|
|
 |
|
|
Posts Tagged ‘snowy egret’
Thursday, May 19th, 2016
 Bathing Chestnut-sided Warbler. On the side of a small hill
in a crease well trodden by the feet of humans
lies a hollow in the ledge
where water collects, even during dry spells,
attracting birds.
 Eastern Towhee. They come to drink, they come
to bathe—especially to bathe, especially
during dry spells—warblers
and catbirds and sparrows large and small.
Especially warblers.
Like the spring-bright-colorful
Chestnut-sided Warbler that found its way there
this morning and paused to dip
and splash and flutter its wings in the water.
So sweet and distracting
was this bird’s bath that
he didn’t notice the man and dog approaching.
They stopped not ten feet away
where the man took a picture of the bathing bird
to save for a rainy, wistful day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:15 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird
2. Chestnut-sided Warbler**
3. Wild Turkey (v)
4. American Redstart
5. Blue-headed Vireo**
6. Eastern Towhee
7. American Goldfinch*
8. Veery
9. Black-capped Chickadee**
10. Gray Catbird*
11. American Crow*
12. Common Yellowthroat
13. Black-and-white Warbler
14. Pileated Woodpecker** (v)
15. Mourning Dove* (v)
16. Empidonax (sp.—possibly Least Flycatcher)
17. Northern Parula (v)
18. Yellow Warbler
19. Northern Flicker (v)
20. Field Sparrow (v)
21. Song Sparrow**
22. Eastern Phoebe*
23. Tree Swallow
24. American Robin*
25. Savannah Sparrow
26. Purple Finch (v)
27. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
28. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
29. Chipping Sparrow
30. Broad-winged Hawk
31. White-breasted Nuthatch* (v)
32. Nashville Warbler (v)
33. Black-throated Green Warbler
34. Swainson’s Thrush
35. Osprey
36. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
37. Herring Gull
38. Northern Cardinal
39. European Starling
40. Common Grackle
41. Rock Pigeon
42. Snowy Egret
43. Mallard
44. Red-winged Blackbird
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue-headed vireo, broad-winged hawk, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, Empidonax flycatcher, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, snowy egret, song sparrow, Swainson's thrush, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, wild turkey, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations, Photo, Poem | No Comments »
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
 Red-tailed hawk (Weskeag Marsh). Jack and I slept late. It’s Saturday, after all, and I’m fighting off the Lyme disease bacterium. OK, so the meds have pretty much fought it off already—but still. A man’s gotta sleep sometime.
 Blue-headed vireo (Beech Hill). But hit the hill we did, just a little late. Sun was out. A little breezy. Crickets singing, and cicadas. A couple monarchs and other butterflies. Just a hint of fall ion the air, along with a few red leaves. And birds. Pretty many birds.
First to call was a hairy woodpecker, and then a few of the usual suspects, and then a black-billed cuckoo, and then we startled a partridge. As the trail opened up, where we came upon alder flycatchers yesterday, today we came upon phoebes. My friend Kristen says flycatchers migrate together, so maybe this is what’s going on.
Then, surprisingly, a field sparrow hopped over to harangue us for a while. It’s funny. You hear their musical song in spring and early summer, but you can’t get near enough for a photo. Then, once they nest and (presumably) have young to defend, they seek you out and get close. This is the second such bird I’ve photographed on these terms of his, not mine.
 Field sparrow (Beech Hill). Down toward Beech Hill Road, I heard some chickadees and so began to scan the hardwoods—chickadees often being the indicator of other, quieter species flitting about, I’ve learned. Sure enough, I spotted a parula among them, along with a chestnut-sided warbler and a couple I couldn’t identify.
Then I heard the strange, very soft warbling sound I’d heard down there before without seeing its source. But this time I did: a blue-headed vireo. I still sort of shake my head at how different the soft warble is from its typical call, but there you go.
 Bobolink (Weskeag Marsh). Nothing much else on Beech Hill, but at high tide this early afternoon I met my friends Kristen and Paul at Weskeag Marsh in south Thomaston, the idea being that shorebirds would be moving through. Well, rather oddly, we saw very few shorebirds moving through. There were some least sandpipers and yellowlegs. There were snowy and great egrets. There were a pair or three red-tailed hawks. A great-blue heron. And—curiously, to me—a bobolink way out in the pannes. But no great clouds of shorebirds. A lonesome merlin flew over, even, looking similarly baffled at the dearth of wheeling flocks birds.
It was beautiful down there, though. Photogenic clouds in a summer-blue sky, and a red-tail up there soaring.
