Philly Bird Nerd

Great Day, Lousy Light

2012-02-13T15:38:00.000-05:00

Connie and I had a great day of birding on Friday around Ft Myers Florida. We spent Thursday evening with her aunt and uncle who live in Ft Myers Beach. It was lovely. We watched the sunset, ate great home cooked meal, talked and saw a slide show of their recent trip to Morocco. Aunt Gloria reminded us that Ding Darling NWR is closed on Fridays - a lesson that we have learned the hard way in the past - so we decided to spend Friday scoping out new birding locations. We started the day at 6 Mile Cypress Slough which was about 5 minutes from our hotel and had a great boardwalk through cypress swamps very much like Corkscrew Swamp. This place was interesting due to the Barred Owl report on Birdseye. One of the volunteers told us that the bird was seen most often "in the old cypress tree" near Wood Duck Pond. Dude, look around. The place is a cypress swamp. "You know, the cypress tree near Wood Duck Pond" does not help when the place has about a zillion cypress trees! Anyway, I got these shots of Ibis and a pig. We also saw tons of Palm Warblers.

White Ibis

Feral Pig

I had 2 target birds on this Florida trip: Snail Kite and Short-tailed Hawk. We got Snail Kite(s) at our next stop - Harnes Marsh which is just east of Ft Myers. Snail Kites was reported for at least a week there. The marsh is located smack in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. You actually access the marsh from 38th street, but once you are there, it is a pretty big space. You have to walk the dirt road which surrounds the marsh. Birds were everywhere. We immediately saw a Bald Eagle, lots of Egrets, Herons and Coots and an Osprey. We ran into a group of senior citizens who were obviously on a bird walk. We asked about the Kites and were told to ask the tall guy in the baseball hat. He knows this place like the back of his hand. Great! He'll give us the lay of the land and hopefully guide us to the Snail Kites.

We caught up with the leader and informed him that he was recommended as the expert. "You see that dead tree there?" he asked. Yes, the tree was about 200 yards down the path. We could clearly see the tree. Then he said "We have never made it past that tree, ever. You see these people? They are hot and tired and returning to their cars." He wasn't kidding. He really had never been past the tree. He did tell us that they saw 2 Snail Kites through the scope. Both immature or females. He also gave great description of what to look for and we did see the kites.

Of course, passing the tree became a goal that we had to meet and we did indeed go past the tree. We didn't have to go far past the tree before seeing the kites. At first, I thought it might be a Harrier due to the size and white rump patch, but it was indeed a female Snail Kite. She was quickly joined by the male who put on a show for us hunting, well, snails. These are really bad photos due to sun glare and heat shimmer but you can clearly see the kite's markings. Look hard to see the orange hooked bill that it uses to pull the snails from their shells.

Male and female Snail Kites. Male is the dark gray bird on the right.

Male Snail Kite soaring

Male Snail Kite soaring - you can see the profile of his hooked bill here.

The object of the Snail Kite's desire.

As if that wasn't enough, Connie yelled "Lin, look at that big hawk that just took off next to us". It wasn't a hawk at all - it was a Crested Caracara! Right next to us. Lousy photo since I was surprised and the light was still really bad.

Crested Caracara

Here is a better photo of one from our trip to Belize a few years ago.

All of this, and it wasn't even lunch time yet. I'll post the rest of the day next.

Gators! With Video

2012-02-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

The new camera shoots high definition video as well as photographs. Here are a few that I shot in Florida.

The first one show all of the alligators basking at the end of the boardwalk trail in the Everglades National Park. Double click to start the video.

I counted over 30 gators in this group. That didn't include the dozen other gators that I had to walk past on the trail. Here are some photos of those:

Check out those teeth!

Here is a Momma with babies. They just laid around right off of the main path.

Close up of a few babies

Momma and babies

These gators are so tame that they just lay around next to the path. This next photo is the bottom of one of the gator's "paws".

Gator Paw

The next video shows an Anhinga that spent a good 20 minutes trying to swallow a fish that was too big for it. Don't worry, the video is only a minute or so long but you should get the idea:

More later. We are at The Villages now without too many birding opportunities. Going to Fort Myers tomorrow afternoon, so we should have something then.

Whatta Hoot

2012-02-05T19:27:00.000-05:00

This is an owl weekend for us nerds. Lori saw a lifer Long-eared Owl in Pennsylvania (not allowed to tell you exactly where due to birding ethics) while and Connie, Tara and I saw nesting Great Horned Owls AND Burrowing Owl in the same day in Florida! Good day for owls.

The Great Horned Owl pair took over the local Bald Eagle nest after the eagles abandoned it. The sad story is that the baby eagle died after eating bad food, so the eagles had no more use for the nest this year. The owls saw a great location in move-in condition and did just that. The female is sitting on eggs now while the male sits in a nearby pine tree and keeps watch. Here is the female in the nest:

She is only visible because the resident squirrel just ran around the nest to harass her. You may be wondering why a squirrel would take it's life into it's hands by harassing an owl - because the owl nest is actually built on top of the squirrel's nest! Apparently, it is a daily show. She is NOT amused.

Here are a few shots of the male owl preening in a nearby tree:

I call this one "Fur Ball". This is actually the back of the owl. He is preening his back on this shot.

I call this one "Pew, Is that me?" because it looks like the owl is smelling his arm pit.

I call this one "Wink, Wink". The owl is still all fluffed up from preening.

Finally, if an owl could moon you, this is what it would look like - "Moon Shot"

About 5 minutes after leaving the Great Horned Owl nest, we ended up at the Burrowing Owl's well, burrow. The sad story here is that this guy had a family that ended up dead. Different stories tell the story as lawn mower accident, angry real estate agent murder, and cat attack. Any way you slice it, its sad to know that this guy is alone for the season. Here is the little guy sitting outside of the burrow today keeping tabs on the local crows:

There are no photos of the Long-eared Owl. Lori was lucky enough to see it let alone photograph it.

Can You See Me?

2012-02-03T20:12:00.000-05:00

I'm an American Bittern. Can you see me?

How about now?

Now that I turned sideways?

How about when I'm eating a fish? Can you see me now?

American Bitterns (the subject of the photos above) are VERY secretive. They live in reeds and tall grassy areas in marshes and are notoriously difficult to see. Not this guy/gal. This bird was mingling with all of the other very tame animals at the Everglades National Park yesterday. Get ready for a flurry of posts about my trip there and the tame animals that I encountered. But for now, I thought that I would focus on just this species.

Notice in the first photo how difficult it was to spot the bird? (Bonzi, are you still having trouble?) That is due to the incredible camouflage plumage and the bird's defensive posture - which is to point it's bill skyward in order to blend into the grass. The second photo is zoomed in to see the bird better but it is still pretty hidden. The third photo shows the side view and still the bird blends into the background. I probably have 100 photos of this bird - none of which are cropped. The photos above are full frame. That is how close this bird was to the path where about 1,000 visitors walked past, oggled it, and photographed it. Alligators and other birds walked and swam past the bird and yet it just went about it's business. I was lucky enough to watch it catch a garr fish and try to eat it which is shown in the last photo. The fish ended up back in the water and gone after the Bittern dropped it.

Anyway, I guess you figured out that I'm in Florida. I'll be here for the next week and will be posting more. Stay tuned. . .

Whiffed!

2012-01-29T20:13:00.000-05:00

For more than 3 weeks now, all of the Pennsylvania birding community has been abuzz over 3 rarities that have been seen in Cumberland County near Shippensburg. The big buzz came with the Snowy Owl that has been hanging around in a corn field since Jan 11th. The bird has been seen every day since it was first reported. We were told about it being seen on the same road as the second special bird - Prairie Falcon. This bird has been seen every winter for the past 3 years faithfully patrolling the fields in search of little birds to eat. Then, as though on cue, a Townsend's Warbler showed up at some guy's feeder 2 weeks ago and hasn't left.

All of these birds are out of their normal range. You can guess where the Snowy Owl normally lives. You can also put 2 and 2 together about the Prairie Falcon. The Townsend's Warbler is one that I should tell you is usually found west of the Mississippi river.

Lori and I set out this morning (with Roxy in tow) to see the trifecta. We finally had a day to travel out there, so we packed sandwiches and the optics and headed west on the PA Turnpike. We arrived at the famed intersection of Duncan and Mud Level Roads around 10:20. We drove up and down the road. We spoke to other birders. We scanned every field.

We saw lots of cows and we dodged the Mennonite buggies.

We had a great view of a Common Raven which is pretty unusual. Notice the blocky head which is a good field mark to distinguish this bird from a crow.

We saw many Horned Larks flitting around the freshly manured fields. Lifers for Lori.

But guess what we didn't see? I know that you already figured it out otherwise I would have lead the story with a photo of the owl or the falcon or the warbler. We completely struck out on all three of those rarities. We were really crushed - along with about a dozen other cars full of birders who had the same disappointed look on their faces. It was a long drive home.

First Pelagic

2012-01-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Barbara and I went on our first official pelagic birding trip on Sunday. We sailed out of Belmar NJ on the 80 foot fishing boat "Susie Girl". It was 18 degrees with 15 mph winds and 3 foot swells when we left the dock. 18 degrees. There were about 30 people on board with binoculars, cameras and lots of hats and gloves. The entire front of the boat was covered in ice with every wave that we hit.

The trip was run by a really good birder named Paul Guris. His team wins the World Series of Birding almost every year. His website See Life Paulagics (get it, Paul-agic). He runs these trips in winter because it is the best time to see Alcids - birds that live on the water such as Dovekie, Murre, Razorbill and Puffin. There birds are waaaay up north for the rest of the year, so the only way to see them in our area is to get on a boat in the middle of January and freeze your ass off!

Check out my stance. I am trying to stand upright in the rough seas!

We didn't get great views of the Alcids on our trip due to the wind, waves and water temperature, but we did manage to see the little football-shaped birds flying around out there. The highlights of the trip had to be the Fin-back Whale that made an appearance about 200 yards away from the boat. The Fin-back is the second largest whale and it looked like it. The part that showed above the water was as big as the Suzie Girl!

The other highlights included the Gannets that followed the boat along with all of the gulls waiting for chum. Yes, we chummed with beef suet the entire trip so that the gulls and Gannets would follow us.

It paid off with a few rarer species that we got to see and photograph up close. Including this Northern Gannet which has to be one of my favorite birds.

Northern Gannet

This is an Iceland Gull which is pretty rare in our area. One of the other passengers, Adrianne (guy, not gal) was trying to help me find this bird in the mass of gulls by telling me that it was "coffee colored". I was looking for a dark brown/black bird but he meant - with cream. The gull followed the boat for a long time, so I really got to get a few good photos. I like this one because it shows his pink feet.

Iceland Gull

Here is a Black-legged Kittiwake. These birds are smaller than other gulls and very agile in the air. This guy (or gal) was out maneuvering all of the other gulls to get to the beef bits that were being throw overboard.

Black-legged Kittiwake

This bird must have done this follow-the-boat-for-food thing before because it knew just where to be which was directly over the back of the boat to watch the guy (Tom Reed) who was chumming. This next shot is more typical of the what I saw for about an hour with the bird directly overhead.

Black-legged Kittiwake

You should ask Barbara about the little "gift" that she got on the front of her jacket from our little airborn friend . . .

The Kittiwake was getting so much food, that the gulls started harassing it rather than trying to get the beef out of the water for themselves. Here are a few shots. I like the second shot because all of the Herring gulls are in mid squawk!

Barbara got 6 life birds including Dovekie, Razorbill, Common Murre, the Iceland Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, and the Lesser Black-backed Gull. Only the Iceland Gull was a lifer for me. We will definitely go again and I would highly recommend this trip for anyone interested in seeing seabirds. I would also highly recommend that you go with Paul and his crew. He did a great job and had really good crew of trip leaders along. Here is a link to his site: www.paulagics.com/site/

How Wireless Technology Affects Birds

2012-01-13T10:41:00.001-05:00

My friend Tim is always on the hunt for good technology articles and cartoons. Here is one that meshes birding with technology.

Lunchtime

2012-01-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

You may be wondering what I had for lunch today as I traveled to Dover Delaware to meet with a potential client. The answer is - yet another turkey and cheese hoagie from Wawa (and a large Diet Coke of course). What do Bald Eagles have for lunch? Coots. As seen in this photo from Bombay Hook today where I ate my hoagie:

Admittedly, this is not my finest photo ever. I had to quickly put the hoagie down, park the car, pick up the camera and get a few shots taken before the Eagle flew off behind the trees to eat. Most of the shots are really blurry but you can see that this is a Coot based on the head and the giant feet hanging down.

Here is a shot of the whole scene. The geese didn't flinch when the Eagle started to swoop down. I guess they knew that the Eagle had something else in its sights.

Groucho Marx was Wrong

2012-01-07T20:57:00.001-05:00

I DO want to be a member of a club that would have someone like me as a member. I really do. And my membership application was accepted! I am now a member of one of the oldest birding clubs in America - the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (God, I hope I spelled that right - they might throw me out). I attended the 122nd Annual Members Meeting on Thursday. I brought a Jewish Apple Cake. I thought that was a good first impression. I was the only "member" other than the entertainment committee to bring something. The meeting was held at the Academy of Natural Sciences! Really exciting.

Really boring membership meeting stuff started the meeting. Stuff like reading the minutes from the last meeting, electing new board officials who already knew that they won election, committee member stuff, a review of the budget, and then the treasurer gave a presentation on the history of the club (that was actually interesting). He ended the presentation by inviting everyone for refreshments which included talapia with wild rice, salads, and beer. Yes beer. I knew that I made the right choice when they showed me the beer.

My first involvement with the club - other than making the cake - was to be involved with the Annual Philadelphia Winter Bird Census. Oh boy, they need my assistance. I was assigned to Pennypack Park Environmental Center area off of Veree Rd which I know very well. I wondered why I was the only one assigned there. The other DVOC members were fanned out across the city and at other ends of the park. Well, I soon found out why. I spent 6 1/2 hours trolling the woods and got a whopping 31 species. 31. The others were down by the river wracking up great birds like Bald Eagles and stuff. My best bird of the day was:

They might throw me out of that club yet. Sigh.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T08:26:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't meet my goal of 700 birds by the end of 2011, but I wasn't really trying very hard either. We are at the shore working on the Green House, so there hasn't been much time for bird watching.

I did manage to start the New Year by photographing the Bald Eagle on our beach! Here is a quick video and photo.

Pardon the camera shake but I didn't have a tripod with me. I had 3 dogs, a cup of tea, poop bags, my new camera and binoculars - but no tripod.

Elusive Birds

2011-12-29T09:39:00.001-05:00

Take a look to the right of this post. You should be able to see that I am 1 bird shy of 700. I would really like to get #700 in 2011. The only way that will happen is if I can see Saw Whet Owl or Long-eared Owl this week. I don't think that will happen but you never know. Another possibility would be for some interesting gull to show up in Cape May.

Birds can sometimes be very elusive. Even large birds like Sandhill Cranes which stand 4 feet tall and have red feathers on the tops of their heads can be difficult to spot even though you know that they are around. So says my friend Mark anyway. He has a farm out in Somerset County which I blogged about here (click to re-read the post). He has 2 Sandhill Cranes that have taken up residence there and even had a baby last year. Mark and his wife have a dicken's of a time finding those birds when they visit the farm.

Apparently, Barbara has a difficult time spotting Sandhill Cranes too as shown in this photograph from our recent trip to Florida:

Apparently, it only takes a sprig of ornamental grass to completely camouflage the Cranes. Look at how skittish these birds are! (NOT!) Here is another photo of the birds stumping both Barbara and Diane:

Diane has even tried to elevate herself on the back of the golf cart for a better view, but from the looks of this photo, she still can't spot the bird. I think Barbara is looking at the field guide to lend assistance in the search . . . Its a good think I was on the other side of the grass huh?

More photos of the elusive Sandhill Crane. Mark should study these photos so that he knows what to look for the next time he is on the farm.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:38:00.001-05:00

Naughty or Nice? Who cares. Santa brought me this new camera AND this Pileated Woodpecker to photograph:

Enjoy your day. More Florida follow ups to come.

Florida Follow Up

2011-12-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

I am really amazed with the new camera. We went up to The Villages to see my Mom on Sunday and got some REALLY good photos of ducks floating around on the golf course ponds. Here is a great shot of a Canvasback duck stretching his leg with a coot and another sleeping duck

Here is the same shot cropped a little bit so that you can see that the coot is in mid-quack:

And cropped again so that you can see the details of the Canvasback's webbed foot and his red eye:

My point here is that the new camera captures so many pixels that I can crop this photo this much and the resolution is still this good. Click on the photo to see it enlarged. The resolution is still really good.

