Mother's Day Weekend at Hasty Brook

We spent the most beautiful weekend up north at Hasty Brook. We arrived Saturday morning to temps around 70 and perfect breezes. The trees and sky were FULL of birds! The low areas around the creek held huge bunches of blooming marsh marigolds. They glowed even more brightly in the dappled sunlight.

I found many patches of Wood Anemone. They are also called Mayflowers. Most of them have a single white bloom but I found an occasional pink too. The trout lilies were up but not blooming yet. In fact I noticed that the lilacs up there were not open yet but they're nearly done here at home.A pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers were very busy drilling. The pair was quite loud and vocal with each other. I took 20 pictures of this one hoping it would pop down a bit below the obscuring branch, but no.
Here's an action shot that I liked. If you click to enlarge, check out the feet. Cool!
On to warblers. There were plenty of them in the tree-tops but my frustration got the best of me. So I tried just focusing on the ones that came more readily into view. Here is a Palm Warbler that let me watch for quite a bit while he caught insects in the spruce branches. Other warblers that I got firm id's on

Black and White Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Ovenbird

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The Nashville and Palm Warblers are new for me!

On Saturday afternoon we filled the old bear-bitten feeders to see who might come in for a snack. No takers until Sunday morning when this jewel turned up. I had heard them singing off in the woods. This male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was quite bold, singing and eating just a few feet away from our camp chairs.

I have never noticed the spots before.

A group of 4-5 Red-breasted Nuthatches were the first to notice the seed. These are funny little birds to watch. They too were fearless of us being nearby. A flock of chickadees soon found the seed too. The chickadees were the most fearless of them all. They would grab a seed ,then fly to the picnic table or a camp chair to crack it open. They weren't bothered by our activities at all- in fact one perched about 3 feet away while Art chopped wood.

This White-throated sparrow sang for us all weekend from a birch nearby. He was happy to pick at the seed fallen below the feeders and even came close to check out some potato chips that fell to the ground.

Evening at Hasty Brook is my favorite time. The sounds of veeries and hermit thrushes singing as the sky darkens are quite simply heavenly to me. Saturday evening we were treated to the peents and twitterings of woodcocks! We could hear grouse drumming just beyond the clearing and the loons were yodelling as the flew in to their lakes for the night. I really wish you all could join me there. Hasty Brook really does feed my soul.

My weekend Hasty Brook list:

American Crow

American Robin

Bald Eagle

Black and White Warbler

Black-capped Chickadee

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Great Blue Heron

Hairy Woodpecker

Hermit Thrush

Nashville Warbler

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk

Tree Swallow

Turkey Vulture

Veery

White-breasted Nuthatch

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Northern Harrier

Palm Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Ovenbird

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-throated Sparrow

Ruffed Grouse (heard not seen)

American Woodcock (heard not seen)

Mallard

Wood Duck

Help with a Sparrow ID

This is my third year of trying to learn to identify sparrows. A friend recommended the book Identify Yourself: the Fifty Most Common Birding Identification Challenges by Bill Thompson III, aka Bill of the Birds. To be honest going in to my challenge I was only hopeful to be able to tell female house sparrows from anything else. That first year I learned to firmly id chipping sparrows, fox sparrows and white-throated sparrows and I was happy. Last spring I got the book out again and added white-crowned, Harris's and song sparrows.

Last week this guy showed up. He looked a bit daintier than the song sparrows scratching under the feeders. I want so badly to call him a Lincoln's sparrow. His chest has a buffier wash. No dark dot on his breast.

His tail is shorter and his streaks are finer.
Warmer tones all around.
These last two pictures are of one of the song sparrows hanging around for comparison.

Is it all wishful thinking? Go ahead and shoot me out of the water if need be. I really need help on this one.

By the way- no one has moved the can of starter fluid. It seems to be a bird magnet!

White-crowned Sparrow!!

Look who came to visit my yard this morning!!

What a pretty sparrow- so formal looking.

Do you like my crown?

Here's a view of the top. Now I'm wondering what it is with the sparrows wanting to feed and pose next to this crummy can of starting fluid, tossed to the ground and LEFT THERE by a husband named Art. Some might say it adds a splash of color to the sand and gravel. (that would be Art). Others (me) say it looks like we're the trashy neighbors everyone seems to have. Either way, darn near every good sparrow picture I've gotten in the last two weeks has been next to this can. I was going to pick it up, but maybe I should just leave it a while.

Odds and Ends

I emailed Birdchick about some odd behavior I observed yesterday. I watched as a male cardinal repeatedly snatched a twig from this house wren as he was trying to stuff this nest box. The cardinal eventually went after the wren and drove it off. Sharon posted my question looking for additional comments. I'd like to post a piece of video I took showing some of the behavior but need help posting the video. Please help video-savvy blogger pals!!

This picture is begging for a caption. The winner wins heartfelt congratulations from me!

I found this beautiful heron when I took a wrong turn coming home from Molly's softball practice last night. I was frustrated at the wrong turn and running late, but this view made me pull over and stop to appreciate the "gift around the corner".

I know a lot of you have been wondering what Buddy's toes look like but were too shy to ask. Well, here they are in all their stretched out glory.

