Saturday Birdin'

Man, I love spring migration. Things in New England are hopping' now.

Yesterday, when I got out of work (after a very tiring 68 hour work week, and having read all kinds of great reports on the local list-servs, and knowing that I had several friends heading to Cape May) I made a few stops at some local spots to try and see a few birds. (Also a bit of scouting for next week's birdathon, but more on that a little later.) First I checked a location where I saw a pair of Broad-winged Hawks at nest, and had heard they were back inthe area, but couldn't locate them. I then headed over to the "mountain" near Horn Pond in Woburn where Prairie Warblers, Field Sparrows and Indigo Buntings. The Prairie Warblers and Field Sparrows have indeed started to return (but no Indigo Buntings there yet.)

The weather today was a little overcast with intermittent raindrops, but the birding was still great. We picked up Paul & Diana at 6:30 this morning and headed over to Mt. Auburn Cemetery. One of our first "first of season" birds we saw within a few minutes of stepping out of the car was a Blue-winged Warbler. It was quickly followed with a host of other warblers including Black-and-Whites, American Redstarts, Black-throated Blue's, Black-throated Greens, Nashville's, Pine, Blackburnian's, and Magnolia. We also saw our FOS Scarlet Tananger, and Indigo Bunting. Talk about a day of colorful birds! Added to that we saw Veery, Wood and Hermit Thrushes. A commotion of crows led us to one of the Great-horned Owls, which also drew in a local Cooper's Hawk which also to a few swipes at the owl.

And before leaving the cemetery, we did a quick check on an Eastern Screech Owl that I had not caught up with yet. Today it was out and "displaying" for the crowds.

After stopping at Mt.A, we decided to continue "scouting" for next weekend - including stops at Oak Grove Cemetery/Brooks Estate, where we searched for cuckoos, but instead found Great-crested Flycatchers, and the Flickers were pretty cooperative:

Then we headed to a Heron Rookery in Concord. In addition to all the herons, I know where a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers are nesting and wanted to see how they were coming along. I'm happy to say they seem to be doing just fine, and we saw the male and emale exchanges places in the cavity while there.
We also watched a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers while there regularly visiting a particular snag. Not exactly the location of a nest cavity I am used to seeing Red-bellied Woodpeckers using, (snag was pretty rotten and looked soft) so perhaps they were a young pair and this was their first attempt.

Tomorrow should be another great day of birding. I think Pamela and I plan to go to Plum Island in the morning.

But before I forget, next weekend I will be again be participating in MassAudubon's annual Birdathon fundraiser with Paul and Diana, raising money for the Drumlin Farm Sanctuary in Lincoln, MA. Today we did some scouting, and next week we will be "competing" with at least 24 other teams from 6pm on Friday the 15th until 6pmon Saturday the 16th. Financial support is greatly appreciated, and if you are so inclined, can be done this year on-line here.

Of course, well wishes are free and are most welcomed!!!

Colorful New England Birds

Everybody has been saying it, spring seems to be fully upon us. And nowhere is that more evident than in the rainbow of birds that are beginning to migrate into - and through - New England. Several recent warm days - preceeded by warm southerly winds have brought a nice variety of color into our area, and like many other birders, I am making every effort to be out "in the field" whenever I can. Due to multiple work schedules, and the typically mixed N.E. weather, that means after work a few days a week, and the weekends. (I'm usually in the office by 7am preventing any really good early morning birding on the weekdays.)
The big news (especially when speaking in avian color in spring) are all the warblers that are arriving, many of which are nearly matching or breaking early arrival dates. In the last few weeks, I have seen (in no particular order other than my memory) Pine, Palm, Yellow, Townsend's, Yellow-throated, Black-and-White, Hooded, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Common Yellowthroat, Cerulean, Prairie, Ovenbird and Northern Waterthrush. (And there are at least three I can think of that I've not seen yet but should by the end of next weekend!) Seeing these beautiful little birds is one thing - getting photos is entirely different. As always, seeing the birds is my first priority, but I do really like getting photos. My best warbler pics from this season so far are probably of the Yellow-throated Warbler I posted about last weekend. Here are a few others I've managed, though I certainly hope I can get better ones soon...

The Yellow and Palm warblers are plentiful enough that I was able to get a shot or two off.

In the past week we've also started seeing Baltimore and Orchard Orioles showing up. I've been trying to get that perfect Baltimore Oriole shot for the last year or two - something that really shows their brilliant orange contrasting with white flowers and blue sky. I'm not quite there yet, but I was pretty happy with these two...


I've also seen some pretty colorful ducks lately - birds that have been around for a while, but I don't know if it is the warmer weather or what, but they certainly seem a bit smarter looking to me. The Wood Duck and the Green-winged Teal are about as colorful as ducks get around here:


And they may not be quite as colorful as warblers or orioles, but Killdeer have a subtle beauty all their own:

A Savannah Sparrow may be a "little brown job" but when they up and pose just a few feet away, it is hard not to admire how striking individual species can be:

And if you think them visually dull (though I doubt you do), at least you might agree that they are colorful little singers, no?

Bird Photography Weekly #36

And the "answer" to my quiz bird of the previous post.

American Woodcock - Scolopax minor

I wish that I could say that I spotted this little camouflaged guy using my superior observation skills, but the truth was that he walked across the road in front of us while we were on Parker River NWR on Saturday. It was a beautiful day to be out, and I hope to be able to pull together a post with more pics this evening about the rest of the day.

BTW, Corey over at 10,000 Birds answered this one in within a few hours of my posting it, so he reigns as king of identifying bird butts in my book. We won't spend too much time thinking about how he is so intimately familiar with the business end of our feathered friends.

To see some great bird photos from around the world, check out:

Baby Got Back

Can you identify this feathered butt?

No prizes, except bragging rights that you can ID bird rumps.
(I will post an identifiable pic soon!)

Wordless Wednesday 4/28/09

Get Wordless over at Wordless Wednesday