Here are some other shots of ducks that came out pretty good too.

This is a male Ring-necked Duck. They should really be called Ring-billed if you ask me. Here is the female:

And finally, a portrait of a coot:

After not having many posts last month, I have tons of fodder from this trip to post a few more in the coming days. Stay tuned. . .

Biggest Nerd Alive!

2011-12-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

Follow up to my previous post. I was really exhausted last night while typing that last post. Exhausted from being out on the new boat all day and throwing a few rounds of darts at the pub. I can barely lift my arm today which is a good indication of being a nerd or being really out of shape (or both).

Another indication of being a big nerd is the fact that I yelled "TUBENOSE! I think that bird is a Tubenose." when I first spotted the Greater Shearwater in the harbor yesterday. Even the nerds turned around and went "What? Did you just say Tubenose?" and then laughed at me. My own people laughed at me so you know that's nerdy. I knew that the bird wasn't a gull or tern. I knew it was something like a petrel or shearwater or something. Those birds are grouped together in the Sibley Guide as "Tubenoses" starting on page 32. Their nostrils are bumped up above the bill unlike other birds. This feature is visible in the photograph below. Look at the top of the bill just where it meets the head. The tube reminds me of a scoop on the hood of a hot rod car.

If you need photographic proof that I am the biggest nerd that you know - here it is. This is me excitedly snapping away with my new camera.

I've also included this video for your entertainment. CAUTION: It might make you seasick!

Click here if you can't see the video above. Also, post a comment and let me know if you can view it or not. This is the first time I have used Windows Movie Maker.

So, let's recap:

Darts exhausted me.
I yelled "Tubenose!"
I was as giggly as a schoolgirl when the bird was that close to the boat.

You decide. Biggest nerd you ever knew? Probably.

Maiden Voyage

2011-12-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

Ahoy Mate! The Nerds are cruising in style this week in Florida in the new boat. We took it out on it's very first voyage today into Charlotte Harbor and had a great time. Oh, and we all got a life bird too. Greater Shearwater!

Here is the boat. A gorgeous 23' Sea Fox:

Here is me driving the boat for about 1 second in the Gulf of Mexico. You can see the Charlotte Harbor Inlet channel marker and Cayo Costa in the background:

Here is the Greater Shearwater which we photographed in the same location as the photo above. Speaking of maiden voyages - these photos of the bird are taken with my brand new Canon 7D camera. This trip is the camera's maiden voyage too.

Notice Barbara's Corona bottle? That is how close this bird was to our boat. This photo is not cropped at all. The bird didn't mind having it's photo taken or our talking or anything.

Here it is flying. The photo isn't in the sharpest focus due to me being on a moving boat trying to photograph a moving bird with a new camera but it shows the underside of the wings which is a good field mark for Greater Shearwater.

I'm exhausted so this is a quick post. More details about how big of a nerd I am later.

Perserverence Wins

2011-12-02T22:59:00.001-05:00

Remember how we did the World Series of Birding back in May? Well, there are 2 women that coordinate that event and do a great job at it - Marleen and Sheila. They are really nice ladies. The kind that always give you a big hug and seem happy to see you even when they are busy. They are birders and work for NJ Audubon in various capacities at the store in Cape May etc. They don't send text messages or alerts about bird sightings from their personal accounts often but they did today. About 8:00 AM, they sent out a text about a Painted Bunting flying over a field in West Cape May. I didn't pay it much attention since it was flying over a field and probably headed south somewhere. Then another text came in stating that the bird, an adult male, was seen at a feeder at Hidden Valley Ranch so I succumbed and headed over.

Well, it turns out that the bird was at Marleen and Sheila's feeder! Of course, it was gone by the time that I got there. A NJ Audubon volunteer was there keeping watch for the bird. We stood there for 45 minutes. No bird. I finally gave up because I had to go to the bathroom so I went to the pizza place to get a slice, the mandatory Diet Coke and the restroom. I went back and was told those words that you never want to hear - "you just missed it. He was just here a minute ago". Of course. So I stood there for another 45 minutes. No bird. I finally gave up again and went back to the house to pack up. Then I got another text message - 'PABU still at Marleen and Sheila's feeder'. Crap. So I went back.

This time, I was rewarded by the most colorful bird in America. The male Painted Bunting.

Now, I know that this isn't the best photo of a Painted Bunting, but the bird was backlit by bright afternoon sun and didn't pose like this for long. But you should be able to see how colorful this bird is. He has a bright green back, red breast and bright blue head. It's like a kid's coloring book bonanza. Here is another photo of the bird after he flew under Marleen and Sheila's butterfly bush. You can see how blue the head is here.

You would think that a bird that is this gaudily colored would be EASY to find. Not so. Just to give you an idea of what I was looking at when I took the photo above, here is the scene zoomed out.

Look really hard, the bird is in there. Click on the image to enlarge it, then zoom some more, then look really hard again. The bird is dead center of the photo.

Anyway, that is a long-winded way of saying that it wasn't easy but definitely rewarding.

All Work and No (OK, a little) Play

2011-11-22T21:46:00.001-05:00

I thought I had this all planned out. I got a contract to support 10 arts organizations in South Jersey this fall. So naturally, I thought it would give me ample time to go birdwatching before and after meetings, and keep an eye on the Green House construction project. As you can see by my lack of posts - that isn't happening.

Yes, I have been birdwatching. But not like I thought I would. It's more like walking the dog with binoculars then rushing off to meetings all day. I have been walking the dog at Cox Hall Creek WMA which was formerly called Villas WMA, and before that it was a golf course. It is a good place for birds and regularly has Red-headed Woodpeckers. This youngster has been seen for a few weeks now and it looks like he/she will be staying at CHC for awhile since I watched the bird caching acorns in tree trunks. This habit reminds me alot of the Acorn Woodpecker from out west. Notice that this bird doesn't really have a red head but there are a few red feathers coming through.

Roxy and I also had a laugh while watching this Sharp-shinned Hawk dive bomb and harass a murder of crows. The hawk is about half the size of the crow but that didn't stop him. "Are you a chicken? 'cause I'm a chicken hawk."

Finally, CHC is chock full of sparrows and bluebirds. Here are a couple of sparrow photos. The first shows a Field Sparrow which are really pretty little birds. The second photo shows what I think is a Lincoln's sparrow in the foreground and the Field Sparrow in the background.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully I will have time to do some birdwatching this weekend (before or after sanding the floors)

This Youngster is Trying

2011-11-11T18:06:00.001-05:00

Barbara got this amazing video of a Sharp-shinned hawk running around Penn's campus trying to catch a squirrel.

Poor guy never got the squirrel. On top of that, he endured the indignity of having the squirrel mock him by sitting on the same branch in the tree!

End of the Season

2011-11-01T13:06:00.001-04:00

Well, its looking more like the end of the summer considering that we had SNOW on Saturday and the Brown Booby finally left Wildwood yesterday. Yes, SNOW and yes, the Brown Booby left. The great thing about the snow is that it melted by the next day.

The great thing about the Booby is that she really left - not just disappeared. And not only did she leave on her own accord (I guess the channel marker got slippery with all of that snow and frost on it), but she flew past the tour boat that has been taking hundreds of people out to see her for the past few months on her way out of the sound and gave everyone one last view on her way to open ocean. A fitting ending to a terrific few months. Check out the post on NJBirds for more details about the departure written by Sam Galick.

As a recap, here is my best photo of the bird taken from our whale watching trip in August and the link to my blog post from that day cleverly entitled "Now, About that Booby . . . "

Our Southern Friend for the Summer - Female Brown Booby

Now onto winter birds and hopefully a replacement rarity. Maybe another Ivory Gull? Who knows, but that is what keeps us interested until spring!

Photo on Another Blog

2011-10-28T18:29:00.001-04:00

One of my photos made the Cape May Bird Observatory blog this week. Scroll down to Tuesday Oct 25^th:

http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/

OK, so it’s not a bird, but it’s still one of my photos!

Oh, did I mention that the weathermen predict 5 - 7 inches of SNOW tomorrow? Oy vay.

It Looks Just Like the Stuffed One!

2011-10-22T22:08:00.000-04:00

If I heard that once, I heard that a hundred times today. What a difference binoculars make. Today, Deb, Jay and Brendan joined us at Higbee beach for an incredible day of birding. We loaned Deb and Jay some good binoculars and viola, we couldn't stop them from looking at birds. Exclamations such as "wow, look how RED they are regarding Robins, and "it looks just like Brendan's stuffed one" regarding Downy Woodpecker and other birds just kept pouring out of Deb's mouth - really loudly. So loud that she had the rest of the birders were quite amused.

There were thousands (yes, thousands) of Yellow-rumped Warblers today. They were literally everywhere. In the sky. In the trees. On the ground. In the bushes. Everywhere. Along with Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets.

The newly hooked birders also saw birds that were completely new to them such as this very tame Yellow-billed Cuckoo:

He even landed on the path in front of us which I have never seen a cuckoo do:

And this Blackpoll Warbler that made a meal out of the Porcelainberry to the enjoyment of the new birders:

We saw 2 immature Bald Eagles over the fields today but still no good photo:

Lastly, there were Brown Creepers today (alive):

I wish that Deb's photos were ready for the blog post. They are really great! Maybe next time.

Joy Turns to Sadness

2011-10-18T21:00:00.000-04:00

Just moments after the last posting, I took Roxy outside for a walk around the building and found this Brown Creeper lying on the sidewalk. I could have cried. Another victim of collision with building or car during migration. The Brown Creeper is a great little bird to see in fall and winter around our area as they creep up the tree trunks picking the bark for bugs. Their tails are stiff like woodpeckers to hold them upright on the tree trunk. Now his whole body is stiff :-( Here is a link to AllAboutBirds.org to learn more about these birds.

This little guy just didn't make it. . . Sorry for the downer. A proper burial will be held tonight in my yard with wake tomorrow night at Cherry Street Tavern.

Picture-In-Picture

2011-10-18T13:46:00.000-04:00

For the first time in awhile, I am really excited to be sitting in my office in Center City Philadelphia. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be out birding somewhere, but I have to pay the bills somehow! The reason that I am excited is because I stumbled upon an idea to add wall art to my office using big artwork. I then stumbled upon Megaprint.com after a quick Google search. The result is that I now look up from my desk and see this:

It's 6 foot wide by 3 foot high which is what I needed to fill that awful, blank, white wall. What makes this vinyl banner so great for me is that I took the photo! Every time I look up from my desk, I am reminded of the day that I got to spend with the Black Skimmers on Cape May's beach (read the post here) and it makes me smile.

I should tell you that the sales support at Megaprint was great. I emailed Alex back and forth a few times asking about wallpaper, which was my original idea. He suggested the vinyl which is a better option for my office. He also reviewed the quality of the photo and suggested the 6' x 3' size to fit the resolution of the photo.

Gotta go take a phone call from another client but don't worry - I have something nice to look at until I can get outside again.

Yellow-rumps Abound

2011-10-11T13:31:00.000-04:00

The winds and weather were not that great for migration this weekend. Kind of a bust for the hawk watchers and the Big Sit birders at Cape May Point. Sunday morning at Higbee proved to be really quiet. We did manage to see our first Towhees of the season and a nice Nashville warbler, but really nothing else. We were home by 9 AM.

Monday morning was a bit different. I started out at the canal and immediately noticed dozens of birds flying north overhead - chipping all the while. Some landed briefly before taking off northbound again. Ruby and Golden Crowned Kinglets were mixed in with the Yellow-rumped Warblers. It soon became apparent that the dozens were turning into hundreds as they never stopped flowing overhead. Yellow-rumps were all over the place but mostly in the air. Tom Johnson is the official counter for the Morning Flight. He recorded 2000+ Yellow-rumps before 10 AM so you can imagine how many flew north, past Higbee throughout the day. Coincidentally, the Villas is north of the Morning Flight location . . .

I was in Cape May on Monday for work, not pleasure (wink, wink). I finally left the house at 4 PM after meeting with a client and doing some more work on the computer. I was all set to do a quick walk on the beach with the dog and then head home but I never made it to the beach. I was inundated with warblers and kinglets as soon as I stepped into the yard. Yellow-rumps were literally everywhere flitting from every tree and bush in our yard and our neighbors' yards. They used any and every perch they could find to launch themselves into the air to catch bugs. Here are some photos which don't even include the Black-throated Green Warbler and the Kinglets.

Yellow-rumped Warber sitting in our yard

Different Yellow-rump, same yard

Yellow-rump sitting on our dilapidated fence

Yellow-rump sitting on the driver's door of the Subaru!

Yellow-rump chowing down on a bug

These are all presumably different birds. There were at least 20 at any given moment in our yard. How is that for Yellow-rump overkill?

Our favorite AZ Birds

2011-10-05T19:49:00.015-04:00

I'll bore you with pics of our favorite Arizona Birds. We were golfing at Gold Canyon Golf Resort today, and we're on the tee box, which is elevated. As were standing there, this guy peeks his head over.

You gotta love the roadrunner.

and here is Gambel's Quail.

and last but not least, the cactus wren.
That was today, yesterday we went to the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch. A fantastic park, lots of birds, nice trails, restrooms, water fountains. and some warblers. Taking pictures of warblers is probably the hardest shot to get. They're in constant motion, jumping from branch to branch so quick, you immediately lose your focus, lose the bird, you get the point. So I took almost 30 pictures of wilson's warbler and black-throated gray. We get home that night and it's like playing "Where's Waldo.". Tara is leaning over my shoulder, asking where the bird is in 99.9% of the pictures. As follows:

Where's Wilson? Finally, after slogging thru all my pics, one decent one, not great, but decent.

So that's the report from Scottsdale.

Lori and Tara

Arizona, the land of no rain

2011-10-03T23:17:00.008-04:00

Tara and I are out in Scottsdale this week for golf and birding. Sunday we visited We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. Saw some typical AZ birds, cactus wren, roadrunner (tara's fav), Verdin. Best spot was a bobcat on one of the par 3 holes. We've never seen one in the wild, very cool. Back at the hotel after dinner, we're walking out of the lobby and hear parrots. What? Yes, parrots. Rosy-faced Lovebirds evidently are colonizing the Phoenix area. There were about 4 of them, I'll try and get some pics, was too dark at 6:30pm.

Monday we went to Granite Reef Recreation Area, saw about 34 species. Tons of yellow-rumps, the "audubon" variety. Believe it or not, I actually got a picture, and I think it's somewhat in focus, which is a minor miracle(click it.) Other highlights: Says Phoebe, Lincoln Sparrow, White-crowned sparrow. I'm gonna publish this now cause Tara is gonna kill me, I keep previewing this post and can't find my way back .

Eagles

2011-10-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

The Philadelphia E-A-G-L-E-S blew a 17 point lead and lost to the 49ers yesterday in really bad form but the real Eagles - the Bald type really put on a show over the weekend. I personally had a "touchdown" (6 eagles at Higbee beach) and "extra point" (1 more eagle soaring over RT 55 on my way home) on Sunday. I saw 4 eagles in the sky at the same time which I have not seen since I was in Seattle 5 years ago. Here are some photos - not as good as the warbler photos from the last post.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

(click to enlarge)

Notice that this bird does not have the white head and tail but it has that giant beak! Also notice how the wings are held straight across when soaring which is a good way to tell that it is an eagle and not a vulture. Vultures hold their wings up in the air forming a "V" which makes it easy to remember - V is for Vulture (not Vodka!)

Here is a series of photos showing an adult Bald Eagle harassing an Osprey to drop it's fish. The Osprey eventually dropped the fish but the Eagle never got it. The fish is laying somewhere in the marsh. The photos are really far away but I think you get the gist of it.

Check out CMBO's View from the Cape to read another account of eagles this weekend and see Tony Leukering's photo of an adult Bald Eagle that passed close to the lighthouse.

All Righty Then

2011-10-01T21:40:00.001-04:00

The weather finally broke around here which means that the birds are finally on the move south. Not only are the birds flocking into south Jersey, but so are the birders. I have a few blog posts in my head after the past 2 days, but I thought I would post this one today which deals with photography and photographers.

I have been using my camera and new lens for a while now and still don't really know what I'm doing. Yes, I get good photos sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I know what I'm doing. Well I finally got up the nerve to ask a couple of photographers that I have been hanging around with if they would help me. Gerry and John obliged and gave me some tips yesterday. Gerry gave me some more tips today.

Here are some of the results from an amazing warbler experience this afternoon. I literally could have touched the Cape May warbler. I shot about 60 photos of this bird over the course of an hour - along with another 200+ of the Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll and Parula. I still deleted most of the shots but at least I got a few really good ones.

