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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Hairy Woodpecker |
We’ve had a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers and a couple of Downy Woodpeckers hitting the suet pretty steadily for a week or so. It’s given me a chance to lock in the differences — particularly the longer bill of the Hairy and the more pronounced nose tufts of the Downy. They are also decimating the old apple tree out back — it’s amazing it still is alive.
For the last several days, I’ve read reports of folks spotting groups of Bohemian Waxwings throughout central Vermont, including a sighting yesterday in Montpelier. I had errands to run this morning and sort of looked around with no results and sort of forgot about them.
However, I forgot the videos I had to return so this afternoon, I fired up the truck and returned to town — and spotted a gaggle of birds in a maple tree off Elm Street. Hoping that they were not starlings, I got the binoculars on them as they flocked to a couple of fruit trees on the corner of Pearl Street. They were waxwings alright — beautiful in the afternoon light, and fairly cooperative.
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| 76 Bohemian Waxwings in downtown Montpelier, VT |
They stayed put for about five minutes in a maple while I counted them — I got 76 of them give or take a couple. I did not see any Cedar Waxwings mixed in. The only camera I had was a small point & shoot so the image captures the number but not the beauty. When I came back 15 minutes later they were off somewhere else. For me, it was a great reward for the extra trip to town.
After a Thanksgiving trip to Maryland sans Airstream, we returned for a week in Massachusetts to do some child care and retrieve the trailer.
Not surprisingly, mice had taken up residence in the ‘Stream, leaving little piles of insulation and droppings here and there. I had set traps but they weren’t tripped – in fact one had the peanut butter licked off and mouse “calling cards” all around. The dog was very interested in a wall where undoubtedly the culprit(s) resided.
With sub-freezing temperatures, staying in the trailer was more of a challenge but the new propane heater did a nice job. The dog and I stayed comfortable, especially at the end with the heating unit, but we were going through propane pretty fast.
I did a little birding (see my new vtbirder blog) and celebrated Mary’s 70th birthday with Jen and family. Watching the weather, we left for home a day early since snow was forecast for our original travel day.
It was cold and windy hooking up and of course, the trailer had not moved in several months. I noted that the right turn signal on the trailer was not working but decided to press on — it was daytime and the weather was clear.
Monday mid-day is a good time to travel. It seems like the trucks are still loading and there is mainly local traffic. We made good time up through New Hampshire in spite of pretty stiff winds. The Airstream handles wind quite well.
I noted a warning signal on the trailer brake controller – “H05” – but had no idea what it meant. (The manual was back home.) It would flit back to .C. for connected and then back but everything was handling ok so we pressed on. It was too bitterly cold to troubleshoot along the highway.
As we descended the final hill into Montpelier, the brakes started acting a little strange – grabbing a bit. I cautiously wove my way the last eight miles, wondering what condition our driveway would be in. Our road was rutted (from early thaws) and the driveway had several inches of snow, but there’s no way to pause — you make the sharp turn and start climbing. Saying “hang on” to Mary and the dog, I gunned it up in 4 wheel drive and while it was a little exciting, we made it up and around the large rock and were home.
With snow on the way, I got the Airstream blocked and unhitched and settled in place until we leave in mid-January for Southwest.
I believe that I have some shorting issues again in the pigtail connector. It’s way to cold (0 degrees this AM) to work on it right now but I need to pick a day where the temperatures moderate a bit and check it out. We don’t need failures like we had last year.
After a Thanksgiving trip to Maryland sans Airstream, we returned for a week in Massachusetts to do some child care and retrieve the trailer.
Not surprisingly, mice had taken up residence in the ‘Stream, leaving little piles of insulation and droppings here and there. I had set traps but they weren’t tripped – in fact one had the peanut butter licked off and mouse “calling cards” all around. The dog was very interested in a wall where undoubtedly the culprit(s) resided.
With sub-freezing temperatures, staying in the trailer was more of a challenge but the new propane heater did a nice job. The dog and I stayed comfortable, especially at the end with the heating unit, but we were going through propane pretty fast.
I did a little birding (see my new vtbirder blog) and celebrated Mary’s 70th birthday with Jen and family. Watching the weather, we left for home a day early since snow was forecast for our original travel day.
It was cold and windy hooking up and of course, the trailer had not moved in several months. I noted that the right turn signal on the trailer was not working but decided to press on — it was daytime and the weather was clear.
Monday mid-day is a good time to travel. It seems like the trucks are still loading and there is mainly local traffic. We made good time up through New Hampshire in spite of pretty stiff winds. The Airstream handles wind quite well.
I noted a warning signal on the trailer brake controller – “H05” – but had no idea what it meant. (The manual was back home.) It would flit back to .C. for connected and then back but everything was handling ok so we pressed on. It was too bitterly cold to troubleshoot along the highway.
