Got to spend some time yesterday watching a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers bringing food to a nest cavity. (And removing fecal sacs of the young) Occasionally, I was able to see the head of young popping up to get food, but never able to get any photos of it.
The light was harsh and the photos didn't turn out as good as I had hoped they would, but here are several that turned out ok...
One thing (ok one of the many things) that I really love about Pamela is that, not only does she 'put up with' some of the odder aspects of my personality, (including an almost all-consuming passion for birding) but that she also indulges them regularly. Case in point: I found this item on-line a few years ago and really have not been able to justify the purchase of it, although I really and truly wanted it. This year it was one of my birthday presents!
And that's your woodpecker moment of zen for the day:
i once a king and chief,
now am the tree barks thief:
ever twixt trunk and leaf,
chasing the prey.
Didn't do quite as much birding this holiday weekend as one might have expected of me, but I have a darn good reason. My sister's wedding was on Sunday afternoon, so we were involved with rehersals, ceremony and reception. Everything was beautiful and I wouldn't have traded a moment of it for any bird. Lisa looked beautiful, and Richard is a very welcome brother-in-law. I wish nothing less than the best for them both!
That's not to say we didn't get any birding in this weekend. I got out for about two hours on Sunday morning, and headed back to Horn Pond to see if I could try to get some better photos of the Prairie Warblers and Indigo Buntings that are so easy to see there. Still not entirely happy with the photos, but they are a bit of an improvement over the ones from earlier this week.
On Memorial Day, we had the day to ourselves - no work or other obligations, so Pamela and I headed to Plum Island. The Purple Martins have returned to the martin boxes that are put up every year just past the entrance gate. I have always had a problem photographing these guys - they have the beautiful glossy, purple/black sheen, but I never get any facial definition. This is the best one so far...
Although I am an early riser (show me a birder that isn't), I don't usually get any birding in on weekday mornings because the earlier I am up, the earlier I come in to work to try to get things done before the phones start ringing, and things get hectic. I swear that the two hours before most people show up are the most productive of my day. Unfortunately, since I am a salaried minion, it means I put in 50+ hours a week, but get paid for 40. Oh well, it's the price you pay for having the flexibility. (It also means that I don't feel too guilty about leaving a few minutes early if a 'good' bird is posted to one of the list-servs.)
This morning I decided that I would get in to work 'late' (7:20) and stop at Horn Pond for a little while to see if I could get a photo or two of the Prairie Warblers that we saw during the birdathon. It was a little cool still and things were a little slow. Most active was an immature Indigo Bunting that was just belting it out.
This was one very full weekend of birding!
Started out at Horn Pond in Woburn at 6pm on Friday evening for the 2008 Massachusetts Birdathon, (see other post for description) where it started to rain JUST AT 6pm. Paul, Diana and I manged to get a couple of our target species out of the way, even in the rain, but it was a slog, and rather miserable going. The further we got from any protection from the elements, the harder it came down. We managed to dig up Ruddy Duck, the Great Horned and Eastern Screech Owls, as well as a few other species, but certainly not what we planned on for our first few hours. The rain continued through the night, and until 10 Saturday morning. That didn't deter us as we started out early Saturday morning and checked off a Broad-winged Hawk on a nest, then continued to Mt Auburn Cemetery, where we saw a good number of birds, but also managed to miss a few. If we didn't have to get back to Horn Pond (for several species that we would have seen the evening before if it wasn't raining), we probably would have picked up another 5-7 species from what I hear that was seen after we left. We did manage to see two target birds - a Summer Tananger that was reported Friday morning and the Cape May Warbler that had been hanging around the dell.
Not a great photo of the Cape May, but they usually hang out pretty high up in the trees and this one was no excpetion...
Then we headed off to the Brooks Estate in Medford, which is usually another good hot spot, but things had died down a bit by the time we got there in mid-afternoon. A Hooded Merganser that has been hanging out with the Mallards stuck around and gave us some nice looks.
We then headed back to Horn Pond to pick up some "gimme" birds that breed there and are seen and heard regularly, like Field Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc. The Wood Ducks there this year are really acclimated to people, and every time I am there I feel the need to take a few photos because they are so colorful and accomodating.
We hit a few other spots along the way, hoping to pick up an extra species or two here and there. In the end, our final tally was 94 species - shy of our goal of 100, but not too bad given the weather we had to contend with. And there's always next year...
On Sunday, we joined our friend Eddie for a BBC trip to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. It is one of his regular stomping grounds and has been getting some fantastic sightings. While doing Birdathon there on Saturday, he checked off some fantastic birds and the place on Sunday was crawling with birders itching to add some warblers to their year (or life) lists. The photos aren't great but, then again, they not the most cooperative birds for point-and-shoot photography...
Hooded Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
We also head many and saw a Worm Eating Warbler - unfortunatley I was not able to get a photo of that one. After we wrapped up the trip, we headed over to East Bridgewater where a Lawrence's Warber (a hybrid between Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers) has been putting in appearances for the last few years. I heard the typical Blue-winged Warbler "bee-bzzzzzz" song and managed to spot him a hundred or so yards away. Again not a great photo as it stayed pretty far away...
