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9 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘Bonaparte’s gull’
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
 Bald eagle (and vapor trail). The day dawned cool and bright. OK, cold and bright. Low double-digits (F) to start, with temperatures rising no higher than about 20. A punch-packing wind. I had Saturday errands, during which I saw crows, heard a titmouse, saw gulls and pigeons, got a little shivery.
 Iceland gull and black-headed gull. My friend Kristen had some time today, so we decided to make a quick circuit of a few winter birding hot-spots around the county—hot-spots as determined by local birder extraordinaire Don Reimer. Just as we were leaving my place, I spotted a tight bunch of crows on the wing, all swooping together behind my building.
“Must be a hawk,” I said—or something like that. Got out of the car with my camera just as a big handsome redtail soared up amid the cacaphony of crows. In my hurry to capture the image I hit a stray button, and by the time I was able to focus on the scene, the scene had moved off behind the trees and powerlines and into the bright, yellow, southern sky. Frustrating. Much like the owl last night.
 Nine bald eagles. But we headed down to Owls Head Harbor, where I’d seen iceland and black-headed gulls a few weeks ago. Well, there they were again, riding the frigid, wind-whipped air above the harbor or wading in the chill waters of mid-tide. Buffleheads, loons, crows, herring gulls, ring-bills, mallards, some bird I saw through fieldglasses flapping low along the far flats—it seemed to fly like an ibis or heron but might’ve been a crow. At one point, a huge cloud of crows rose in the distance above the trees. We figured they were returning from harassing some raptor or other. Soon after, an adult bald eagle flapped nonchalantly away from that general vicinity.
Next stop, the Owls Head Light. In the wind-whipped whitecaps below the rugged promontory we saw a horned grebe, a long-tailed duck, and the continual, mirage-like passage of Bonaparte’s gulls—their long wings flapping gracefully and purposefully back and forth above the wild waves. Below, at the frigid wind-blown cove, more Bonaparte’s and a solitary female merganser bobbing near a spray-splashed rock. The giant thicket of rugosa there still held last fall’s rose hips.
 European starling. We headed to the Keag in South Thomaston, where the tide pushes and pulls to and from the Weskeag Marsh via a narrow bridge, and saw a good number of Canada geese. Next we took Buttermilk Lane to the marsh itself, which yielded another redtail keeping watch from a tree at the northern edge and a raven flying solo high in the blue. Just after leaving, I spotted a small bird flitting amid the remnants of the marsh plants alongside the road. We pulled over. The bird flitted out onto the shoulder—some kind of sparrow. Again, my camera failed me. (It looked like a song sparrow.)
Then off to Route 1 in Warren, where Mainely Poultry’s famed winter eagle population seems never to disappoint. We counted a couple dozen of the big birds—most of them adults, seemed like—and saw at least a dozen more off in the trees beyond. Also a couple more redtails and a rabid flock of starlings.
Finally down to Warren’s Main Street, with its bridge across the St. George River. Don has spotted Barrow’s goldeneyes and an American wigeon in the water below the bridge; all we saw were many mallards. Then again, the icy, knifing wind prevented us from truly putting our hearts into it.
At one point, Kristen said, “Blue jay.” I missed the jay. Her list of species today is one bird longer than mine.
Today’s List
American crow
Tufted titmouse
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
Red-tailed hawk
Mallard
Common loon
Bufflehead
Iceland gull
Black-headed gull
Bald eagle
Black-capped chickadee
Horned grebe
Long-tailed duck
Bonaparte’s gull
Red-breasted merganser
Common raven
Sparrow (sp? song?)
European starling
House sparrow
 Owls Head Light.
Tags: American crow, bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, black-headed gull, Bonaparte's gull, bufflehead, common loon, common raven, European starling, herring gull, horned grebe, house sparrow, iceland gull, long-tailed duck, mallard, red-breasted merganser, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
 American crow. There shouldn’t be so many crows. I know this. I tend to ignore it, because I like crows. They’re smart—maybe the smartest wild bird—and their language fascinates me. I sometimes obsess over their language. For instance, they’ve got this particular call: two caws, a pause, and two more caws. I’ve also heard a simple five-caw call; this is a five-caw call without the middle caw. What does it mean?
But there are too many. Something’s amiss. Something’s out of balance.
I don’t pretend to know what it is. I just know I have an eye (and an ear?) for balance, so I know imbalance when I see it (hear it?). Something’s out of kilter. Some pattern’s gone akimbo.
The comforting thing is, Nature will abide. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes there’s suffering. But in the long run, Nature will restore the balance. It might mean extinction. It might mean—will probably mean—sorrowful loss of life. But Nature will smooth things over eventually.
 Gulls at Clam Cove. Today, as usual, the first bird I counted was a crow. I heard the caw of an American crow soon after awakening, in fact—from bed. An hour or so later, out on the frigid, sun-splashed deck, I heard a black-capped chickadee. An hour or two after that, I heard a goldfinch and house sparrow up the road from me. I think the new tenants of a neighboring rental place must’ve hung a feeder.
