Alan and I decided to head to Barre Falls today but this time, not for hawk watching per say, but more for snow shoeing with hopes we would see the resident Northern Goshawk as this bird is on the top tier of my winter target list (what else is new ;-)).
Anyhow, the sky was clear blue and despite the fact that the forecast called for cold, it didn't feel that way after a few minutes of snow shoeing. The Barre Falls I know and love with memories of warblers in spring and raptors in fall has taken a different life its own and thrilled me again, but this time with ice crystals and fresh snow that was fun to walk through in search of the elusive Northern Goshawk.
The Ware River where Osprey's would hunt for fish this past September lies frozen in time with promises of spring here and there as you can see above.
And flowers from seasons past take on a life of their own with the ice crystals that continue to build upon their skeletal remains creating a different kind of beauty that was breath taking to see as you made your way upon unbroken paths while drinking in the invigorating winter air.
Next it was onto Winimusett for a little more snow shoeing and perhaps a few raptors and were far from disappointed as we saw both the Rough-legged Hawk as well as the two local Red-tailed Hawks who were all circling around the same area doing lazy circles while ascending higher up into the air. What made the whole episode even more interesting was the fact that all three were together per say, with the Rough-legged being higher than the two Red-tailed's but all seemed indifferent at each others presence, almost as if this happens often and have learned to live in peace amongst each other for the time being. Highlight of the day for sure.

Pictures can not do this scene justice as they were too far away and the blue skies made focusing the camera challenging to say the least, but take my word for it that it was indeed mesmerizing. Sigh, I have come to the conclusion that my new favorite winter site of all is watching a Rough-legged Hawk soaring or hover-hunting from above. Wish there were more of them around though.
We also saw this rather gentle looking (at least to me), Cooper's Hawk, yes that's right Cooper's Hawk. Sheesh, what did you think it was...... ;-). He sat there the entire time watching the spectacular raptor show above and Alan and I were in hawk heaven at that point having three different species of hawk all within immediate view.
A shot of the open land which is frozen water. Seriously folks now my new favorite birding spot for the winter for Central Massachusetts. Would have no problem spending the entire day here so long as I had snow shoes, snacks and a lounge chair for relaxing here and there. We never did get the Northern Shrike though which was disappointing but not complaining much as I saw it last time.
Shadow play above but couldn't help it just because.
A beaver's den above which was huge. If you look behind it you will see a smaller one, which I am assuming the guest headquarters. ;-)
And last but not least the authentic "Pond that Never Freezes". Went there and saw my first of the year Ring-necked Duck and Wood Ducks which was awesome until some one in a snow mobile decided to whiz on by us and scare them all off. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........And that's all I am going to say about the matter.

Take care all.

Cooper's Hawk and Peregrine Falcons-Downtown Worcester Today

I was on the phone this morning with someone who had to put me on hold so I do what I usually do while being idle which is look out the window. Suddenly I see the Rock Pigeons fly amok which usually means all is not well in Pigeonville so of course I whip out my binoculars to see what the disturbance is. I get a quick glimpse of a bird that appears to be a brown hawk of some sort before it flies away out of view and the person who had me on hold comes back for more conversation.

I had a feeling it was the Cooper's Hawk I have seen in Downtown Worcester on occasion but was frustrated over the brief look I got of it. At exactly 1:10 PM today the pigeons are going crazy again and look who flies right into view. Why the Cooper's Hawk of course!
The sun was not at all in my favor which was a total bummer as the bird wasn't that much higher than myself so if sun were more favorable I would have gotten much better shots at an angle I have never been able to get of a raptor.
Like this one above coming right at me! My heart completely froze at this point after what happened to the Cooper's Hawk this past spring when it flew into the window. The hawk never does that but I do decide to bundle up to go outside just to double check as it disappeared from my view and couldn't find it again. Happy to report no signs of a hawk strike so I went back into the office a little cold but relieved.
Was wondering where the Peregrine Falcons were during all of this as the Cooper's Hawk would most likely set off some kind of attack from the falcons but they were nowhere to be found. I later found out why at 3PM or so as they were soaking in the rays at the BankNorth Building on the logo.

