Second Birding Trip

Today was one of those days that, if given the chance, I would have stayed in bed all day and watched Tv. I was not, how so ever, given that chance… so I went birding. Starting the day off standing next to a sad looking shack at the Sag Harbor Ferry Port, looking up at the sky while hoping to god it does not rain on me, and hoping even more so that Dr.MG didn’t forget about me, which was a great fear at the time, for my presence at the port lasted around 15 minutes. I was not forgotten about though, for Dr.MG pulled up in his snazzy Birding Mobile (humming bird sticker (his favorite bird), awkward rattling sound and all), and we were off to find Mamoun. After retrieving Birder number 3, we were all extremely disappointed to find that no one showed up at school for the trip (Julia Lewis I am very disappointed in you), but hey, we had a dorm parent/hunter/ birder come along with us… and off we went.

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…

Birding with the best

This weakened, on a cold northernly blown day, I tickled my ornithological fancies on a Birding trip to various places with Thomas, Mr. Doctor professor, and his good friend Peter. The most prominent feature of the day blotted out the sky above in ragged dark formations. Double Crested Cormorants everywhere! Cormorants in the sky, sitting Cormorants, wading Cormorants, swimming Cormorants, diving Cormorants, wet Cormorants, dry Cormorants, Juvenile Cormorants, old Cormorants, middle aged Cormorants, all of them scraggly, cold, and South bound. On this trip we also saw a plethora of Sparrows, the most common of which was the House Sparrow. Myrtle Warblers invaded our vision, flitting from every describable angle, only to disappear again with a tiny flash of yellow and white. A less common bird that was seen on the trip was a Palm Warbler, which was spotted amidst the multitude of Robins, Myrtles, and over the hearty dialogue between Doctor Hugh and a lone Screech Owl.

The End

Weekend Birds

I had quite a bit of accidental birding this weekend. First, walking to class Friday afternoon, I saw Doc called over to identify a bird outside the senior building. It was a female Ring-necked Pheasant. This fat bird had a small head, a long tail, and a mottled brown coloring with small black spots on its back. Out apple picking on saturday down by Mecox Bay, the air was full of gulls. I recognized Great Black-backed Gulls with their white underbellies, black back and wings, yellow beak, and pink legs, Ring-billed Gulls with white underbellies, gray wings, black wingtips, and black ring around the end of their bill, and some other gulls that might have been Herring Gulls. On the bus ride home, I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk flying circles over the potato fields. It had long, broad, rounded wings, a light underbelly, and I wide tail with rusty red coloring that caught my eye as it turned. I looked pretty darn crazy craning my head out the window, but it's always worth it for the birds.

Could it be? A LOON?

Today while, sitting on my porch, i took out the binoculars to check out all the birds chilling on the pond. I counted a total of 145 canada geese, 110 which were adults and 35 juveniles. 2 mute swans (which are almost double the size of the goose aka huge!) In with the crew was a curious smaller bird that was flapping up its wings. At first i came to the conclusion that it was a Red Necked Grebe. I thought it must have been in its winter plumage because it didn't have a red neck. But as i researched the grebes i realized they don't live on long island ever.... Then because of its long straight and sharp bill, it led me to me to conclude that it was a common loon. I didn't assume this off the bat because the winter plumage in my bird guide was quite different than the winter plumage I later researched online. I am now quite certain it was a common loon i saw. (I also see why Doc doesn't recommend the bird guide I was using, it is considerably more difficult to identify the birds).

While i was furiously looking through my bird guide, a song sparrow landed on the tree right next to me, and i was pretty proud to have identified it within seconds, without binoculars or my poopy field guide. It was an exciting yet frustrating bird experience; Birding is so much easier with the Doc!

Birdwatching - October 23rd 2011

Today I was not able to go on the birding trip, but I was still able to fit birding into my schedule none the less. I started off the day (literally) when I heard an odd noise in my backyard. I went to look outside and I saw a large group of Common Grackles (Quiscalus Quiscula). After that, I went up the street and sat for about an hour looking around in the sky. I must have looked like a lunatic because several people were staring at me. Whilst sitting on a bench I spotted a massive formation of Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis) flying overhead. The extremely recognizable honking like call is what alerted me. A little while after the Geese flew by, I saw two Blue Jays (Cyanocitta Cristata) in a tree on the oposite side of Amagansett Square. The bright blue plumage was easily spotted even when jumping behind branches. After that there were only a few more fly-bys that I was not able to identify, so I decided to head back to my house. On my way back, there was a group of Wild Turkey (Meleagris Galloparo) lounging in the road on Hedges Lane. Around the corner from them, I saw two beautiful Cardinals (Cardinalis Cardinalis) perched in a large tree on the side of the road. The bright colors were amazing among the dull monotonous colors of the fall trees. I got home and saw Tufted Tit Mouse (Baeolophus Bicolor) on my bird-feeder. Not long after, a Black-Capped Chikadee (Poecile Atricapilla) landed on the bird-feeder. The rusty color under the wing was what gave it away. Although I was not able to go on the birding trip, I had a successful birding day non the less.

Marsh Birding

Today around four o'clock I headed out into the frigid waters of 3 mile harbor in a kayak, again to gather info for my Senior Project and to do some "Water Birding". The first birds I saw off the bat was a few Marsh Wrens, I unable to get a clear site of them, I figured they were Marsh Wrens due to their orange / brown tail. I then proceeded to see a flock of Canada Geese flying over head as I paddled towards the center marsh. I also saw a group of gulls, which looked like laughing gulls due to their smaller size and black heads. The final bird I saw was a Mute Swan which followed me on my way home.

I have a pretty sweet picture of said Swan, I just don't know how to upload it...

The Birds.......

I went for a walk yesterday and saw possibly the largest group of American Crows I have ever seen.
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.