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Posts Tagged ‘hooded merganser’
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
 Maple leaf.
The morning dawned overcast with a promise of precipitation. But the forecast rain wouldn’t come until late in the day, and we had places to go, Jack and I.
 Bald eagle.
When I first took him out, I saw a sharp-shinned hawk circling above Route 1, more-or-less southbound. (I believe that’s the first sharpie I’ve seen from my place.) Soon after, we headed up Route 1 to Belfast to meet my friend Liz, who’d invited us on a little hike at Moose Point State Park, a place I’d never been.
First stop was at Liz’s expansive and very birdy yard, where we saw mourning doves, blue jays, hairy woodpeckers, and a goldfinch. More hairys in a nearby tree, along with a white-breasted nuthatch. Herring gulls flew over. Pretty soon we embarked for Moose Point. The tide was high.
Out-of-season meant a closed gate, so we parked outside of it along with a couple other cars and walked a short distance to the trailhead. Right away, I spotted an adult bald eagle soaring over the water.
The trail rims a rocky beach that Jack would’ve preferred to follow had the tide been lower. We hadn’t gone far when I noticed a horned grebe in winter plumage diving nearby. We met a couple other Sunday hikers out for a leisurely stroll, including a birder who said she’d spotted a couple ducks offshore but hadn’t been able to ID them without binoculars.
 Horned grebes.
Coming around the point, we noticed other water birds—a pair of red-breasted mergansers (the birder’s ducks), two more grebes, a loon in winter dress. Heard a song sparrow in the bushes nearby. And in a cluster of conifers, on our return, a couple golden-crowned kinglets were calling.
Belfast proper offered up herring gulls, rock pigeons, starlings. Then we swung by “The Muck”—a small urban skating pond—where floated a pair of mallards and a pair of hooded mergansers. Two pair of ducks to top off a perfect morning outing.
Shortly after our return to Rockport, I asked Jack if he was up for a Beech Hill hike, as usual. He couldn’t contain his enthusiasm at the idea.
The wind had risen and rain felt nearer. Our hike was brisk. Heard chickadees, jays, and crows—that’s all. I couldn’t help noticing how the November landscape differs markedly from the October one around here.
Afterward, as the first raindrops began smattering, I heard a titmouse on the hill and grabbed my camera. Didn’t see the tit, but I did notice a gray caterpillar descending on a tiny silky filament to my back deck. It looked to be some sort of inchworm. Today I learned that some Maine inchworms might stick around a full week into November.
Tonight is windy, rain is coming down, and lots of leaves are blowing off the oaks and maples.
 Hooded mergansers at "The Muck."
Moose Point State Park List
Beginning about 10:30 a.m., I hiked the loop.
1. Black-capped chickadee
2. Bald eagle
3. Horned grebe
4. Red-breasted merganser
5. Common loon
6. Herring gull
7. Song sparrow
8. Golden-crowned kinglet
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2 p.m., I hiked the open trail
Black-capped chickadee
9. Blue jay
10. American crow
Elsewhere
11. Sharp-shinned hawk
12. Blue jay
13. Mourning dove
14. Hairy woodpecker
15. American goldfinch
16. White-breasted nuthatch
17. Black duck
18. Mallard
19. Hooded merganser
20. European starling
21. Rock pigeon
22. Tufted titmouse
 Three hills.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, bald eagle, black duck, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common loon, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, hooded merganser, horned grebe, mallard, mourning dove, red-breasted merganser, rock pigeon, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
 Barrows goldeneyes.
Another springlike day. I took off in late morning with an idea I might see the Barrow’s goldeneyes Don Reimer has reported for much of the winter above the St. George River bridge in Warren Village. Already looked for them once, didn’t find them.
 Black-capped chickadee.
En route under sunny skies, I began to wonder if I was overdressed in my hooded sweatshirt. Pulled over at Mainely Poultry to check for bald eagles. Spotted a couple or three, is all—most having already scattered for watery points unknown—but I did see starlings and house sparrows and crows and other small birds I couldn’t identify.
Don had reported seeing the goldeneyes just this morning, so I was hopeful. Parked, walked to the Main Street bridge, looked up river, saw three or four pair of mallards sailing along the edges out of the current—and a couple diving ducks far upstream. Likely the goldeneyes but too far away to confirm. (I could, however, confirm a handsome male hooded merganser.) Decided to drive around to the bridge at Route 90. Took a little walking near traffic, but I got me some photos of the ducks.