As we descended the final hill into Montpelier, the brakes started acting a little strange – grabbing a bit. I cautiously wove my way the last eight miles, wondering what condition our driveway would be in. Our road was rutted (from early thaws) and the driveway had several inches of snow, but there’s no way to pause — you make the sharp turn and start climbing. Saying “hang on” to Mary and the dog, I gunned it up in 4 wheel drive and while it was a little exciting, we made it up and around the large rock and were home.
With snow on the way, I got the Airstream blocked and unhitched and settled in place until we leave in mid-January for Southwest.
I believe that I have some shorting issues again in the pigtail connector. It’s way to cold (0 degrees this AM) to work on it right now but I need to pick a day where the temperatures moderate a bit and check it out. We don’t need failures like we had last year.
After attending early church at St. Paul’s in Newburyport, I bundled up, bought a duck stamp, and visited the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge for some chilly bird watching. It was 31 degrees with a stiff NW breeze – bracing weather along the Atlantic.
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| Northern Pintails |
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| Mallards |
I was looking for the razorbills reported off Lot 1 and sure enough, with help from a couple of local birders, saw three or four of them bobbing and diving in the ocean. They were easily seen with the scope but too far out for my photo gear. A red-necked grebe, common loon, and a couple of scoters were also out there. Both the razorbills were life birds for me.
Further down the island were hundreds of black ducks, Canada Geese, and Mallards. I was looking for some Redheads that have been hanging out at a pool on the southern end but did not spot them — I was freezing and wishing I had my Vermont winter gear on. I did see a couple of pair of handsome Northern Pintails.
As I was leaving, a Great Blue Heron alighted in a marsh just off the road and posed as I slowed the truck and shot its picture out the window.
The refuge is such a wonderful resource for birding. Bird walks from Joppa Flats Education Center go there most Wednesdays and Saturdays and you can keep up with observations and news by joining the Yahoo Plum Island Birds group.
Camera ready, I walked through the sand dunes at Salisbury Beach State Reservation to the Ipswich River, hoping not to spook any waterfowl. My dog, Penny, was just ahead, nosing through the beach grass. At once, I spotted a flock of water birds up in a cove — they looked like scoters through the binoculars. I took a couple of quick shots and veered away, not wanting the dog to hassle them. Little did I know that they were tethered decoys!
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| No wonder those birds didn’t spook, they are decoys |
I walked down the beach and the Vizsla got involved with a Common Eider, and as I was getting her out of the water and starting back to the truck, this tall guy with binoculars strode up and asked, “Have you caught any scoters yet?” Huh? I guess my blank look gave him the answer so he continued, “Oh, I guess you’re not part of the team.”
Now my curiosity was piqued and I peppered him with questions. I’d seen a number of boat with guys wearing camo and I thought they were hunters — but didn’t see any shotguns. They were nosing into the group of scoters, and I had really wondered what was going on.
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| Black scoters, White-winged scoters, Surf Scoters, and a Common Eider rest on the Merrimac River |
My visitor had just arrived from British Columbia — he was a wildlife biologist brought in to help. He explained that it was a project by the Gorham, Maine BioDiversity Research Institute and the team was trying to capture a dozen female white-winged scoters. They had mist nets set up and were also trying to snag scoters from the boats. His job was to determine the age of the scoter. They had a vet on the team to implant a satellite transmitter in the bird’s cavity.
We talked a bit about the importance of tracking individual birds to see better how migration patterns work – I noted a recent report I’d seen on perigrine falcons and how interesting it was.
It was cold and windy and he had work to do so I let him go but watched for a while — from the warmth of the truck. Those scientists were earning their money — it was nasty weather – fit for ducks.
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| “Have you got a transmitter on board?” |
It was a wonderful chance encounter with an interesting research operation. And while it is tough for me to sort out the three kinds of scoters we see in this area, I’ll probably never see another one in the air without thinking, “have you got a transmitter on board?”
Penny, our Vizsla, is my canine companion who hangs with me – or not, depending on what other possibilities might attract her attention, on outings both in the truck and in the woods. We’ve had adventures with moose, coy dogs, porcupines — you name it. She’s not the greatest help in my birding efforts since while she’s supposedly a pointer, she usually is a “chaser.”
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| “What kind of duck is that, Dad?” |
Today was another episode. I was checking out waterfowl at Salisbury Beach State Reservation in Massachusetts, walking the beach with Penny along the Ipswich River when she discovered this duck in close, and immediately began to point it, then wade in to catch it. The duck just kind of cruised along, just out of reach, for about five or ten minutes. The water had to be icy but Penny was determined. I finally got her by the collar, got the leash on, and back we went to warm up in the truck. The duck, a female Common Eider, (thanks Tom Wetmore) was last seen, in the company of a couple of scoters, just where we found it.
