Rabbit, Rabbit! Happy September!

Wanna see a bird hopping like a bunny? Here's your chance!



I am late in posting.... will update soon with posts from summer trips!

I went to Pennsylvania, and all I saw was a big fat House Sparrow!

I am in Pennsylvania right now.... not getting out to bird much.

But, I DID see this big fat House Sparrow... at least I think that's what he is.

Here (to left), he's up in a tree (click on pictures to see them bigger).

He seems to spend most of his time on the roof of the house, as in picture to the right.  He seems to be well-fed.  Just sayin'.

Long Pond

I went kayaking and birding today at Long Pond in central Massachusetts.  It was so nice to be out on the water again....


I saw several birds that I did not manage to get a shot of...  including a beautiful Great Blue Heron flying just over the water. 

I saw lots of these, but I don't know what they are for sure (click on any picture to see it bigger): 


They were pretty when they were flying...  but I know it doesn't look like much in the picture.

I paddled the whole way around Long Pond.  I went to a little cove, and I saw something that I thought at first was a weird growth on a tree...  but then I had this funny feeling.... Was that an owl? 


I looked with my binoculars, and suddenly its eyes opened!  Yes, it was an owl!

Here it is, a little bit closer-up.  It was so cool!  Now, exactly what kind of owl this is, I have no idea.  But I feel like my animal totem for the day is the owl.


He definitely saw me, and then he flew across the cove.  It's kind of hard to see, but in this picture he is in flight, in the lower right corner:

See him in the lower right? 


Then he perched on the other side of the cove.  I stalked him over there, too:

Anyway, I looked at him a pretty long time.  Probably the longest look I've ever had at an owl.  He was pretty huge.







Later, I saw a duck and her ducklings:

Sweet, right?  I got pretty darned close.  I thought the mama was purdy:

Isn't she sweet?  Now, exactly what kind of duck is she?  I'm not 100% sure.  Anyone?  Mallard?


So, that was my kayaking and birding adventure for the day.  I'm so glad summer is here!

birding in North Carolina

I recently found myself in North Carolina.  I didn't really have time to bird, per se, but I did see this sweet house sparrow.  At least, I think that's what it is.

I also saw a ground thrush -- I know this because I happened to be walking with an actual birder who told me so. Cool bird.  I saw several of them.

Driving, I saw several birds of prey.  I definitely saw a red tail hawk, and some turkey vultures -- and I saw a bald eagle!  Haven't seen one of those in a long time!  Sadly, I have no pictures of anything but the house sparrow.  But... you'll just have to take my word for it.  Would I lie to you?

In a month, I will get to go to Prince Edward Island... looking forward to birding adventures there!

Addendum:  Forgot to say... also saw a wild turkey driving home.  In fact, had to put on my brakes hard to avoid hitting it!

Cape birding... limited success

Well, I got to spend a few days at the Cape.  Unfortunately, I was not out birding early in the morning, nor at dusk... consequently, I spotted very few birds.

We did see and hear lots of catbirds.  Here's one of them:

 

Not much to look at, but they sing purdy.

I also got to go to my favorite birdwatching store:

Great place.  I didn't see living birds there, but they did have a meal worm petting zoo:

I bought a deck of cards with exotic birds on them.... and I got some "concentration" type cards with pictures of birds, to help me learn them.  Not that I don't already know SO much about birds.....

For instance, here's a blurry little picture of birds of prey that we saw:

I don't know exactly what they were.... falcons? kites?  But I know they were birds of prey.  I know a lot.

And I know that this is some kind of gull and a crow:

Finally, I'm pretty sure these are some type of doves:

I know LOTS about birds.  As you can plainly see.

In a used bookstore, I bought volumes 1 and 2 of an old Audubon Society birding book series.  Volume3 was missing.  Nice pictures.  Best thing I bought?  A book called The Life of the Skies: Birding at the Edge of Nature by Jonathan Rosen.  Really well written... lots of good stories and history.  He makes some really great points, too.  Recommended for all birders and aspiring birders.

Rabbit, rabbit! Happy June!

(P.S. The video above is not mine... just found it on Youtube.  I call this "Youtube birding".)

Every time I step out my door, I see a robin.  Robins, robins, robins!  Almost never anything else.  I don't know what the deal is.  Occasionally I'll go outside of the house to take a picture of a robin for this blog... but THEN they don't show up!  It is most frustrating to have camera shy robins.  I hear them singing all the time.  And they have made quite a mess of our lawn chairs... but they will not pose for a photo op. *sigh*

Rabbit, rabbit! Happy May Day!

(P.S. The video above is not mine... just found it on Youtube.  I call this "Youtube birding".)