From Warren I headed to Beech Hill. Not many Sunday hikers despite temperatures hovering up near an implausible 60 degrees (F). Definitely overdressed at this point, I thought, as sweat beaded under my hatband. Gangs of chickadees were patrolling the hill, several singing their spring fee-bee. Last remnant bits of snow in the shady spots melting fast. The overall bronze-brown color of things astounded me—I don’t guess I’ve walked the hill much at this time of year.
 Evidence of fowl.
It occurred to me that this is one of the most changeable seasons. Change is swift now—possibly swifter even than in autumn. A few short weeks ago the hill was white as a snowshoe hare; now its that rich color of hay and old oak leaves and hardwood trunks and limbs. A few short weeks hence, all will be green. But this time of thaw and mud and sky is a beautiful time of year.
Headed home from Beech Hill, I watched a pair of mourning doves fly up from somewhere and perch on a utility line.
Today’s List
Tufted titmouse
American crow
Herring gull
Rock pigeon
European starling
House sparrow
Bald eagle
Mallard
Hooded merganser
Barrow’s goldeneye
Black-capped chickadee
Mourning dove
 Mature oaks.
Tags: American crow, bald eagle, Barrow's goldeneye, black-capped chickadee, European starling, herring gull, hooded merganser, house sparrow, mallard, mourning dove, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
 Hooded merganser.
Before bed last night, I looked out and saw a trace of snow on the deck. This morning, I saw no trace of snow. In fact, before I knew it the temperature had risen well into the 40s (F) and the sky was about half blue. Quite a little wind, though. Out back were crows, a singing titmouse, and a little gang of chickadees.
 Black duck.
Truly, there’s no snow. We’re snowless. Oh, you can find a few dwindling, slushy piles of it where the plow drifts were, and in the woods are slushy scraps in the shady areas. Still, February’s been crazy. Each winter’s different at the 44th parallel, I’ve learned in my thirty years at this latitude.
In early afternoon I decided to check out the Weskeag Marsh, no doubt clear of ice already. Heck, cars and snowmobiles have been sinking to the bottoms of ponds all up and down the coast—luckily, with little or no loss of life—as residents just can’t get their brains around this kind of crazy thaw. And sure enough, the Weskeag had no ice that I could see. Just soggy, watery channels divided by lovely bronze marsh grass.
 Weskeag Marsh.
Right away I heard the geese. Scanned the wide expanse for ducks and saw mostly black ducks—but also a solitary male hooded merganser. Mallards also. A handful of crows. I walked down into the marsh a hundred hards or so, about as far as I could go and stay dry. A large group of dabblers took wing against the blue billowing clouds that had by then gathered in the south.
From Weskeag, I drove to Beech Hill under what were now overcast skies. Still in the 40s, not much breeze. The wooded trails were snow-free for the most part—but hardly water-free. In fact, runoff from the big storm was following the lower trail and had already caused quite a bit of erosion. It felt like Mud Season already, and in fact I spooked a chipmunk. Heading up, I passed a casualty of the storm: a medium-sized spruce had toppled over, its shallow roots having lost their grip. Oddly, the crown of the tree had snapped clean off and folded over against the trunk.
 Eastern chipmunk.
Unlike on recent trips, I heard birds on the hill today—chickadee, downy woodpecker, robin. I mostly kept to the soggy grass on either side of the muddy trail. And I lost myself. As I often do, I lost myself in the there and the now of the woods. My feet on the trail, the smell of last fall’s leaves, the sound of bird wings—a couple of robins in the sumac. At the summit I spooked a mourning dove, whose whistling wingbeats headed downhill. Descending, I heard the dove sing its poignant song. And I stood there, listening, soaking up the moment—the chill, the moistness, the fragrance of last fall, the dove—lost for I don’t know how long in a sense of life sublime.
Farther down the trail, I came upon a pair of chickadees. I pished them close, and they got within six feet of me, and I managed a single photo.
 Black-capped chickadee.
I love it on Beech Hill.
Today’s List
American crow
Tufted timouse
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
Canada goose
Black duck
Hooded merganser
Mallard
Downy woodpecker
American robin
Mourning dove
 Penobscot Bay from Beech Hill.
Tags: American crow, American robin, black duck, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, downy woodpecker, herring gull, hooded merganser, mallard, mourning dove, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse 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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