A Few Birds in Norridgewock

 An Eastern Phoebe on its nest 6-7-15

Over the course of the summer we visited Norridgewock, Maine several times. My in-laws have a returning pair of phoebes that nest on their garage which I am always happy to see. They also put their feeders out over the summer, but take them in again in the fall before the snow flies because it is too hard for them to get to them through the snow. When we were there 2 weeks ago I was sad to see them down already. Since they live farther inland, they have yard birds that I usually only see passing through on migration. Here are just a few of the species I saw this summer with names and dates seen posted beneath each photo.

 Female Purple Finch in front. Rose-breasted Grosbeak behind.

 American Robin 6-7-15

 

 Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak 6-7-15

 Red Squirrel 6-12-15

 Eastern Chipmunk 6-12-15

 

 Male Purple Finch 6-20-15

 Indigo Bunting (front) Mourning Dove (behind) 6-20-15

Whenever I am in Norridgewock, I try to do some birding at Oosoola Park.

On July 10th, I saw the following birds there.

 Bald Eagle flying over the Kennebec River 7-10-15

 Eastern Kingbird on a wire 7-10-15

I often find Kingbirds here in summer.

Frequently I find Kingfishers and ducks in this back cove.

On this day there was a family of ducks swimming in the shadows and hiding behind this fallen tree. But eventually they emerged and I had my first Wood ducks for this location!

 Wood Ducks at Oosoola Park 7-10-15

There were more ducks in the river as well.

If you look closely at this picture you can just see a few mallards at the line where the water meets the trees!

Closer to me at the boat ramp and dock more mallards and a couple of American Black Ducks swam up begging for food. A mom with kids obliged them! Yes, bread.

 

 Mallards and American Black Ducks looking for more food.

 

 Meanwhile the kingbird watches.

 

Note: I am gradually getting caught up with all my summer photos with new bird photos to come soon. By the time you read this, I will be returning from a trip to Colorado where I met up with my friend, Chris Rohrer! Won’t I have more stories to tell then! Currently my 2015 Year List is below 200 at 183 species. Perhaps I can get it above that number on this trip! I will let you know soon!

Harpswell Yard Birds

 Black-capped Chickadee 8-31-2015 Harpswell, Maine

Though we moved into this new house in mid-August, it wasn’t until the end of the month that I started photographing birds, since first I took a trip to Connecticut to help my mom out and to pick up my cats and bring them back with me. My cats are strictly indoor cats so they can watch the birds but they cannot harm them. Here are just some of the 60+ species of birds I have seen since moving into this house. I have been amazed at how quickly the list has grown after a very slow start. Fall migration has helped a lot and I have seen several birds species only once as they passed by on their way through. Of course, since this is Maine, there are always chickadees!

Each species was seen in or from this yard and I have posted their pictures with the date each photo was taken beneath, though this is not necessarily the first date that species was observed. You can see the full list of species at the end of this post.

 Black-capped Chickadee 8-31-15

 Magnolia Warbler 9-1-15

 Red-breasted Nuthatch 9-1-15

 Song Sparrow 9-1-15

 Tufted Titmouse (juvenile) 9-1-15

 Blue Jay 9-1-15

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9-1-15

Since moving to Harpswell I have seen several stray cats in this yard hunting my feeders and the little critters that live here. Cats kill millions of songbirds each year and do not belong outdoors. I have noticed that this does affect the number of ground feeding birds in this yard. I photographed this one on September 3rd.

Black-and-White Warbler in the birch tree 9-4-15

 

 Northern Harrier flyover 9-7-15

 American Goldfinches 9-20-15

It is no secret that I love woodpeckers and I have seen several species in this yard. I do not have photos of the Pileated Woodpeckers or Northern Flickers I have seen here, but I was so pleased to have the following species drop by during migration!

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the bird tree 9-24-15

 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker trying to hide 9-24-15

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Red-bellied woodpecker 9-24-15

 Two red-bellied woodpeckers and 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9-24-15

 Tufted Titmouse 9-24-15

 Downy Woodpecker 9-24-15

 White-throated Sparrow 9-25-15

 Male House Finch 9-25-15

It was over a month before I saw a House Finch here. Now there is a pair that shows up sporadically.

 Red-bellied Woodpecker 9-26-15

 Downy Woodpecker 10-10-15

And just last week I had a big surprise when a pair of migrating Baltimore Orioles plopped down into the fruit trees in the front yard. I was sitting in my chair near a downstairs window and I was shocked, especially when I realized my camera was all the way upstairs! I was hoping they would stay there and they did. I managed to take these pictures through the upstairs window before they flew off!

