A Mixed Bag of Birds

I am trying to really get out there during the work week this month with migration in full swing and decided to do some birding with Alan before work today and went to Brood Meadow Brook in Worcester. As soon as we arrived, we would see the Wild Turkeys above who appear to have something around their neck which seems to be a band of some sort. They would be all around the feeders and relatively tame, so I am guessing they are used to people.
We did quite a bit of walking and would hear many of the now common birds like a couple of Ovenbirds, Wood Thrushes, Eastern Bluebirds etc, and then Alan took me to an area I had never been before that is quite lovely with its marshes where all of the birds seemed to be gathered including this VERY tame Tree Swallow that allowed me to get close enough for a decent photo.
It didn't even seem phased by us being there so I am guessing its used to the crowd as Brood Meadow Brook is an Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and can get rather busy with hikers and nature lovers.
I would take like 20 shots of this bird and had to post my favorite three because I haven't been getting really good photos lately so it was nice to have a bird in clear view and not hidden by leaves and twigs for a change!
There are also some mud flats and we were treated to yet another shorebird sighting which is the Spotted Sandpiper in the photo above.
I would head off to work and decided to do a quick check on the Peregrine Falcons and I am happy to report is looks as if nesting was successful this year. If you look at the photo, you will see the female PG on the left of the fchp logo and the male is on the ledge way off to the right of it. This is typical behavior after the nestlings have hatched as both parents like to be out of the box and watching the air for any threats. So happy to see this and am anxious to know how many there are this year.
I would take a quick photo of the male when I went to go get coffee and the falcon doesn't even squack when it sees me anymore and will just give me a casual stare as I take its picture and admire him with my binoculars. Such a good dad!
I decided to head out at lunch and hit Notre Dame cemetery as it is fairly close to work. I would automatically hear some Eastern Kingbirds and one would land briefly so I could take its picture.
I would see quite a lot of the regular birds including two Canada Geese and one had some white right around its tail which caused me to give it more than a casual glance. My eyes would suddenly be drawn to its legs where I would see a band of some sort on it.
I decided to get close enough for a photo, but not close enough to freak it out and it looks as if its banded with a 1048. I actually reported this when I got home and got something back already and according to what I got via email, this goose what actually banded in Utah???
I would continue with my walk when suddenly I could hear the quack of a Mallard in the river below. It wouldn't be a normal quack, but the most panicked quack I had ever heard any duck do so I tried to get in a little closer to see if I could see the duck. I would see no duck, but the quacking would continue to get more panicked and I wondered if it was stuck in some brambles or something. The river is down a steep embankment with mud and I had my smart clothes on, but really wanted to know what was wrong with the duck and if there was anything I could do to help it as the cries were just too much for my sensitive soul and I couldn't just leave it there quacking away like that. I would play out in my head what I would do if the duck was in fact stuck and figured I could grab it with my jacket and lead it into the water without risk of injury. I would also remember I was at lunch and think about the steep, muddy hill and I would picture myself going back to work with mud all over my clothes and wounds from my rescue attempts and the looks on my bewildered co-workers faces as I told them I got attacked by a duck on my lunch hour. :-p
Just as I made my way down the embankment I would find out what was causing the ruckus and it would turn out to be a Red-tailed Hawk who was bathing in the river!!! Check out the photo above and the fact that the hawk looks like a drowned rat.
And this photo makes me laugh too. I so wish I could have seen it bathing as watching birds bathe is one of my favorite things to do and I can't even picture how cool it would be to catch a raptor doing it no less!
But the excitement doesn't end there folks, nosiree. I would see this Chipping Sparrow above all by itself and then suddenly it would have company.
Which would be another Chipping Sparrow where they would proceed to copulate right before my startled eyes! How cool is that!!! Much better way to spend my lunch hour than eating a cup of soup and reading MassBird posts so plan to get out there a little more often because all though I wouldn't get any new birds, the ones I got were all entertaining to observe.
I would continue to do more birding after work at Butler Farm in Millbury where I would get my 1st halfway decent shot of a Warbling Vireo above.
The winds would be strong at this point so I decided to do some pishing around some thick cover and would get a Blue-winged Warbler as well as the American Redstart above. Besides that the place would be quiet but I have a strong feeling the place is probably alive 1st thing in the morning when the winds are calm so will be getting back there to see what other kind of warblers are around.
I would take a walk through the woods hoping for a Red-eyed Vireo and all would be quiet except for an Ovenbird who was making a half hearted attempt at song. I would end the day on the hill there the Bobolinks usually are and there would be no Bobolinks today, but the grass would be green the the sky blue as the strong winds cooled me off after my walk through the woods.

Take care all.