Cape May Warbler - notice the cheek pattern which is the diagnostic field mark

Blackpoll Warbler - notice the eye line and wing bars which are diagnostic field marks

Black-throated Blue Warbler - notice, well the black throat and blue color

Northern Parula - notice the olive patch on his back which is diagnostic field mark

I must tell you that these photos are not cropped by much. I only cropped them to remove leaves and other distracting features. The Parula is the best shot that I have ever taken of this species - thanks to Gerry. Here is another shot of the Parula hanging upside down which is typical for this active little bugger.

Notice the little piece of debris that just fell out of the bird's mouth and the way the sun lit up the belly of this bird. Just a great shot if I do say so myself.

The birds just didn't want to leave this particular tree. Here are a couple of shots with multiple species in the same frame.

Cape May Warbler and Parula working the crux of the tree

Blackpoll Warbler replaced the Parula - there must have been something yummy there

Hoping for more good stuff tomorrow. I have another story from Friday that I will post if tomorrow doesn't pan out.Let me know what you think of the photos by posting a comment.

hot spot in Ivyland

2011-09-30T09:35:00.002-04:00

My dream retirement home would be a lovely house that backs up to green space, and we can sit on our back porch and watch warblers flit in and out of the trees. Well, this morning in Ivyland boro, a little bit of a dream come true. Tara is looking out the window, and swears she sees redstarts in the trees. Earlier in the week, she said the same thing, and when I got home and looked at the birds, they were yellow rumped warblers, so that was Monday or Tuesday of this week. So this morning I get out the binocs, and sure enough, that was a redstart. And, wait, what's that? Red-eyed Vireo. And, huh? Oh, just magnolia warbler. And what's that warbler tara asks? No, too big for a warbler, oh, just a scarlet tanager. And there goes a yellow warbler, and more redstarts, and the vireo really likes our magnolia tree. There's a flycatcher up in the oak. Don't ask, have no idea which one. That was our morning, I was an hour late for work, watching vireos and warblers and tanagers, and a sharpie flew by for good measure. Linda always tells me to look up, you never know what you'll see in your backyard. That's 49 total species in our backyard, with no deep woods around us. That's pretty cool for around here.
Fabulous way to start your day. Next week, Arizona!
Lori

Olive-sided Flycatcher - # 644

2011-09-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

I got life bird # 644 today thanks to sticking it out on an unfavorable day and sticking with generous, friendly birders. We have been birding alot in Cape May this year since we bought the houses in the Villas. We have been seeing the same birders out all summer too. We have been running into a friendly and generous (birdingly generous, that is) couple almost every outing. He is French with great French accent. She has a distinctive Philly accent (trust me, I know about those). Both of them always engage us in conversation and also go out of their way to point out birds.

Today, they pointed out #644 - Olive-sided Flycatcher - to me and Diane after most other birders were gone to other locations. Photographic conditions were terrible again with overcast skies but here is a pretty good photo of the flycatcher. Nothing sexy, but it does show the diagnostic "vest".

Here is another photo showing the Olive-sided and a Pewee in the same tree. Unbelievable luck that the Pewee showed up because the Pewee is the flycatcher that is most mistaken for the Olive-sided.

OK, now that you are thoroughly bored, how about some eye candy. Male Yellow warbler. Us bird nerds nicknamed this bird "Ray" because they are always like a ray of sunshine when you see them. I finally got a decent photo of one today after years of trying. Once again, this is the result of very a couple of very nice birders. This time, it was a couple of older gentlemen from Rhode Island. And this time it was me and Diane that were being "generous" by pointing out the Palm warblers and the 3 Yellow warblers along the dune path at the State Park.

I Can't Remember Seeing This Many Birds

2011-09-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

In one day that is! Granted, it wasn't like yesterday where the warblers where dripping from the trees and running around at my feet like that Black-throated Green Warbler. But . . . there were multitudes of birds today - all flying NORTH across Higbees Beach fields. Birds were streaming by 2, 3, and sometimes dozens at a time.

We showed up at 6:45 and noticed dozens of birders standing in the first fields all looking up, but without binoculars. They were just standing there looking. Weird. When we got into the field, we understood what was going on. Birds were flying past in numbers that I have never seen. All flying NORTH. Not really landing in trees for more than a second or two, if at all. It was something to witness. Something to talk about later. But not really something to use binoculars for.

There were alot of Parulas, Redstarts and Red-eyed Vireos. Our first Palm warblers of the season came through today (Mom - get ready to see them at your house soon). We also got to see a few Tennessee Warblers and even got to see a Tennessee sitting next to a Nashville (get it) in the same tree. Barbara and Diane got to see a Wilson's warbler - I missed it. We all got a good look at a Black-billed Cuckoo. I got terrible photos of it which are not worth including in this post.

Speaking of photos - notice that there aren't any photos to go along with the words in this post. That is because it was impossible for me to get photos of this spectacle with my camera and lens setup.

It was pretty awesome to witness. We departed at 9 AM because we had work to do - tear the siding off of the green house in preparation for new roof, siding and windows coming in the next few weeks. Rain set it after we were done with our chore, so no more birding for the day. Hopefully tomorrow will also bring lots of birds and better photographic opportunities.

Fabulous Forecast!

2011-09-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

I showed up in Cape May tonight at 6 PM and went straight to the Cape May Bird Observatory because I got 1400 text messages today about how many warblers were around. I am glad that I did it. I saw the following warblers:
Yellow, Black and White, Blackburnian, Hooded, Cape May, Northern Parula, Common Yellow Throat, Magnolia, Tennessee, Redstart, and this Black-throated Green:

I also saw this Yellow Bellied Flycatcher:

More tomorrow! Should be gooooood!

BIRD is a 4 Letter Word

2011-09-11T20:45:00.004-04:00

Birding has changed alot since the advent of the Internet and Smarphones. It used to be a mystery each time we went out birding - what could we see today, are we at the right place at the right time, does anybody else bird here? The best we would know about a certain birding location would be that another person showed up with binoculars. Or, it was mentioned in a birdwatching magazine.

For instance, Connie and I went to Newfoundland many years ago on a 3 week camping trip - in August. Who knew that we should have been there in June for more birds? We also went to New Mexico one year in May which you would think would be good for birding, but we didn't know where to go so we didn't see that many birds.

Nowadays, I simply walk around with an iPhone and get text messages and Tweets telling me about great birds being seen in the area at any given moment. The problem is that the texts and tweets come in 4 letter bird code and half of the time, I can't figure them out. Take last week's text : GWWA and BWWA at Higbee. Or this one : MAFR heading over bay. Or Adult ROST flew west past Coral Ave. Luckily, I can figure some of them out with a little concentration but even more to the point, I can use my iPhone to look it up! Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Magnificent Frigatebird and adult Roseate Tern all make sense.

I have been the grateful recipient of the text messages, tweets, and Birdseye information until this weekend when I was finally the giver of information when I spotted this Mourning Warbler under the pavilion at Cape May Hawk Watch on Saturday afternoon.

Admittedly, I thought is was a Connecticut Warbler until I alerted other birders who pointed out the difference in the eye ring. I then texted "MOWA at start of trail in State Park" and was shocked when about a dozen other birders flocked (get it?) to the spot to see the bird. Ah, technology.

Skimmers Up Close and Personal

2011-09-06T10:01:00.010-04:00

Black Skimmers have to be one of my favorite birds of all time. I can remember the first time that I saw a group of these birds skimming the surface of the water in the back bay of Chincoteague Island. I could not believe my eyes. These beautiful birds are the only (or one of the only) birds that has a longer bottom bill than the top. They fly low to the water with their mouths open and put the bottom bill in the water as they fly. Their mouths snap shut if the bottom bill touches something in the water - hopefully a fish. It is pretty neat to see.

There were hundreds of Skimmers on the beach in Cape May this weekend which is unusual. It gave me an opportunity to photograph them up close as they flew around and rested on the beach. Enjoy. Remember to click on any image to enlarge it.

Solo Flight

The whole Gang

Cropped - I thought this looked cool

Youngster practicing his skimming on the puddle

At rest on the beach - look how narrow the bill is

I think this is the advantage of being at the shore often now. I have time to walk the beach with my camera to get some decent shots. I hope to have more for you later in the week. Post a comment if you like the skimmers.

Mother Nature This Week

2011-08-31T12:11:00.004-04:00

So, we had an earthquake, a hurricane, and some tornadoes in Philly this week. Pretty unusual for our part of the world and certainly unusual back-to-back. The earthquake was really freaky. I was in my office in Center City and didn't know what was going on for a few seconds. At first, I thought it was Roxy under my chair moving around but then my coworkers started getting out of their cubes and looking at me like - "What do we do? It's an earthquake!". We all stood outside like dopes for 20 minutes (which is the opposite of what you are supposed to do in an earthquake) before returning to work.

The weather people sure played up Hurricane Irene to the point that Cape May was evacuated, Septa stopped running, etc, etc. and it turned out not to be that bad. Barbara, Di and I headed down to the shore on Sunday to see if the shacks were still standing - which they were - and to check out the "storm birding" scene. Not familiar with storm birding? Well, it is when birders rush out after a big storm to see rarities. It is a big deal with hurricanes since they tend to blow tropical birds far north so rare sightings are quite common.

Check out the scene at the Concrete Ship at Cape May Point. This is 2:30 PM on Sunday with 45 MPH gusts and sustained winds of something like 25 MPHs which sandblasted the skin off of my legs. That is why we are all huddled together next to the Sunset Grille (great grilled cheese sandwiches btw). Sadly, we can no longer deny being the nerdiest of nerds after seeing this photo.

Our deniability is also out the window since this scene was made public on both the Cape May Bird Observatory blog (that's me in the front looking through the scope, Di to my left in the red and Barbara to my right in the navy) AND The Philadelphia Inquirer (that's Barbara on the extreme left in the photo).

We got to see the unidentified large swift and all of the terns mentioned in the blog post. We were too late for the petrel and the tropicbirds though.

Brown Booby persists on the channel marker. I wonder when that bird will go south?

Now, About That Booby . . .

2011-08-23T20:32:00.007-04:00

You didn't think that I would leave that last sentence hanging there without more about the Booby did you? Sam phoned me to tell me about the Brown Booby - a rare bird for the north - that was sighted sitting on a channel marker in Jarvis Sound. Then he called back to tell me that the bird was sitting on marker #475 - to be exact. I immediately asked our captain if we would be passing that marker and that a rare bird was sitting on it. The captain told me that he saw the bird on the morning trip and yes, we would be passing it.

Here is the calm, idyllic scene.

Jarvis Sound - typical Saturday in August

The Starlight boat, which is closest to the marker in the above photo, is the sister boat to the one we were on. I was standing on the top deck photographing the bird both on the way out and the way in. Eye level, up close views of the bird! And thanks to Captain Chris for slowing the boat down when we were next to the marker so that we all got great looks and some good photos. Enjoy.

Brown Booby on Channel Marker 475.

This is an adult bird told by the white belly, yellow beak and feet.

He sat there as if it were perfectly normal for him to be there. In fact, he was still there today (Tuesday). I hope he gets home soon although its been quite fun to write about boobies!

Question Us? You Have Some Nerve!

2011-08-21T21:06:00.006-04:00

Remember the post about finding Davie's Lake? Scroll down and take a quick refresher. I'll wait
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .

OK, are you back. Well, what I didn't tell you (because I didn't think it was post worthy) is that we saw 33 Pelicans flying north along the bay too. The first group had 28, then 1 straggler, then 4 more. My math says 33. Anyway, we entered it into eBird along with the other sightings including 52 Snow Egrets, etc, etc. A few days later, Barbara gets an email from an eBird guy asking if she was sure that she saw Pelicans. Pelicans! Ummm yes, we know what Pelicans look like. They are pretty unmistakable. They look like this:

1 Pelican

+

4 Pelicans

+

28 Pelicans
=
33 Pelicans

So Barbara emails the guy back and says something kind of sarcastic like. Ummm, I may not be an expert birder, but I know what a Pelican looks like. Yes, I'm sure we saw Pelicans.

Fast forward 2 weeks ahead to this Saturday. We read a good amount of postings stating that the southbound migration was picking up and that Tom Johnson was back on duty at the Higbee Beach Dredge Spoil Dike doing his official counting so we decided to make that our destination. We expected a crowd of birders to be there, but when Lori, Barbara and I arrived, we were #3, 4 and 5 on the Dike (lots of sophomore humor can go here). You can see alot from up on the dike including the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, the entrance to the canal, and part of the bay along with woods and marsh. Tom and the other guy were busy calling out and recording passing birds (which looked like little bullets to us). The birdnerds were looking at anything that moved and wracking up a good list thanks to the aid of experts.

During a lull in the action, Barbara starts to tell us about the eBird guy who questioned the Pelican sighting and do we believe that someone would question something like Pelicans as if they could be mistaken for something else. With that, Tom starts giggling and says "uh, this is the guy that questioned the sighting"' and points to the other guy! Oh, just great. The guy's name is Sam and we see his name all over the tweets, texts, and alerts about unusual sightings around Cape May. Sam starts giggling too and apologizes to Barbara saying that he hit the "send" button to soon and really meant to ask if she was sure that she was at Davie's Lake since 33 Pelicans is a really good sighting for that area. Well, we all had a good laugh and from that point forward, all birds that flew past the dike were Pelicans!

We even invited Sam to go out on a whale watching boat with us later that afternoon since we had 2 extra tickets. I gave him my phone number (again, lots of jibes can be inserted here) and asked him to let us know if he could use the tickets. Well, he called back to say thanks for the offer but that he was going out on another boat to verify a sighting of a rare Brown Booby (more sophomoric humor here) that was spotted in Jarvis Sound sitting on a channel marker.

Villas Beach - Birds are Back

2011-08-11T12:23:00.006-04:00

Shorebirds are beginning to arrive back at the Villas beach after a month or so of absence when they were in the arctic nesting. We have been kind of bored on the beach in July without the shorebirds and horseshoe crabs to worry about. This weekend we were treated to Sanderlings, Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Plovers working the sandbars and shoreline.

We also had a large family of 11 Royal Terns hanging around. About half of the Royal Terns were banded with metal bands on their legs. I got pretty close for these photos, but still couldn't make out any numbers on the bands. Here is a group of bored individuals. Remember to click on the images to enlarge them.

Here is an adult (black legs) and juvenile (orange legs). They would take off to the water's edge to bathe and return back to the same spot without care of my presence.

The Sandpipers are interesting. They are very territorial for their little piece of beach. Here is one bird picking a fight.

This guy just wouldn't let any other bird near his beach. He would squawk and chase them in this hunched-over posture until the other bird would leave. Again, this all took place 20 feet away from me. I guess these birds are used to being on beaches with people and dogs.

I love the look of the Sanderling. He (or she) is in the middle of his fall molt - going from brown and rust breeding plumage to gray winter plumage. I thought he looked great with the wet sand background.

Intrepid Explorers Find Davie's Lake!

2011-08-11T08:53:00.008-04:00

We finally achieved our summer goal of finding Davie's Lake, which is a little lake buried behind the sand dunes near the Concrete Ship. We have attempted the discovery 3 times before approaching from the south but were foiled by high tides and a fast running creek crossing. Well this time, we approached from the north which meant parking at Higbee's Beach, walking a mile down the beach and ending up on the right side of the creek to get to the lake.

We were definitely rewarded for our effort. Check out this seen at the mouth of the creek. That is the concrete ship wreck in the background:

Here is another view of the scene shot from up on the beach looking down between the pilings:

Here is a shot of a Ruddy Turnstone in pretty typical environment. They like to pick around the beach and on the rocks. They return to the Cape May area in late summer and some even hang around through winter.

Finally, here is a shot of a Least Tern feeding it's "baby" on the beach. These are the smallest terns in our area and are endangered. We are lucky to have so many of them in Cape May along both beaches. This guy better learn to fish for himself soon.

Davie's Lake itself was a bust. No birds on the lake and all of the Egrets that roost back there were at the creek mouth as seen in the above photos. We'll check back in winter and hope for some ducks.

As a post script - I am writing this blog a week after the actual event. I am in Tampa airport returning home from Florida today. My mother is doing better after hip replacement surgery and is home now. I didn't get much birding on this visit. Typical Florida birds on the golf courses.

