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Posts Tagged ‘common eider’
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
 American redstart. Up at dawn. Windy still but cold, with a painfully blue sky. Took a solo walk through town. Didn’t see much—rusty blackbirds, nuthatches in the spruces, a couple merlins flying over. I was watching sleeping ducks at the ice pond when firecracker explosions from the harbor announced the beginning of lobstering season and woke up the ducks in a hurry. Then I climbed the lighthouse hill and with the sunrise behind me looked down at Manana for a little while.
 Palm warbler. After breakfast I spent a while photographing a redstart in an apple tree, which at one point also got a visit from a ruby-crowned kinglet. Then we all headed to town to see our friends Amy and Charlie off into the whitecaps on the early boat. On our return, Kristen, Bill, and I ran into a birding-tour group whose binoculars were trained on an “empid” (empidonax flycatcher). It turned out to be a least flycatcher. Afterward we sashayed over behind the school, where chippies were hanging out with a dickcissel, and up again to the ice pond, where waded a solitary sandpiper, we saw a blue grosbeak, and Kristen got her elusive (albeit common) black-throated green warbler. It seemed strange to be walking under such an empty sky.
But that sky would be great for flyovers, Bill predicted. And he was right. Falcons and sharpies, a northern harrier, a Canada goose. We also saw ravens—and the others spotted a small, flapping flock of great blue herons.
 Ruby-crowned kinglet. I’d booked passage on the 12:30 boat, but as boarding time neared we heard that island birding patriarch Tom Martin had a dead peregrine up on his porch. Right away we all knew what bird that’d be: yesterday’s young, sick male. Tom called us over, and we took a quick side-trip to see the bird. He held the dead thing up by its wings. A lovely young bird. And, sure enough, it had the band. The bird’s plumage was beautiful close up. Somebody found it on a porch nearby and brought it over to Tom (who is 89 himself). I don’t think it’d been dead long.
 Least flycatcher. There’s also been juvenile great black-backed gull with a broken wing on the island. It hangs around near the road, and people have been feeding it donuts. I don’t expect it’ll last much longer. There’s the mourning dove here with the missing tail. Once or twice on every trip here I see a collection of feathers where a hawk has dined. We saw the carcass of a black-back on the rocks below the wharf this morning.
Every living thing dies. Birds’ lives are short. Still, I felt saddened about the falcon.
The trip back had some bounce in it but was nice and swift. I lugged my stuff to the pickup and headed for home. The inshore world seems so cosmopolitan after a week on a Maine island—all the cars and trucks and motorcycles driving so fast. Still, I couldn’t help but look forward to seeing Jack, my dog, again.
Then coming through Rockland, nearing home, I found myself suddenly behind an old pickup which, I couldn’t help but notice, had a dead moose in its bed.
 Tom Martin holds a dead peregrine. Monhegan List
(Not in order of sighting.)
1. Canada goose
2. American black duck
3. Mallard
4. Blue-winged teal
5. Common eider
6. Ring-necked pheasant
7. Northern gannet
8. Double-crested cormorant
9. Osprey
10. Northern harrier
11. Sharp-shinned hawk
12. Merlin
13. Peregrine falcon
14. Solitary sandpiper
15. Herring gull
16. Great black-backed gull
17. Black guillemot
18. Mourning dove
19. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
20. Downy woodpecker
21. Northern flicker
22. Least flycatcher
23. Eastern phoebe
24. Blue jay
25. American crow
26. Common raven
27. Black-capped chickadee
28. Red-breasted nuthatch
29. Brown creeper
30. Carolina wren
31. Golden-crowned kinglet
32. Ruby-crowned kinglet
33. Gray catbird
34. Northern mockingbird
35. Cedar waxwing
36. Yellow-rumped warbler
37. Palm warbler
38. Blackpoll warbler
39. American redstart
40. Common yellowthroat
41. Chipping sparrow
42. Song sparrow
43. White-throated sparrow
44. White-crowned sparrow
45. Dark-eyed junco
46. Blue grosbeak
47. Dickcissel
48. Rusty blackbird
49. Purple finch
50. American goldfinch
Elsewhere
51. Common loon
 Blue grosbeak.
