Tag: Berlin Pond

On We Go

For a variety of reasons, I haven’t blogged for months. On a day where I have disconnected from news feeds for mental health, I’ve started an initiative to focus on topics such as birding, travel, dogs, and family that enliven my spirits. We’ll start with these Hooded and Common Mergansers I recently saw on a grey windy day at Berlin Pond, one of our local hotspots.

There were about twenty Hoodies and nearby, sixteen Mallards.

We’re in the season of no leaves, few birds and numb fingers on the camera but Ginger and I get out daily and do our normal multi-tasking of walking on leash, looking for birds, and for me, practicing Spanish. Enjoy this transition time, at least the seasonal one. As a friend wrote me today from Spain, “Hay que pensar en lo bueno” – “You have to think about the good.”

Early May Birds

New migrants are arriving daily and the trees are just budding — it’s a great time to get out an check things out. Here are a few recent sightings.

This pair have been here for weeks but always nice to see.

Eastern Kingbirds showed up last week, as did Common Loons.

And I’m still sorting out sandpipers — this one, which I saw just up from the house, I’m calling a Solitary Sandpiper, not a Spotted.

Warblers are here but their movement and the dog’s leash make them difficult to photograph. But all the Yellow Warblers and American Goldfinches add lollipops of color to enjoy.

Springtime Yellows

I went up to Berlin Pond yesterday morning looking for what many of us consider the true sign of spring — the arrival of Yellow Warblers.  I had the truck windows down and could hear them singing before we even parked.  These are the kind of warblers I like — they are at eye level and are little yellow beacons in the shrubbery.

Yellow warblers, even females, are easy to spot and delightful to hear. They bring a smile to birders.
Yellow warblers, even females, are easy to spot and delightful to hear. They bring a smile to birders.

I saw several other FOY birds (Barn Swallows, Purple Martins) as well as a great  selection of birds.  I then went over to the airport looking for new arrivals and way out in a field, I saw and heard my first Eastern Meadowlark.

The meadowlark was way out there and I shot from the truck window -- pushing the camera system big time. They are a beautiful bird -- even at a distance.
The meadowlark was way out there and I shot from the truck window — pushing the camera system big time. They are a beautiful bird — even at a distance.

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Hoodies Are Here

A visit this morning to nearby Berlin Pond revealed a few Hooded Mergansers, one of my favorite birds, and a raft of Black Scoters out in the middle of the pond.  Hoodies are fun the watch — the males look so dressed up and important, especially with their crest up.  The females often look like they’ve had a bad hair day with the rusty crest fluffed up.  I’m still figuring out which camera to use digiscoping but here’s some shots I took of them:

Hooded Mergansers on Berlin Pond – 10-31-12 Vortex Razor HD, 20-60 eyepiece at 20x, Canon SD4000, Vortex DCA & PS100 adapters.

Male Hoodies with their crest up look pretty spiffy.

A poor digiscoped shot through the trees of a raft of Black Scoters. I originally called these American Coots but the yellow beaks made me change my call.

I’m going to experiment again with my Canon 60D for digiscoping and see if that results in sharper images.  We’ll see if that helps with clarity — although I think that it just takes more practice and better camera settings to match conditions.  Nice challenge for this Fall.