Some New Photos

2011-07-29T21:58:00.004-04:00

I have been remiss in keeping up the posts in July due to other obligations. However, I have gotten a few photos that I think are representative of summer at the shore:

Oystercatchers with babies - this family allowed us to get pretty close:

Here is Mom or Dad taking off directly at me:

Summer Duldrums

2011-07-12T12:52:00.002-04:00

We are pretty much caught up with house chores that need immediate attention, so we went out in search of Davie's Lake (again)to do some birding at Cape May Point. Birding was a bust and we had another bust for finding Davie's Lake due to high tide, but we had an amazing experience on the beach anyway. Remember all of the recent posts about Horseshoe Crab spawning season? Well, guess what is hatching all along the bayshore - tiny Horseshoe Crabs! We got this amazing video of the eggs and the hatchlings. Enjoy.

Eggs and crabs hatching:

Hatchling in Barbara's hand

Signs of fall migration are already evident for shorebirds. eBird reports White-rumped Sandpipers and I had a Dowitcher flyby on the Villas beach on Saturday.

Sally's Barn Swallows

2011-06-28T09:40:00.004-04:00

Connie and I went to Aunt Sally's annual picnic on Sunday. Sally has a little farm where she keeps an old Horse (Emily) and an old Mule (Daisy). The pasture has a spring-fed pond where Connie saw her first Pterodactyl (Great Blue Heron) when she was a kid and still has great birds throughout the year.

This year, the neighbors across the road have Guinea Hens which make quite a racket. We also got to watch Cowbirds doing almost what they are supposed to do which is follow cows around the open plains. These birds were actually following the horse and mule around the pasture picking up insects that were scared up by the grazing. Pretty neat.

There are also Barn Swallows nesting in, well the barn. And although the pasture isn't that close to the nests, the swallows did not like Roxy milling around. Here is a video of the Barn Swallow swooping on Roxy. This continued for the entire time that Roxy was in the pasture more than an arms length away from me. Watch Roxy flinch when the swallow gets too close!

Take a Kid Birding

2011-06-27T15:18:00.002-04:00

That is a saying from bumper stickers all around Cape May. Obviously a ploy to entice young people to become members of the Audubon and other aging birding clubs. It's a strategy that political parties and religious groups have employed for centuries - get the young people involved so we can continue this "club".

Well, Barbara and I did our part on Sunday morning. We took my nephew Brendan (you may remember him from other posts at Hawk Mountain and Tinicum) to Cape May Point State Park to try for the Purple Gallinule again. Brendan made a comment that he had been to CMPSP last fall and didn't see anything. Well, that's a challenge if I ever heard one! Needless to say, he got 3 life birds with Aunt Linda and Barbara - Glossy Ibis, Surf Scoter, and Least Tern. He probably got more than that since we recorded 39 species in an hour but never did see the Gallinule.

I think he's sufficiently hooked on birding. Now, I want my toaster oven or whatever I'm supposed to get as a prize for inducting another birder into the club.

Kestrals at Warminster Community Park

2011-06-24T11:47:00.002-04:00

Barbara the owl lady sent an email about Kestrals nesting at Warminster Community Park. Here is a link to photos of the babies inside the nest sent by Russell Neiger, a local:

MSN Photos - Kestral Babies

Lori, Tara and I went over to the park on Wed after work. I saw Momma Kestral sitting on top of the box when I arrived. She took off being chased by Red-winged Blackbirds and didn't return for awhile. Both Kestrals returned to the area and we had good views of them hover-hunting for insects in the grass.

If you haven't been to Warminster Community Park, you should take a quick trip up some evening. It used to be Johnsville Airbase and Naval Air Station, so the entire park is basically the old air strip with open fields, scrubby bushes, and woods along the perimeter. Good birds here include the Kestral as mentioned above, Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warblers, variety of Sparrows and supposedly Meadowlarks - although Lori and I haven't seen one yet.

Down on the Farm (no Bob Evans needed)

2011-06-20T09:04:00.007-04:00

In case you were wondering what my secret motivation for buying the houses at the shore was, I'll let you in on it. But don't tell anyone else. My secret motivation is - Jersey tomatoes (or any homegrown tomato for that matter). Growing up in Philly, we always had a really good garden that produced alot of tomatoes. Then, I moved to the suburbs which was my chance to expand the growing opportunities and produce more produce (pun intended). Well, that turned out to be a big bust. Rydal is a really nice place to live if you like big trees and shade which I do. Tomatoes, not so much.

After 11 years of stunted vegetable plants and red tomatoes in September, I transported the whole 12' x 12' raised bed, enclosed garden to the Villas. I also set up a timed sprinkler system to keep everything watered during the week. Guess what? Paydirt! We already picked 3 peppers, have a ripening tomato, 2 eggplants that should be ready to eat this weekend, and a baby watermelon. Location, location, location. And manure-infused sandy soil. Of course, this puts the price of each tomato up in the $14,000 range, but should be well worth the price!

Tomato and Eggplant plants, also the watering system

First Jersey Tomato of the season - or my life for that matter

Baby watermelon

Aside from gardening and working on getting the green house livable, Barbara and I were determined to find "Davies Lake" which is supposed to be located on the south end of Higbee's Beach behind the dunes. We also wanted to track down the Purple Gallinule that has been seen at Cape May Point State Park. We got the Gallinule, but busted again on finding the lake. We were foiled by high tide which makes it impossible to cross the creek unless you want to go waist deep in water. We were not dressed appropriately.

iDiot with an iPhone

2011-06-14T14:41:00.002-04:00

That is what I am. (Notice the clever way that I used the lower-case "i" in iDiot) I replaced my Droid with an iPhone last week due to the fact that the Droid wouldn't hold a battery charge anymore. Especially after I dumped a whole cup of tea on it during the World Series of Birding. The iPhone has all kind of capabilities and apps that you can download including the entire Sibley Guide (east and west) with sound, Scrabble, oh and a camera.

The camera is why I am an iDiot. This weekend was full of baby showers but Connie and I headed to the Villas anyway to check on the garden and try to relax. We both got up early and took the dog onto the beach for a quick walk. We arrived to a beach full of Laughing Gulls and Horseshoe crabs. There were probably 2,000 gulls on the beach gulping up the crab eggs and probably hundreds of crabs still doing "the nasty". About 100 crabs were upside down on the sand so Connie and I started flipping them over and/or carrying them back to the water's edge. This went on for a few blocks until I noticed a Laughing Gull flailing around in the mud. The poor guy couldn't get out of the muck so I went ankle deep in the slimy mud and picked him up. He was exhausted and couldn't put up much of a fight.

I carried the gull over to Biggie's because I knew she have a cardboard box to put the gull in so that we could keep him calm until we found out where to take him. We called CMBO for info on local bird rehabilitators. They suggested some guy named Steve who never called me back. I decided take the bird to Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark Delaware on my way to Lauren's baby shower. On my way? Kind of.

Anyway, notice the lack of photos on this post? No photos in spite of the fact that I spent 5 hours with that gull either in my hands, on our porch, or in the passenger seat of the Subaru within inches of my new iPhone 4 with built-in camera. I am truly an iDiot.

I just checked with Tri-State about the bird. He is still there. Still alive. I told them that I would drive him back to the Villas if he can be released. Stay tuned.

That's Why It's Called "Fishing", Not "Catching"

2011-06-06T08:37:00.003-04:00

Biggie and I went flounder fishing yesterday on the Lady Chris out of Cape May. As the title of the post suggests, we didn't catch any fish. We basically went on a 4 hour boat ride into Delaware Bay. There were only 5 other people on the trip and it was cold and damp. We were happy to get back to the dock.

Again, why does this story get into a birding blog? Because we didn't catch any fish, but I did manage to get a life bird - Wilson's Storm Petrel. I noticed the brown bird about the size of a Robin flying low over the water like a land bird. Then the bird looked like it was trying to pedal a bicycle on the water, then flew off again. He (or she) did this around the boat for the entire hour that we were fishing along out near the channel light house.

Here is a photo from David Jones from the New England Seabirds website that shows the pedaling behavior. I didn't bring my camera on the fishing trip (dumb).

Here is a link to a good website about Wilson's Storm Petrels. I didn't know that they breed in the Antarctic until I read this:

http://www.neseabirds.com/BirdsStormpetrelswsp.htm

Sanderling Update

2011-06-02T10:48:00.005-04:00

Phillipa just sent these photos of me handling the Sanderlings, so I thought I would post them as an update. Here is a good photo showing how we weighed the birds and all of the tools involved for the banding.

Here is a photo of me kissing the last bird "good-bye" with Joan giggling in the background.

200, 90, and 65

2011-05-31T21:21:00.010-04:00

These are the numbers of Sanderlings that were banded today at the end of our street in the Villas. 200 is the total number of birds banded. 90 is the number of Sanderlings that Connie's group processed with Connie recording the data. And 65 is the number of birds that I weighed and released for my group (we processed fewer birds because we had to measure them too).

Sandering

What a cool way to spend a hot day at the shore. It all started with Connie walking the dog while I sweat my ass off mowing the lawn(s). Connie saw a guy with binoculars walking toward the protected beach. She was just about to say something to him, when he stopped and scanned the beach with binoculars and turned around to leave. He told Connie that they were going to band some birds in about a half hour at Maryland Ave and that she could come and watch. Meanwhile I was at 243 Maryland Ave mowing around Poison Ivy and feral Cactus - but I digress.

We grabbed our binoculars and went to the end of the street to join the group. The group was a collaborative effort from a few state and federal agencies along with non profits including the Fish and Wildlife Service and Conserve Wildlife New Jersey group that I volunteered with last week. I had already met Mandy and Larry at the Shorebird Steward training, so they invited us to participate in the effort rather than just watch - cool.

Gary with a Sanderling

The process of banding shorebirds starts with scouting the beaches to find a location with alot of the target species - Sanderlings - which ended up being Maryland Ave. Next, the experts set up the net which is attached to cannons along the dune. The volunteers creep down the dune path and keep our heads low so that the birds can't see us. Then, on the signal ( 3, 2, 1, FIRE!), the cannon goes off and shoots the net over the birds on the beach. Then the banders (including me and Connie) run like banchees down to the water's edge and start moving the birds into the middle of the net, making sure to get any birds out of the water. Next, other volunteers start removing the target birds from the nets and placing them into covered bins - 20 Sanderlings to each bin. The bins are then placed under a tent to keep the birds cool until we can get them banded.

Once we had enough birds, the rest were released from the net and we started the banding process. I was put into Larry's group and Connie was in Clive's group. Clive is an Australian who invented the cannon net 40 years ago and is a pioneer in the field of shorebird banding and conservation. Larry is an expert in shorebird conservation and works with geolocators to track migration and nesting.

Clive attaching the band

Connie was the data recorder for her group. The banders would tell her the tag numbers and weight of each bird and she would record that info. She did that for 90 birds I was the weigher in my group. The young Chilean woman who was taking bill, head and wing measurements would hand the bird to me. I would put the bird in a little piece of PVC pipe, place it on the scale and tell our recorder the weight (in grams) and then release them on the beach. I did this for 65 birds.

Sanderling in the PVC pipe being weighed

Most birds met or exceeded the weight needed to make the rest of the migration to the arctic which is 83 grams. Some were still under weight and needed to fatten up a bit more before taking off. Connie's group had the fattest bird - 106 grams.

It was a really great experience. Connie told me everything she learned about the bird's anatomy, migration, weight, age of birds etc. She asked me what I learned and got mad when I told her what I learned - Larry went to Archbishop Wood, Joan grew up in Mayfair but moved before high school otherwise she would have gone to St. Huberts, Phillipa is from the UK and is here with her father who is part of the banding group, Gabby is a veterinarian from Chile and is here with her husband Sergio for the experience, Jane is on the board of NJ Audubon and likes to make up names for the birds based on the tag number ("Hip" for H1P, "Jim" for J1M, etc) and also likes to sing to the them while the pipe dope which secures the flags on the bird's leg dries, Mandy is from NJ and wants to grow her hair out like Snooki (not really) . I think Connie wanted me to learn more about the birds. . .

PVC pipe dope being applied to the leg flag

All photos courtesy of Connie's cell phone today. The telephoto lens didn't do me any good when we were this close to the action.

Points North

2011-05-27T08:49:00.011-04:00

Barbara and I just got back from 2 days in north Jersey birding Highpoint and Stokes State Parks with the NJ Audubon workshop. It was advertised as a birding by ear workshop but the most "by ear" that I got was the all of the yapping by the group. It started out with someone not getting the message about the new start time and consequently being late (and not apologizing to the group) which other people complained about and went on from there. The workshop was really a 2 day field trip with some emphasis on bird song rather than a true workshop with structured learning anyway. I should have paid more attention in my Organizational and Group Dynamics class in college. It would have come in handy!

I'd like to get the highlights out of the way right up front even at the risk that you will not read the rest of the post - we got Cerulean Warbler before 7 AM on the first day! We got 2 Cerulean Warblers, both male and female, singing and flitting over our heads not really that high up in trees before 7 AM on the first day. We got a total of 9 Cerulean Warblers over the 2 day trip.

You can't see the beautiful blue color of the bird in this photo, but you can see the nice "necklace" indicating that this is the male.

There, now that is out of the way, we can move on to other highlights including a Porcupine sleeping in a tree:

I want to bring this cutie home as a pet.

Barbara and I stayed at a really cute motel called Myers Motel in Milford PA which wasn't a motel at all, but little cabins. We went up on Tuesday evening so that we would have a shorter drive on Wed morning at 0'dark:30. We were delighted to find Chris - our handsome Swedish friend - was staying at the same place. He carpooled with us for the field trips which was alot of fun. All three of us forgot that we were supposed to pack a lunch, so we had to run out to McDonald's to pick something up. The trip leaders told us to meet at the campground for a picnic lunch. We had to take a photo of this sign on our way into the campground because it cracked us up:

No Picnicking!

Another highlight was this beautiful Canada Warbler that we saw along the bog trail at Highpoint. We met a serious photographer along the trail that was a really friendly. This guy was almost too friendly. Usually, when we see serious photographers in the field, they give us the cold shoulder hoping that we will go away and leave them to their secret find. Not this guy. Yack, yack, yack about what he was doing and asking what we were seeing. Then, he ended up on the boardwalk with us as we struggled to see the Canada Warbler through the shrubs. Our trip leaders were "pishing" and squeaking trying to get the bird to come closer. Not the photographer. He didn't struggle or pish or squeak. He just pulled out his iPod and played the Canada Warbler song which made the real bird come closer to investigate. Snap, snap, snap went the camera and viola, he had his shot. I got this shot which isn't great due to the limitations of my lens and the limitations of my skills:

Canada Warbler

Speaking of pishing and squeaking to get birds to come closer, the entire group was amazed by one of the leader's ability to imitate Barred Owl. Scott Barnes sounds more like a Barred Owl than a real owl. He was amazing. He would do the call - "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" to get the woodpeckers riled up. Apparently, woodpeckers and owls have a long standing feud over nesting holes kind of like the Hatfields and McCoys. He made this call often but one time another owl called back - "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" and then flew closer. The Barred Owl landed in a tree about 100 yards away through the woods. We all got a good look even though we had to line up:

taken with Barbara's iPhone

I was not able to get a photo of the owl since it was back in the thick of the woods. But I did manage to get a photo the other big highlight of the day - Mississippi Kite catching bugs and eating them in mid air out at the Highpoint monument overlook. What a great find. Here is a lousy photo, in which you can see the field marks of the bird - whitish head, pointy-ish wings, and feet up to it's mouth while it picks apart a bug in mid-flight.

Mississippi Kite
(yes, I still have to sign the m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i song in my head when typing Mississippi)

Group Dynamics not withstanding, we all had fun and learned something. I learned that NJ Park Rangers are not the nicest. Although he didn't catch us picnicking, he did yell at me for parking outside of the designated parking spots at the monument overlook even though I explained that I was trying to use the car as a tripod for the camera to get this group shot, and there were no other cars around except ours.

Group shot taken from the car which was legally parked in the designated spot - we could see NJ, NY, and PA from this overlook

I highly recommend a trip to Highpoint State Park for birding. I also recommend going with a group for your first trip if possible as the park is pretty big and you can miss the "hotspots" if you try it on your own. You can decide whether to brush up on your group dynamics skills or not.

Volunteering to Protect Shorebirds

2011-05-22T21:36:00.013-04:00

I signed up to be a Shorebird Steward through the Conserve Wildlife NJ program. This program asks people to work at protected beaches along the Delaware Bay during the spring shorebird migration period. Asa Shorebird Steward, the volunteer should educate people about beach closings in order to protect the endangered Red Knot shorebirds. These birds migrate from Argentina all the way to the Arctic to nest, stopping at Delaware Bay to fatten up on horseshoe crab eggs during crab spawning season which runs from May 7 to June 7 this year. Basically - keep people off of the beaches that are designated as protected.

