Author Archives: Richard

A Rare Bird Next Door

Posted on by

My friends Lisa and Scott have a successful compost business in the neighboring town where they take organic scraps and waste from restaurants, breweries, and a host of other sources and create wonderful soil and conditioner that is treasured by organic gardeners and landscapers. They also host a great array of birds who flock to check out their rows of steaming goodies.

For several weeks a couple of rare gulls have been hanging out and attracting birders from all over Vermont and adjacent states. I’ve been pretty tied up and away from birding but yesterday, took the short jaunt over to check out the action. Scott waved to me from the big front end loader as I parked and scanned the piles of compost and the hundred gulls feeding, flying periodically, and returning to the large mounds of organic matter. A few Ring-billed gulls, more Great Black-backed gulls, and even more Herring Gulls. I was looking for a rarity and spotted it right away as it posed front and center in the group. An Iceland Gull: smaller than a Herring Gull, no black wingtips, with a black beak, pink legs and feet. Life bird!  They should all be so easy.

I was also looking for a Glaucous Gull which had been reported but which I didn’t see it. Perhaps I’ll head back before we head to Texas.

A Week To Go

Posted on by

Next Tuesday, my friend Sally, my dog Penny, and I plan to launch for the Southwest. It will be nice to escape the winter ice and snow and hope for a better year ahead, after the tragic losses of 2016.

The trick will be to get down our icy driveway and out of the snowbelt.

This is the first SW trip with the Interstate van and I know I have a lot less storage space than the truck/trailer combination. We are trying to be smart about choices of clothing and gear but we may well be sending excess stuff back to Vermont or buying things that we left behind. It will be an adventure in becoming more efficient.

The plan is to stay in motels the first few nights since the rig is winterized and we are too old for cold icy Walmart overnights. Been there, done that. About day four we will be in Louisiana and can catch our breath, thaw out the rig, and get ready to head west.

We hope to spend time in Texas (Goose Island SP, Big Bend NP), Arizona, and California – hooking up with relatives and friends in the San Diego/LA area.

This morning, our driveway was glare ice – the worst I’ve seen in 15 years here. My friend Terry showed up mid-morning with a dump truck and a load of sand and right now, the way is clear for launch. I’ll watch the weather closely to try to get below the Mason-Dixon line without winter driving conditions. So stay tuned for some hopefully not too exciting trip reports — I’ll try to save the excitement for the bird species we see. Wishing you a good 2017 ahead and hopes that the new president will surprise us with some good judgement and decisions. Peace my friends.

Snowing Geese

Posted on by

Yesterday, on a nice Fall day with no leaves, or leaf-peepers, Penny the Vizsla, my friend Sally, and I drove over to Addison County to check on the migrating Snow Geese — which had been reported for the last week. The hazy sun was prompting raptors to hunt and we stopped a number of times to see Red-tails and a Northern Harrier or two hunt. It was slow going as we stopped, turned around, and checked out about a dozen hawks – but it was fun.

Arriving at the Goose Viewing Area on Route 17 in Addison, there were a few cars and looker but no geese visible in the air or on the fields. Our disappointment died after only five or ten minutes when a large white flock rose into the southerly wind, honking like crazy. I’m not good at counting but it was likely a thousand or more.  Here’s what they looked like:

geese2

snowgeese

After watching them swirl and gather, we drove over to Dead Creek where there were hundreds of Mallards and a different look at the geese.

Brylea Access Area, Dead Creek WMA

Brylea Access Area, Dead Creek WMA. There are Snow Geese in the center of the sky but hardly visible.

Here is a short clip that I took of the geese flying. The wind noise tends to cancel out their calls but believe me, they were loud.

It was a nice trip and Sally’s first experience seeing Snow Geese. They are amazing birds and we wish them well on their journey south.

Avian Flash Mob

Posted on by

Grabbing some lunch at the kitchen counter today, I noticed a bird silhouetted in the apple tree. I retrieved the camera from the car, took a shot with no clue as to what I was seeing.

 

Mystery bird

Mystery bird

It was only a few seconds before a second one, an Eastern Bluebird, landed by the garden and suddenly, there were about ten more. The bird feeder is in due to a recent bear visit and the pickings are rather slim and they were off in less than a minute. Here’s one of them:

Eastern Bluebird on the way south.

Eastern Bluebird on the way south.

It’s little gifts like this that make being out in nature, or just aware of my natural surroundings, that boost spirits on a grey October day. It’s delightful and they are also an addition to my yard list. Amigos felices del vuelos

Yellow-headed Stripey Warbler

Posted on by

During an early morning bird walk at North Branch Nature Center this morning, a participant called out, “I got a yellow-headed stripey warbler in the willow over there.” After some patient watching a little yellow bird bounce around through the leaves, we decided, well our leader Chip helped us decide, that it was a Black-throated Green Warbler in fall plumage. We went on to see several more and a wide array of confusing fall warblers along with many other usual suspects.