This late-afternoon, while driving up to the Rockport Village post office, I looked over the guardrail to Clam Cove and saw a cloud of small gulls flapping actively in the dwindling, angular sunlight. At that moment, I decided to walk that shore on my return. And so I did. It was cold, windy. The sun was just about to set. It must’ve been low tide. I nearly slid down the snowy bank—just barely caught myself. Great plates of ice lay at odd angles on the flat amid crunchy masses of seaweed and rocks and empty clamshells. Away at the edge of the tide were herring gulls, black-backed gulls, and dozens of little gulls—many of them the same Bonaparte’s gulls I saw there a couple days ago, no doubt. Although I’m sure it’s a common sight at this season, I’d personally never seen so many small gulls together. They were half the size of the herring gulls. I took some photos.
Off in the waters at the opposite bank of the cove I saw a good number of ducks too distant to identify. I imagine them to have been black ducks, maybe goldeneyes and buffleheads, maybe a merganser or two. The sun was going down. The wind came gusting from the southwest. It was cold.
The temperature stuck in the 20s (F) all day. Tonight, the sky is clear and the stars are vivid. I feel like I might reach up and touch Orion.
Today’s List
American crow
Black-capped chickadee
Hairy woodpecker
American goldfinch
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
Bonaparte’s gull
Greater black-backed gull
 Clam Cove, Rockport, Maine, 01 February 2010.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Bonaparte's gull, greater black-backed gull, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, ring-billed gull
Posted in Lists, Observations | 2 Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
 The bay. My temperamental weather station showed things got a bit chilly last night—down at least to 5 degrees (F). Still single digits at first light, but apparently none of the whipping winds of yesterday. Sunny. An achingly blue sky. From the back deck I heard the voices of crows, chickadees, and a downy woodpecker.
On a trip to town, I counted the usual herring and ring-billed gulls and saw a single European starling in flight.
 Horned grebe. Then, despite the cold, my birding friend Kristen and I ventured out to the breakwater not long after high tide, where rime ice coated most of it granite surface. Somewhat surprisingly, several other couples and groups hazarded a Saturday walk along the narrow strip of ice-free stone. And there was wind—there’s always wind—but relatively light and northwesterly. The stroll out wasn’t too bad. On either side we saw loons, great cormorants, long-tailed ducks, eiders. We saw buffleheads, goldeneyes, mallards, guillemots. Kristen quickly ID’d a horned grebe in winter plumage. Herring gulls, of course.
On the way back we headed more or less straight into the wind. Despite my hat, hood, and scarf, my ears and forehead grew numb in a hurry. But once we’d covered about three-fourths of a mile, we’d reached the lee of the shore, and my face thawed. In fact, we took a little side trip northeast, to a little cove we visit during our area’s annual Christmas Count, to check on a pair of red-breasted mergansers and a group of black ducks.
 Red-breasted merganser (♀), bufflehead, black duck. But the most impressive sight came as we drove back, at Clam Cove—a wide tidal flat just a stone’s throw from my place. The tide was going out, and a dozens of crows stalked the icy mud together, poking around for grub. And if the crow party below caught our attention, so did a similarly large collection of small gulls floating far out in the open water: Bonaparte’s gulls, maybe sixty of them. They were pretty far away, but they appeared to have their heads tucked under their wings, snoozing.
Humans, loons, long-tails, black ducks, crows, gulls—all going about their Saturday business in the company of like-minded individuals. Not that I’d describe cold January as miserable, exactly, but it does seem true that most species do love company. (Ironically, I got one photo that features three wildly different ducks.)
After our walk, as Kristen headed home, I heard the spring warble of a house finch coming from across the road.
Today’s List
American crow
Black-capped chickadee
Downy woodpecker
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
European starling
Mallard
Common loon
Bufflehead
Common goldeneye
Greater black-backed gull
Common eider
Horned grebe
Black guillemot
Long-tailed duck
Great cormorant
Black duck
Red-breasted merganser
Bonaparte’s gull
House finch
 Crows and Clam Cove.
Tags: American crow, black duck, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, Bonaparte's gull, bufflehead, common eider, common goldeneye, common loon, downy woodpecker, European starling, great cormorant, greater black-backed gull, herring gull, horned grebe, house finch, long-tailed duck, mallard, red-breasted merganser, ring-billed gull
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
 Iceland gull (immature). This must be what they call a January thaw. Just a gorgeous day today, sunny and warm. Well, sunny starting about late morning, after an early glowing overcast, but warm—well up into the 40s (F)—for much of the day. After a few Saturday errands, I couldn’t resist chasing down some birds.
I say “chasing down,” because Don Reimer had already spotted them. And if Don can’t lay claim to the title of No. 1 Local Birder, I have no clue who can. Yesterday he reported kittiwakes, razorbills, and northern shrikes at the Owls Head Light, black-headed and iceland gulls at Owls Head Harbor, a great blue heron at Weskeag Marsh, and a slew of uncommon ducks in Warren Village. So I jumped in my pickup and headed for Owls Head.