There are several beaches with this status along the bayshore - the famous Reed's Beach, Cook's Beach, Kimble's Beach, Foresque, and the Villas. What? The Villas is a mecca for horseshoe crabs and endangered shorebirds? Yep. The Villas. Guess where our new shacks are? Yep. Smack dab in the middle of the protected beach. What luck. Obviously, I volunteered for the Villas duty which turned out to be really smart since our refrigerator quit working and we had to make a quick trip to Cape May Court House to buy a new one (which Di found on Craig's List really cheap) and also let the Comcast guy in to hook up cable TV (we have been miserable without the Phillies games).

I worked on the Sunday after the World Series, this past Saturday, and today. The first day was kind of a bust. No crabs, very few birds, and zero Red Knots. Yesterday was a little better. About 100 crabs came onto the beach at high tide (around 1 PM) and there were a few more birds but still no Red Knots. The majority of birds were Laughing Gulls, Semi-palmated Sandpipers and Sanderlings. The big downer of the day was the text message I recieved stating "Red Knots are here. 5000 + Red Knots at Reed's Beach" Meanwhile I was twiddling my thumbs in the Villas.

Today was the best day so far with over 2,000 crabs on the beach at high tide, a few thousand shorebirds, and a few dozen Red Knots mixed in. Here is a photo (click to enlarge) showing horseshoe crabs (the big gray blobs in the foreground) and shorebirds (the small gray dots that stretch to the end of the beach).

Here is a close-up of the horseshoe crabs mating (still rated G). The large crab in the center is the female. All of the other crabs are males trying to fertilize eggs.

Here is a close-up of the eggs - the little green dots in between the stones. It reminds me of tapioca. These eggs consist of alot of protein and fat that the shorebirds (particularly Red Knots) need to successfully breed this season.

This is a photo of a Red Knot taken by Christopher Wood from the Allaboutbirds.org website. Remember, I didn't get to see many so I didn't get a photo for myself.

Scouting is the Most Fun

2011-05-19T09:38:00.006-04:00

The "Big Day" of the World Series of Birding is fun, but we don't really get to do much bird watching. It's more bird counting, then running off to the next place, the next bird, the next tweet. We like to actually see the colorful warblers, and see the breeding plumage and see the behaviors rather than just hear a song, or a tweet or a whistle and say - "oh, that's a Blackpoll Warbler" or " Didjya hear that? - Summer Tanager".

We spent a few days leading up to the Big Day scouting the areas hoping that the birds we saw would still be there on Saturday. We did a pretty good job of note taking, we tried some new spots, and we even got a Microwave at a yard sale for $5!

Here is the best photo that I have of a Common Yellowthroat - ever. This guy popped up at the Cape May Lighthouse Hawk Watch Platform during our scouting while we watching a Yellow-billed Cuckoo pick tent caterpillars out of the cherry tree. We got to count this species again for the Big Day on Saturday. I am telling myself it was the same bird.

We ARE Smarter than 5th Graders!

2011-05-15T23:10:00.007-04:00

Whew, we completed our 2nd annual World Series of Birding this Saturday and beat those pesky 5th graders. We got 121 species (5 more than last year) while the elementary school children only got 118. HA. We showed them That's the good news. The bad news is that the 8th graders beat us again. They got something like 143.

Philly Bird Nerds at the Awards Breakfast (no, we didn't get an award)

We started at 2:55 AM and ended after 9:15 PM and had a lot of laughs along the way. When you do a "Big Day" contest like this, you see the same groups of birders and teams at various locations throughout the day. We tend to amuse ourselves by giving them names. Like "No Stripes", the couple that has the same Mini Cooper as Diane, but no stripes on the car which doesn't makes it look as nice as Di's. And "Marge and Judy" the 2 women that I tried to descibe the location of the Phoebe nest that made Diane tease me for the rest of the day so much that Lori almost peed her pants. And "Those Crazy Bikers" - the group of guys who did the whole day on bicycles. We vowed to run them over with the Suburban but gave up on that idea after the parents of the one guy showed us Norther Harrier at Stipson's Island Road (and took the photo above).

We have no doubt that they have names for us too. Especially on this Big Day. You see, I had a genius idea last week to quell the onslaught of mosquitos that we endured last year - screens for the car windows. Yup. We put screens on the windows of the Suburban. My genius idea was to use duct tape to secure screen on the outside of the truck. The plan got even better when we talked to the guy at Napa Auto Parts who sold us "automotive body work" tape which will not damage the paing and easy to remove.

nothing but class for us

We also got a life bird for all of the team members - a Parasitic Jaeger that was chasing terns around off of Cape May Point. We didn't get a lot of common warblers including Northern Parula that we were seeing and hearing every day since mid-April even in the middle of Philly. We didn't get Cedar Waxwing. And we didn't get our "signature" bird - the Black-throated Blue Warbler (enlarge our team photo above to view the logo). We did manage to get Great Horned Owl this year. We almost didn't get Bald Eagle which are a given along Delaware Bay any other day.

I want to thank all who made the day a big success including the Nerds:
Tara who sacrificed her birthday for scouting on Friday
Di who limped through the day still recuperating from knee surgery
Lori who suffered the day without her beloved warblers
Barbara who endured the most scouting with me
Connie who had to miss most of the day due to a funeral and showed up for the end at 7:30 PM

Big shout out to Barb Kolb who graciously designed and embroidered our new team shirts on short notice. Thanks Barb, at least we looked good at the Awards Breakfast.

Huge thanks to Marleen, Sheila and the rest of the WSB support staff/volunteers for making this year another fun event.

At last, the final thanks goes to you, the readers and pledgers. Please send a check made out to NJ Audubon in the amount of whatever you pledged per bird x 121 to me. I'll collect and forward the whole lot to them.

2011-05-10T10:35:00.003-04:00

I've been getting up at O dark 30 to bird for the past couple of weeks. Trying to listen to warbler songs, getting ready for the big day this saturday in Cape May with the rest of the bird nerds. Went this morning to Peace Valley Park in Bucks County. Learned that I still stink at figuring out who's singing. Stood still at one place because I kept hearing a warbler. One thing I did learn is that if you just stand still long enough, birds start to think you just belong there. I had male and female scarlet tanager hanging around my head, she was getting nesting material, and he kept sitting by me, not up high either. One of my favorite birds. Then a pileated woodpecker landed 20 feet from me, low on a tree, just pecking away. I looked at him, "Really? You're right there, and I can't find a stupid warbler....." Finally, after half an hour, ( mind you a lot was going on at this particular spot.) I spotted my singing warbler. A Redstart. Common warbler, should know his song, but I didn't. Then I heard a song that sounded like a bug, "Oh, worm eating warbler." Go chase down that bird. Norther Parula. Common warbler again. When I say common, it's just that we see these birds a lot. No chestnut sided, no cape may, no bay-breasted, no hooded, no kentucky, not even a magnolia. Did get rewarded with black-throated blue though. I guess I'm getting a little better, at least I know when I'm hearing a warbler. And, I'm able to ignore the catbird.
38 species total.

Lori

Yard Work

2011-04-27T19:14:00.003-04:00

I was out in the yard tonight, in suburban Ivyland, and was treated to a flock of cedar waxwings.

then, this fellow shows up at the feeder. I snapped his picture, and then chased him away, my house finches were hungry. stupid grosbeak.

World Series of Birding

2011-04-26T12:45:00.002-04:00

The nerds are busy. We are in the midst of closing on the Villas houses, plus gearing up for our second trip to the World Series of Birding which will be held on May 14th this year. We have entered in Cape May county only in order to reduce drive time and increase our chances of getting to hotspots multiple times throughout the day. I have been organizing the spreadsheet this week and using the Internet to track sightings of non-migrant species in order to pinpoint some locations.

Next week, the scouting begins in person. We will be driving around the county to get a feel for the amount of time it takes to get from site to site as well as whether reliable birds can be found. One thing we learned from last year is that we need to pay close attention to the tides in order to get shorebirds, gulls, and terns at the sites that we should expect them.

We hope to raise $500 or more for NJ Audubon with the help of your pledges. Here's how it works: you pledge a certain amount per bird (say 50 cents) and then we try to get as many birds as possible in order to increase the amount of your donation while trying to beat the 5th graders from last year. We will report back to you on Sunday to let you know how much you owe. Here is a link to the PLEDGE FORM. Please fill it out and send to me (linda at npowerpa.org - replace the "at" with @) We already have a few pledges, so thanks!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T09:22:00.002-04:00

See a theme in the posts? Well we may not be religious here at the PBN blog, but it has been a Good Friday for me so far. I had 2 more FOS birds this morning that I had to enter as "rare" in my eBird report.

The first was that little ray of sunshine himself - Mr. Yellow Warbler! Gorgeous bright yellow bird flitting around a tree at the top of Lemon Hill. He stayed around so long that I left him, went to find Barbara and Sammy, came back and still watched him for another 5 minutes.

The second great find of the morning was on the other side of the mansion on Lemon Hill - which isn't a prairie at all but had a Prairie Warbler. Again, this bird was a decked out male in full breeding plumage. He was hanging around with 2 Palm Warblers and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Unfortunately, he didn't grace us with his wonderful song but we did get great views.

Not bad for walking the dogs. The weird thing to notice isn't what is coming, but what isn't going. Juncos are still on Lemon Hill and still at my feeders. When will they leave? Shouldn't they get the hint when they see all of these strangers showing up that they better get a move on up north? Hmmm.

Palm Sunday

2011-04-17T13:09:00.002-04:00

After the wild weather that we had last night, the sun came out this morning and off we went. Roxy and I headed out to Pennypack Trust - one of our local patches - to see what the wind blew in last night. We ended up with 41 species including so many Palm Warblers that we stopped counting. I entered 40 into eBird. Our FOS Brown Thrasher and Northern Parula too.

This morning was a perfect outing to get us excited about our second World Series of Birding effort that is coming up on May 14th. That's right, the Bird Nerds are entering the WSB again. We are not going to let those 5th graders beat us again this year! We promise. Although it's a statewide contest, we have decided to enter as a LGA - Limited Geographic Area - and only bird Cape May County. We think we can get a lot of birds in the county and it will cut down on the driving time as well as keep us close to our new house(s) so we can pop in for food and bathroom if needed.

In fact, we are so confident that we can identify more birds this year, that we are even using the event to fundraise for Cape May Bird Observatory. We hope that you will pledge a few cents per species that we identify on May 14th. Our goal is set at 130 species this year. You could also pledge a few dollars for our overall effort by pledging a fixed amount for the effort regardless of how many species we see. Here is a link to the pledge form. Please print it out, fill it in, and email to me (linda at npowerpa.org - replace the at with @). Pledge Form In fact, get friends, family, coworkers to pledge too.

We will be updating you on our scouting and plans in the coming weeks.

Top 1000!

2011-04-13T14:09:00.007-04:00

Woohoo. We made the FatBirder top 1000 this week thanks to all of you reading the blog. It's not that we get anything for it, but I like to think that all of this typing is being read by someone, so thanks for reading. Otherwise, I could just call my mother on the phone :-)

On to the birding story for this week. The big news is no secret - birds are on the move northward. We had our FOS (that's birdnerd for First Of Season) of the following:

Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Phoebe
Cowbird (boo)
Tree Swallow
Swift
Hermit Thrush

And there are more on the way everyday. Lori and Tara are headed down to Florida and should get plenty of migrants there. Then they will be heading our way.

We went to the shore last Sunday to check out the house(s) and do some birding. The weather was a bummer and not conducive to good photos, but we got a good list anyway with around 50 species. Tons of Common and Red-throated Loons and Gannets around the point and concrete ship, which are always a joy.

We also had a few good sparrows including a life bird for Di and Barbara - White-crowned sparrow. Here are some photos including a mystery sparrow that we still cannot identify. Please post a comment (below) with your thoughts.

Chipping Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Mystery Sparrow - photo #1

Mystery Sparrow - photo #2

Forster's Tern - passing a fish to his love interest

Stone Harbor Point

2011-04-03T09:24:00.009-04:00

If you go to Stone Harbor Point any time over the next few months, you'll notice my handy work. Well, mine and about 15 other volunteers, that is. I helped the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ to put up fencing and signs to protect bird nesting habitat on Stone Harbor Point. We basically strung line between PVC posts and put up these signs (not a great photo):

The "fence" is supposed to keep people away from Piping Plover, Oystercatcher, and Least Tern nests along the point. The volunteer project started at 10 AM but I was there early so I took the opportunity to take some photographs of Ruddy Turnstones, tons of Dunlin and Sanderlings along the water and resting on this jetty:

Here is a pair of Oystercatchers that didn't seem very skittish. One of the volunteers was a nice young girl that was doing a school project. The Oystercatcher was one of the birds that she was hoping to see. Well she got to see a few.

Click to enlarge this next photo. The similarity between this birds legs and Connie's is striking! Good thing we'll be at the beach alot this summer so she can get a tan.

I spent about 20 minutes crouching next to the jetty waiting for the sun to come out from behind some clouds when I heard a crash behind me. I turned around to see this Herring Gull dropping a conch shell onto the rocks from about 8 feet in the air, then grabbing it to drop it again. Seagull fun, I guess.

The gull with his prize

Picking up the shell

Shell is still in the air

The other interesting note from the day is that an injured harbor seal was rescued from the point by the Marine Mammal Stranding group. The seal's progress can be checked Here. He (or she) is #75.

Wanna Be A Better Birder?

2011-03-31T12:12:00.003-04:00

If you want to be a better birder, then you should do these things:

Go outside more - actually take time to go birding. This is the number one way to improve your birding skills but it isn't easy with our busy schedules. I am lucky that I have to walk Roxy twice a day. I bring binoculars with me often (just ask the neighbors).
Read more - subscribe to birding magazines and purchase as many field guides as possible. I subscribe to Bird Watcher's Digest, Birding, Birder's World. I also get Audubon and Living Bird magazines due to membership in Audubon and Cornell Lab. Here is a link to Surfbird.com's list of birding magazines.
Listen more - not to me, but to the birds. The best thing that I have done in the past few years to improve my birding skills is to take the CMBO Birding by Ear class. I probably added a few dozen life birds simply by recognizing a different song, buzz, tweet, or chip coming from the woods. This year, Pete Dunne is doing a one day backyard bird song workshop that you should definitely sign up for. Pete is a world renowned birder and author that you can spend a whole day with in a small group setting while bringing your bird identification skills to a new level. Don't miss out. Here is the link to CMBO site.

I hope this helps. Call or email me if you want to go birding. I'll make time.

Big News - Philly Bird Nerds at the Shore

2011-03-29T11:15:00.003-04:00

Hello all. We have big news - the bird nerds are buying a place at the shore. For those of you who are not familiar with "the shore", it is the Philly/South Jersey way of saying "the beach". We say that we are going to "the shore" when we mean that we are going to a place near the coast in New Jersey. Our "shore" town is called The Villas which is situated along the Delaware Bay shore just north of Cape May and in the heart of birdwatching mecca. Once we are at "the shore", we go to "the beach". Example: our shore house in the Villas is 4 houses from the beach so once we are at the house, we would say "I'm going to the beach" which means that we are walking half a block to the actual beach. Understand? I know its confusing to outsiders but it makes perfect sense to people like us who grew up here. BTW, that's why the TV show is called Jersey Shore and not Jersey Beach.

We are actually purchasing 2 properties in the Villas. NO, we are not rich - the Villas is the cheapest property that you can find at the shore because it is on the bay side, not the ocean side of New Jersey. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to own a place at the shore and these properties are back-to-back with big yards. Please note that the houses are 2 bedroom, 1 bath shacks. We affectionately call them Green House (on Maryland Ave) and Blue House (on Ohio Ave) for obvious reasons. They both need work which tickles me and Barbara pink - you know we LOVE a project!

Here is a link to Di's Shutterfly site: http://greenhousebluehouse.shutterfly.com

The Villas is situated perfectly for birding in and around Cape May county. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that we bird here often. Here is a link to Google maps to show you the location of the Blue house. The green house is directly behind this on Maryland Ave.

Blue House

Woodcock Dance with Video

2011-03-10T09:09:00.003-05:00

Patty invited me to go "Woodcocking" with her at John Heinz NWR (Tinicum) last night. That sounds kind of dirty doesn't it? I hope this post doesn't get blocked from the Internet for pornography. Anyway, Barbara and I met Patty and Jenn at the end of the road at Tinicum at 6 PM on Wed and headed out into the fields with a video camera. Let's just say the videos are kind of Blair Witch Project and leave it at that.