In the afternoon, after some futile searching for my Vizsla (who returned four hours later with a stick wedged in her mouth) I decided to wait outside for her and read. That plan was interrupted by a flock of warblers in my crabapple tree. I ran to get my binoculars and camera and saw several more BTNW’s along with finches, sparrows, and chickadees.  Here are a couple of shots of the warblers.

btnw2

A Black-throated Green Warbler on my clothesline.

I put out a clothesline this summer to save energy but it also serves as a neat warbler perch.

I put out a clothesline this summer to save energy but it also serves as a neat warbler perch.

For most of us who are pedestrian level birders, it is really tough to identify warblers this time of year. They aren’t singing, their plumage is different – it’s tough. When you have an expert along it makes life easier. A friend of mine recently wrote me, “I often wish I had Chip in my back pocket to help me identify birds that I see but have no clue about.”  I certainly second that thought. Good fall birding to you.

 

Late Summer Birds

Posted on by

I’ve taken a break from serious birding for a few weeks but it’s hard not to notice that migration has started and transitions are underway. Lots of juveniles flying and feeding, some pretty ratty looking molting going on, and flocks are starting to gather and move through. It’s a bittersweet time of year as we never say goodbye — suddenly our summer friends are gone.

A week or two ago, I spent some time in Massachusetts and did a little birding with Penny. There were large flocks of Eastern Bluebirds, most looking a little ragged, who are likely gone by now. There were dozens of flycatchers out and about, silent as church mice, except for a number of very vocal Eastern Wood Pewees. Here’s one singing away.

EWoodPeweeW

On the same walk, I came across a number of Chipping Sparrows. It wasn’t until I unloaded the camera that I saw the meal this one had just caught.

ChipSparrowW

Back home in Vermont, I took the boat out early one morning last week and found these Common Mergansers preening on the boat ramp. I launched quietly down the beach and left them to their morning ablutions.

CommonMergsW

I keep the hummingbird feeder stoked and clean and love watching the youngsters fight with each other as the jockey for food. Any day they will be gone, perhaps today. I grabbed a shot of one perched yesterday morning and noted that they were pretty active all day. Long flight ahead.

HummerW

Our local Red-shouldered Hawks are active. Two juveniles have been calling and flying overhead the last couple of days. This one was right above me as I drove home from errands downtown.

RedShoulderHawkW

We get a lot of morning ground fog this time of year. Tuesday morning I took a drive down to our reservoir but from the dam could not see much. I got out of the car (without the camera) to walk the dog and immediately heard some geese in the fog. Suddenly, twenty-five Canada Geese came right out of the fog toward me, saw us and swerved, with lots of geese trash talk, and headed south at low level. It was a cool way to start the morning.

Cedar Waxwings seem to be everywhere, feeding like crazy, moving through in small groups. They are often pretty high in our pines but this one was feeding in the wild grapes as the dog and I took our afternoon walk out back. The end of the day was neat as well.

CedarWaxwingW

 

A Therapeutic Paddle

Posted on by

After several weeks dealing with triple-digit temperatures and a couple of hot, humid days back here in Vermont as I mowed our cow pasture aka lawn and bush-hogged our woods trails, it was great to strap the boat on Mary’s newly inspected car and head out early this morning with the air temperature 60. I was on the water before 6:30 and had the reservoir to myself.

You may recall that we bought our Hornbeck boats last summer

You may recall that we bought our Hornbeck boats last summer

As I drove in, I saw a mama Mallard and her crew foraging along the shoreline. I launched the boat, paddled easily over towards them as she drew them into the lake, and listened to her cluck to them as I drifted, shooting with the long lens, and they motored on. I left them  to enjoy the rest of their morning.

Mama was just ahead of them, outside the camera frame. She seemed calm but attentive to this potential predator.

Mama was just ahead of them, outside the camera frame. She seemed calm but attentive to this potential predator.

Being a weekend, the highway noise was nothing and I just moved easily along with no ear buds, FitBit, or other distractions other than the birding gear. It was very refreshing, physically and mentally, and I listened to the Belted Kingfishers, the Common Yellowthroats, the Veery, some Cedar Waxwings, and a couple of flycatchers, just poking along on a cool misty Vermont summer morning.

The lighting was terrible for photography and I was rusty. I spooked several birds when I brought the camera up too fast, and missed others trying to control the boat speed and direction and doing neither well. It wasn’t a big deal – but I remembered that much of my birding in the last few months has been at preserves and locations where the birds seem more used to people, and tend to sit a little more still.

There was an Osprey perched right over the reservoir on a craggy dead tree who seemed quite uninterested in me. The camera shots were not ready for prime time. The water level was higher than it often is this time of year and so I could cover some areas that are normally mudflats.

The inlet to the reservoir is the North Branch of the Winooski and it offers a short stretch of quiet paddling with ledges, overhanging trees, and on this occasion, a family of beavers. They were very active and I was on their turf and they let me know. I felt comfortable but they were very close, as you can see here.

This guy had a stick in its mouth, then it reversed direction and .....

This guy had a stick in its mouth, then it reversed direction and …..

this image is not cropped. I got wet from it.

this image is not cropped. I got wet from it.