Downtown birding at its best. Take care everyone!

Birding Salisbury and Plum Island

Alan and I decided to do some birding along the coast today and it was a tossup between the South Shore and the Plum Island area and we finally decided on Plum for this week as we really wanted to get a look at the reported Snowy Owl as it was on my target list for this year and was one of the first birds I ever wanted when I started birding last November. Our first stop was at the Salisbury State Reservation where we drove along the paths, looking in trees hoping for some birds and were dismayed to see the area was devoid of birds, except for the occasional gull that would fly by. We searched and searched when suddenly I spotted a raptor and did my usual STOP!! call which means I have a really cool bird! Out came the binoculars to get a better look at the bird.
And there right before our eyes was this very handsome Merlin that was soaking in the rays and looking for a little breakfast.
We carefully got out of the car and Alan set up his scope to get a better look at the bird so I decided to get some pictures as one can never have enough close up shots of a Merlin!
He continued to look around for breakfast but would occasionally look our way to see what we were up to.
The bird didn't seem at all disturbed by our presence and it soon became clear why the trees were bare as all of the birds were either in hiding or decided to venture off somewhere else!
Last shot that I got while we were driving away on the other side. Sigh, such a gorgeous bird.
We got our scopes out and decided to scan the waters and were thrilled to get this Red-throated Loon above. Lifer! Notice the grainy neck as well as the white face and undersides. Also notice the loon appears to have something in its bill, but don't know what it is. Very interesting and a great bird to get for the year.
The next notable birds we saw where the Snow Buntings like the one above.
We decided to head to the Warden's Station to see if we could spot the Snowy Owl and I could spot two birds that blended in very well with their surroundings which of course were the Snow Buntings. Not really a lifer per say, but I didn't put them on my list until now as I saw them vaguely the last time I was at Plum and didn't get the look I wanted to get them on my list until now.
There were also scores of Northern Harriers where ever we went at both Salisbury and Plum Island like the one above.
LOVE this shots as it really shows how long the harriers slim wings and tail are.
We soon ran into Tom W and asked him if the Snowy had been spotted today and sure enough it was so off we went in search for it. We search trees, brush, and everything else around us and all we can see are remaining snow banks and ice forms along the frozen marshes like the one above.
Or at least that's what it looked like to me with my binoculars until Alan tells me that the owl is in fact in with the snow banks as his eyes were sharp enough to spot it with his scope which by no means was an easy task!!! Check it out all! My first lousy photo of a Snowy Owl! Pictures came out real lousy due to many factors including the distance of the bird to us, a camera that is really not made for digiscoping and the fact that the bird is all white so unless you have a real fancy camera, contrast can be a challenge.
After that we headed to the beach to search for waterfowl and saw many including Black Scoters, White-winged Scoters and tons of Common Eiders. We also came across this hut above. I'm thinking it's the official Plum Island Dog House where many birders have spent a night or two due to spouses fed up with all of their Plum Island birding ! Looks rather comfy though if I do say so myself for all of you in that situation!
On our way back from the beach we ran into raptor expert Paul Roberts who told us of a Rough- legged Hawk he and two other gentlemen had spotted. My pulse quickened as excitement took over as this bird was on my target list for the year. Yes I know I say that about all of the birds but this one was on the high priority target list which trumps all other target lists you see. We went off to search for the hawk where we met up with Paul and the other two again as they had re-spotted the hawk! Out came the scopes in an attempt to get a look at it as well as a record shot before venturing further trying to get a little closer just in case we may spook it away.
The hawk decided to take off just as we all were making our way a little closer and while this was discouraging we were able to witness what appeared to be hover hunting or kiting which was a thrill for me as I had never seen it before. Both photos are poor but am glad I got record shots including the one above as you all know my fondness for lousy raptor flight photos because this is often how you see birds when hawkwatching! Special thanks to Paul and his two friends as this bird made my day besides the Snowy Owl of course!
While leaving we could see a photographer we had met up with earlier at Hellcat and we could tell he was onto something as he appeared to be "in the zone". If you look to the left of the two signs to the right you will see a tiny white form which was again the Snowy Owl!
Another lousy shot but was happy to see this bird again as it is a beauty. All in all, a fantastic day with 4 new life birds to add to my list!

