A Race, Some Birds, and a Birthday

 The Lake 6-27-15

On a cold day in June we gathered at the lake in Colchester, CT where every summer my family has a sort of mini family reunion centered around a road race. It is known as the Annual Adams Family Road Race and those of us who can, either walk or run our old 3 mile high school cross country course. Every one of my siblings and some of my nieces and nephews have been on the Bacon Academy Cross Country Team at one time or another. My middle brother, Stephen, came up with this idea as a way to keep us all in shape as we get older. Nice try, Stephen! One by one we have dropped out for various health reasons, but there are still a few of us who still can walk or run. I have mostly walked the last few years, but this year I declined to even walk as I was still healing from an injury. Instead, I stood at the finish line and manned the stopwatch and the camera, as well as watching birds.

I am always watching birds.

First there is the waiting for someone to round the bend…

 

Then my youngest brother appears!

 

My sister, Mary Grace, my daughter, and my Mom all watching and keeping time as they shout words of encouragement!

 

Then, my brother Stephen rounds the bend and burns it up towards the finish line!

 

Can you believe he is in his 50’s!

We are all in our 50’s now. Except for my oldest brother, who is the first one of us siblings to cross into his 60’s! There were not many runners today, so I did not get many pictures of runners. But, I did see some birds!

After the race was over everyone headed back to the Lake House. Most went in their cars, but I decided to walk and count birds.

I found some Cedar Waxwings gobbling up dog berries alongside the road.

 

Overhead a Tufted Titmouse investigated a crevice on a limb.

 

As I neared the north end of the lake I found a female Red-winged Blackbird in the brush near the swamp on the other side of the road. Female Redwing Blackbirds trip so many birders up, even experienced ones at times, because they can look like some sort of weird sparrow with their streaky plumage.

The amount of yellow-orange can vary in their faces.

But notice their overall body shape and bill shape. This is a blackbird’s bill.

 Two Red-winged Blackbirds in a small tree.

 

 The swamp on the north side of the road.

 

 Water lilies cloak the surface of the water.

 

 Such pretty blossoms!

 

 Song Sparrow and a spider’s web!

 

 Song Sparrow at Lake Hayward 6-27-15

This date was also my mother’s 79th birthday! After surviving two separate battles with breast cancer, we are all so happy she is still here to celebrate her birthday. Her hair was just starting to grow in after her recent chemo treatment earlier this year. She is pictured below with her young friend, Alexis, who is also a breast cancer survivor! They went through chemo together the first time around and have remained friends every since! It was so nice of her to stop by. It made my mom’s birthday ever more special!

Happy Survival you beauties!

Red-breasted Birds in SE Arizona

 Red-breasted Sapsucker in Madera Canyon 11-8-13

After striking out on finding the Red-breasted Sapsucker in Madera Canyon on November 3rd, Chris Rohrer and I were right back at it in less than a week. Chris had Friday off from work and we jumped in my car and headed south. Though Madera was the ultimate goal, we stopped along the way at Sahuarita Lake in Rancho Sahuarita where a pair of Red-breasted mergansers were reportedly being seen. While I have seen Red-breasted mergansers on the east coast, they would be my first sighting of this species in Arizona IF we could find them. One had been seen previously at Kennedy Lake on the southwest side of Tucson and Chris had already seen it there, but my attempts to find the bird in the same location came up short. I still needed this bird.

Sahuarita Lake is surrounded by a paved walking path. Though the water is an unnatural blue due to a chemical they add to kill mosquitoes and algae it still is a pretty spot with the Santa Rita Mountains towering like a thin blue cutout in the background. I parked the car and Chris and I started walking with the sun behind our backs. It wasn’t long before we sighted the Western Grebe that was also reported here.

Western Grebe 11-8-2013 Sahuarita Lake, AZ

We only heard a few birds as we walked along the trail but I was surprised to see a couple of Turkey Vultures circling overhead. A few yellow-rumped warblers flitted in the trees that lined the path and we even found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet near the restrooms! Though I scanned the lake with my bins I did not see anything remotely duck-like on the water until we got closer to the far end of the lake. Finally we found the mergansers at the far end close to the shore and in some kind of slime that slicked their shaggy crest down when they came up after a dive. As we walked slowly closer, they quickly slipped away. Once out in open water again the fresh water rinsed the muck off and they took on the shaggy-crest look once again.