Four Great Blue Herons, probably this year’s youngsters, accompanied me part of the way back, squawking to one another all the way. The boat handled well — it felt good to get a little upper body workout — and Penny had slept after her morning walk and breakfast and was ready for the next item on the day’s agenda when I got home.  The next project turned out to be to remove the hundreds of baked-on bugs 0n the Airstream Interstate that I picked up in the 12,000 miles I’ve put on it since April. But I was in a good mood from the lovely paddle and it went well. Now to get some better early morning light for photography.

Birds of Sequoia NP

Posted on by

I had several target birds on my list before we left for Sequoia National Park and While I didn’t do much serious birding, got all three on dog walks around the campground.

The most obvious were Stellar’s Jays, a raucous species if there ever was one. Anyone who has camped in the West likely knows these guys well – I just had never been in their area before. There was even a nest full of fledglings on a rafter on the entrance to the camp store, where hundreds of visitors pass every day. Some of these had already fledged and these were about ready to go.

The next life bird I got was a White-headed Woodpecker. They were active every morning but hard to photograph, especially with a leashed Vizsla “helping.”

The same goes for the Mountain Chickadee. They were calling and foraging high in the trees but not close enough for photos.

One morning, I heard a commotion down near the visitor center and found a group of about a dozen jays mobbing something. I was hoping for an owl or a hawk but this guy, which I think is a Common Raven, was not a very happy camper.

The last morning, these two young bucks with velveted antlers were right outside our camper. They obviously have gotten used to people. There’s no hunting in Sequoia NP.

I still have many shorebirds and seabirds that I am missing but the 4th of July weekend is not the time to go look for them. They’ll be here for my next visit.

Camping With Dane

Posted on by

Monday morning, Dane and I and our faithful Vizsla Penny launched for the long trip to Sequoia National Park.

Several months ago I went online to look for possibilities for campsites and wanted the mountains because I feared the temperatures elsewhere. I grabbed the only site available out of several hundred and as it turned out, it was probably the best campsite there.

The trip up was tough. We had to go through LA on I-5 (the five) and there were several serious backups. I’m not sure if it helps or not to have Google Maps tell you that “there’s a 25 minute delay ahead of you in five miles. You are on the fastest route.”

The temperatures were about 108 on the steep climbs north of LA and I watched the temperature gauge get higher and higher. Then I took a shortcut which looked good on the map but was as twisty and narrow a road I’ve seen. We entered King’s National Park and drove about an hour to our campground in Sequoia. Here’s Dane and Penny just below our site.

The campground was full with nearly every site having a campfire. The daytime temperature was in the low eighties -at 6700′ – and the nighttime temps were in the forties.

The first morning I was up early to walk the dog and met this young buck, whose antlers were in velvet, about 20 feet from the van. (I saw him and his brother/cousin each morning.)

One of the problems with National Parks is that they are not dog-friendly. You can not take them on any trails. I knew this but it’s still a pain. We took a drive down to the big redwoods Tuesday morning. Left Penny in the rig with hopes she’d not tear it up, and walked with dozens of others down to see the General Sherman tree – the largest tree by volume in the world. Going down was easy but still it was nice to rest.

Here is Dane in front of the tree and a shot of one of the many other stately trees.

The following day, we drove about a half hour over to the national forest where dogs are allowed. We cloned up an old logging trail where only elk and horse prints were visible, bushwhacked up to a mountaintop, and Dane tried, without success, to find a cell signal.

He took this photo of Penny and me before we headed back toward the van, with a slight pause for getting “unlost.”

The trip back Thursday was brutal. There was more traffic (getting a jump on the long weekend) and four or five major backups that went for five or ten miles at a time. Too many people for the 8 lane roads – and the thrill of having young Marines on motorcycles threading there way between the slow-moving cars and trucks, dodging wide mirrors, driving way too fast.

The outing was great. We got some exercise, ate well, slept well, and only got lost in the woods for about ten minutes. The Airstream worked well – I used the solar a few times to supplement the batteries, and Wednesday for lunch, we ordered pizza from the campground store. Now that is glamping.

Some Western Birds

Posted on by

In addition to life birds, I have seen quite a variety of species as I’ve travelled. Many are those we see in the East as well such as this pretty tree sparrow from Wyoming. TreeSwallowW

Likewise, this wind-blown Northern Flicker is from Wyoming with cousins in Vermont.

NOFlickerW

One of my favorite birds, which we see down south in the winter, is the Black-necked Stilt.

I love the bubble gum colored legs.

I love the bubble gum colored legs.

California has many Northern Rough-winged Swallows

California has many Northern Rough-winged Swallows

Willets are likewise common on both coasts. It is great to see their breeding plumage as the alight with wings spread.

WilletW

And lastly another favorite, a Whimbrel.

WhimbrelW

If anyone wants to call this a Long-billed Curlew I’m cool. I have a hard time telling the difference.

Dane and I leave for a few days in the Sierras in the morning where, given the western heat wave, the temperatures at 6700′ will be in the low eighties. Sure glad I packed my wool hat and down vest before I left Vermont.