We did see the Woodcocks displaying starting at about 6:15 PM just like Patty predicted. I think we had a total of 6 different males "peenting" and flying around but one was pretty close. Woodcocks make a peent, peent, peent call from the ground and then take off in a big spiral up, up, and away until they are out of sight. All the while, you can hear a whistling sound created by the outer feathers of his wings as he ascends. Once he is out of sight, the Woodcock plummets back to earth whistling the whole way down to cozy up to his prospective mate. "Our" Woodcock came to earth in an opening where we could actually see him through the ever-darkening evening light. Pretty cool.

Although the Blair Witchiness of the video may make you motion sick, you can actually hear the peents and whistling. Enjoy.

Barbara making Blair Witch Project sounds:

Life Tribute and Life Bird

2011-03-07T12:11:00.004-05:00

The Birdnerds owe our existence in some small way to Connie's oldest sister, Donna Ross who passed away recently. Donna's love of nature and love of teaching influenced Connie's childhood, career choice, and helped foster her interest in the natural world. Without that, who knows, maybe Connie and I would never have begun hiking or birdwatching together.

Donna was a true teacher from a very early age. This became evident at the church service on Saturday when the pastor asked people to say a few words about Donna. One by one, people came to the microphone and said the same thing - Donna's intelligence, love of nature, and ability to teach others touched them in a special way. Donna taught me about nature too when we were hiking together at the cabin or just talking at Christmas dinner. In fact, she taught a group of kids about desert life on the day that she passed away.

She was only 62 years old when she was taken from us. Too young.

People like Donna and her untimely passing make me want to get out and experience life at an even more fevered pace. The experience also reinforces upon me that we all need to share the natural world with others - kids, neighbors, coworkers, whoever - and teach them about all types of nature from bugs to flowers to birds. I will keep Donna's example in my mind going forward and hope that you do the same.

In that spirit, I took the opportunity to go after a life bird on Saturday in the midst of the funeral services. Donna's ashes are being buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery where her husband, a Vietnam Vet, has a plot. As fate would have it, Redheads (ducks) have been seen over the past week at Memorial Lake which is across the street from the cemetery. After the church service and luncheon, I made a beeline for the lake and was treated to 12 Redheads mixed in with the other waterfowl. Is that wrong? Maybe, but I like to think Donna would have wanted me to see those ducks.

Donna Chronister Ross 1948 - 2011

Quick FloridaTrip

2011-03-02T18:30:00.009-05:00

The nerds were in Florida last week soaking up the sun and warm weather. We had a good time boating and birding. We also went to our first spring training game in Clearwater. We had great seats but got Joe Blanton as the starting pitcher. We had 80% chance of getting one of the 4 aces, and we got the 5th wheel. Not that anything is wrong with Joe, he's just not one of the star pitchers. Oh well. Here are some photos for your enjoyment.

Immature Wood Stork

Great Crested Flycatcher

Red-shouldered Hawk

Limpkin - usually very shy. This one was feeding on snails in mid-day (hence the glare)

Here is the Limpkin close-up. First with the snail in shell, then with the snail out of the shell. I don't know how it manages to get the snail out of the shell with only it's beak as a tool.

Have You Noticed?

2011-02-15T09:18:00.002-05:00

Have you noticed anything different over the past week? I have noticed these things:

No need for a flashlight at the dog park after work - sunlight is lingering until close to 6 PM
My nose hairs aren't freezing in the morning - temperatures are above 16 degrees (which is my nose hair threshold)
My ears are treated to song - Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Goldfinches are starting to sing

It all happened this past week. Feb 7th is when I noted the sunlight at the dog park. Feb 10th is the date that I noted the songs in my yard. And Feb 12th is when I noticed no frozen nose hairs. By George, I think we have turned the corner toward spring.

I have also been reading Pete Dunne's book - Prairie Spring which is very entertaining as is all of his work and also informative. You should definitely read that book before spring arrives. It is definitely good late winter reading. I learned from the book that Groundhog Day is the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox which makes the observations listed above seem on target. I know that I should have known about Groundhog Day from elementary school, but some things just need to be spelled out to me.

Correction to Previous Post

2011-02-07T14:21:00.003-05:00

I think that I have another life bird through utter stupidity and by having my camera handy. I previously posted 2 photos of Savannah Sparrows in MLK Day . After reading Don Frieday's post on the CMBO View from the Cape blog, I think that the lighter bird is actually Vesper Sparrow. Don writes in Gull Food and Quiz Photo Answer on Feb 1st that the chestnut shoulder patch and white tail feathers are usually not visible, but the eye ring is apparent. My bird definitely has the eye ring. I'm changing my eBird to Vesper Sparrow! Thanks Don.

Stupid Mistake Results in 3 Life Birds

2011-01-29T18:21:00.008-05:00

Last week, while Philly was being inundated with 16 inches of snow, I was in Seattle for a 2 day meeting at Microsoft. I left on Monday evening for a Tuesday and Wednesday event with my boss and another coworker. We all agreed to fly home on the non-stop 8:45 AM flight rather than take the red-eye. That would have been great except yours truly booked her 8:45 AM flight on Friday instead of Thursday like everyone else. Let's recap: leave Monday for a 2 day meeting, return the day after the meeting. Oops. I made the best of it. Thankfully, I brought the binoculars along. Unfortunately, I didn't lug the camera equipment. Photos below are from my Android phone.

Being at an event on the Microsoft campus is like being held captive for 2 days. They tell you where to stay. They pick you up in a shuttle at 8:00 AM. They serve you continental breakfast, meetings, lunch, meetings, and even serve you cocktails and dinner on campus. They never actually tell you not to leave, but they make a big deal about how difficult it is to get back into the building if you go outside. That crap only lasted the first day with me. By lunch time on the second day, I looked at one of the Microsoft gals and said "I'm going outside, and you can't stop me". And I meant it. Out I went. Looked up and immediately saw 2 Bald Eagles circling Building 31! Then I meandered around the building trying not to look like a freak with binoculars. One of the Microsoft guys said: "This is Microsoft. You can't possibly look any geekier than anybody else." He had a good point. It felt great to be outdoors in 55 degree weather while everyone else was being blasted by the snow.

After everyone else left Seattle on schedule (Thursday), I made lemonade out of lemons. I rented a car and headed down to the water to see some birds. I stopped at the pier where the ferries come and go. That is where I got my first life bird of the trip (remember, this is shot with a cell phone):

Glaucous-winged Gull

Notice the gray wing tips and pink legs. No other gull has this. He was my buddy for about 20 minutes. He was calling in a friend when I snapped the photo.

I also noticed 2 little alcids floating around the docks. Their ID is a mystery to me. I think they are Marbled Murrelets, but they could be Pigeon Guillemots. I marked Marbled Murrelets in eBird due to the black heads. This got me my second life bird of the trip but I am willing to change it if someone can decipher the identity based on this lousy photo.

After about 20 minutes of the docks, I headed north along the Puget Sound and stopped at a few little spots then made it to Discovery Park. This park sits on a point of land that juts out into the Sound. It has a lot of nice trails, beautiful scenery, a beach, a military base, and a waste water treatment plant all wrapped up into one park. I got a lot of great birds here including 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-throated Loon, Hawk being mobbed by Crows, White-winged Scoter, dozens of Kinglets (both) and Yellow-rumped Warblers and my 3rd life bird of the day - Mew Gull. In addition, I got to watch 3 Sea Otters play around close to shore and 4 Harbor Seals pop their heads up to look at the person with binoculars. Pretty cool. Here are some scenery shots from the day:

Lighthouse at Discovery Park - Cascade mountains in the backgroud

Mount Ranier in the distance

The famous Space Needle with modern art in the foreground

To top off a great day, I got to stay with Maureen and Barbara on spur-of-the-moment, even though Barbara just had ankle surgery on Tuesday. What a terrific couple of friends.

MLK Day - Mergansers, Loons, Konnie?

2011-01-18T18:23:00.005-05:00

OK, I couldn't come up with a bird name beginning with "K" that we actually saw yesterday on our day long journey in North Jersey. We didn't see a Kite or a Killdeer or a Kittiwake but we did see the Loons and Mergansers. I have been hoping to visit Manasquan and Shark River Inlets due to reports of Pacific Loon, Redheads, Kittiwakes so I talked Connie into going along since we both had the day off from work.

We headed to Shark River Inlet first and stood in the frigid wind looking into the gray ocean under the gray sky with 3 other nerds for about 20 minutes until Connie grabbed the car keys and ran back to the car. I stood there for another 10 mind and body-numbing minutes searching for that Pacific Loon - which the other nerds thought they saw but confused with Common Loon - until I packed it in too. Roxy didn't even get out of the car. That's one smart dog. There was still snow on the beach from last week. That is how cold it has been this week.

Once we warmed up a bit, we headed to the marina area on the back bay to look for ducks. We saw the usual suspects - Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, gulls, Brant and swans, but nothing out of the ordinary.

On to Manasquan Intlet! We pulled into an unassuming parking lot at "Gull Island" to eat our sandwiches (delicious ham salad and chicken salad from Roger Miller's on Martins potato rolls). It turned out to be the highlight of the day for us. First, I caught a glimpse of these Savannah Sparrows - one of which is Ipswich subspecies which is very unusual:

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow - Ipswich - notice how much lighter brown it is?

Then, the lunch stop got even more interesting. Two people got out of a Chevy Suburban dressed in wetsuits and proceeded to gear up for scuba diving. We were too shy (can you believe it?) to ask them if they were NUTS but another guy walked right up to them to get the scoop. Yes, they were going scuba diving in 28 degree weather hoping to catch some shrimp in a little net. I wonder if they know that they sell shrimp - already steamed - at Acme?

I didn't feel bad for the rest of the day when I was standing on the jetty at Manasquan Inlet or at Bargenat Light Inlet. I just thought about those 2 idiots scuba diving and got warmer instantly.

Land of Misfit Birds

2011-01-10T11:45:00.002-05:00

My yard has become the land of misfit birds lately. No photos as not to make fun of the disabled - which I understand is frowned upon by the ADA and other authorities. . .

"Ilene" - the female Cardinal seems to be getting along quite fine albeit with only one foot. She doesn't appear to have been attacked, but she only has one foot. She uses her (gulp) stump, tail and other let to balance herself while hopping around at the feeders.

"Dead Dove Walking" is another story entirely. This poor Mourning Dove is not going to survive. It was mangled by a predator - possibly the fox that has been seen in the yard lately, or the Sharpie that is eating well this winter. The poor dove is really mangled with drooping wing, missing feathers, and disabled leg. Surprisingly still good at flying. I don't think he/she will make it much longer though.

"Missing" posters have been handed out by the Juncos this week. They can't find one of their clan. The Sharpie knows exactly what happened to it . . .

Circle of life as witnessed through my kitchen window. The kitchen window is the real reason for non photos. I cannot take a clear photo through the olde time glass panes. Hopefully, the new window -which is ordered - will allow photos of the action.

As you can tell, I haven't been out this week. Work and snow. With more snow predicted tomorrow, it looks like I won't get out until the weekend.

Kicking Off 2011 - 53 Species and 56 Degrees

2011-01-02T10:50:00.008-05:00

Barbara and I headed to Jersey on New Year's Day in search of ducks and things. My initial plan was to scout out new territory at Shark River and Manasquan Inlet, but we decided to stick with what we know and head to Cape May for the day. We did try something new across from the Navy Yard, a place called Riverwinds Golf Course, to try for Canvasback ducks which were reported there last week. No luck, but we did meet a very nice kayaker and got to see some Mummers prepping for their big day.

We made 9 stops in Cape May starting with Jake's Landing Road and ending at Jake's Landing Road. We got 5 Northern Harriers - 2 of them Gray Ghosts - and a great little Savannah Sparrow on our first stop. None of my Harrier photos came out, but this Savannah Sparrow seems to be saying "You looking at me?"

Off to Cape May Point, where we saw a line of about 20 cars pulling out of the parking lot. It was the CMBO official field trip which we missed out on but we crossed paths several times throughout the day. We were very pleased with a different gull find at St. Mary's by the Sea:

Barbara pulled the ID right out of her ass - Bonaparte's Gull - by the dark spot behind the eye. I also knew that it was something different by that field mark and the buoyant appearance when floating. We also got up close and personal to this Killdeer until a van decided to park right in front of it:

We continued along the shore stopping at the Coast Guard station, 2 Mile Landing (where we saw 4 Fish Crows picking at a dead Clapper Rail but didn't count the rail in our day total), the fish processing plant, Stone Harbor Bridge and Stone Harbor Point where we saw both Black and Surf Scoters and a flock of Snow Buntings. Unfortunately, the weather turned dreary by then so the photo opportunities stopped.

We had quite a few species tallied for the day by the time we left Stone Harbor Point but I told Barbara that I would get us an owl before we went home. So we stopped back at Jake's Landing Road at 4:30 PM and so did the CMBO group. The parking lot was packed with cars and birders. As if right on cue, a Short-eared Owl rose from the reeds chasing a Harrier right across the creek in front of us. It was soon joined by a second owl. The 2 of them then saw a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on top of a cedar tree and started swooping down on it. Then the Harrier joined in on the fun for a few swoops drawing more "oohs and aahs" from the group. This is a terrible photo due to very low light but I hope you get the idea:

That was better than fireworks. The CMBO group reported 72 species. Barbara and I made it to 53 - excluding the dead Clapper Rail which isn't bad. Did I mention that it was 56 degrees? What a difference a week makes.

Christmas Bird Count - OR - I Need Warmer Boots

2010-12-26T19:26:00.005-05:00

Each Christmas week for 111 consecutive years, the Audubon Society has sponsored the Christmas Bird Count in order to get data on birds that winter in the United States. This is my first year doing the count and I didn't really know how to get involved. The Audubon website makes you pick a "circle" closest to your zip code and then sign up. A circle is literally a circle on a map where Audubon has determined a count can take place. No circles showed up around 19046 (Rydal, not Jenkintown) which were "open". An open circle means that any individual can sign up on the website, download the forms, pick a date between Dec 11 and Jan 4, and count. So, I was at a loss about how to sign up.

I emailed the local chapter of Audubon Society and asked if the BirdNerds could join a circle. Andy emailed me to say that he could use help at Gwynned Preserve. I thought "great, we can help the leader". Um, no. I was the leader. No problem. The nerds plus Renee and another woman named Judy went to Gwynned on Dec 18th. None of the nerds have ever been there before but Andy told us to look for the Harrier - which we saw. Did I mention that it is December in Pennsylvania? F-ing freezing. I decided to break out the deal of the century from Cabelas as a joke:

No joke. I wore it the whole day - along with the funny elf hat that my mother sent me for Christmas. I got the one piece women's camoflage hunting suit (with hood) for $49. I couldn't pass it up.

Then, Patty sends my name into another Audubon guy and tells him that I am interested in helping out. This guy hooks me up with the CBC at Norristown Farm Park on Dec 26th (today). Of course, I didn't learn my lesson about the freezing cold so I went along. This time, I wasn't the leader thank goodness. This time, Barbara (not the nerd, but another good birder) already scouted the area and told us that we would probably see a Great Horned Owl - which we did at 0'dark:30. We also saw another 42 species. Did I mention that it is December in Pennsylvania? F-ing freezing AND F-ing snowing. The camo didn't come out today since it was my first time meeting these nice people:

Believe me, there are long underwear under those jeans. This is taken at Valley Forge National Park. You might as well be able to see General Washington commanding the troops in the background.

Hockey Update

2010-12-16T13:54:00.003-05:00

What kind of title is that for a bird blog, you ask? Good question. It seems like my 2 pastimes (obsessions) continue to merge - women's ice hockey and birding. Most of the 6 current BirdNerds are hockey players who play for the FREEZE or the Predators. In fact, only Connie is not an ice hockey player, preferring field hockey instead.

We are doing the Christmas Bird Count this year with Renee, from the Phoenix. We have been to hawk mountain with Amy, a new birder from the FREEZE. I have also had requests from Loreen of the Predators to join an outing.

And now Patty who is an avid birder has re-joined the FREEZE. On top of that, Patty is even sending awesome photos from her outings. Here is a great shot of Harlequin Duck at Barnegat Lighthouse taken the weekend after we were there. Why doesn't this happen to me? Every time I see Harlequins, they are bobbing on waves on rainy days. For Patty, they get up onto the rocks and pose in bright sunlight showing off their incredible markings. Gee whiz.

They are Really Blue

2010-12-12T20:20:00.005-05:00

First question - why do Bluebirds look REALLY blue in winter? Second question - how come they never look as blue in photos as they do in real life? Here is a photo of a very cooperative Bluebird at Lake Galena on Saturday - the same day as the fashion statement. This bird sat on that stick for a minute or so before getting a drink from the creek. Connie was about 10 feet away but the bird didn't care.

