Sunday, October 30, 2011
Second Birding Trip
The first stop of the day was at the air port in Easthampton. Astrewn with puffball mushrooms, this location is prime birding habitat. I have no idea how he did it, but Dr.MG locked in on a small blue bird, otherwise known as an Eastern Blue Bird, with his telescope. I tried to take a photo, but my white balance was off, so that clearly didn’t work. We also saw a red tailed hawk just randomly flying over the field. Deciding to move on, we packed up and left.
The second stop of the day was this sketchy looking farm on the side of a road. Evidently, birds tend to lurk in places like this. Starting off in the parking lot, we focused on the vegetation around us. Song Sparrows, House sparrows, Yellow-Rup Warblers, Carolina Wrens, an American Robin, and the TUFTED TITMOUS (<3) were all feeding on the Queen Anns Lace seeds. Working our way past the green houses, we heard a Screech Owl, which was only about 100-150 feet away in a tree. Dr.MG tried talking to it, I failed at talking to it, and Mamoun made some pretty good attempts at sounding like it. We finished working the outskirts of the farm, then made like a flock and migrated east.
Stopping on the side of a highway in Easthampton, we noticed Mourning Doves, New world Starlings, and a few American Crows. Wandering down the road, I noted the sound of a Woodpecker.
Nearing the water, we stopped on the side of the road near a pond, swamp, thing to look at the local birds. A Merlin flew above us as we watched a Grebe (breed?) dove under the water like a bad out of hell trying to get away from Dr.MG’s scope.
Finally arriving at the beach, we climbed up the sand dunes to look down at the flats with the scopes hoping to find something cool. Now, idkw, but the Double Crested Cormorant when standing there on the beach, looks like penguins to me… just saying. There were hundreds (Im guessing around 250) of cormorants on the flats, with a set of white swans randomly drifting around, and some random gulls. I took pics via my Android with the scope. AND, I took a pic of “a thing with a beak” as I have been affectionately been calling a Least Sandpiper. On the beach we noticed some loOns.
Not being satisfied with what we saw on the beach, Dr.MG had us wander down the road looking at birds in he bush. I take great pride in saying that I did notice a Palm Warbler, a Red Waxwing, and a strange cat trying to kill something. The existence of an American Cardinal was noted.
Twas a bird-filled day…
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Birding with the best
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Weekend Birds
Could it be? A LOON?
Birdwatching - October 23rd 2011
Marsh Birding
I have a pretty sweet picture of said Swan, I just don't know how to upload it...
The Birds.......
It was definitely something out of the movie Birds. I was waiting for them all to fly down from the trees and sit on my fence and just state at me. Very freaky!!
I am excited for the next birding trip as a group, because I was unable to attend this week's trip.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
I also saw a very large group of pheasants on my way home today...
OH SO MANY BIRDS!! :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Montauk Birding
On Saturday, October 15th, we went bird watching in Montauk with the SoFo Natural History Museum birding group. The trip started out by the Montauk lighthouse. We started out on an overlook where we saw a couple of Eider Ducks, Crested Cormorants, Laughing Gulls, House Finches, Jaegers, common terns, Forester Terns, and two Bonaparte Gulls, Peregrine Falcon and a lot of Canada Geese. After standing there for a while, we moved on to the path towards the lighthouse and down to the cliffs. On the way to the cliffs, we saw a Merlin Falcon chasing a Warbler (possibly the most epic chase I have ever seen), a little while after that we saw a Myrtle Warbler. As we walked on, however, we saw a Merlin fly overhead with a puffed out chest, which was most likely a small bird that it had caught moments before. We headed back to the car to go to the ranch and on the way saw a Mockingbird and many other birds. When we arrived at the ranch, we saw a large flock of Canada Geese. In this large group we saw a Greater White Fronted Goose! This was a very nice find that was spotted very quickly by our leaders, Hugh McGuinness and Bob Wilson.