Saturday Birding-Worcester County

I did some birding with Alan today with the fist stop being the Worcester Airport in hopes of getting my first of the year Eastern Meadowlark. We would get out of the car and all would be quiet on the birdsong front, except for one lone Savannah Sparrow that could be heard at a far distance. It would soon be apparent what was causing it as I would spot an American Kestrel perched on a branch while another one was in the air.
The American Kestrel was in the air trying to escape attack from an American Crow which was rather interesting considering Kestrels are known for their spunk and you don't see them backing down from anything. We would also have a Cooper's Hawk here so it seemed to be very popular with bird eating raptors, hence the bird silence I suppose.
While there would not be that many birds, we would see two deer in the section of the airport where the runway is. Love the picture and the one on the right because it's ears are so big in comparison to its body and I am thinking it's a youngin.
Since we were striking out at the Airport we went on to Mullbury Street to try our luck there, and despite there being a Sharp-shinned Hawk, we would finally see an Eastern Meadowlark who was perched up high on some wiring and singing its heart out for us.

As you can see in the photo above. Seriously, such a stunning bird and one I have missed. Not only is it beautiful, but its song is intoxicating to hear, especially on a day as nice as today with warm sunshine and blue skies.

After that we would take off to Bolton Flats and while I don't have any pictures, I did see some pretty cool birds including a first of the year Greater Yellowlegs. There would be three of them in the same area who were running around in search for food. We would make out way to the "T" at the flats and would be lucky enough to hear another cool bird song which would be that of the Sora who was in another area of the flats but rather vocal so it was easy to ID by ear which would be another bird to add to the yearly list. Since we were on a roll we headed to Mount Wachusett where I got my first of the year Winter Wren. The place would be too crowded for dilly dallying so after we got the wren we decided to head to another area in Princeton where there are known Northern Waterthrushes to see if they had returned yet.

It wouldn't take us long to verify that they were back as less than two minutes of us arriving there, we could hear their "nice old ladies don't chew, chew, chew" song. Yes, that is how I have it programmed in my head as that is how I learned it from one of my CD's and it obviously worked because I knew it right the minute I heard it coming from some thick brush. HA. If you think that's a doozy you should hear some of the other ones. ;-)
A very cool bird to get this early in the year. I should also note that this is the first year I am seeing the warblers with my binoculars. Last spring, I did all of my birding with my camera and let me tell you seeing a warbler up close and personal with your bins is wonderful. I will still normally go for my camera first for a record shot, and once I get that out come the bins for a view and I will always lose my breath for one brief second as I drink in all of the lovely detail I can see on the bird. Sigh, I just love spring.
In the afternoon, I would take off on my own to SuAsCo in Westborough where I would hear a familiar noise coming from the brush pile, so I knelt down low to try and locate it. It wouldn't take me long to spot a Brown Thrasher who was having himself a little snack. This bird is not a neat picker by any means as it would lift up leaves furiously and loudly with its bill. I knelt down like that for 3 minutes or so and it wouldn't even notice me because it was so absorbed in its task at hand.
I would soon find out this thrasher was not alone because I would walk further along the path and run into another one that was on the ground.
And like they say on TVLand, Three's Company and I would see another male perched in a tree and singing its heart out. Another love triangle going on it appears and it will be interesting to see how this turns out. What would be funny is that there would be two males singing away in fairly close proximity to one another and it was so loud you couldn't hear any other bird song because of it.
But while you couldn't hear the birds singing, you could see them including this very handsome Chipping Sparrow above.
And finally a lousy shot of my first of the year Green Heron I would get yesterday morning before work. Wondering where the Great Egret is from last year though and not holding out much hope that it will be around anytime soon as they seem to be somewhat delayed this year with their arrival in Massachusetts. MassBird isn't even reporting on them much yet.