Tags: American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, blackpoll warbler, blue grosbeak, blue jay, blue-winged teal, brown creeper, Canada goose, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, common eider, common loon, common raven, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, dickcissel, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, northern flicker, northern gannet, northern harrier, northern mockingbird, osprey, palm warbler, peregrine falcon, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, ring-necked pheasant, ruby-crowned kinglet, rusty blackbird, sharp-shinned hawk, solitary sandpiper, song sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, white-throated sparrow, yellow-bellied sapsucker, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 1st, 2010
 Peregrine falcon (young male). This was supposed to be a stormy day. Trap Day—when the Monhegan lobster crews head out with their traps amid great, traditional fanfare—was postponed until tomorrow. The forecast called for a 100 percent chance of rain. And sure enough, first thing, I looked out to see the island trees bucking and swaying in a strong wind. Fog cloaked everything beyond a few hundred yards out such that the island appeared to float on its own cloud. No rain yet, but my decision to postpone my return until tomorrow seemed sound.
 Clay-colored sparrow and dickcissel. Outside, warm air rushed by and rustled the spruce branches. The sound of surf rose from all around. We first strolled down toward town but didn’t see much in the way of birds: a couple rusty blackbirds, a swamp sparrow, the ubiquitous yellow-rumps. Down at the wharf, below high stacks of lobster traps, a female eider paddled fearlessly about. Gulls hung motionless above, all facing in the same direction.
Up behind the schoolhouse, an indigo bunting made an appearance, looking especially plain in its brown fall attire. Dickcissel and clay-colored sparrow posed agreeably on the same swaying twig. And on its open perch, a blue jay showed off its wind-blown crest.
After a while, the wind blew away the clouds and the sun emerged, causing us to strip off overshirts and tie them around our waist’s. Before long, the clouds would return, and we’d don the shirts again.
 Blue jay. During a break in the clouds while returning through town, we spotted a peregrine on a utility pole near the meadow. A small young male bird. I took photos marveling at being so near a peregrine falcon. One of us noticed it’d been banded. Soon after, we learned that it was one of a couple of birds banded by some researchers on Manana, and that they were alarmed at its weight—that it weighed only about as much as a kestrel. The young bird apparently failed hunting class and was likely starving as a result. This put a damper on what I’d imagined might be inspiring photographs.
This afternoon before dinner I took a walk alone out toward Burnt Head, took a side path, ended up on a remote rocky shore. There was a huge bare rock there—which I’ve since learned is called Gull Rock—overlooking the ocean. I climbed it carefully, maybe three or four stories, and sat facing out to sea for a long time working out how to photograph diving gannets in a gale. I got a couple nice photos of gannets, but only one of a gannet diving. It began to rain on my return via Lobter Cove.
The wind tonight is high, the rain wet, the surf pounding.
 Northern gannet diving. Monhegan List
(Not in order of sighting.)
1. Mallard
2. American black duck
3. Common eider
4. Ring-necked pheasant
5. Northern gannet
6. Double-crested cormorant
7. Sharp-shinned hawk
8. Merlin
9. Peregrine falcon
10. Herring gull
11. Great black-backed gull
12. Black guillemot
13. Mourning dove
14. Downy woodpecker
15. Northern flicker
16. Blue jay
17. American crow
18. Common raven
19. Black-capped chickadee
20. Red-breasted nuthatch
21. Carolina wren
22. Golden-crowned kinglet
23. Gray catbird
24. Cedar waxwing
25. Nashville warbler
26. Yellow-rumped warbler
27. Palm warbler
28. Clay-colored sparrow
29. Song sparrow
30. Swamp sparrow
31. White-throated sparrow
32. Dark-eyed junco
33. Northern cardinal
34. Dickcissel
35. Rusty blackbird
36. Purple finch
37. American goldfinch
 Monhegan cliffs.
Tags: American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, clay-colored sparrow, common eider, common raven, dark-eyed junco, dickcissel, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern gannet, palm warbler, peregrine falcon, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, ring-necked pheasant, rusty blackbird, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, swamp sparrow, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
 Northern gannet. Up early. Mostly overcast, but with breaks in the clouds to the east. After breakfast, I took off along down to Lobster Cove. En route, a merlin swooped over and perched in the tip of a spruce tree, silhouetted against the golden sunrise.
