Birding Groton State Park

Veery -  Life Bird #297

Early this week, we took the Airstream on a little jaunt over to Stillwater State Park on Lake Groton.  It was a chance to not only test out the trailer after months of inactivity and also a chance to bird a new area.

This time of year, we are used to waking up to bird song -- even this late in the season.  Red-eyed Vireos, Song Sparrows, and Common Yellowthroats are part of our early morning routine.  However, just while setting up the trailer in the wooded site, I was amazed at the birds singing: White-throated Sparrows, Ovenbirds, Winter Wrens, Veerys, along with Vireos and Song Sparrows.

Veery’s have been elusive for me -- I’ve heard them in our woods but never really got a good look to be about to add it to my life list.  That was one of my objectives while camping and sure enough, the first morning revealed on singing on a naked branch right over our site.  Then, as often happens, once I saw one, it seemed like every other bird I saw was a Veery.

On the water in the kayak, I saw two pairs of loons and many mallards including at least three families.  Given the “friendliness” of the ducks, I have the feeling they have been fed by local campers.

Momma Mallard and five ducklings - taken from the kayak

Blackburnian Warblers were everywhere but with the heavy foliage, hard to track with the camera.  Their bright orange and steady singing made them easy to find, but they do tend to bounce around a lot.  I also got a good look at a Blackpoll Warbler and several Black-throated Green Warblers.  All in all, several nice days of camping and birding.

Birding With the Joppa Flats Birders

The Wednesday morning birders are savvy and very welcoming

The Joppa Flats Nature Center in Newburyport, MA is a wonderful MA Audubon facility located on the Merrimac River.  One of its popular birding programs is the Wednesday morning outings.  An accomplished group of regulars goes on these walks and for some time, I’ve wanted to attend one.  Today, I got the opportunity and it was a blast.

About 20-25 folks showed up and we took the two Center vans and several other vehicles and launched for some inland birding.  The objective was to visit a heron rookery -- the largest in Eastern Massachusetts, and stop at a swamp/wetlands along the way.

We got to the Crane Natural Area which features hundreds of dead trees and a variety of birds.  We just got out of the vehicles when we heard a Great Crested Flycatcher call from and area of dense foliage.  Bill, our leader, got out his recording, played it, and out popped the flycatcher, flying down to a dead tree, giving us all a wonderful look.  It hung around, calling and letting us know whose territory it was.

When you have five or ten good birders, it makes you a little better - or at least it does me.  We were all seeing a Baltimore Oriole with an active nest, an Eastern Bluebird, and a very cooperative Willow Flycatcher that popped up to a call and posed nicely.  We watched a Belted Kingfisher for some time as it dove and returned to perches.  It was a great stop with about 20 species seen.

About 70 heron nests were at the rookery.

After a winding drive through some fairly rural parts of the county, we arrived at the Carter Fields and walked down to the observation platform at the heron rookery.  About 70 heron nests were there in the dead trees with fifty of them occupied.  Given the size of the youngsters, we guessed that some had already fledged and many more were about ready to go. 

Mama (or Dad) bring home chow to the growing youngsters.

We watched their parents bring back food and noted that some of the kids sort of stretched out to look bigger (and get fed first.)  A couple of green herons and a massive snapping turtle added to the mix.  It was a very impressive site and fun to take some time and watch.

On the way back to the vans, we heard a Pileated Woodpecker which teased us for about 20 minutes as we moved and played a recording, and listened.  We finally gave up and were leaving as a caravan, when in a flurry of brake lights told us that Bill, in the first car, had seen the bird.  We all piled out but it had flown off -- but it gave me an insight of the tenacity of some birders. 

Going home, the guy driving our van told me , “Nearly everything I know about birding I learned at these Wednesday sessions.”  After today, I can see why.  Clear teaching from the leaders, mentoring from other experienced birders, and a wonderful array of birds, make for great outings.  I liked how they welcomed a newcomer -- I’ll be back again.  Give it a try if you are in eastern Massachusetts on a Wednesday.

Maryland Birds

I had forgotten what a wonderful vocalist Catbirds can be

Visiting Maryland in summer is like visiting a tropical island -- heat, humidity, dense lush foliage, and bird calls everywhere each morning.  I had forgotten what songsters Grey Catbirds and Mockingbirds are and of course, the ubiquitous Northern Cardinals sometimes just take over the whole concert.

I birded with my grandson several mornings (prior post) but later in the week, the weather was just too hot for birders or birds.  However, on Saturday, I went out quite early and ended up with a nice mix of species and two new life birds.