Take care all

This & That Part Deux

I did a little birding today and decided to hit another trail for a run this morning where I would hear a peenting Woodcock, quite a few White-throated Sparrows, the usuals like the Northern Cardinals, Eastern Towhees and Field Sparrows but as I would running along some thick shrubbery, I would hear a bird tucked deep within, making the mumbled and subdued calls that you will sometimes hear a Catbird do so I stopped dead in my tracks and did some pishing. I could hear it scrambling about in the brambles and sure enough the bird would pop up just long enough for me to get a look at it and a record shot before going back into hiding. First of the year bird for me and so glad to see the Gray Catbirds are starting to come back.
While I was running up a hill, I could sense the presence of a bird overhead and I would be lucky to get a quick shot of this Cooper's Hawk above. Although the picture is horrible, I like it in that it really shows that "flying cross silhouette" as well as the "bull headed appearance" the coops has.
I would take 1/2 hour at work today to head to Notre Dame Cemetery and would be lucky enough to hear a Swamp Sparrow which I finally locate and get my camera ready as the bird is perched really nicely and eating a bug. I turn the camera on and the little bugger flies down near the water. I start pishing and never did get the Swamp Sparrow back, but decided to take a picture of the Song Sparrow above as it was just begging for a picture. ;-).
I would continue in my walk and would see the nesting Mute Swan, some Mallards, an Eastern Bluebird and the other usuals including a very vocal Northern Mockingbird, but then I would see a bird perched rather demurely on a branch in the middle of the path. I would not put my binoculars on her immediately because I wanted to get an estimate on overall size of the bird and bins can distort that so I will sometimes eyeball the bird at first to judge size and other things before looking at it with my optics. Hmmmm....Bigger than a Song Sparrow and smaller than a Robin I think. It looks like a Red-winged Blackbird I think again, but what the heck is up with that notched tail I mumble in my mind while trying to remember if a Red-winged Blackbird has one or not.
She allows me to get really close to her and doesn't make a peep which would have helped. I am convinced its a female Red-winged Blackbird at this point, but the whole scenario doesn't sit well with me as she is all by herself and very quiet which I never think of these blackbirds as and the tail would continue to throw me off, but what else is new. Finally she would fly away which I was happy to see because I thought she was sick for a moment because she was just acting so uncharacteristically un-black bird like.
And speaking of odd, check out Mr Peregrine (I believe) above. I am wondering what the heck happened to one of its secondaries as it appears as if he is missing one or two of them.
Hmmmm...Perhaps the misses doesn't like his choice of dinner or something. ;-). Seriously though, it wasn't like that yesterday so thought it was note worthy as he flew past my window again late this afternoon.
And since I am throwing in everything but the kitchen sink here, I figured I would share with you a picture of this very handsome American Robin who is always in my yard. He is not at all afraid of me as I have been playing a little game of chicken with him where I try and get real close to see how long it takes him to fly to another location, but I can get within a few feet of him before he does so. He is so friendly that even my two kids notice it, and that's saying a lot because they don't notice much about birds or so I thought. They would be cleaning the yard a couple of days ago while the robin followed. Is that not adorable or what! The only worry I have is my neighbors cat who is always in my yard despite me hollering at it. I would hate to see this handsome little fella fall pray to the cat.
I would have no time for birding this evening much to my dismay as there is a Sora at Bolton Flats that I am eager to see, but it will have to wait for till the weekend I'm afraid. I would manage to do some birding by foot around my neighborhood this evening after dinner as I wanted to get some fresh air and move my legs some. The Turkey Vultures would be out in full force and in their usual tree so I decided to watch them.
They would land in the tree only briefly and then fly off and do some circles only to land again. I really like the photo above as it shows off it's back while in flight which I don't see much.
As this is what I am so used to seeing.

Take care all

Woodcocks and Other Birding Here and There

Doing things in reverse order here. Alan and I went out to the Westborough WMA this evening to look for Woodcock as I have struck out twice thus far, but that's because we went to different places to see if we can find them but it was never a guarantee.
As we were walking along before the sunset we could hear them peent so off we went to the area we knew they would be at and one in particular put on quite a show for us. Getting pictures of these birds can be rather tough with lack of light but I was glad to get the one above because I wouldn't even know that I got it until I got home and blew the pictures up on my computer screen!
We would also have a see one of the resident beavers there like the one above. They have built up quite the dam since the last time I was there!
While walking along a different path we would come across this very tame Red-tailed Hawk that who appeared fixated on getting a bite to eat before retiring for the evening. The hawk would look at us on occasion, but it was more interested on what could potentially be on the ground below instead of what we were up to.
I also got out at lunch today to see what was at Institute Park. With April here, I try and get out more at lunch and before and after work until mid June as there is so much to see! Not much here to speak of, but a funny photo of some Ring-billed Gulls with a Herring Gull and Killdeer thrown in for good measure. So funny to see them all together on the island that has appeared in the middle of the pond since the last time I was there.
The forsythia would be in full bloom there as well which is so pretty to see this time of the year.
As well as a Red-tailed Hawk that I saw when I first got out of my car. It was funny in that it was up fairly high, but then there was another raptor in the same location but much higher. It actually looked like an Osprey to me with its crooked wings, but would never be certain.
And then before work I ventured over to St Philips to see if I could spot a Yellow-rumped Warbler as I got one there around this time last year. The Northern Flickers would still be chasing after each other and displaying which is so fun to observe.
And then finally, my first half way decent shot of a White-throated Sparrow this year. Very fitting I suppose in that they will be leaving soon and I will miss them.

Take care all