Fall Rarities - October 09, 2011

A bit of time at Salisbury Beach State Reservation this morning found a very cooperative Hooded Warbler foraging among the pines near the parking area for the Pine Grove. Both shots were taken in the dark under one of the pines. The warbler spent very little time in the open or in the sun.

A male Summer Tanager has been around for a few days and was seen in the same area as the Hooded Warbler. Bob & Bonnie Buxton kindly tracked me down once they re-found the Tanager. Thanks again you two!!!

A very fresh Monarch Butterfly perched near the Hooded Warbler for this shot.

A stop on Parker River NWR found one of the two Ash-throated Flycatchers foraging near the Wardens parking lot. And the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker working a Birch Tree right next to the boardwalk along the marsh loop in Hellcat. Again both of these birds were pointed out to me by Bob & Bonnie Buxton. Thanks again and keep up the great work you two!! Great birds on a fabulous day!!

1st Fall Screech Owl of 2011 - October 07, 2011

A bit early for Screech Owls to be roosting in holes in trees but this individual was fun to see. This is my earliest fall "Screech in a hole" to date. The trees are still full of leaves which is usually enough to hide them from both predators and scolding song birds. Maybe the chilly overnight temps pushed it to roost in the cavity.

A visit to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge this past Tuesday found several Wild Turkeys roosting at the Hellcat parking lot along the fence.

While further down the road towards lot #6 this Blue Grosbeak perched up for a few moments.

St. Louis - October 2 & 3, 2011

A 2 day trip to St. Louis, MO found several of the expected species with the Eurasian Tree Sparrow seen below the reason for the trip.

Another life bird seen at the same location as the Tree Sparrow was several Carolina Chickadee. Their slightly higher call notes and subtle plumage differences from our Black-capped Chickadee were rewarding to hear and see.

I tagged along on this trip with Steve Grinley, Margo Goetschkes, from MA, Derek & Jeannette Lovitch from Maine and Joan Frisoli from California.. Steve, Derek & Jeannette were in St. Louis for a suppliers convention. Margo, Joan & I for the birds... Here they are at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

and here's Derek setting up for a group shot at the same location.

and Steve, Joan & Margo looking for a Winter Wren the night before.

One of the tugboats along the Mississippi. These boats are enormous and must have mucho horse power to push the enormous barges up and down the river.

One of our early morning stops produced a Cape May Warbler that was good enough to hold still for a moment.

and finally a shot of the Mississippi River from the plane as we left St. Louis on Tuesday.

and a shot as we landed in Boston, just south of the runway.

Sierra Vista, AZ - Sept. 13, 2011

Swainson's Hawks were easy to find on this trip but non were more cooperative than this beauty perched along the road just outside of Sierra Vista.

A brief video of the Swainson's Hawk in the early morning light just outside of Sierra Vista.

One of my 1st stops when I arrived in Tuscon was at the Sweetwater EOP, a waste water treatment plant with trails and loads of birds. I had a close encounter with a pair of Tropical Kingbirds, the only two I saw on the trip. 

American Avocet - Hampton, NH - Sept. 26, 2011

A stop at the Fisherman's Coop along Rte 1A in Hampton, NH last weekend found this long staying female Avocet roosting along the shoreline.

A brief video of her preening:

She was most cooperative

The bill on these birds are quite something. They swing them side to side through the water, snapping shut on whatever prey they come across.

Las Cienegas NCA - Sonoita, AZ - Sept. 14, 2011

Las Cienegas NCA in Sonoita, AZ is 46,000 acres of open grassland with several roads allowing access to the many birds (and cattle...:) that call it home. This was my first visit, it took 3 hours for me to drive through with much exploring, birding and photography.

Clay-colored Sparrow. There were literally thousands of these throughout the conservation area.

One of the many cows that were free to roam as they wished.

A Dickcissel that popped up.

Lark Buntings were everywhere on my 1st visit and very hard to find a few days later.

Lark Sparrows were out in numbers on each visit.

Prong Horned Sheep, I only saw a few.

A dark Red-tailed Hawk along the road.

Swainson's Hawks were moving through in good numbers.

Another Swainson's Hawk as it perched on the post.

and finally Yellow-headed Blackbirds were seen in several locations.

Mt. Lemmon - Tucson, AZ - Sept 15, 2011

A trip up the 27.5 mile long road that leads to the 9550' summit of Mt. Lemmon was an interesting and in lots of spots an exhilarating ride. It is a wide & well maintained road with guard rails at all of the appropriate spots but some of the inclines and drop offs will get your heart pumping unless you encounter something like this on a regular basis..... I certainly don't!

The view from one of the many pull offs.

and another looking at Tucson in the distance.

Some of the birds encountered at the summit included Hermit Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Bridled Titmouse, Common Raven and Townsend's Warbler as seen below.

Pygmy Nuthatch

Mountain Chickadee

and my favorite Yellow-eyed Juncos seen in the next two images.

A brief video of a Junco feeding

There were feeders along the road on the ride down that attracted both Rufous Hummingbirds

and Magnificent Hummingbirds as seen in the next two shots.

All in all a ride I won't soon forget and one I hope to repeat in the years to come.

Arizona - September 11 - 18, 2011

A week of birding in south east Arizona turned up 143 species. Out at sunrise and back at dusk each day while covering just under 1200 miles over the 8 days. Lots of varied habitat and beautiful scenery can be found in the mountains and canyons around Sierra Vista, I always enjoy my visits and hate to leave.

Taken outside of Sonoita, near Elgin along Rte 82

Something you don't see here in the east.... Open range!

Mary Jo Ballator's "Ash Canyon Bed & Breakfast" is a great place to see loads of Hummingbirds and others like this Acorn Woodpecker that was coming to suet in her backyard.

She has Lucifer Hummingbirds coming to her feeders through late September.

along with Rufous (seen below), Anna's, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Broad-billed & Magnificent Hummingbirds and several others as regular visitors to her yard.

Mexican Jays frequent her feeders as well.

The Paton's Hummingbird Haven in Patagonia hosts several Violet-crowned Hummingbirds as well as most of those listed above.

A Cooper's Hawk made a run at the feeders while I was there and hung around for several minutes contemplating its next move.

A Ladder-backed Woodpecker coming to the suet and posing in a nearby perch was a treat to see.

I'll continue in another post with stops at other locations around Sierra Vista.