Over Montauk's Hills and Dales
While continuing our vast journeys throughout Montauk, a Myrtle Warbler flew by us, which was soon followed by a bunch of Black-Capped chickadees. Next we saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk, which is small (for a hawk) and has stubby wings with a long tail. Once we parked ourselves in one spot for a while, we looked to the sky and saw an American Crow harassing a Red-Tailed Hawk. Everyone seemed to get a major kick out of this. Speaking of major kicks, once on our way to the next stop, Anthony and Zeb were kicking Maddy and I, and made us look like complete fools to the experienced birders, "tripping over ourselves". Once we arrived to a little indent in the cliffs, overlooking the water, we saw a Song Sparrow and a Cedar Waxwing. We identified the Cedar Waxwing because of its large head, short neck and medium sized body. Later, we saw a Northern Mockingbird and a Red Winged Blackbird.
We filed back into the car and headed towards Deep Hollow Ranch. Binoculars and Telescopes in hand, we trekked down a long path and looked out into an enclosed field containing many, many birds. Given directions to "spot the only bird different from the group", we looked through our binoculars for a couple of minutes and noticed the only bird that had a whiter head, and pinky-orangey legs. Once you noticed these differences, the Greater White Fronted Goose really stood out from the sea of Canada Geese. The group that came with us was enthralled with a Stilt Sandpiper, which we watched for a while. We continued on, and went down some other path to look for some birds in a woodsy area. After debating about Chiggers and Lonestar ticks, we tried working our magic with the sounds that make birds curious and come out of their hiding spots. Once this didn't work, we all hopped back into our cars, and were on the road again.
Coming to our third and final destination, our group was pooped and reluctantly got out of the car, unaware of the last trek Doc would drag us on. Throughout the long debate of who sang the song "Build me up Buttercup", we saw some more Common Grackles, Starlings, and two Wood Ducks come out of nowhere on the pond.
This birding trip was very exciting, very successful and I was thoroughly exhausted for the rest of the day. I am very excited for the next birding trip!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Early Birding
The birding trip Saturday morning started off bright and early at 7:40 am in Montauk right by the lighthouse. Along with other “beginner” birders that came with SOFO, we looked at the birds on and around the fishing boats and ocean. There we saw a few Common Eider Ducks, which are recognizable by their noticeable wedge-shaped head and long bill. A Peregrine Falcon, or pear green falcon according to Anthony, flew right over our heads and dropped behind a group of trees before everyone got a good view of it. Through the binoculars we were all able to spot a couple Crested Cormorants; dark long body and long neck. Other birds we saw in that area include House Finches, little with fairly large beaks and flat heads, and Parasitic Jaeger/ Arctic Skuas. Among Laughing Gulls, Common terns and Forester terns, two Bonaparte's Gulls were spotted sitting right on the water while all the other birds were flying around. The gulls are identifiable by their pale gray back and the white triangle on the outer part of their wing. As we continued on the trail towards the Montauk Lighthouse, a little Myrtle Warbler flew right by us followed by a couple Black-Capped Chickadees. It was really great to see a Sharp-Shinned Hawk ,which is very common but one of my favorite birds so far. It’s a relatively small hawk with a long tail and short rounded wings. One of the funnier parts of the trip was a Red-Tailed Hawk being completely harassed by an American Crow. On a sadder note though we witnessed a little warbler being ferociously chased by a Merlin. In the bushes by the cliffs we saw a Song Sparrow and a Cedar Waxing. The Waxwing was medium-sized with a large head and short neck. We also saw a Northern Mockingbird and a Red Winged Blackbird. After all getting in the car and going to Deep Hollow Ranch, we noticed a goose in a large group of Canada Geese that was most definitely not of the same species. It was a Greater White Fronted Goose, which has a pink bill, and orange legs, and is also very rare to be seen out here. Just like the last visit at the ranch, we saw two Stilt Sandpipers hanging out by the cow’s pen. And also here we saw more Common Grackle and Starlings. Overall, this birding expedition was very long and I saw more birds on this trip that I have on any other one so far.
Water Birding
Clay-colored Sparrow, Southampton Village
canoe birding
The early birds got to see the birds
Friday, October 14, 2011
Three Warblers and a Sparrow
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Banding at Dam Pond
This past weekend we went to the north fork at dam pond to band birds. We saw many birds during this trip. We learned how to catch and band bird. Banding a brid is when you catch the bird in a banding net, After you have caught the bird you must record its information and determine whether it is a juvenile or adult and if it is a female or male. After you classify the bird you put an aluminum band around the birds leg. The band has a specific number on it so if caught again you can tell that you have caught and recorded the bird before. This method is often used for mapping projects to see where birds migrate to over the winter. One of the bird we saw was a myrtle warbler. This was a very energetic bird, when we had it in the cloth bag after we removed it from the net it was going crazy in the bag. We also so a type of woodpecker that we haven’t identified on a trip before. The woodpecker was all black with white spots on all coverts. We also saw a catbird, it was identified by its all gray body and swallow tail feather. When we were leaving thpark we saw a very rare bird in the parking lot. It had a yellow head with a black mask, sort of like a raccoon. It was probably one of the most colorful birds I have seen.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Bird watching
Boston Birding
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Big Surprise
At Dam Pond in East Marion a little while later, a lone PINE SISKIN flew overhead calling.