Will be getting up in the wee hours tomorrow for my first Christmas Bird Count which is the Sturbridge one. Very excited to do this and am very happy the Dunkin Donuts in town is open 24 hours as I have a feeling I will need a lot of coffee for some intense birding. Take care all!

My Neighbor-The Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk watching a Ring-billed Gull glide by

Today was another lousy, raw and rainy day which makes birding pretty tough on the optics and the toes so I decided to get outside for a run instead and bring my camera with me under my rain gear should I see anything that would catch my eye. No sooner was I at a slow jog, that I saw my new neighbor Mrs. Cooper across the street a few houses down from my own dwelling. I take out my Blackberry and note the time as her usual pattern is to perch on this tree between the hour of 7 and 8 AM and it's close to 10 which I noted and then took out my camera for a couple of quick pictures of course as the rain was pretty steady at this point and I now know what rain can do to a camera so use extreme caution as I don't want a repeat of what happened to me at Salisbury Beach.

I used my old take 6 steps and stop approach with each stop meaning another picture and I was able to get fairly close to her without causing much alarm so I paused to observe. There were other birds in the area which I will get to further down this post and she would swivel her head to look at all of them including a Ring-billed Gull who glided past her as it was on its way to Windel Field for handouts I'm sure.

Anyhow, I used this as an opportunity to get a really good look at the Cooper's as I have been calling her a female for the past couple of weeks based solely on size which is always a good indicator but by no means always accurate, especially for a newbie such as myself. Another way to distinguish a male from a female is by the color of their cheeks. A male Coops will have a gray nape and cheeks whereas the females will generally be rufous colored as shown above. I also wondered about the general age of the hawk and whether or not she was the one that used to terrorize my feeders this past winter.
A photo of the female in question. She and her male friend were in my yard late last winter and the male had killed a Rock Pigeon for her and then stood guard in a tree while she woofed down his offerings. This whole situation still leaves me perplexed because it was obvious these two were a pair of some sort but the female above was obviously rather young (appears to be a first adult plumage) and most Cooper's Hawks will not breed until at least their second year. Anyhow, if you go back to the first photo you can see this female looks darker overall so perhaps this is the same hawk from last year or perhaps it is just wishful thinking on my part.
Another interesting thing about the whole situation was the fact there there were other birds around and they weren't hiding despite the fact that the Coop's looked a little hungry. If you enlarge the photo above you will see a bird perched in a tree at the immediate upper left hand side of the picture. Go to the last tree on the right of the picture and there is the Cooper's Hawk.

The bird on the left was an American Crow who was attempting to dry off its feathers some as well as serve as a sentry as a couple of crows were nearby on the ground eating. There were also a few Blue-jays in the area that I never did see but heard as they were causing quite the racket with their alarm calls. I stood there for a few minutes waiting for a good old fashioned Blue Jay mobbing a Hawk photo opportunity and it never happened as the bravado the jays get around Red-tailed Hawks didn't seem to want to appear when dealing with a Cooper's Hawk which is even more interesting as the Coops is by far more of a threat to a Blue Jay than a Red-tailed Hawk is solely by their preference in prey.
The Blue Jays take every opportunity they can to harass a Red-tailed Hawk and in fact, seem to delight in it in so why not the same with a Cooper's Hawk? I looked at the Conrell site and they do mention Cooper's being victims of Blue Jay mobbings (especially in flight while carrying prey), but my observations tell me the Blue Jays are rather smart and were hidden when the Cooper's was around and knew if they tried to mob it they may have become breakfast.
Instead they prefer to pick on the poor old Red-tailed Hawks like the photo above taken this past summer. As you can see Mrs. Red-tailed is not at all happy about this as she was trying to feast on woodchuck and take care of her two young in the nest nearby. The funny thing about this whole situation was the Blue Jays never did once attempt to take a swipe at either of the two young hawks. Perhaps it was because they didn't perceive them as a threat or perhaps they knew if they took a swipe at the youngins then mamma may step in and death would be most certain. Whatever the reason it just goes to show you that Blue Jays are very smart birds and opportunistic dive bombers with the Red-tailed Hawk being the preferred target.

