sorts?????

Note: Thanks Abe and Richard for the confirmation that Stokes has a Yellow Warbler that looks like this. I am wondering how come none of the other guides do though. Will have to find someone I know who owns the book so they can give me more detail because by the time I get it from Amazon, I may have my answer.

I do have an old Audubon Book of Eastern Land Birds and this is a tidbit of info I found interesting.

"This is our only bird which has an all yellow appearance in the field. Males of some tropical American races, including that of the Florida Keys, hav a reddish-brown patch on the top of its head".

Maybe that's what I have here????

Stalking the Stalker

I decided to thumb my nose at the rain today and go back to St Philips to watch the Green Heron as my goal was to finally be able to capture one of them eating.

I used the same approach as last night which was to be as still as possible so they wouldn't even notice my being there. As soon as I entered the wetlands I could see one of them perched on some vegetation so I quietly tiptoed down the embankment watching every step I made and making sure I was walking on bare land vs. trees, leaves, etc, which is difficult to do when you have to contend with trees too and you are doing the limbo while going down a hill on tiptoe!

Amazingly enough I was able to pull it off and the Green Heron didn't even flinch as I got down to an area where I could get a better view of it as well as some pictures.

The Green Heron finally decided it was lunch time and scanned the waters looking for its next meal.

It was as quiet as could be as it slowly made its way to it target and its lunch.

With breakneck speed and the skill of a surgeon he lunged toward its target and didn't miss.

Off it flew toward the back of the wetlands into thicker vegetation to eat its lunch in peace. Doh, just my luck I think as I frantically adjust my camera settings so I can capture the process before he eats it all. Fish in bill and ready for lunch.

Maneuvering it a bit so it goes down better.

And now for the grand finale!

Burp.......The funny thing was that once it was done with that little morsel it continued to do it again. Very interesting to watch and made this gloomy Sunday a little brighter. Take care all!

Black-crowned Night Heron and Green Herons

I did a little birding on Saturday night despite being out all day doing much of the same. I came home in the afternoon and my house smelled of burnt pork chops and Michael Boltonesque music assaulted me as I opened the door. My son's girlfriend is turning 22 this week so he was making her a dinner with candles and all and I knew that was my que to get out of there as soon as possible which I happily did!

Anyhow, I knew I had about two hours to spare so went to St. Philips to check on the Green Herons. I decided to spend an hour at each part of the wetlands to see what else I could spot. My goal was to remain as still as possible so that eventualy the herons wouldn't even notice me so I could observe them with the naked eye.

When I got to the section of St Philips on the right side of the wetlands, I saw a bird that looked like a small Great-blue Heron perched up on the branch who took off once it saw me. As it took off it made a call I had never heard before so it stumped me even more (as well as the color of the bill and the eye). Come to find out it was a Black-crowned Night Heron. LIFER believe it or not! Remember I didn't start serious birding until early November of last year and they were not in the area at that time. Very cool bird that is now on my stalking list! I went to St Philips again this morning because I wanted to see if it was there. This bird usually hunts at dusk and at night but will hunt during the day if they are feeding their young so I decided to see if I could confirm that but I couldn't.

Note: Both Alan and Rick Q emaild me to let me know that these herons will usually not nest here as they prefer to do it on or near the coast lands. A girl can dream though can't she!! Thanks to both of you-you learn something new everyday!


The two Green Herons were out but one was not as visible as the other so I am guessing they have a nest somewhere in the area. The heron was fairly close to me so I could observe him with just my eyes which was my goal in the first place.

Love this bird and their call in particular. They may be shy but they do have spunk and are extremely intelligent.

Silhouette photo of one getting ready for takeoff!

Check out this photo of a House Sparrow near a nesting cavity. I had seen a bird peeking its head out of a whole and as soon as I got my camera to it, off if flew. I got close enough for a decent shot and realized it was a House Sparrow! Watched it for a while and he flew in twice but nothing flew out and I could hear no nestlings begging for food. The habitat at St Philips is so diverse that you can have both House Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds together without too many scuffles that I can see of.

Speaking of an invasive species of bird, the two Mute Swans I had seen there early this year are still there but there were no signs of nestling or young so I am guessing these two are childless for the year.

The two Great-blue Herons are still there as well but not on the nest so I am not sure what is going on with them as I have no seen any juvenile herons in the nest they used last year. Very odd.

A picture of the wetlands at St. Philips. I have plenty of favorite places to bird but this remains my number one place. I spent most of March in ankle deep snow in this area observing the Pileated Woodpeckers and now I go there to track the herons and other birds. I can stay there for hours if allowed. It is so quiet and soothing that what ever stress I have when I get there soon goes away.

Lastly a dragon fly of some sort and another insect. I am actually really getting into insect photography because it allows me to practice my micro photography skills which is a lot of fun.

Atlasing North Brookfield 10 & 11 Day Three

Female Eastern Towhee enjoying the first sun of the day

It was a second day in a row of bird atlasing today, covering North Brookfieild 10 and 11 with Alan. We had started the day bright and early and got there at 5am because we wanted to hear who the first birds would be to sing and what their songs would be. Over the past month or so, I have become fascinated with bird song and joined the Cornell Web Site so I could study various bird songs and call in further detail. Anyhow, some of the information I have learned was that various birds will sing various songs given the time of day or their mating status (i.e. certain birds will sing song A at dawn if un-mated, if mated may not sing at all until later in the morning and sing song b instead.)

So Alan was crazy enough to venture out there with me that early so we could see some of this avian behaviour ourselves (one of the best things about finding a birding buddy as crazy as yourself is that we both found it normal to leave town at 4:15 when the only people out on the road were diehards leaving the bar and the milk man! HA).

When we first arrived we didn't hear much bird song at all. Just your typical American Robins, Gray Catbirds and Eastern Towhees.

Male Scarlett Tanager with his gal pal in the tree right next to him.

Soon enough the Black-capped chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches and various warblers joined in to create a chorus that made distinguishing song a from song b close to impossible!

Female Common Yellowthroat foraging for insects for her nestlings

The odd thing about this was that the area we were birding at would be filled with bird song for a while and then cease all together and all would be silent and this would cycle throughout the morning where we had periods of various songs and periods of still silence.

Male Black-throated Blue Warbler who didn't get the memo to cease constant singing in June. He was singing for almost an entire 1/2 hour.

The one thing that became very clear to the both of us, is that finding birds has become a lot more difficult recently, especially when it comes to atlasing because many are not as visible as they were in May as many are busy nesting already so don't perch and sing like they did just four short weeks ago.

Female Red-winged Blackbird gathering materials for her nest.

Despite these challenges, Alan was able to get a few new birds on his list and do some upgrades too.

So, since the birds were not as visible as I would have liked, I decided to use my camera to practice on other critters including this little guy above. So cute watching it hop away!

A chipmunk posing perfectly for the camera.

An unknown insect that I just had to take a picture of. Such a cool looking bug!

A Great Spangled Fritillary perched upon some wild flowers.

My first shots of the year of a Tiger Swallowtail.

Koi Fish in an ornamental pond.

And a pretty little water lilly.

Take care all.