Red-breasted Mergansers (females or juveniles)

Note the long, thin bill and the shaggy crest.

Red-breasted mergansers are ocean going birds and are rarely found inland. The Red-breasted merganser has a longer and thinner bill than the Common merganser, which is frequently seen inland. The Common Merganser female looks similar, but has a shorter bill with a white throat and greater contrast between the reddish-brown head and neck and the white breast. Non-breeding males look very similar to females but according to my Sibley’s Bird Guide males are in breeding plumage from November to May.

Mergansers are also called “sawbills” due to the jagged edges of their bills which helps them to grasp fish.

We got one last look at the Western Grebe before we left the lake.

After a quick stop to pick up some lunch Chris and I headed for Madera Canyon. While we counted birds along White House Canyon road like we always do on our way into the canyon, we did not linger. We headed straight for the White House picnic area to find our bird. As we drove up into the canyon I was surprised at how many cars were on the road. I had never seen so many cars here! But, word was out about the Red-breast Sapsucker and an even rarer bird had been sighted far up the canyon on one of the trails. Some one had seen an Eared Quetzal! Birders were coming from far and wide to get these species on their Life Lists! Chris and I did not have time or the gear we needed to hike 2 miles up the mountain for the chance of seeing the quetzal, so we headed straight for the picnic area. It wasn’t hard to find the bird, there were already other birders there with bins and cameras. We quickly parked the car and got out.

Red-breasted Sapsucker 11-8-2013

The birders who were already there were just leaving but told us the spasucker kept returning to an alligator juniper just past a picnic table. Chris and I listened for its call and just as another group of birders joined us the sapsucker flew in! we all sat ourselves down quietly and started snapping pictures! This was a Life Bird for me and I snapped and snapped and snapped away!

At first I only got shots from the backside of this bird, but finally it turned its head and eventually it flew off to a nearby mesquite tree where I was able to take a side shot.

The whole time we sat there and watched the bird no one talked. When they finally did talk, every one kept their voices to a whisper. It was a magical moment for me. Here was yet another bird I never thought I would see! While I have see Red-naped sapsuckers, Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and Williamson’s sapsuckers, this bird seemed out of my reach as it does not reside in Arizona, but only rarely passes through on migration from the Pacific Northwest! With this sighting of the Red-breasted Sapsucker I now have all my North American sapsuckers on my Life List!

Of course, we saw many of the usual winter birds on this day, including Mexican Jays, Acorn woodpeckers, Dark-eyed juncos and the always adorable Bridled Titmouse!

 Bridled Titmouse in Madera Canyon 11-8-13

 

• What’s That in the Grass –part one of this story.

Gold, Green, and Gray at Devil’s Hopyard State Park in Connecticut

 Covered Bridge at Devil’s Hopyard 6-29-13

I grew up visiting this park so it is always fun to go back to visit it. Of course, I have to count birds while I am there, but on this gray and wet day in June there were more mosquitoes than birds. Still, I soaked in the tranquility and the lush green of New England. I knew it would be a long time before I would be seeing this again.

Gold water…

Green picnic area…

Gray titmouse in a green forest…

Gray Eastern Phoebe…

Gold, Green, and Gray.

Gold, green and gray,

These are the days

of early summer in New England

when the sun has yet to dominate

and the mosquitoes rise in clouds

from wet forests and flooded fields,

where humidity turns into rain and back again

in an ageless alchemy of water

and life,

and emerald.

It is the time before the blazing days of summer

when everything starts to wither and wilt

and turn brown.

These are the gold, green, and gray days

the pensive days, the dreaming days,

the remembering.

~Kathie Adams Brown (July 23, 2013)

Bird Therapy in Connecticut WBW

 Red-shouldered Hawk in Colchester, CT 3-7-12

Last week I was in Connecticut for my mother's last chemo treatment for breast cancer. Before, after and the day of her chemo I treated myself to a bit of Birding Therapy to help me deal with the anxiety of the whole situation. Nothing like a few birds to take your mind off things and help you to relax and just BREATHE! Mom is doing very well. You can read her update here. Now, I hope you will enjoy the birds I saw on various days and in various places! Perhaps it will be a bit of Bird Therapy for your soul too!

 Tufted Titmouse in my sister’s yard 3-7-12

 

 Feeder Birds in Mom’s yard 3-8-12

 Wild Turkeys on Lake Hayward Rd 3-8-12

 

 Killdeer at Lion’s Pond in Colchester 3-9-12

 

 Killdeer Pair at Lion’s Pond 3-9-12

World Bird Wednesday!