Take care all.

Thanksgiving Morning Birding

I started my Thanksgiving up bright and early with my usual pre-dawn run which I have actually started looking forward to again now that I have changed the route to make it more challenging. I had been slacking off some since daylight savings time and really need to stay on track in order to remain conditioned for the winter. Plus, it really does wonders for my mind which often gets in a funk this time of the year due to lack of daylight, the holidays and everyday life that all combine to make me rather blue so if I am not hitting the trails in search of birds, I am hitting the pavement in the black of night in search of peace of mind as fresh air does it to me every time.

Anyhow, Alan had some time for light birding this AM and was gracious enough to partner with me in my new endeavor which is doing some scouting for a Winter Raptor Survey I will be doing this winter. Today was the day to look for the already known raptors like the Cooper's Hawk near the park and the Red-tailed Hawks in Millbury and Grafton but also want to expand it some and include not only Millbury and Grafton but Sutton as well with a goal of setting a defined route through main roads, back roads and diverse habitats that will be done at least monthly through the months of December to March. I figured this was right up my alley due to my extreme fondness for anything raptor as well as keep me a little more focused this season which is something I need with winter birding as it tends to get rather dull if you don't mix things up a little so this will help (along with the Gulls of course ;-)).

We headed toward Sutton via Route 146 and didn't feel too positive about finding much given the time of day and the fog that didn't seem to want to lift but low and behold we did see 2 Red-tailed Hawks on our way to Oakhurst. One was 1 mile away from the Oakhurt exit perched on a fixture of sorts off the highway and another was about .9 miles from that one also on 146 which is most likely the Red-tailed Hawk that is commonly seen at the old Oakhurst Horse Farm. The picture above will give you a general idea of what visibility was like this morning which doesn't make for good hawk spotting so we made the best of it and decided to look for sparrows since we were there anyway. While there were plenty of birds there like Dark-eyed Juncos, Song Sparrows, and both House Finches and Goldfinches, there was not much else so we headed back toward Millbury and Lake Singletary.

I have seen a Cooper's Hawk here once or twice so it will be included on my monthly route which is convenient as this is also a hot spot for gulls and sometimes even rare waterfowl if we are lucky enough to spot it.
While driving around West Millbury Road in Sutton, I spotted another Red-tailed Hawk perched in another tree and this time it was safe enough to stop for observation and pictures including the one above.
We were soon about to find out that the hawk wasn't alone as a couple of Blue Jays flew into the tree to practice some of their dive bomb techniques on the passive adult hawk.
After that it was onto a small pond in Sutton and while there were no notable ducks in the area, the passerine activity was in full swing with many birds including the usuals as well as this Brown Creeper above. Wish it would have stuck around longer so I could have gotten closer for a better picture but was happy just to spot it as they appear to be rather difficult to come by.
There were also a couple of Downy Woodpeckers and this Red-bellied Woodpecker above.
With visibility continuing to be to poor for good hawk spotting, we set off to Oxford to search for sparrows as well as a potential Cooper's Hawk that Alan had seen there before. This place too was filled with passerines engrossed in gorging themselves on their own Thanksgiving bounty including this gorgeous Northern Cardinal above.
And of course flocks of White-throated Sparrows like this first winter bird perched amongst some branches mixed in with the others who were all practicing their song and failing at times.
There were also scores of Dark-eyed Juncos including this very attractive female above. Now usually I find the male species of bird to be prettier than the females but juncos are an exception to my eye. I just love that soft brown color of theirs and finds it suits them perfectly.
Last it was onto Fisherville Pond in Grafton where we did see one Red-tailed Hawk that I have seen in that area just about every time I go. We were also fortunate enough to come across this Field Sparrow above which is the 2nd one this week for me.
And of course the American Tree Sparrows which I was thrilled to see. Some of you may recall Fisherville being the area where they put in that new soccer field which was once an area that had a lot of these sparrows. I figured there would be enough suitable habitat for them to stick around, but it was still nice to see with my own two eyes.

Take care all.