Saturday, April 19, 2014

New Bins and New Birds in Bath, ME

1. Song sparrow-kab Song Sparrow in Bath, ME 4-11-2014

It was time. My old binoculars were too worn out. Everything I looked at was blurry. I had already sent them to be repaired once, but now they weren’t working again. I could not seem to get a sharp focus no matter what I tried. To be honest, I kind of abused them. I certainly used them. Every day in heat, wind, rain, mist, sand, dust, night, snow, any condition you can think of, me and my bins have been in it. I have had my Eagle Rangers for quite a few years, but now it was time to try something new. After some research Gus and I decided on Nikon 8x42 Monarchs 7.

2. new bins-kab My new best friends!

Of course, when they arrived on Thursday, I had to take them out for a spin on Friday! I attached my binocular harness in the morning and headed out the door! I decided to go to Bath, Maine again first to see what I could see. The first place I went to was the South Boat Launch on the Kennebec River. Gus and I had stopped here before and I wondered what I would see now that the snow had melted and the river had thawed.

3. osprey-kab One of the first birds I saw was an Osprey! 

It was the first one I had seen in Maine this year! Later I saw a few others farther up the river in Bath, including a pair on a nesting platform!

4. rb gull-kab Ring-billed Gull at the boat launch 4-11-14

Song Sparrows sang all around me. I heard a few Blue jays and Robins and saw Cormorants in the river. The south boat launch is not an eBird Hotspot yet, but I think it should be, so I nominated it for one. We’ll see what happens. After leaving the boat launch I drove north into town along the riverfront, and then up to the North Boat Launch and Public landing, which is an eBird Hotspot.

5. gulls on the river-kab There were over 100 gulls floating down the river.

This is a mixed flock of Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed Gulls.

And then this Double-crested Cormorant came drifting by!

6. dcco on the Kennebec-kab Double-crested Cormorant taking a ride down the Kennebec River in Bath, ME

But I wanted, needed to see more birds! Where should I go next? I looked on my map app and saw Reid State Park. That’s not too far away, I thought to myself, so I got in my car and drove there. I had no idea what I would find, but I was stunned when I got there! Come back tomorrow to see what I saw! Yep, I gave those new bins a good workout!

5 comments:

  1. I have a pair of the Monarch binocs too, I love them.. Sounds like a nice outing with great bird sightings. Enjoy your weekend and birding.. Happy Easter!

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    1. Thanks Eileen! I really love my new monarchs and am putting them to good use!

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  2. Hi Katie.... Hey that's where my daughter, grandson and I are going tomorrow, Reid state park!!
    Nice Osprey!! I have been watching they always show up here near the river!!
    I am in need of new binoculars one pair got dropped ooop's, and the ones I am using now I can see through only one side lol!! Just not in the budget right now!!
    Happy Easter!!

    Grace

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    1. Grammy, I hope you had fun at the park. I hope it was warm enough! I am so sorry you do not have good bins right now. It makes all the difference!

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  3. Woo-hoo! Swanky new bins :) An Osprey seems a suitably stellar species for the first bird seen through them.

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Welcome to my nest! I hope you will enjoy spending time here with me and the birds. Thank you for your comments. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get back from counting more birds.