Greenbury Point, a 231 acre penisula at the mouth of the Severn River, is part of the U.S. Naval Academy land. Much of it is managed as a wildlife habitat but as you walk the paths and trails, abandoned buildings and the two 600 foot towers remind you that it once was on of the most far reaching radio transmitter complexes in the world. First built in 1918 the station was used to communicate with U.S. forces fighting in WW I. The station was used for all communications with the Atlantic Fleet in WW II, including the submarine fleet. 

I was greeted by several Eastern Bluebirds and a House Finch as I parked the car.  It was already hot at 6:30 A.M. as I started out and immediately, I heard several bird calls I couldn't identify.  The mix of wild grasses and trees was being crisscrossed by birds and within a few minutes, I saw a flash of yellow and was able to find the bird with my glasses in the heavy foliage.  A Yellow-breasted Chat -- a bird I've been looking for -- gave me a couple of decent looks and then vanished.  (Later, I saw two more flirting or fighting.)

I was also noticing butterflies as I walked, since it was T-shirt weather and they were flying early.  A Viceroy and a beautiful Spicebush Swallowtail distracted me.

This Blue Grosbeak is my 291st Life Bird

As I finished my loop, I decided, even though it was uncomfortably humid by now, to take one more short trail I had missed.  A bird, which I thought was a robin, flew in front of me and perched, very unrobin-like, on a stalk in the field.  I got my binoculars on it and voila, a Blue Bunting posed for me.  What a pretty bird -- I was too far away for a good photo but I shot this one.  It was a great finish to my birding during this Maryland trip.

Now, off to Massachusetts for a few days where I hope to bird the Parker River refuge again. 

Birding with Grandchildren

Looking for birds - sort of

One of the advantages of growing older is that you have more time to bird -- none of the grab a quick session before work or wait until the weekend.  For me, another perk is the chance to introduce grandchildren to an activity I waited nearly seventy years to start. 

Our Maryland grandson Dane has taken a real interest in nature and is fast becoming a birder.  Last fall, when we visited I brought my scope and we went out to the Severn River and looked a ducks and gulls.  He seemed interested but I didn’t push it at all -- so it was a pleasant surprise this trip when his folks told me that he wanted to go birding. 

So, the first morning we packed up and took along his younger sister and my spouse, Mary and had a delightful outing back at Greenbury Point, part of the U.S. Naval Academy.  We walked a short trail (Maeve got bored rather quickly) and saw about a dozen birds.  Dane learned how to identify Turkey Vultures and Northern Mockingbirds and was first to see a Great Blue Heron cruising by.

We dropped Maeve and Mary at a nearby playground and went back to the river for a little more birding.  Ospreys were everywhere and we saw about a dozen including some active nests. 

Returning before it got sweltering, we had 18 species.  Dane was psyched, as was I.

That evening, his Dad got him set up with an eBird account and the next day I showed him how to enter the data.  We birded again, picked up another 10 new ones, and he came home and entered them. 

So, I have a nearly 10 year-old grandson who is ranked 87th in his county and seems, at least for now, hooked on birding.  We are already talking about the possibilities when he vacations this summer in New York state and then comes to visit us in Vermont.  Young eyes, enthusiasm, and a nearly blank bird list makes Dane a wonderful birding companion.

Bicknell's Thrush - a well-earned life bird

Some life birds kind of just show up -- they are species you've either just missed seeing (or identifying) or else they're a vagrant that hangs around (like this year's Northern Hawk Owl or the Varied Thrush.)

Last Saturday, I got a life bird that I had to work for -- hiking part of the way up Mt. Ellen with a group organized by the MadBirders.

About a dozen of us met at the parking lot of Sugarbush North ski area and climbed into the back of an old Army surplus truck, settling down for a bumpy ride up the access road.  The truck belched blue smoke and roared as we ascended but the better birders were still calling out birds whose calls they heard over the racket.  "Redstart, vireo, winter wren ...."  

A little over halfway up, we came to the jumpoff point beyond which it was travel and bird by foot.  It was pretty tough climbing up under the ski lift but the pace was reasonable and we paused to listen and look.  One birder noted, "If my heart rate and panting would slow down, perhaps I could hear something."

The Madbirders had done this trek the previous five years and had seen Bicknell's Thrushes each time so they knew when to expect to hear the bird.  And sure enough, almost on cue, we heard the chip note of a Bicknell's.  We played one iPhone call and soon had a bird in sight.  Everybody tried to see it and most did -- and all saw it fly.

We continued up toward the summit and saw another Bicknells' and then another.  It was a life bird for several of us and well worth the trek.  The day was a gorgeous June Vermont day and the view up the spine of the Green Mountains and off into New York and New Hampshire was wonderful.

The Madbirders is a small high-energy club which offers a number of birding opportunities.  If you live in Central Vermont, it's a $5.00 fee well-spent.  If you are visiting, check out their great web site and see if you can hook up with them.  They are knowledgeable and very welcoming.  Good Madbirding.