Afternoon at Rockland Harbor.
Spring must be upon us. Within minutes of first stepping out this morning—two minutes, tops—I heard or saw (mostly heard) nine species: house finch, black-capped chickadee, northern cardinal, downy woodpecker, American crow, American robin, herring gull, American goldfinch, blue jay. Within another ten or fifteen minutes, I added tufted titmouse and mourning dove to the list. You could tell we’d have another mild, spring-like winter day.
Northern cardinal, singing.
At the noon hour, dog and I walked the open Beech Hill trail again. There was some wind up there—northwest wind, seemed like—but the warmth of the day tempered its effect. I heard a titmouse up there also, and chickadees, and some crows. I had hopes of hawks or bluebirds, but the hopes were unfounded. Or dashed. Or whatever it is hopes get when things don’t pan out.
[Aside: I did find out my newly adopted red heeler is a herder for sure. As we descended, when a woman with pair of short-legged dogs approached from down the trail, he lowered his head, lowered his body, fixed his stare, slowed his pace, and ended up frozen as low to the ground as possible, entirely focused on the dogs. It was thrilling.]
Harbor seal.
A couple hours later, I took to the bike and rode my daily 14 miles—which proved eventful. First, in Rockland, I heard ring-billed gulls and saw rock pigeons wheeling overhead. Then I heard a house finch. Then, up toward Rockport Village, I heard the chew-wink of a red-winged blackbird and the unmistakably shrill whistle of a brown-headed cowbird. At one point, I saw a loose flock of passerines flapping across Route 1 in a southwesterly directly; robins, is what I made them out to be.
And at 5 p.m., I decided to take dog to the breakwater. The temperature was still 60 (F), I bet. Still, with the wind, I wore a hooded sweatshirt.
Seal and gull.
I probably needn’t have. True, there was a stout breeze from the northern edge of the harbor side—but plenty of people had the same idea I’d had, and a few wore far less clothing.
Right away I spotted a pair of mallards at the little beach. Beyond them, a few red-breasted mergansers. And beyond them, a common loon. Then I heard geese and turned to see a small vee descend over in the area of the Samoset Resort golf course. Out toward the islands, I saw a couple of dark shapes in the water, trained my binocs on them, and realized they weren’t water birds but the heads of a pair of seals. And then I saw the full body of another—a light-colored one perched on a rock emerging from the tide. When a herring gull approached, it raised its head as if to challenge the bird.
Farther on were eiders. Then I heard peeping voices and peered down into the bay-side rocks and seaweed—sure enough, a couple spotted sandpipers were hanging around down there. At the end of the breakwater, I saw only a single pair of long-tailed ducks veering around toward the islands.
Driving back home before sunset, I spotted a flock of small birds flying up into the crown of a roadside tree. Stopped the pickup, got out, saw that they were blackbirds. Their voices tipped them off: redwings, grackles, and at least one brown-headed cowbird.
Mallards.
Today’s List
House finch
Black-capped chickadee
Northern cardinal
Downy woodpecker
American crow
American robin
Herring gull
American goldfinch
Blue jay
Tufted titmouse
Mourning dove
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
House sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Mallard
Red-breasted merganser
Common loon
Canada goose
Common eider
Purple sandpiper
Long-tailed duck
Common grackle
Also notable: harbor seal.
Evening tide.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, common eider, common grackle, common loon, downy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, long-tailed duck, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, purple sandpiper, red-breasted merganser, red-winged blackbird, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse
And the bird list grows longer day by day… :)
BTW, Ava says her part Australian cattle dog also herds things just like Jack. There’s a farm near her house in Appleton where they train herders on flocks of sheep and geese. You should bring Jack!