I walked all over the place. Back through town to the ice pond, where I spotted a Nashville warbler in some low foliage amid the ever-present yell0w-rumps and a couple chickadees. Mallards in the pond, along with a couple of black ducks and the pair of blue-winged teals. No kingfishers today that I could see. But plenty of flickers, and sparrows, and, of course, ‘rumps.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Up the narrow path through the thicket behind the schoolhouse. On the ledges near where someone left some seed I saw a blue-headed vireo flitting about. Then around back of the meadow, where I met a woman who asked if I’d seen an older gentleman wearing a blue sweatshirt and carrying a cane. I hadn’t. If I should see him, I was asked to mention that he was missed at The Island Inn. I figured someone would track the old gent down.
The sun would emerge, the air would grow instantly warm, and I’d tie my over shirt around my waist; the clouds would overspread, a chill would rise, and I’d put my overshirt on again. Up beyond the lighthouse I found no sparrows or dickcissels, so I decided to head down the trail toward White Head. About a hundred yards in, I noticed a number of small birds zipping around in a stand of small trees: red-breasted nuthatches, chickadees, more ‘rumps, and a single black-and-white warbler. Just as I was starting to photograph the warbler, it took off in a hurry. I brought my camera down in time to see all the small birds vanish as a sharp-shinned hawk burst noisily through some leaves.
 Chipping sparrow. Nearing the cliffs, I heard voices and decided to take a side path to the north. The path wound around over roots and into a wood of tall trees, crossed a running stream, and met another small path. I turned west, and within a couple minutes ran into Ted, an older fellow birder whom I’d met earlier in my stay. Ted had had a stroke, so I was told, which explained why he walked very slowly, aided by a cane. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt. He was far from town—essentially in the middle of nowhere. It’d been a good half-hour since I’d seen the lady asking for him.
I turned around and walked with Ted through Cathedral Woods, down the trail lined with secret fairy houses made of bark and twigs, ornamented with shells and feathers and sea glass. At his diminished pace, it took us a good hour, hour-and-a-half to make it back to town, but Ted tells a good story.
After saying goodbye at The Island Inn, where Ted had a boat to catch, I returned to the birdy trail behind the schoolhouse, where I saw a pair of cardinals and about four or five dozen more yellow-rumped warblers. Then I headed back through town and down to Lobster Cove again. It was early afternoon. I made my way out to the exposed eastern rocks, just above the tide, where waves broke in white fountains below me. Fog hung low over the ocean. Northern gannets flapped on long wings back and forth not far from shore.
I must’ve sat there for a half-hour, forty-five minutes, watching the gannets fish. They’d flap by high, slow or circle, pull their wings in, then veer over and down—spiraling down, it looked like—and splash cleanly into the gray swells. Soon they’d emerge, float a moment, then take wing again. Over and over. I loved the feel of the sea wind, the sound of the waves, the ghostly appearance of gannets.
Got a few new birds. Had drinks with friends after. And just now I’m recollecting my time with the gannets.
 Red-breasted nuthatch. Monhegan List
(Not in order of sighting.)
1. American black duck
2. Mallard
3. Blue-winged teal
4. Common eider
5. Ring-necked pheasant
6. Northern gannet
7. Double-crested cormorant
8. Sharp-shinned hawk
9. Merlin
10. Herring gull
11. Great black-backed gull
12. Mourning dove
13. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
14. Downy woodpecker
15. Northern flicker
16. Eastern phoebe
17. Blue-headed vireo
18. Blue jay
19. American crow
20. Common raven (voice)
21. Black-capped chickadee
22. Red-breasted nuthatch
23. Carolina wren (voice)
24. Golden-crowned kinglet (voice)
25. American robin (voice)
26. Gray catbird
27. Cedar waxwing
28. Nashville warbler
29. Yellow-rumped warbler
30. Palm warbler
31. Black-and-white warbler
32. Common yell0wthroat
33. Chipping sparrow
34. Clay-colored sparrow
35. Song sparrow
36. White-throated sparrow
37. Dark-eyed junco
38. Northern cardinal
39. Rusty blackbird
40. Purple finch
41. American goldfinch
 Merlin.
Tags: American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, blue-winged teal, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, clay-colored sparrow, common eider, common raven, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern gannet, palm warbler, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, ring-necked pheasant, rusty blackbird, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, yellow-bellied sapsucker, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
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