I’ll Fly Away

 Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw, AZ 2-13

In honor of our move this weekend I thought I’d post a few of my best photos of birds in flight. These were taken in various years all across the United States. Dates, species, and locations are beneath each photo. Enjoy!

 Lesser Nighthawk, Corona de Tucson, AZ 2008

 Purple Martins, Corona de Tucson, AZ 2008

 Canada Goose, Stirling Bog, Andover, MA 2010

 

 Turkey Vulture, Colchester CT 2015

 Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibis, Imperial Ag Fields, CA 2012

 Red-tailed Hawk, Tucson, AZ 2012

 Harris Hawk, Tucson, AZ 2013

 Common Black Hawk, Tubac, AZ 2013

 Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted) Andover, MA 2012

 Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, Tucson, AZ 2013

 Zone-tailed Hawk, Sahuarita, AZ 2013

 Neotropic Cormorants, Reid Park, Tucson, AZ 2013 

 

 Northern Harrier, Bosque del Apache, NM 2012

 Crested Caracara, FL 2014

 American White Pelican, The Salton Sea, CA 2012

 Manx Shearwaters, Revere Beach, MA 2012

 Mountain Bluebird, Three Points, AZ 2009

 

 Brown Pelicans, The Salton Sea, CA 2012

 Great Egret, Lakeside Park, Tucson, AZ 2012

Check out all the birds at Feathers on Friday 

A line of cormorants flies low over Lake Ontario, NY at sunset 2011

 

“Oh that I had the wings of a dove, for I would fly away and be at rest.”

Psalms 55:6

Autumn at Mere Point Boat Launch

 Mere Point Boat Launch 12-21-14

It’s been a full year now that I have been monitoring and counting birds at the Mere Point Boat Launch in Brunswick, Maine. I first suggested it as an eBird Hotspot shortly after moving here in February of 2014. It has been exciting to seen the list of birds at this location grow, and even more exciting for me to share it with friends. I loved having Chris Rohrer bird here with me last summer. Since then other birders have come and added to the data. We are currently up to 100 species for this location, of which I have seen 96, and I can only hope more species will be added as the birding continues! Here are just some of the species I observed last fall, along with the seasonal changes.

October 2014

Leaves were starting to turn, and there were a few boats still moored in the bay.

 

 Double-crested cormorants still glided through calm waters.

 

 Song Sparrows still foraged on green grass!

 Canada Geese take wing 10-12-14

November 2014

 Low tide in the bay exposes the golden eel grass on the rocks.

 A female Common Eider paddles off the point 11-13-14

 Winter preparations are underway and the buoys have been pulled from the water 11-13-14.

I spotted the first Horned Grebes down where Mere Point Bay joins with Casco Bay 11-13-14.

 I was not happy to see this domestic cat walking across the boat launch area since I know how many sparrows and finches are still around! Domestic cats belong indoors and not out hunting song birds!

 Just 2 weeks later the barriers were up and we had snow 11-29-14!

 No more walking out on the floating dock!

They remove this for the winter. It will be reinstalled in the spring.

 Long-tailed Ducks flying over the bay are another sign of the coming winter!

 Hundreds of ducks and geese are in the bay far across the water where I cannot identify them all!

 But it’s easy to identify these Canada Geese!

 I went back to count birds the next day and found this Blue Jay…

 …and this blue snow! 11-30-14

 The parking lot still sported a melting layer of slush in front of the out houses and information boards. 11-30-14

 It was starting to look like a bleak November day.

 As always, the sentinel crow was there to keep an eye on things!

Soon Winter would come and change the boat launch even more.

• eBird Hotspot—Mere Point Boat Launch
• Mere Point Boat Launch—all posts
• Red-tailed Hawk at the Boat Launch
• Feathers on Friday

Ducks and geese in the bay 11-29-14