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Posts Tagged ‘rusty blackbird’
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 »
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
 Blue grosbeak. Curiously, the most noteworthy birds showed up a stone’s-throw from The Trailing Yew this morning. Kristen, Bill, and I had no sooner turned down the main road, when a white-crowned sparrow greeted us from a small blaze-red tree. When the bird flew off behind the fire house, we followed down the boardwalk, and right away Bill (or Kristen, I forget which) spotted a blue grosbeak in its rich chestnut fall plumage. First time I’d ever seen a member of that species. Then we saw, apparently pals with the grosbeak, an indigo bunting. And not long after that, a northern waterthrush was agreeable enough to give me a peak at its white eyebrow. Another “lifer.” [Correction: I’ve since double-checked and it turns out I’d already listed a northern waterthrush—albeit by voice only—on my spring trip to Monhegan this year.]
 Indigo bunting. But the day brought other nice sightings—most dramatic among them likely the peregrine falcon that rose up the cliffs of White Head as we peered down at a cluster of great cormorants near a large group of touring birders. The falcon was riding the wind, nearly motionless, very near us. “Oohs” and “Ahhs” rose from the tour group. In the tangles near the ballfield behind the lighthouse we saw a dickcissel hanging with a group of white-throated sparrows.
The day—forecast to be wet and rain—turned out to be warm, sunny, gorgeous. I didn’t see as many species as my first two days here, but it was no less of a thrill. Later, relaxing back at The Yew, we watched palm warblers and dark-eyed juncos flitting about in the spruces lining the lawn, along with a solitary pine warbler.
 Peregrine falcon. Monhegan List
(Not in order of sighting.)
1. Mallard
2. Common eider
3. Ring-necked pheasant
4. Northern gannet
5. Double-crested cormorant
6. Great cormorant
7. Osprey
8. Sharp-shinned hawk
9. Merlin
10. Peregrine falcon
11. Herring gull
12. Great black-backed gull
13. Mourning dove
14. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
15. Northern flicker
16. Eastern phoebe
17. Red-eyed vireo
18. Blue jay
19. American crow
20. Common raven
21. Black-capped chickadee
22. Red-breasted nuthatch
23. White-breasted nuthatch
24. Brown creeper
25. Carolina wren (voice)
26. Golden-crowned kinglet (voice)
27. Gray catbird
28. Cedar waxwing
29. Yellow-rumped warbler
30. Pine warbler
31. Palm warbler
32. Blackpoll warbler
33. Northern waterthrush
34. Common yellowthroat
35. Song sparrow
36. Swamp sparrow
37. White-throated sparrow
38. White-crowned sparrow
39. Dark-eyed junco
40. Blue grosbeak
41. Indigo bunting
42. Dickcissel
43. Bobolink
44. Rusty blackbird
45. Baltimore oriole
46. Purple finch
47. American goldfinch
 White-throated sparrow.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, Baltimore oriole, black-capped chickadee, blackpoll warbler, blue grosbeak, blue jay, bobolink, brown creeper, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, common eider, common raven, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, dickcissel, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, great cormorant, herring gull, indigo bunting, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, northern flicker, northern gannet, northern waterthrush, osprey, palm warbler, peregrine falcon, pine warbler, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, red-eyed vireo, ring-necked pheasant, rusty blackbird, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, swamp sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-crowned 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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