You can kind of see a hint of the "electric blue" at the edge of the wing, but it looked really bright in real life.

Third question - how come every time I enter sightings for Lake Galena, the "official" questions it? This time, he questioned Herring Gulls of all things. This time I sent him photographic proof. This is Great Black-backed Gulls (GBBG), Lesser Black-backed Gulls (LBBG), Herring Gulls (HEGU), and one Ring-billed Bull (RBGU) at the bottom left near the duck and goose. GBBGs are the largest gulls in the photo with black backs and flesh legs. LBBGs are the smaller gulls with black backs and yellow legs (hard to see in the photo). HEGUs are the gulls with the gray backs. RBGU is the one at the bottom left.

Click on photos to enlarge. By the way, that is ice that they are standing on. . .

Santa - Please Bring Us Some Style

2010-12-11T22:16:00.004-05:00

Nerd Alert! If you are queazy, don't look at the photo. It may be unbearable to the fashionably sensable:

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Check out the hats. Even the dog has a fashion faux-pas going on there. And what exactly could I be looking at?

Well, we had good looks at Lesser Black-backed Gulls today. There were 25 of them mixed in with Great Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls for comparison.

Always something to see in Florida

2010-12-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

Tara and I were down in Punta Gorda these past few days. On sunday we went up to Orlando to see the LPGA, set up shop at the 12th green, hoping we'd make it on tv. Did see bald eagle overhead, which was cool. We checked the broadcast later that night, and we were always just out of the shot. So, driving home on 17 south, another bald eagle crossed over our heads, and further south, near Arcadia, crested caracara, sitting on a fence post right next to the road, we were doing 60 MPH at the time, so we couldn't stop in traffic, but he was unmistakeable, with his black toupe. Love that bird.
We packed the cold weather and brought it down with us, went down to the low 30's at night and only 40's and low 50's during the day, so no golf, no boat. I did manage to check out 2 future sights for the bird nerds, right in Port Charlotte. Audubon Pennington State Park and Ollie's Pond. AP state park was nice, about a mile long, lots of yellow-rumps, got a great look at a Limpkin, saw what i thought was least grebe, but ebirder was quick to question me, so I think it was pie billed grebe. I can see where this park might be very warbler-y during migration. Driving home from the park, i look over and see........... a bald eagle, in someone's back yard. on the ground, picking up sticks. a bald eagle in a backyard, amazing!
Next up was Ollie's Pond. Lots of ducks: coots, moorhens, pie billed grebe, (yes pie billed), hoodies, blue wing teal, ruddy duck ( i think, needed captain linda there and barb's scope.) oh, and 2 bald eagles. and more yellow rumps. this is where they all are apparently.
That's it from florida, leaving tomorrow, and of course it's going back up to 78 on friday.

Lori

Splish Splash

2010-12-05T21:00:00.010-05:00

Snow Geese swirled by the hundreds in the distance. Lots of ducks swam very close to the drive. Harriers and Eagles soared overhead. The day started off sunny and bright at Forsythe but very windy. So windy that we (me, Di, Barbara and 3 dogs) made excuses about why we didn't need to get out of the truck while going around the Wildlife Drive. We even saw an American Bittern! But that wasn't the story of the day.

When we were through at Forsythe, we drove to Barnegat Light to check for sea ducks. What we found was overcast skies and wind - lots of wind. Even more wind than earlier in the day. We saw hundreds of Common Eider and dozens of Northern Gannets up close and personal, Black Scoters, Brant and Harlequin Ducks too. Even with overcast skies, I got a few good shots of Purple Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plovers that were all working along the jetty right at our feet. It is a pretty rough existence working the jetty at Barnegat Inlet any day, but with the wind it gets even rougher. Here are some photos of the day:

Purple Sandpiper - not cropped
This is how close they were

Purple Sandpiper working the rocks for a meal
He was so close that I could get this shot without cropping too much

Ruddy Turnstone in non-breeding plumage

Dunlin on the rocks being overcome by waves

Sleepy Dunlin - you'd be sleepy too
if you made your living in freezing water

Black-bellied Plover on the Jetty

Fishing boat returning to port - lit up by a brief window of sunlight

Roxy wouldn't go up on the jetty. She was too scared. All three of the dogs had fun running in the sand along the jetty. But even they got cold out at the end waiting for me to take photos of Gannets diving for fish. They were actually shivering - although surprisingly Di wasn't. What's up with that?

A Couple of Hummers

2010-11-26T17:44:00.007-05:00

California has 2 hummingbirds that hang around through fall and even winter - Allen's and Anna's. I got to see both of these little beauties up close and personal on my trip last week. They are both pretty fearless. They flew right past me many times squeaking all the time. They perched close on the ends of dead branches either in trees or bushes. They hovered around flowers. They chased each other around fiercely.

Anna's hummingbirds are abundant. They have brilliant magenta heads and throats. Really brilliant:

Ok, so you can't always see the brilliant magenta. How about this backlit photo. Do you believe me now?

Sometimes the bird lands and you can't see it you get this sudden blast of magenta which gives the bird's location away.

None of the photos above show the full brilliance of the head and throat. I couldn't get the bugger to face the sun!

Allen's hummingbirds do not have flashy colors but they are subtly handsome with their rust tones.

The photos are not good quality but you can see how adorable these birds are anyway. I hope you enjoy them.

More West Coast Birding Briefs

2010-11-22T21:36:00.009-05:00

I finally figured out how to work around the photo upload glitch so here are some more photos from my fabulous west coast trip starting with water birds. I got 4 different grebes on this trip including many Pie-billed and Western grebes, a few Horned grebes, plus a Clarke's grebe. Here are some photos. Its hard to see the difference between Western and Clarke's grebe. You have to get a really good look at the eyes.

Western Grebe - notice how the black cap comes down to the eye

Clarke's Grebe - notice how the white surrounds the eye, no black

Horned Grebe - notice the point on the back of the head

Pie-billed Grebe - notice how darned cute it is

I also had good luck with Spotted Sandpiper on this trip. I practically tripped over this one several times. It just wouldn't run away from me. It finally popped out into the sunlight for this shot.

Spotted Sandpiper - notice the stout legs

And finally, this Kestral eating some sort of mouse on the top of a telephone pole. There was a guy flying a 'tethered airplane' about 50 feet away from the Kestral. The plane whirling by again and again. The Kestral was completely unphased.

American Kestral - notice the poor little mouse

Scoters Anyone?

2010-11-17T18:51:00.000-05:00

I dragged poor Sam out birding with me yesterday. Sam is a young man that works at NPower and made the mistake of telling me that he would go along. So, I dragged him along. He was very polite and acted interested in the birds. The first bird we encountered was a Turkey Vulture perched on a fence post that did not move even when we approached within 20 yards or so. We were birding MLK park which is also known as Arrowhead Marsh (again with the arrows) which is a salwater harbor. We saw alot of birds. I'll do another post on it tomorrow.

The bird that was really incredible to see up close was the Surf Scoter. It is the most interesting of all the scoters. Here are some photos (pretty good if I do say so myself).

Blogger is being a real pain in my ass lately. The images will not load properly so I have to edit the HTML code myself. The photos may be a little disproportionate. I'll repost them when Blogger is fixed.

Birds, Arrows and V16s

2010-11-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

A quick jaunt to Pasadena to visit my uncle netted me some great little birds at the local park called Lower Arroyo Seco. The park is part of the Rose Bowl complex and runs along the Arroyo Seco which is a "river". River is in quotes because all rivers in the Los Angeles area are basically trickles of water that run through an ugly concrete conduit with chain link fence on either side to keep people from drowning when it actually has water in it during flash floods. You expect a car chase from a cheesy 70's cop show or movie at any moment.

This particular section of the Arroyo Seco is set up for archery. There are targets set up on big bails of hay with distance markers etc all along one side of the "river". It is pretty cool. People show up with their bows and quivers full of arrows. Blunt point only. Signs posted everywhere state "NO BROADHEADS". There are also people with dogs and kids running all over too. Nobody gets shot. Oh yes, and birds are all over too. Typical California birds such as this Bushtit which swarm around in flocks of 10 - 40 at a time flitting from tree to tree all the way down the river, then back again. It is pretty neat.

More on that later. More about arrows and V16s. I only had the day to spend with my uncle. We hung around the house, then went to brunch. All the time, he is calling his friend Aaron asking about "the collection". When would he be at the warehouse? Although this went on all day, I really didn't even ask about it but at 4:30, Aaron called to say that he was at the warehouse and to come over. So off we went. I thought we were in for some artsy craftsy type stuff. This is what we found:

This is only part of his private collection in his suped up garage warehouse called The Flying A Garage. He is a collector of rare/classic/amazing cars. He shows them and also uses them for charity events. I thought this bird photography was an expensive hobby. HA. I'm ashamed that I ever thought that. It was truly an awesome experience to meet this man and see this collection of cars. More to come. I'm in Oakland now. Sam just showed up and we are off to explore the bay for birds before our conference begins.

The Answer My Friend

2010-11-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Was blowin' in the wind today. Boy, was it windy at the shore. Di and I almost got blown off of Higbee beach. It was blowing in from the bay and pushed the water so high that there wasn't any beach to walk on. I dragged Di down the shore in hopes of seeing a Redhead (which is a duck, not a woman with red hair). We didn't see the duck but we did see some other good birds.

We did have a sparrow smorgasbord in the field. I took alot of photos of sparrows for identification purposes. And, I am still unsure of this one ( I think Swamp Sparrow).

We also saw a good number of hawks. Sharp-shinned hawks were everywhere along with Red-shouldered and Red-tailed. We even saw a Red-tailed Hawk that was getting banded at the hawk watch platform. Here is the bander holding the hawk. It was soon released but I couldn't get a good shot of it.

I also got these shots of Norther Shovelers. Male:

Female:

Typical Pose with butts in the air:

Those Damned Jones

2010-11-01T16:27:00.001-04:00

You know the feeling. You've experienced this a number of times in your life - both personally and professionally: You do something that makes you feel good - like buying a new Subaru, or having a good birding day - only to have someone else buy something better - like buying a BMW, or having an unprecedented birding day.

Take this weekend for example. On Saturday, Connie and I had to buy a new Subaru. Our Forrester was just giving up the ghost. After a long day at the dealer, we chose an Outback over the Forrester and chose Azurite Blue Pearl with Warm Ivory interior. Pretty car and nice to drive. Exhausted from the experience, we went home and collapsed. Lori and I had plans to go to Lake Galena on Sunday morning, so I needed the sleep and never checked the Internet birding reports. . .

Of course we drove the new Outback to the Lake. Tara joined us for a nice surprise and so did Roxy. We can take Roxy with us on some trails, but not on others so we leave her in the car (don't call the Humane Society, it was 50 degrees and overcast). We had a pretty good day and got a Purple Finch, Hermit Thrush, Kinglets, Juncos, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Flickers and various Sparrows. I even got this good photo of the Purple Finch:

Now for the deflated feeling. Although I didn't speak to anyone who bought a BMW or got a better deal on their Outback, Roxy did manage to get into Lori's PBJ sandwiches and proceed to eat them, drop the PB and Jelly on the Warm Ivory passenger seat of the new car, step in it and parade all over the backseat too. We were horrified upon our return to the vehicle. (Humane Society folks are now mumbling something about divine intervention). Once we got home and cleaned up that mess, I settled onto the sofa to log our sightings in eBird and check the birding reports. What a mistake. You have to read this to believe what we missed by not going to Cape May this weekend. Please read it View from the Cape and tell remind me that we got Purple Finch and a new car . . . .

One of Those Winters?

2010-10-30T21:57:00.001-04:00

Possibly. We already have a Red-breasted Nuthatch at our feeder. That little sucker isn't afraid of anything either. He hangs on the peanut feeder and will not leave even when I walk by a few feet away. Not even when Roxy comes barreling out the door after the squirrels just below the feeder. Roxy runs back and forth under that feeder and the Nuthatch just keeps pecking the peanuts. Lori has a Red one too. She also has Pine Siskins already. It might be one of those winters after all.

It sure got cold here all of a sudden. As you can see from the last post, we were in short sleeves on Sunday. Today, I was in a hoodie and jacket, and my hands were freezing. But the birding is worth it. I was inundated with juncos (50), White-throated Sparrows (40), and Golden-crowned Kinglets (38) in the woods at Pennypack.

I look back at some old posts and think - what a dope I am. Last year, I went on and on about seeing 11 Kinglets. Big deal compared to this year. I have seen more Kinglets - both Ruby and Golden crowned - than I thought was possible. (Mark this post. I'll probably eat these words in the future too. Hopefully.) I could watch these little go-getters all day long. They are tiny little birds who are focused on picking little things from the undersides of leaves. They are determined. Just like the Nuthatch in my yard, they don't seem to even notice people passing by on bikes or jogging, or even with Roxy. They just keep going. I wish them well on their southbound trip.

Birthday Birding with Brendan

2010-10-24T23:30:00.000-04:00

Brendan got binoculars as a birthday present last week. We took them on their maiden voyage today to Tinicum to see some ducks. We saw some ducks, for sure. How about over a hundred Ruddy Ducks? How about Northern Shovelers and Pintails and Teal and Ring-neck Ducks and Bufflehead? Oh, and a Bald Eagle stirring things up a bit.

Here is the crew from today:

The Great Blue Heron cooperated for a photo:

This is the Pintail, Shovelers, Teal and Coot all in one photo:

Here are the same ducks scattering to get away from the Eagle that was cruising overhead:

Click on any photo to enlarge

We ended up with 40 species today. Pretty good for the new binoculars. Oh, and we had Friendly's for lunch! Yum

Bahamas Birding, who knew?

2010-10-24T11:45:00.002-04:00

So, Tara and I went to the Bahamas after leaving the rest of the bird nerds in Florida. Got there Wednesday morning. We went birding with a guide friday and had nice success. We picked up 12 life birds, most in the shadow of the Atlantis Resort. Two other people we in our group, they came from one of the cruise ships, and they were from.........Lansdale. How freaky. Anyway, the list included 44 species, highlights: Bahama mocking bird (rare for Nassau), Bahama woodstar, the only humming bird on the island ( caught a female sitting on her nest), red legged thrush, thick billed vireo, Greater Antillean bullfinch, cuban grassquit, la sagra's flycatcher, mangrove cuckoo, gray kingbird, caribbean dove, and some warblers, praire, cape may, black/white, black-throated blue, yellow throated, palm, redstarts, oven bird, northern waterthrush. I was really pleasantly surprised. Bought me a tee shirt from the guide "Birds of the Bahamas", gonna wear it when i feel all birdy and nerdy.

Lori

2 Posts in 1 Day

2010-10-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

Read the last post too. I was rushed out the door here in The Villages to make the early bird special for dinner. Early bird, get it? My mother thinks that just because we are birders, we need the early bird special. Anyway, the last post was rushed because we were on our way to dinner.

Speaking of dinner: here are some photos of birds with their own dinners. Early birds all on their own:

Tern with a fish

Kingfisher with a fish

Osprey with fish

Sucks to be a fish in Florida . . .

More Florida

2010-10-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

We didn't just go to the same old birding locations on this trip. In fact, we went to 2 or 3 new or new-ish spots this time. First, we went to Sanibel Lighthouse beach and got up close and personal with Willets, Black-bellied Plover, Sandwich Tern and others.

The next "newish" spot was Babcock Webb WMR right off of I-75. I was there last year, but it was a first for the other girls. I got a life bird - King Rail - walking across the dirt road. Connie spotted it while I was looking up at the many Pine Warblers in the pine tree above. We took Di and Barbara the next day and saw Red Cockaded Woodpeckers which are on the endangered list.

Finally, we went to Emeralda Marsh up near The Villages this morning. We thought we could drive on the "wildlife drive" but apparently, you can only walk or bike it. Go figure. We still got great looks at Sedge Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Moorhens and even a Purple Gallinule which is rare.

Pretty in Pink

2010-10-19T18:36:00.000-04:00

Guess where we went?Ding Darling NWR on Sanibel Island. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend it. Highly. We've been making this a destination on almost every Florida trip for the last 20 years but just recently discovered that we should time the visit to coincide with low or rising tide. Duh. That only makes perfect sense since all of the target birds here are waders that depend on low water levels to feed. We had a double hit on this visit because low tide coincided with gorgeous morning light for photos.

We were thrilled to see a Roseate Spoonbill:

Then he was joined by a friend or two:

And more:

Then there were more:

Then, there was the parade:

Then, there was the crowd:

It was a pretty awesome morning for sure. Black, white and pink.