This is the view from my bedroom window where I do a lot of my backyard birdwatching. The pink tree is a Newport Plum that Art and the kids got me for Mother's Day just 3 years ago. The tree must like it's location as it has doubled in size in just 3 years. It's beautiful in spring. The blossoms all mature into little tiny fruit and then about a week later they all fall off! I've heard that's characteristic of this particular variety. We were hoping for a fruit bearing tree for the birds. Hopefully the bird-friendly shrubs I planted last fall will take off.

Harris's Sparrow!!

Just this morning I was reminding myself to take a closer look at the sparrows under my feeders. There are always plenty of house sparrows and for the two weeks or so there have been several white-throated sparrows. Yesterday a pair of white-crowned sparrows joined the mix. I had a busy day with doctors appointments and groceries. Molly had a softball game at 4:30 and then we dashed off to find a formal dress for May crowning at school on Friday. Finally at 7:30 I sat down with a bowl of chicken salad and put my feet up. Wait- just take a quick look out back and see who's in the yard. Whoooey! A Harris's sparrow!
Look at his pink bill and legs.
He's bigger than this white-throated sparrow. In fact the Harris's sparrow is the largest of all of the sparrows.
They nest in northern Canada
and winter in the great plains.
This is one gorgeous sparrow!
Beautiful!
Are you sick of Harris's sparrow pictures yet? I just can't get enough of this bird. The only other time I saw a Harris's sparrow was last year in the same spot. The only picture I got last year was of it's butt. Today was a lucky bird day!
Was it a lucky bird day for you?

Back Yard Visitors

There was lots of action in the back yard today. Several white-throated sparrows were scratching under the feeders while others sang "Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada" from the lilacs.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny did what bunnies do. Aren't these little buns CUTE?? They've been just a blast to watch. The three of them dash around like their tails are on fire then they jump right up in the air, flip around and run again.
I heard a strange peeping/squawking sound from the maple right outside my upstairs window and saw this beautiful wood duck looking me in the eye about 10 feet away!! I drank him in through my bins for a good five minutes before I put them down to get my camera. I wish they'd stay.

Brown-headed Cowbird

There's a terrific new edition of This Week at Hilton Pond with information galore about the brown-headed cowbird. Check it out!

They Call it Dovey Love

Hey baby...
Turn down the lights...
put soft music on the stereo...
a little wine...
!!

Mr. and Mrs.

Many of my backyard birds are paired up including this sweet pair of juncos. On Monday there were easily 100 juncos feeding in my yard. Tuesday maybe 10. Today it's just this pair. They had better get going or all of the prime real estate up north will be taken.
The lovey doves have been plenty lovey. In the afternoon she snuggles into the sand while he stands watch. This pair is building a nest in a white pine outside my bedroom window.
The male red-winged blackbirds have been here singing their hearts out for over a week. The ladies just got in to town. They nest in a large wetland about a mile from here but they make loud group visits to my feeders. Yes, they are piggy but they are welcome here. I was watching a female this morning that had a lovely peach colored patch on her throat.
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are living under the shed out back. They enjoy cleaning up the fallen seeds under the feeder. I know they are also munching on my flower beds at night and I will probably eventually curse them, but I really do enjoy watching them romp. Our dog Gidget is getting old and slow and shows no interest in them. Gidget is good buds with our pet bunny Buddy to so maybe she thinks all bunnies are off limits.

Spring Always Comes

I took the afternoon off for me. The morning was filled with phone calls, making appointments, errands to the bank and post office and laundry. I put supper in the crock pot (you GOTTA love a crock pot!) grabbed my camera and bins and hit the road. I didn't have to go far, two parks both within five miles of home. At my first stop I was greeted by a pair of phoebes perched in some branches overhanging a quiet stream. They weren't shy about darting out for insects over the water, then shooting back to the branches to eat their snacks. This was the best look I'd ever gotten of phoebes. I was lucky to have nice bench nearby to watch the show. I took gobs of pictures of the phoebes but they were unfortunately all slightly out of focus.
I can't get enough of these song sparrows. They're singing their hearts in my yard right now- such a lovely song.
This one at the park was quite bold scratching the ground near my feet looking for a tasty morsel.
Up high in the tangle of branches, a flash of yellow- a Butterbutt! Sit still, there's another and another!! Yellow-rumped warblers are one of the few warblers I'm confident (sort of) to id. I am so excited to have gotten a picture of him. My first warbler photo! Well second I guess, I did get a few pictures of an ovenbird up at Hasty Brook last year.
I have found the best way for me to birdwatch is to find a spot and wait. I settled in on a bench at the second park and waited for the birds to show themselves. A group of twitchy tiny ruby-crowned kinglets flitted in the brush across the sidewalk. A flock of sparrows moved slowly through, pecking and scratching the ground as they went along. Song sparrows, chipping sparrows and in among the group, looks like a chipper but a bit larger, rusty cap, no black eye line, tree sparrow? No breast spot- it's a field sparrow!! That's a lifer for me!
After a bit I noticed little black berries dropping around me, on my head and even down the back of my shirt. I slowly looked up and in the trees barely three or four feet over my head were a half dozen cedar waxwings!! I could barely believe my eyes. It was a gift for me. I'm not ashamed to say tears were flowing. Birding feeds my soul.
Time to head home, a stop at the grocery store on the way. One more quick stop at a little wild spot behind a church near the store. I hopped out of the car, headed toward the pond and this fat woodchuck scooted past. I'm not sure who was more startled- him or me! He gave me the evil eye for a little while then made a soft barking sound and huffed away. Spring always comes.