 Baltimore Oriole 10-16-15

 Baltimore Oriole 10-16-15

Baltimore Oriole looking for insects 10-16-15

Harpswell Yard Life List

1. Herring Gull, 7-7-2015
2. Common Tern
3. Northern Flicker
4. Red-eyed Vireo
5. American Crow
6. Gray Catbird
7. Ovenbird
8. Common Yellowthroat
9. Song Sparrow
10. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 8-14-15
11. American Goldfinch
12. Dobule-crested Cormorant, 8-15-15 (our first full day in this huse)
13. Red-shouldered Hawk
14. downy Woodpecker
15. Blue-headed Vireo
16. Blue Jay
17. Common Raven
18. Black-capped Chickadee
19. White-breasted Nuthatch
20. Tufted Titmouse, 8-16-15
21. Canada Goose, 8-17-15
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. American Robin
24. Cedar Waxwing
25. Black-and-white Warbler
26. Osprey
27. Wilson’s Warbler, 8-18-15
28. Mourning Dove, 8-19-15
29. Belted Kingfisher
30. Eastern Wood Pewee (then I was gone for 9 days)
31. Pileated Woodpecker, 8-28-15
32. Red-breasted Nuthatch
33. American Redstart, 8-30-15
34. Black-throated Green Warbler
35. Great Blue Heron, 9-1-15
36. Magnolia Warbler
37. Hairy Woodpecker
38. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
39. Chestnut-sided Warbler
40. Cooper’s Hawk, 9-2-15
41. Carolina Wren
42. Brown Creeper, 9-3-15
43. Northern Parula
44. Northern Cardinal 9-4-15
45. Philadelphia Vireo
46. Northern Harrier, 9-7-15
47. Peregrine Falcon, 9-15-15
48. Broad-winged hawk, 9-16-15
49. Eastern Phoebe, 9-17-15
50. Nashville Warbler, 9-18-15
51. Bald Eagle, 9-21-15
52. Dark-eyed Junco
53. Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 9-22-15
54. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 9-24-15
55. White-throated Sparrow, 9-25-15
56. House Finch
57. Red-tailed Hawk, 10-1-15
58. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), 10-2-15
59. Sharp-shinned Hawk, 10-3-15
60. Palm Warbler (yellow)
61. Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 10-4-15
62. Turkey Vulture, 10-8-15
63. White-crowned Sparrow
64. Common Grackle, 10-12-15
65. Merlin, 10-15-15
66. Baltimore Oriole, 10-16-15

It is interesting to note that in a little over 2 months I have seen almost as many birds in this yard as I did in 18 months in my Tucson Yard, where I saw 69 species of birds before I moved back here to Maine.

Here are how My Yards Lists Compare

Yard	Years	Number of Species
Sycamore Canyon	April 2007 thru August 2010	83
Andover Yard	October 2010 thru August 2012	65
Tucson Yard	September 2012 thru January 2014	69
Mere Point Yard	February 2014 thru August 2015	117
Harpswell Yard	August 2015 to present*	66

*I counted birds for 15 minutes on one day in July when we first looked at this house, but my actual day to day counting did not start until August 14th in the evening.

A Few Maine Critters

 Chipmunk at Bay Bridge Landing 3-24-2015

Now that the grass is green and the leaves are out so are all the critters! But even in winter and early spring I still saw a few now and then. This little chipmunk peeked out at me one day when I stopped at Bay Bridge Landing Park. Though it was technically spring the river was still frozen and the snow was still deep on the ground! It peeked out at me from this log alongside the trail. We were both hoping for sunshine and no snow I think! Now my yard is full of chipmunks scarfing up seed from beneath my feeders!

 Porcupine on Mere Point Road 2-27-15

I was on my way home late in February when I saw this black shape high in a pine tree on the side of the road. I immediately pulled over and attempted to get a shot in the dim light. This isn’t the best photo but it’s the best one I have gotten so far of a porcupine! It almost looks like a little bear!

Ring-billed Gull at Wharton Point 3-17-15

What can I say? Who doesn’t love a gull?

• There is poetry happening on Kathie’s Poet Tree

Notes From My Nest: Life continues to be busy here as I continue to heal. So many birds have returned to the yard along with some new species! The yard list is now up to 117 birds! The most species I have seen in my yard is one day is 33 and I have added 10 new species so far this year! I hope to have more updates soon.

Morning Mist in Yellowstone NP

 

Morning light diffuses in the mists of Yellowstone,

 

Blackbirds gather to feed on the insects attracted to the warmth,

 

A few birds perch in silhouette against the pale blue sky,

 

The mists envelope me and clouds my mind,

I wonder if this is real, if I am awake, if sun will ever shine again.

 We wander down the misty trail, eyes trying to pierce the fog, to see,

 

 the bare bones, the tree spines, the souls of the forest are revealed to us,

we are walking on hallowed ground,

 the world is born anew in this steaming water,

 

I wander down the path through mists of time,

 

 From the bowels of the earth the birth-heat is released.

 

 And then I find the life born in this place,

evidence of generations of its kind.

I smile at this furry friend amidst all this steam and stone!

I know there is a plan, an architecture to it all,

Here in the mists there is structure and order, and LIFE!

Note: This morning was our other favorite time in the park. We were still walking slowly and drinking it all in. We were here early, before too many people flooded the park, and before we felt the urgency to try to see it all in one day! I knew we shouldn’t do it, yet we did. Shortly after this visit to the Fountain Paint Pots, we started a whirlwind trip around the park and by the end of the day I know I felt rushed and tired and I wished we had just picked one or two areas and explored them slowly.

Trip to Yellowstone and Utah 2013