 Black-headed gull preening. I drove first to the lighthouse park. The early afternoon sunlight had turned things vividly colorful. I saw eiders afloat, Bonaparte’s gulls in flight, red-breasted mergansers and long-tailed ducks and guillemots in the bay, but no kittiwakes, razorbills or shrikes. I did hear a raven. And you can hardly match the view from the light of the inland hills.
Next I drove the short distance to Owls Head Harbor. As I pulled in, I spotted a few other birders already scanning the waves. They, too, had seen Don’s report—and in fact had already spotted the gulls over at the nearby lobster pound. I walked over and saw them, too. A couple, possibly three black-headed gulls, and at least a pair of icelands. Both species posed on pilings, and the iceland obliged me with a good look on the wing. I also counted buffleheads, loons, mallards, and herring gulls.
Then I figured I’d swing by Weskeag, but I honestly didn’t expect to see a solitary great blue heron in all those acres. Wrong: there he was, just standing there preening. I followed someone’s footprints down the slope, snapping photos. When I got near enough to bother the bird, it flew off into some shadows a safe distance away.
Finally, I figured I’d take a quick hike up Beech Hill. En route, I spied a red-tailed hawk on a power pole off Old County Road.
 Great blue heron at Weskeag Marsh. I half expected to see yesterday’s barred owl at the wooded trailhead, but I didn’t. The air remained warm, and the snow on the trail had gone soft enough to slip beneath my feet. Coming up the lower trail, I kept hearing slight single calls that sounded something like golden-crowned kinglets, but I saw nothing. Then, nearing the top, I heard a soft rapping—a downy woodpecker. And soon after, there came the high call again, and a small bird flitted to the trunk of a tree not twenty feet away. I didn’t get a great look, but it appeared to be a brown creeper. And there, another one higher up on a trunk just beyond. As they zipped from trunk to limb, I snapped off some photos; I could confirm it later from the blurry images: creepers.
The hike was exhilarating. I spotted numerous trails of turkeys, like wavy dotted lines in the snow, all heading to what must be a roosting spot amid tangles near the summit. I saw deer tracks. And coming down, a ruffed grouse exploded out of a thicket off the trail.
 Great blue heron. Today’s List
1. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
2. American crow
3. Herring gull
4. Ring-billed gull
5. Rock pigeon
6. Common eider
7. Black guillemot
8. Bonaparte’s gull
9. Long-tailed duck
10. Red-breasted merganser
11. Common raven
12. Black-headed gull
13. Iceland gull
14. Common loon
15. Mallard
16. Bufflehead
17. Great blue heron
18. Red-tailed hawk
19. Downy woodpecker
20. Brown creeper
21. Ruffed grouse
 The coastal hills, from Owls Head Light.
Tags: American crow, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, black-headed gull, Bonaparte's gull, brown creeper, bufflehead, common eider, common loon, common raven, downy woodpecker, great blue heron, herring gull, iceland gull, long-tailed duck, mallard, red-breasted merganser, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, ruffed grouse
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
 Male long-tailed duck. Another absolutely cloudless morning. In fact, the sunlight angling across the bay began to warm things quickly—from about 14 degrees (F) first thing to a bit above freezing in afternoon. Filling the air were the voices of the crows that flapped across the road, stalked the neighbor’s driveway, perched for a moment in the leafless lilacs. The sky remained a perfect blue all day.
 Bonaparte's gull. From the deck, I watched a herring gull hurrying north as if late for an appointment. On a trip to town, I saw ring-billed gulls and rock doves and exactly seven starlings in a tree. The day remained calm, the air seemed warm. On the way back to the office, I decided to walk the breakwater.
Tide headed out. Mallards in the shallows. A few humans walking the great granite stones. Right away I spotted common goldeneyes and a loon. From somewhere came the chuckling yodels of long-tailed ducks. Then I heard a faint high-pitched whistling in the direction of the islands—a sound I soon recognized as the voice of a guillemot. Through my long lens I spotted three of them; one had something to say.
 Harbor seal. Herring gulls dropped urchins on the flat stone surfaces, as usual. I saw a great cormorant and a red-breasted merganser on the wing. Twice I caught sight of the flight of bonaparte’s gulls. On the return trip, a pair of long-tailed ducks came near. And sunning themselves on small tidal rocks offshore were three harbor seals.
I write this at night. In the still clear air just a minute ago, the stars of Orion and Sirius seemed as bright as they’ve ever been.
Today’s List
1. American crow
2. Herring gull
3. Ring-billed gull
4. European starling
5. Mallard
6. Common goldeneye
7. Common loon
8. Long-tailed duck
9. Black guillemot
10. Common eider
11. Bonaparte’s gull
12. Black duck
13. Red-breasted merganser
14. Great cormorant
 Herring gull with urchin.
Tags: American crow, black duck, black guillemot, Bonaparte's gull, common eider, common goldeneye, common loon, European starling, great cormorant, herring gull, long-tailed duck, mallard, red-breasted merganser, ring-billed gull
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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| Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson |
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