Tag: Birding with Ginger

Invasives Trail

Just a short walk from our house is a short trail along the river, part of the city trails system, named the Invasives Trail. Along with Japanese Knotweed and other invasives, it host a lot of birds. Many people help whack back the knotweed, repair the foot bridges, and clear the trail. I go there several times a week, including today. Here are a few birds Ginger and I saw during a warm summer morning walk this morning.

Montpelier trails are multi-use and well marked.
This Alder Flycatcher was singing steadily and thus identifiable.
We have had a large crop of Gray Catbirds – the youngsters are practicing their singing.
A Hairy Woodpecker hard a work.
A young Eastern Kingbird. We have a number of families living along the river – great fun to watch.
Song Sparrow – perhaps our most numerous summer bird.
I watched this bird preen itself for five minutes but can’t identify it. Ideas?
Here, on the other hand, is a young Veery. There were several calling.

What a wonderful resource to have in our neighborhood, and a launching point for hours-long hikes on the trail network.

A Morning Surprise

Ginger and I usually take a short walk every morning – same route, same routine. Yesterday, we came across these two Great Blue Herons, birds we haven’t seen for a month or so on the river. After a short photo session, we left them undisturbed to continue their morning feeding.

Some Local Birds

Over the past weeks, in spite of the challenges of foliage, I’ve managed to see a number of birds who are easy-to-hear but hard-to-see. The best example is the Red-eyed Vireo, who persistently calls from high in trees, rarely moving.

This Veery was another, “usually heard but not seen” bird.
Alder Flycatchers are sort of the opposite – unless you hear them you can’t tell the from their Least/Willow cousins.
Goldfinches, on the other hand, are pretty easy to spot and to hear — just great birds to put some pizzaz in your birding day.

The other day, this bird was out back and lit in such a way that to me, it looked like an Orchard Oriole, which are rather uncommon here. Based on its song, I labeled it a Baltimore Oriole – still a nice summer bird.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with a shot from yesterday which captures the reason we love getting out in Vermont on nice summer mornings. This in East Montpelier off Center Road.

Chestnut-sided Warblers

The “pleased to-pleased to-meet you” song of the the Chestnut-sided Warbler is for me, one of the easiest calls to remember. On the other hand, the warblers, always on the move and usually partly hidden by branches and foliage, are some of the toughest to photograph. This group of photos from the last few weeks will prove it.

It’s a treat to see and hear these colorful visitors and they are indeed, pleasing to meet.

Yellow Warblers

Another challenging bird to photograph, Yellow Warblers are easy to spot, often at eye level, and have an easy to recognize song. (“sweet sweet sweet I’m so sweet”) If they’d only stop moving, never pausing to catch a breath. We are lucky to have some great habitat right around us to see them. Here is one feeding the other morning.

Here is a shot from our backyard last year.

It’s great to see and hear these bouncy birds in our neighborhood.

Common Yellowthroats

When I think about photographing warblers, the Common Yellowthroat pops up as an ongoing challenge. Everywhere with their “witchety-witchety-witchety” call they are usually buried in bushes and always on the move. This gives you the idea:

A female
Males have a neat Lone Ranger mask

Yellowthroats stay low so you avoid “warbler neck” while watching them. Energy-filled and easy to spot, they are a wonderful part of our birding outings. Here’s a video that is sure to bring you a smile.

Perching Birds

Usually I go out birding with no objective other than to get some exercise and see what’s happening avian-wise. This morning, after finding this Common Merganser perched on a log, I decided to see what else I could find — perching. Here’s the results from a productive hour just up the road from our home.

Baltimore Oriole singing away
Grey Catbird
Song Sparrow
Eastern Kingbird
American Crow
Blue Jay
Downy Woodpecker

Mid-May Birding

Every day, new birds are arriving – it’s a great time for birding. Yesterday, I drove into a parking spot at Ginger’s play group and rolled down the window to get this hummer.

This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and his mate are driving our neighbors crazy with their constant drilling on the sheet metal shed roof.

Canada Geese are raising youngsters all along the river.

One of the delightful new arrivals are the Warbling Vireos, like the one I saw early this morning.

My birding companion is always up for an outing.

I have gathered a few warbler shots and will post them next time. It’s definitely a work in progress.

Productive Friday

Ginger and I took an early 3 mile walk along the river and ended up seeing/hearing nearly forty bird species. I was trying to get some exercise so we didn’t stop too often for photos.

This beaver was out for a early swim.
And just up ahead, a female Wood Duck preened and dried off.
Canada Geese in the morning sun.

There’s a lot of courting and chasing going on – and this couple needed to “get a room.”

My next objective is to tackle the warblers. It’s fun to hear and see them this time of year but they are always moving, often hidden by branches, and they test my patience. Stay tuned.