Farm Field across from Savin Lake in Lebanon, CT 3-9-12

If you missed it last week, please visit The Birds I Thought I Would Never See on the Birding Is Fun Blog. (Because I was busy in CT I was not able to make the link active on my post last week.)

For those of you who came and visited my posting and left me comments on This Blog or Birding is Fun, I want to thank you very much. They are greatly appreciated and I am trying to answer them all and get around to visit all of you. I must say that this nice weather certainly makes it hard to stay inside, so I haven’t. With temperatures in the mid 70’s I have been out birding again yesterday and today. Perhaps tomorrow the weather will be bad and I can stay inside and blog. We will see…

A.V.I.S. Skug River (OWT)

Skug River Reservation 3-20-11

In the town of Andover, Massachusetts are numerous nature trails created and maintained by the Andover Village Improvement Society. A friend told me about them when I first moved here last year but life was such that it wasn’t until March 20th, which was the first day of spring, that Gus and I were able to investigate even one of these reservations.

The Skug River Reservation parking lot is located on Salem Street in Andover between Route 125 and Jenkins Road. The Skug River Reservation is adjacent to Harold Parker State Forest. The name “Skug” is thought to be either a mis-spelling of the word “skunk” or the native American word for “snake.” You can read more about it on the A.V.I.S. web site: Skug River Reservation.

Black-capped chickadee 3-20-11

On this bright first day of spring when Gus and I went, there were still patches of snow on the ground. Downy woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees moved through the trees, easily seen sitting on the bare branches of winter.

The trail meanders through pine and oak forest, over a board walk and bridge, then back to the soft carpet of forest duff again.

An eastern chipmunk popped up to say hello!

Tufted Titmouse 3-20-11

Titmice watched us with curiosity. All the birds seemed to want to sit in the sun and soak up the warmth while they could. I remember thinking that I would have to come back here and count birds by myself. Well…

…it wasn’t until September 2nd that I finally made it! Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene has passed and I am wondering if I might find any warblers passing though the forest. Now the boardwalk is flanked by greenery. However, I am not hearing or seeing many birds as I start down the trail.

As I cross the bridge the Skug river flows lazily by.

Wildflowers bloom along the river bank.

Eastern Wood Pewee 9-2-11

However, I am hearing this persistent song, “pe-WEE, PE-yur…” over and over again. What is IT??? I search the tree tops for some sign of color or movement but see nothing. I think the sound belongs to some type of flycatcher, so I pull out my Smartphone and pull up a birding app I have and play the songs of various flycatchers. When I come to the Eastern Wood Pewee, not only do I recognize the song, but the bird flies over and lands on a branch right over the bridge! Now it is in plain sight and I am able to get a few shots of it. However, when I try to creep closer for a better view, it flies away.

So I continue on down the path where I see this dark blob in the deep shadow of the forest.

An Eastern chipmunk is giving itself its morning bath.

When I see some motion down in the trees beyond the chipper, I look to see this little sparrow. Is it a juvenile song sparrow or the rarely seen Lincoln’s sparrow? I’m still deciding. The beak looks too thin and pale for a song sparrow and the streaking on the breast too fine. Also, from this angle, it does look like it has the buffy malar stripe of a Lincoln’s but it is hard to tell if it has the buff wash down the breast. More research is needed.

I continue on the trail uphill and into the deep shade of the forest.

Brightly colored mushrooms dot the edge of the trail, but I am seeing no birds.

I am, however, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes in spite of the fact that I slathered myself with insect repellent before leaving my vehicle. They are so numerous and annoying that I decide to turn back. In some parts of the state there have been people who have contracted Eastern Equine Encephalitis after being bitten by mosquitoes. I do not want to be the first Andover case!

As I head back down the trail to the bridge I am greeted by the rattle of a Belted Kingfisher. I watch as it flies swiftly away from me before I can get a picture. I did not see any warblers here this day. I only saw 10 species of birds, but I have a feeling there will be more and I do plan to come back, though next time I will be armed with industrial strength insect repellent! Sing on sweet wood pewee! Soon you will be gone but hopefully I will see you next summer when you and I both return!

Eastern Wood Pewee 9-2-11

Our World Tuesday!