Today I went to Montauk with Peter Polshek. There were many birds about especially Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, and several species of sparrows. Highlights were an adult GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at the south field at Deep Hollow, and a PEREGRINE, COOPER'S HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, MERLIN & TURKEY VULTURE at Third House. We saw 2-3 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS this morning as well.
That Dam Pond!
Banding the Little Guys
Band Birding
Sunday, October 9, 2011
And on a trip I did go
BANDING THOSE BAD BOYS
We all trekked our ways over(ferries and all) to the north fork, the place I reluctantly call my other home, and arrived at Dam Pond in Orient. We parked and walked down some nature trails into multiple little paths, one of which consisted a large, but fine net. In the net, we inexperienced birders already saw two birds caught in it before we got there.
Shocked and confused, we walked up a slightly different path, where a desk, a box filled with various and strange tools, a few chairs and a man awaited us. Binoculars around our neck, and cameras in hand, we looked the part, but were soon put in our place by our severe lack of knowledge on banding birds.
I was up first for recording because I was labeled as having "nice handwriting". Later, we found I simply had innate talent when it came to recording banded birds, which worked in my favor and I went twice. Between the pressure to go first and the constant brusque remarks of our teacher, I was very stressed and wanted to get everything right. However, I was later comforted after the other recorders had ugly handwriting or messed up [Gaby we all still love you, including the birds :)]. Eventually, I had to blow on one of the birds to find out if it had fat, and didn't blow hard enough, so the teacher got frustrated. Then... I went to open the tag for the bird on the little pliers he had, and he told me to "figure it out". I was very frightened.
Later, I held the bird we classified as the "white breasted nuthatch", and it was squawking and screaming, and I was scared, not going to lie. I let it go like all the others and it could not get away fast enough. After we had identified 8 other birds, coming in with a total of 9 branded by us alone, we were able to recognize the swamp sparrow because of its rusty colored wings. We saw a Golden Crown Kinglet, which is self explanatory. Next, we got a Myrtle Warbler, the White Breasted Nuthatch, a Downy Woodpecker with beautiful white spots and a harsh beak, a gray Catbird, a Tufted Titmouse [:)], an adorable, tiny Ruby Crowned Kinglet (which I kept saying I just wanted to eat it because it was so cute), and finally a Phoebe.
I would say this was definitely and interesting and successful first group birding trip, and I can not wait for the next one :)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Montauk Birding. Lark Sparrow!
Birding at the beach
When I finally got to the beach, I walked through the dunes and took little paths to be sneaky and creep up on the birds. I heard many, but only saw two Herring gulls on the beach flying. I believe they were in their second winters because they were slightly brown but still gray, and I could clearly see the black tip of their beaks.
I was excited with my findings and observations. FIRST GROUP BIRDING EXPERIENCE THIS WEEK! GET AMPED! :)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Birding at "THE END"
This post smells "fowl"
Photos of the Montauk Wheatear
Judging from the size and rich rosy tones , this is almost certainly a 'Greenland' Northern Wheatear, which nests in southern Greenland and northeastern Canada. They migrate back to Europe in the fall (via Iceland) where they join up with other populations and travel south across the Sahara desert to winter in open grassland and rocky areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. So this is a bird that is very much out of place in Montauk.
Where is it now? Florida? The Caribbean? Will it successfully winter in the tropics somewhere and return north in the spring? All great questions that we do not have answers to yet. Perhaps one day we will be able to mark these birds and follow their movements better.
One thing rare birds teach us is that the world of nature is interconnected. Here's a bird that only a few weeks before was with musk ox and arctic foxes in the arctic tundra and it's parents at least may have known lions, gazelles and other animals of the savannah.