Big Birds - Up Close

2010-10-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

I think that's the best thing about Florida - Big Birds, Up Close. Pretty easy to photograph if, and I mean IF, you aren't in a boat rocking back and forth. Here are some shots that we got today at Alligator Creek Preserve:

Black Vulture

Red-shouldered Hawk - I think this is a pretty good photo

Broad-winged Hawk - check out his leg coming out of his belly. He dove down and got a frog but those photos didn't come out.

Here are some from the boat in Charlotte Bay this afternoon:

It seemed like there was an Osprey on every channel marker (especially the red ones)

Double-crested Cormorant - we like his green/blue eye

Royal Tern shuffling his feathers

Southbound

2010-10-15T16:22:00.000-04:00

We are packing up the SUV and the boat and heading down to Punta Gorda tomorrow. Well, half of us anyway. The other half of us are taking Southwest Airlines. I hope to catch up to those warblers, shorebirds and hawks that have been passing us by over the last few weeks. I also hope for good weather. And Internet connectivity. . . There is only spotty Internet connection at the house in Punta Gorda, so you may not get an update until we hit The Villages later in the week where we have really good Internet connections.

Stay tuned. . .

Fob and Poop

2010-10-10T21:54:00.002-04:00

FOB
Three of us went to Palmyra Cove again on Saturday since we had good luck last week and its close. This place always has a decent amount of birders and we usually see a group from a local bird club. We've been here enough that we are starting to recognize people.

There's "grumpy woman" who NEVER says hello or asks what is being seen or nothing. I swear she wouldn't crack a smile even if a _______ (enter very rare and beautiful bird name here) perched on her head. And she certainly wouldn't tell us about it either. We can pass her on the trail several times and she still won't even nod a hello. Her mother was right - her face froze that way.

There's "camera guy" who is friendlier and very laid back. One of those guys that wears a button-up shirt loosely over a teeshirt and you would imagine wears flip flops alot. He would crack a smile if the ______ bird showed up. AND, he would tell us about it and even give us directions to the place where he saw it.

Then, there's "Fob" who is very friendly. We've seen him with whatever group is going through that week and assumed that he was actually with the group. It turns out that he just tags along but is so friendly that the group leader calls him by name. "Hey Bob, didjya see the Nuthatch?" "Hey everybody, Bob has a Towhee over here" "Everybody look at the Tennessee Warbler! Good spot Bob" (Bob graciously gave me the credit for spotting the Tennessee Warbler) And so on. He wears a baseball cap with an "F" on it which us dummies couldn't figure out. We finally had to ask him. F is for Fordham which he wears just because its blue. So now we call him Fob. Fob would jump up and down if he saw a ______ and would wave us down from a distance to show it to us. Fob's ______ bird wouldn't need to be rare and beautiful either. He made sure to tell us where to find a Palm Warbler which is pretty common this time of year. Good ol' Fob.

It was also a good photo day. Here are some shots:

Northern Parula - this bird hung around right over our heads for quite awhile

Red-breasted Nuthatch - I think we'll see these hang around our area this winter

Scarlet Tanager - the bird with the most drastic color change from summer (red) to winter (greenish yellow)

POOP
Today, it was just me, Barbara, and the dogs at Tinicum (John Heinz WR). Last week, Connie and I sat in the car at the gate with 2 other cars until 7:30. We asked the men in the 1st car what was going on. They both sighed and told us that "she usually doesn't get here til 7:30 on Sundays even though it's supposed to open at sunrise". So today, I planned to arrive at 7:30. We were 8 minutes late and the parking lot was already packed. We had no idea that today was the "Big Sit" which is a day where hundreds of bird clubs from all over the country record all of the birds that they see in a 24 hour period - from the same 30 foot circle. The park opened at 6 AM today to accommodate. We were told by the Tinicum Big Sit team that it wasn't a competition but . . .

We had beautiful weather. And hundred of birds of the same species. 100+ Yellow-rumped warblers and a thousand swallows, 33 Wood Ducks - Barbara didn't think there were 33 Wood Ducks on the planet let alone in the same view. Geese are definitely on the move. A few flew over us while we were on the boardwalk. I wasn't paying attention to them but Barbara grabbed my arm and yelled "POOP!". I looked up just in time to see a poop bomb falling towards us. Luckily, it landed in the water a few feet away from us. Close call.

Up on the observation tower with the Big Sit team, we were getting good views of Tree Swallows perched on a dead tree. Then it happened - SPLAT - right on the back of my neck. Tree Swallow poop on my hat, in my hair, on my jacket collar. Luckily, the Big Sit team had a roll of paper towels with their lunches. Yuck.

I Had to Drag Myself Away

2010-10-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

I left Pennypack Trust tonight ONLY because the Phillies were playing Game 2 of the NL Playoffs (which they just won). It has been quite the 24 hours around here. I have been to 3 different woods and each one was dripping with Kinglets and Warblers. I counted 100+ Golden-crowned Kinglets and probably 75 Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Over a dozen Black-throated Blue Warblers, 50 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Nashville Warbler. See photos below. Get out to your local woods if you can. We'll be going to Palmyra Cove bright and early in case you can join us.

Kinglets are difficult to photograph because the never stop moving and they are often under leaves picking for bugs. This is the best photo that I got all day of the Golden-crowned. You can see where it got it's name. Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.

Here is the best photo I got of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. They rarely show the ruby crown. These birds crack me up because they look like their head is too big for their bodies.

Yellow-rumped Warbler below. They are pretty drab this time of year, but they usually show some yellow on their "shoulders" and always show the yellow rump (although, not seen in this photo)

This is the "find" of the day - Nashville Warbler. It was mixing it up with the Kinglets right in front of me. These are the best photos. Beautiful little bird.

He's looking right at me here.

I hope to get some more shots tomorrow.

"the other side"

2010-10-04T11:19:00.002-04:00

Two bird nerds split off and visited Rehoboth over the weekend. Tara and I went down with friends friday night after hockey practice, which meant we didn't get down there until 1:30am. Somehow we were both awake around 650am. So I dragged Tara with me to Cape Henlopen, Gordon Pond. We parked at a condo complex because the gate doesn't open until 8am. We didn't see a ton, but we got our first look, a very good look, at golden crowned kinglet, which surprisingly was a lifer. Good looking bird, of course no camera. 2 bald eagles flew by then later sat way off in some distant trees, I don't know how tara spotted them sitting out there, they were tiny specks to me. hardly any warblers, yellow-rumped and common yellow throat, a creeper, a flock of snowy egrets, osprey w/fish. There was a lot out in the pond that was not really visible with our binocs, could have used barb's scope!
Later we went to Cape Henlopen State Park, I was scouting locations for a sunday morning warbler hunt. We were at the nature center, so I asked the older gentleman behind the counter where they were seeing warblers, and he said, "oh, right here you can see birds, they all come to our feeders." hm, feeders and warblers. Later tara came over and told me that someone asked him what particular birds used a bird house that she wanted to purchase, to which the same gentleman replied, "small birds." ok, not the best source. So we went to the Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch platform for more info. Smaller platform than cape may, only a few people up there counting. I told them we usually go to Cape May, and they said, "oh, the other side....." They said they had the 2nd best day of the watch ever. We didn't stay long, but it seemed the birds they would see were way off in the distance, not flying over the platform like Cape May. The suggested birding spot was Thompson Island Preserve.
So, Sunday morning we got up and went there, right between Rehoboth and Dewey. Great trail, very scenic. Wasn't a great day for birds, windy and cloudy (yellow-rumps, black&white, creeper again, blue birds, black-throated blue). But the walk was fantastic, thru woods, then out to the marshes in Rehoboth Bay. We couldn't go very far, because the trail was very wet, needed boots, but it looked like it went far out. Someday we'll do it again, but will need better walking gear. Anyone looking for this place, good luck. There are no signs except when you start walking the trail. It's behind the Spring Lake Condo complex off of RT 1. Then you go around to the back side, and have to look for the trial head. We had to ask a local. But worth the walk if you have waterproof foot gear.
Anyway, that's the report from "the other side."

Not What I Expected

2010-10-03T19:27:00.001-04:00

I snuck in a a quick stop at John Heinz Wildlife Refuge (also known as Tinicum) on Thursday. I only had 30 minutes, so I only made it to the boardwalk. It was "blowin' a gale" as they say. The wind was blowing so hard it blew my trademark pen (Bic roundstick, medium, blue) out of my ear. The water was very low. So low that the Snapping Turtle was making snow plow paths through the mud. Not good for the turtle, but good for the shorebirds. There were 25 Lesser Yellow Legs, 10 Greater YL, and 20 Pectoral Sandpipers within 20 yards of the boardwalk. I didn't have the camera with me because it was an unplanned trip. Besides, it was threatening to rain hard.

Which it did late on Thursday. Rain, that is. It rained alot. There was flooding all over the area. Highways were shut down on Friday, rivers overflowed their banks. Etc.

So, why did I think that Tinicum's water level wouldn't be affected. We went this morning with camera, scope, 2 dogs and 4 birdnerds. It was cold - and still blowin' a gale. I promised the girls breakfast at Nifty-Fifty's after the trip which is the only thing that kept them going. Anyway, we certainly didn't see any shorebirds. The water was so high that part of the boardwalk was inaccessible.

We walked around the other way and got to see our first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the fall season and a few terns whirling over the water. We noticed that one tern was much smaller and darker than the others. It was a Black Tern, which we really didn't expect to see at Tinicum. Here are photos - not very good, but we can certainly use them for ID purposes.

Black Tern - notice the gray wings, dark spot on shoulder, and no fork in the tail

Forster's Tern - overall white, black spot around eye, forked tail. It is also much larger than Black Tern

A Few More Photos and Weekend Prediction

2010-09-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share a few more photos with you from last weekend and share the CMBO weekend prediction. CMBO is predicting good weekend birding due to the miserable weather that has hung around all week which is keeping birds stationary up north. The weekend weather and winds are forecasted to be favorable for flights of hawks and songbirds. Check out their blog: View from the Cape for more updates.

Here are the photos of birds in flight from last weekend using the new lens. Remember, the new lens is only 400mm so I have to crop the photos to get them to look like birds:

Kestral carrying a dragonfly that is swooped down and plucked from the top of a phragmite

Osprey soaring right over us with Sharpie soaring higher (bottom edge of photo)

Peregrine Falcon with full crop (just ate something)

I couldn't resist photographing these swans flying in formation. You should have heard their wings whistling

Click on any image to enlarge. More soon.

We Sawra Sora

2010-09-26T21:42:00.001-04:00

I have seen text updates all week that include a Sora at Cape May State Park at the Lighthouse and warblers, and hawks and, and, and. Once again, I talked the girls into driving down to Cape May after the Phillies game on Friday night so that we could be there bright and early. Biggie invited us to stay at her house, so all was set for a big day on Saturday. Oh, and I brought the new lens with me too.

After a long day of work, a Phillies game, and arriving at the shore at midnight, we were up and out of the house at 6:15 AM on Saturday morning. As soon as we walked out of the door, I knew that we were probably doomed due to the stiff wind coming out of the SOUTH. That means that birds migrating south for the winter would have to fly into a 20 MPH head wind. Which is NOT going to happen. Crap. The morning was basically a bust except for the delicious French toast breakfast.

Sunday morning was much better. We awoke to winds out of the East North East so we got good songbird flight at the Higbee dike and went to the Hawkwatch platform to see if hawks were moving. Boy, were they ever. We counted plenty of raptors of 9 species. But the big find of the day was the Sora. Here is a photo taken with my new lens at 400mm (I added a red arrow to help you find it):

We met a guy on the boardwalk who was specifically searching for the Sora because he had never seen one before. Barbara found the bird with her new super scope by scanning the other side of the pond slowly. Then, bam, she says "Oh, here's the Sora". It took her like 2 minutes and some good luck. I cropped the original image with Photoshop to try to show you what it looked like in the scope:

More about the new lens and some more photos later. I'm exhausted and going to bed.

Quick Camera Update

2010-09-23T09:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for your comments on my latest camera/lens dilemma. Here is an update - I took the lens back to NY Camera and Video. The owner sent one of his staff outside with me to shoot some test photos:

My Canon 40D with my Sigma 150-500mm OS lens = out of focus images at all OS settings 0,1,2. Better with manual focus than with autofocus
My Canon 40D with another Sigma lens = slightly better images but still not acceptable at all settings.
Canon D7 with my Sigma lens = better images, but still not sharp at all settings
My Canon 40D with Canon 100-400mm lens = sharp images at all settings

I returned the Sigma and purchased the Canon which was my intent all along. The only reason I purchased the Sigma was because 3 sales people at NYCV told me that the Sigma would be sharper. Not true. The good news is that NYCV stood by the sale, gave me good customer service and also gave me the original discount of $75 because I had rented the Canon 100-400mm last month.

I'll post photos this weekend. We are off to Cape May for fall warblers and hawks. Wish us luck.

Stay At Home Weekend

2010-09-19T20:43:00.000-04:00

I can't remember the last weekend that Connie and I spent home - together. We had half a plan to go to Cape May on Saturday. But even with the tweets and blog posts from CMBO reporting incredible amounts of migrating Monarch butterflies (click the link for awesome photos and report) and good amounts of warblers, the trip just seemed like too much.

Instead, we went to Lake Galena and Pine Run Reservoir on Saturday morning, then over to Lori and Tara's neighborhood yard sale. Peace Valley was a bust for warblers, but we got a great view of White-eyed Vireo. The yard sale was pretty good. Of course Connie bought some stuff. Then we went to NY Camera and Video and walked out with a new camera lens. A Sigma 150-500mm Optical Stabilized zoom lens.

Today, we took the lens to Palmyra Cove Nature Park right at the base of Tacony Palmyra Bridge. We saw 44 species and had a front row seat to a Yellow-billed Cuckoo show. I shot 100+ photos of the bird. Only one is sort of OK. Sort of. I'm really disappointed. I'm taking the lens back to the store this week. What do you think?

We also saw Philadelphia Vireo for the second weekend in a row. You can really tell the difference between Red-eyed and Philadelphia when you see them both in the same tree. The Philadelphia is smaller, plumper, and has more yellow up on the throat. Here are photos for comparison (again, just barely in focus with the new lens):

Philadelphia Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Hawk Mountain 2010

2010-09-14T14:53:00.000-04:00

For those of you keeping track of this type of thing, we (The Birdnerds) did not get to Hawk Mountain last year at all. After probably 20+ years of annual pilgrimage to the world's first hawk sanctuary, we just didn't make it there. We didn't go there even though they engraved a bench at the ampitheater with my Dad's name - thanks to the generosity of people who donated on his behalf when he died. We still didn't go. Well, we couldn't stand for that 2 years in a row, now could we? No. We went on Saturday. I had a 102 degree fever and strep throat, but we went anyway.

Lori and I were at the parking lot at 7:15 AM because we know that Hawk Mountain is really "Warbler Mountain" in the fall. We were hoping for early morning songbirds and found them at South Lookout almost right away. We also had a close encounter of the Sharpie variety while agonizing up the rocky trail. We heard and saw about 6 Blue Jays squawking and darting at something. We heard the ferocious call of the Sharp-shinned Hawk (more like a squeeking mouse really) and saw the hawk trying to avoid the Jays by flying in and out of the trees all around us. Pretty neat. That lasted a good 20 minutes - which is the amount of time it took us to move about 200 yards due to my diminished capacity (feeling sorry for me yet?).

Up on North Lookout, there were pretty much no hawks. This is typical of our recent trips. Beautiful day, light winds, no hawks. We sat there and sat there. Nothing. Then, along came really nice sight - my 10 year old nephew Brendan with giant binoculars ready to see some birds (along with Di, Barbara, and our new nerd Amy). It's a good thing Brendan showed up because the hawks started to show up too! We got really great views of 3 Bald Eagles, a Kestral, and a Merlin. The Merlin circled us a few times just to make sure we all got a good look. 2 of the Eagles locked talons for a few seconds and spun around in mid-air as if to show off. We also saw plenty of Broad-winged Hawks soaring by. Here is the link to the day's total Brendan did a great job with his binoculars. I think he studied before the trip (some of the Birdnerds should try that approach sometime). I hope Brendan continues to join us on our annual trip.

If you haven't been to Hawk Mountain - you should go. It's a pilgrimage that all birders need to take at least once. The history of raptor conservation starts here, it's a terrific day of hiking, and the hawkwatching isn't bad either - unless the Birdnerds are there, so go on another day.

Here are some photos of Red-tailed Hawk from a previous trip to Hawk Mountain:

Same bird, in a "stoop" which means that the wings are folded back and they are diving at a high rate of speed - usually after a tasty rabbit or mouse or something:

Hopefully, I'll get over this sickness before the weekend and be able to get out somewhere.