Yesterday, after an early morning lending committee meeting at the community land trust, I came home to finish packing and hook up the Airstream for a trip to Massachusetts. It’s our grandson’s tenth birthday and our daughter’s was the day before.
I had tried to take a short nap after an early lunch since we had a long trip ahead but all I could do was think of the trick of getting backed into Jen’s driveway off a relatively busy road. It’s more than a 90 degree turn and rather tricky — and having several cars waiting in line and watching is never helpful. I decided to get up and get going.
The light rain started just as I got ready to maneuver the truck to hook up. It’s been a while and I was taking my time but with several layers and a raincoat, finished up relatively dry. Still always get grease on my hands from either the ball or the sway bars.
We got the gear and the dog loaded and negotiated our steep driveway. At the bottom, the rear bumper always gets hung up and scraps dirt for a bit — adding a few swear words to the start of the trip.
The drive down was rather easy — traffic light but steady — with some low clouds and fog hanging over the high parts of I-89. The weather got better into New Hampshire, as did the foliage. The photo was taken at the Sutton, NH rest area.
With five miles go go, I started visualizing the backup process — where I would stop the truck, which way the wheel went first, etc. I briefed Mary on her role as observer, director, traffic cop but we both decided to stay cool. Well, either I’m getting better, or getting lucky, but the trailer was angled in off the road right away, letting traffic move — and with just a little geeing & hawing, I got the Airstream situated in the wooded parking place. Voila.
So, we’ve got the catalytic heater going and the inside temperature is manageable. I’ve got a little water in the system but I’m not using it. I’ll winterize either this weekend or next trip down. We are going to leave the Airstream here in MA since we have several trips more in the coming months.
As the trees lose their leaves here in Vermont, we start thinking about heading out once again this winter to the Southwest. So it’s time to crank up Google and Mapquest and lay out some options.
This year, I want to head toward Pensacola first to revisit the place I started my flight training decades ago. The Naval Air Museum, which I visited briefly many years ago, is high on our list of must-see places. I was in the NAS Cubi Point Officers’ Club in the Philippines during several Vietnam deployments and the Cafe at the museum has a replica of the bar and many of the hundreds of squadron plaques.
The start of the trip, now planned for early January, is probably the toughest part of the journey. Not only will the Airstream be winterized with anti-freeze in the systems, the weather is often dicey. There are some high spots on I-88 between Albany and Binghamton and the stretches of I-81 until you drop into the Harrisburg area can get a lot of wind and snow. We’re planning to watch for a weather opening and drive to Harrisburg the first day — perhaps the longest drive.
Right now, I’ve got stops planned at state parks at Warrior’s Path State Park in Tennessee and Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama. We’re planning to stay for a while at Fort Pickens campground on the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Weather and conditions permitting, we’ll use that as a base for visiting Pensacola sites. With a wood fire going behind me, it’s kind of nice to think about — three months from now.
The hurricane flamed out and our trip to Massachusetts was easy — light traffic and Will Lange’s CD of wonderful Vermont stories. We wedged the Airstream into our parking spot at Jennifer’s and got out the solar panel – why I’m not sure. We get a random ray or two now and then through the leaves but it’s moral support, electrically speaking.
It was great seeing Rich and Bronson from Ohio as well as Mac, Jen, and Ben . Yesterday we had a big reunion with Jack and Susan Russell and their kids and grandkids. Perfect weather and dear friends we don’t see often enough.
I’ve been doing some birding here, seeing a lot of warblers which are still tough to ID, especially with a Viszla pulling on the leash. Saw six flickers today high in a tree eating some sort of fruit.
I also had an encounter with a grumpy old guy on a back road here in Merrimac — a place I’d seen some birds while running yesterday. This morning, I drove the truck down there, parked it beside the narrow road, and was watching some chestnut-sided warblers when the door to the nearby house opened and an old guy stood there staring at me. I said, “Hi, I’m doing a little birding” and got no reply. I kept scanning the trees when I soon heard a pellet gun type noise, cocking and firing. I just kept birding and didn’t hear any pellets my way but just figured he was being a jerk. I was very tempted to tell him so and still marvel at my restraint. I finished up and as I returned to the truck, I glanced up and saw the air rifle at his side. It took real will power not to flip him the bird as I drove off but I don’t need more dents in the Ford.
Jennifer, who runs on that route, decided to call the police and report the incident. As she says, “It bothers me when someone’s first instinct when angry is to go for a gun.”
So in addition to catbirds, warblers, flickers, cardinals, I’ve found a red-neck flatlander. May add it to my life list.