Tuesday, June 26, 2018

6.26.18  Tuesday Tweets - Green Briar Trail - Green Briar Nature Center 
Sandwich, MA

Bird walks on Cape Cod offer viewings of similar species of native and migrant birds, but in different settings.  Leading bird walks on the Green Briar Trial is a woodsy experience.  You do need to come prepared with bug spray because many of the trails are teeming with vegetation... all the more places for birds to seek shelter in the heat.  We had quite a chilly spring and even into the beginning of summer and then suddenly... HEAT!  Thankfully on the Cape, the ocean is every which way here.  There are also kettle ponds and lakes that keep us cool.  Though the Smiling Pool wraps its way into the thicket at Green Briar, it is definitely not a body of water you'd want to cool yourself off in!  The Sandwich wildlife who live in, around and nearby though...seem to be thriving.

Meeting similar-minded nice people is a great benefit of bird walks.  This particular walk offered an exceptional meeting of a woman named Annie, who was a retired national park ranger.  How cool is THAT job?!  It was an experience, sharing this trail with her, both of us calling out birds at the same time and enjoying the landscape among the trees and rocks and winding trail.  Thank you Annie for your stories and for being a care taker of Nature.  You must know how very much the birds appreciate you... and we almost saw a Chimney  Swift perch in a tree - a rare moment... almost! (double click photos to enlarge)

Our List:
Red-winged Black Bird
Gray Catbird
Barn Swallow
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Yellow Warbler
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Common Yellowthroat
Downy Woodpecker
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
Chimney Swift
Cedar Waxwing
Mute Swan
Red-tailed Hawk


American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird - male


American Robin - male

Baltimore Oriole

Eastern Chipmunk

Red-winged Blackbird - male
Mr. & Mrs. Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
   
Northern Cardinal - female & Red-winged Blackbird - female


Red-winged Blackbird - female & House Sparrow

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird


Fungus can have a really cool look too


Young Sassafrass


Gray Catbird

Red-winged Blackbird - male

Gray Catbird

Mute Swan - father (Cob) & cygnet... just a little past Father's Day

Mute Swan family



Painted Turtle

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow & its reflection in the Smiling Pool


American Robin - male

Next opportunity for Tuesday Tweets: 7.24.18 at Green Briar Nature Center 11a-12p
$4Members & $6Non-members 

Happy Birding!

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

6.5.18  Tuesday Tweets - John Wing Trail - Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Brewster, MA

The first time I heard "bird walk" was after I moved to Cape Cod about 17 years ago.  At first I thought it was a rather silly compound word, but soon after, the concept intrigued me.  I've been leading bird walks now for nearly 8 years in many regional locations and I feel ever so lucky to be able to share these habitats.  I don't head out on a bird walk wishing to see a certain amount of species in a certain amount of time.  There is always a suspicious element of surprise, and that's certainly one of the reasons I continue to walk the same trail again and again.  It's always different.  On this morning, I don't think any of us were expecting to see/hear 34 different species of bird... but that's what happened. 

It was tricky keeping up, writing the names down, while discussing bird nerdy things and trying to catch some images.  The first two weeks of June is when phone calls and bird photos start pouring in from friends, family and other bird nerds.  It is an exciting time for nature lovers!  There is new life in every direction you give yourself time to take notice.  I hope you get some time to do so as your own self reward.  Some of the photos are blurry, again because I simply didn't have time to focus... particularly of the Green Heron - our finale bird on this Tuesday Tweets.  I was on the salt marsh planks and so were several groups of school children visiting for a field trip.  I didn't want to be in their way.

For so many of the children, it was their first nature walk.  I couldn't help but notice, two young boys, trailing as the caboose, at the end of the last group.  They were wearing hats.  They were quiet.  They had their own binoculars they'd clearly planned to bring with them on this sunny Tuesday morning field trip.  They knew this was a place and time for viewing birds.  I like to believe they will remember the morning for years to come.  I got to point out that Green Heron to those two boys.  That was a gift for me. (double click photos to enlarge)

Our List: 
American Crow
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-winged Blackbird
Osprey
European Starling
Common Grackle
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
Common Yellowthroat
Gray Catbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Eastern Towhee
Yellow Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Prairie Warbler
Eastern Bluebird
Tree Swallow
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Willet
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Tufted Titmouse
Laughing Gull
Carolina Wren
Green Heron (!!!)
Great-crested Flycatcher


Osprey on the nest - GREAT this nest this year!

White-tailed Deer!!!



Song Sparrow

Osprey pair - one on the right is feeding an osprey chick (that you can't see)

Visit ospreycam


Common Yellowthroat

Gray Catbird

Eastern Bluebird - male

Eastern Bluebird - male (that darn branch...)

Eastern Bluebird - male

Cedar Waxwing (really a profile only due to the angle... wish you could see the plumage...)

Cedar Waxwing - was just hanging out over us for a little while.  AMAZING.


Cedar Waxwings
Cedar Waxwings PHOTO CREDIT: Ron

Red-tailed Hawk PHOTO CREDIT: RON

Eastern Bluebird - male


We had MANY an Eastern Bluebird sighting!  What a treat!

Cedar Waxwing

Sometimes a silhouette is all you get.  I believe this is an American Goldfinch... but he was distant.

Tree Swallows on the wing

Praire Warbler

A blurry backside of a Yellow Warbler

Red-tailed Hawk - juvenile.  I'm guessing female,
She was BIG!

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Cedar Waxwing

Osprey silhouette, hunting over Quivett Creek


Crow tracks in the sand

Tiny tracks... sandpiper?

One of CCMNH's fabulous Field Guides doing her thing on the mudflat!
"HOLY FISH!"
Willet



Gulls on the mudflat





Happy Bird Nerds!
Lots of Lady Slippers!

Green Heron!!!

Green Heron - notice the shape of the wings when flying...

Green Heron, showcasing her/his wingspan (I know... blurry)
Happy Birding!