 Least sandpiper (Weskeag Marsh). Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Eastern towhee (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat
6. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
7. White-throated sparrow
8. Ruffed grouse (flushed, voice)
9. Eastern phoebe
10. Field sparrow
11. Gray catbird
12. American crow
13. Cedar waxwing
14. Song sparrow
15. Mourning dove
16. Savannah sparrow
17. Blue jay
18. American goldfinch
19. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
20. Blue-headed vireo
21. Tufted titmouse
22. Northern parula
23. Chestnut-sided warbler
 Greater yellowlegs (Weskeag Marsh). Weskeag Marsh List
Arrived at 2:15 p.m., walked the pannes.
24. Northern shoveler
25. Herring gull
26. Snowy egret
27. Red-tailed hawk
28. Great egret
29. Merlin
30. Least sandpiper
31. Bobolink
32. Greater yellowlegs
33. Lesser yellowlegs
34. Great blue heron
35. Double-crested cormorant
Elsewhere
36. House sparrow
 Weskeag Marsh.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, bobolink, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great blue heron, great egret, greater yellowlegs, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, least sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, merlin, mourning dove, northern parula, northern shoveler, red-eyed vireo, red-tailed hawk, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, snowy egret, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
 American redstart (first-year male). The day started out pretty early. Another Friday morning bicycle ride through Camden, Lincolnville, and Hope. Four of us on this morning’s ride, which took us up through low-lying mist into higher sunlight, then back again. As on the last two early Friday mornings, I saw and heard—mostly heard—a lot of birds. Today, most notably: a Canada goose (at Megunticook Lake, where we started), a common loon (calling somewhere along the route), ten warblers, four flycatchers, and three thrushes. Thirty-seven species over the course of eighteen miles.
 Chestnut-sided warbler. Immediately afterward, Jack and I hiked Beech Hill, as usual. Somewhat foggy still, with clouds hanging low over the inland hills and bay islands. Few species at first, although a white-tailed deer loped through the woods about fifty yards in front of us, left to right, causing us both to stop and gape. But then the birds began to sing and fly, and by the end of our hike of the wooded trail, I’d counted thirty (only four not on my bike list). Notably, I kept walking into tiny filaments that some worm or spider had strung across the trail—seemingly always at the level of my face. About the tenth or fifteenth of these, and I broke down and said, “Damn it.” Not proud of that.
This afternoon, the sun emerged, and I took another bike ride. Starling, grackle, herring gull. Then about a quarter to six, I had a call from a fellow birder asking if I’d like to photograph Wilson’s phalaropes at Weskeag Marsh. Turns out I did—so I drove over and got a couple distant shots. I hadn’t been there in several weeks. The pannes were full, the marsh green and lush. Yellowthroats called, a snowy egret flew in, black ducks and mallards dabbled, and there were flyovers by great a blue herons and an osprey.
All in all, a multifarious kind of day.
Early Morning Bike Ride
(Knox and Waldo counties; not in order of sighting.)
1. Canada goose
2. Mallard
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. American redstart (voice)
5. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Common yellowthroat (voice)
8. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
9. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
10. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
11. Blackburnian warbler (voice)
12. Nashville warbler (voice)
13. Red-winged blackbird
14. Common grackle
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
17. Alder flycatcher (voice)
18. Eastern kingbird
19. American robin
20. Wood thrush (voice)
21. Veery (voice)
22. American goldfinch
23. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
24. Black-capped chickadee
25. Tufted titmouse (voice)
26. Northern flicker
27. Song sparrow
28. Chipping sparrow (voice)
29. Common loon (voice)
30. American crow
31. Blue jay (voice)
32. Northern cardinal (voice)
33. Cedar waxwing
34. Mourning dove
35. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
36. Tree swallow
37. Gray catbird
 American redstart. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Red-eyed vireo
Chestnut-sided warbler
Ovenbird
Black-capped chickadee
American goldfinch
Rose-breasted grosbeak
American redstart
38. Eastern towhee
Cedar waxwing
Gray catbird
39. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
Alder flycatcher
Black-and-white warbler
Song sparrow
Common yellowthroat
Nashville warbler
Yellow warbler
Mourning dove
Eastern phoebe
Tree swallow
40. Field sparrow
41. Savannah sparrow
American crow
Veery
Tufted titmouse
Black-throated green warbler
American robin
Northern flicker
Black-throated blue warbler
Eastern wood-pewee
 Wilson's phalaropes, Weskeag Marsh. Weskeag Marsh
Mallard
42. Black duck
43. Great blue heron
44. Wilson’s phalarope*
45. Snowy egret*
46. Killdeer
47. Greater yellowlegs (voice)*
48. Osprey
Elsewhere
49. House sparrow
50. European starling
51. Herring gull
*First-of-year bird.
 Rockport Harbor mist.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black duck, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common loon, common yellowthroat, eastern kingbird, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great blue heron, greater yellowlegs, herring gull, house sparrow, killdeer, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, snowy egret, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, Wilson's phalarope, wood thrush, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
|
|
| |
| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
|
|
