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18 May 2013
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘song sparrow’
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
 Ovenbird. This early morning, clouds covered the rising sun, but within the hour—as Jack and I had just about emerged at the summit of Beech Hill—the clouds moved away, and the sun emerged just as I got a good look at an ovenbird. It popped out onto a branch in the newly filtered sunlight (sunlight filtered by new spring leaves) and posed for pictures. Photographing it was a joy.
 Black-and-white warbler. Some time later—after I’d taken pictures of a lovely female black-and-white warbler posted in similarly filtered sunlight—I got to ruminating about why I so love photographing birds.
Finding them is part of it, surely: the ancient instinct of the hunt, the magical combination of skill and good fortune. And part of it is the difficulty: the fact that you miss many more great shots than you capture merely good ones makes those good ones especially sweet.
But the largest part, it seemed to me as dog and I descended the trail, is the moment itself: the instant the bird’s eye flashes in the sunlight, the slight tilt of its head, the twitch of its meaningful crest, and that exact angle of sunlight, that particular blur of shadow that passes over its breast. It feels to me almost, as the whole world funnels through my camera lens and is beheld by my left eye, as if I’m stopping time.
Time, that miraculous, indescribable quantity—or quality, whatever the hell it is. It only leads one place for all of us.
 Rose-breasted grosbeak. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll just go on taking pictures of birds.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Black-throated green warbler
3. American robin**
4. Black-capped chickadee**
5. Blue jay
6. Hairy woodpecker (v)
7. Eastern towhee
8. Chestnut-sided warbler
9. Rose-breasted grosbeak
10. Herring gull*
11. Gray catbird
12. Black-and-white warbler
13. Mourning dove*
14. Common yellowthroat
15. Yellow warbler
16. Nashville warbler
17. American crow*
18. White-throated sparrow (v)
19. Common loon (v)
20. American goldfinch
21. Northern parula
22. Song sparrow**
23. Eastern phoebe (v)
24. Black-throated blue warbler
25. Yellow-rumped warbler
26. Blackpoll warbler (v)
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Tufted titmouse** (v)
29. Northern cardinal** (v)
30. Field sparrow (v)
31. Chipping sparrow (v)
32. American redstart (v)
33. Osprey
Elsewhere
34. House finch
35. European starling
36. Rock pigeon
37. House sparrow
38. Common grackle
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 blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common loon, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Monday, May 13th, 2013
 Ovenbird. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. In yesterday’s thick fog, I was kind of looking forward to today’s sunlight as more conducive to good bird photography—but what I didn’t count on was the cold and wind that accompanied the overnight clearing trend. I got fewer photos this morning than yesterday, even.
 Ruby-throated hummingbird. Missed a chestnut-sided warbler right in front of me. Got only a half-way decent shot of a first-of-year hummingbird. Had no chance at photographing a woodcock that flew clear across in front of me and Jack, from right to left, all the while illuminated by the sun behind us. But the warbler was lovely. I got a great look at the hummingbird. And the woodcock was a swift and handsome chestnut brown in the early morning light.
How little I’ve got to complain about, after all.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Black-throated green warbler** (v)
3. Eastern phoebe**
4. Eastern towhee
5. Cedar waxwing (v)
6. American robin**
7. American goldfinch (v)
8. Common raven (v)
9. Black-and-white warbler**
10. Hairy woodpecker (v)
11. American crow*
12. Blue jay** (v)
13. Northern parula** (v)
14. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
15. Chestnut-sided warbler
16. Northern cardinal** (v)
17. Herring gull*
18. Common yellowthroat
19. Gray catbird (v)
20. White-throated sparrow
21. Mourning dove*
22. Nashville warbler
23. Yellow warbler** (v)
24. Song sparrow**
25. Yellow-rumped warbler
26. Ruby-throated hummingbird
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Tufted titmouse** (v)
29. Purple finch (v)
30. American redstart (v)
31. Field sparrow
32. Chipping sparrow**
Elsewhere
33. House finch (v)
34. European starling
35. Rock pigeon
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, purple finch, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Sunday, May 12th, 2013
 White-throated sparrow. Another foggy morning, another wave of warblers. On the one hand, I love the miracle of migration—and, to me, it really is a miracle—but on the other hand, the photographer in me would’ve liked a little more light than what Jack and I encountered when we arrived at Beech Hill.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. But then I heard a yellowthroat and thought, A yellowthroat would look really good against a foggy green landscape, what with that yellowthroat and all. But the yellowthroat would not cooperate. Then, soon after, I heard a yellow warbler, whose extreme yellowness would really look good against the fog—and sure enough, one hopped up onto a little branch not a dozen feet away! But I missed the shot, and it hopped away. Disappointing.
But then, down at the Beech Hill Road parking lot, a mini-fallout was going on in the trees. Black-and-whites, redstarts, parulas, black-throated blues, black-throated greens, even a (first-of-year) blackpoll. I thought a black-throated green or redstart would look especially good in the low-light conditions—and as Jack and I stood there still under the trees, a bright red-and-black male redstart landed on a conifer bow not eight feet in front of me. I couldn’t raise my camera quickly enough. Disappointing.
But I then a colorful male white-throated sparrow popped up. At least I got his portrait. And also a yell0w-rump or two. And, too, there’s the knowledge that there’ll be a few more days of migration, and that some of them are bound to be sunny, and that I feel sure I’ll get a yellow or two, a few yellowthroats, and maybe even a redstart or black-throated blue.
 Black-throated green warbler. Coming down the wooded trail, first I heard its voice and then I spotted it flitting in the trees: a prairie warbler. No disappointment there.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Eastern towhee
2. Ovenbird**
3. Black-throated green warbler**
4. Northern parula
5. American robin**
6. Black-capped chickadee**
7. Veery (v)
8. American crow*
9. American goldfinch (v)
10. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
11. Black-and-white warbler**
12. Cedar waxwing (v)
13. Yellow warbler**
14. Mourning dove*
15. White-throated sparrow
16. Gray catbird (v)
17. Herring gull*
18. Hermit thrush (v)
19. Common yellowthroat
20. Nashville warbler (v)
21. Yellow-rumped warbler
22. Song sparrow**
23. Eastern phoebe
24. Savannah sparrow
25. Tufted titmouse** (v)
26. Northern cardinal** (v)
27. Chipping sparrow
28. Black-throated blue warbler
29. American redstart
30. Blackpoll warbler
31. Hairy woodpecker
32. Field sparrow (v)
33. Prairie warbler
Elsewhere
34. House finch (v)
35. European starling
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, prairie warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
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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