Cape Cod Bird Nerd

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

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

September seems perfect in almost every way when considering the beautiful world surrounding us on our bird walk this morning! We had a sea breeze to cool us at just the right moments and we had some new-comers who'd never been to Tuesday Tweets before. I do thoroughly enjoy visiting with the bird-lovers who return each week. Even though we hike the same trail, there is always something new to see and birds to hear and vistas to gaze upon. I was explaining to the folks who came along that I have daily bird walks with the KidSummer Birding 101 Kids, and how they sometimes will complain about the heat, or the sun, or the walk... blah blah blah. I do my best not to complain (unless someone's WHINING!) about the weather, and I will then also add, "Would you prefer to take a math test?" That will sometimes put things into perspective for them. Not everyone gets to set foot on the oh-so-wonderful John Wing Trail in Brewster, Massachusetts. Lucky me... I get to do it all the time, and I love to share it with nature-loving, bird-appreciating folks of all ages. We were pleasantly surprised by a flocking Tree Swallow air ballet for a few time standing still moments...what a SIGHT! They flew RIGHT over us, about 30-40 birds.

We had a brief gull lesson by the time we got to the ocean. The 4 most common gulls were conveniently resting on the mudflats, all right next to each other. This is a great opportunity to compare field marks, though it can be tricky when you throw juvenile birds of each species into the mix. The fun part is realizing you're seeing a juvenile gull (or whatever bird you're observing) rather than a whole new species. Believe me - I get VERY excited when I see a "lifer" (what my bird nerd mentor Peter Trull calls a species you've never laid eyes on in the field before ), but I also find it fun to point out the field marks so birdwatchers perhaps less familiar with them can take that information with them. It's fun to know what species you're looking at. Birdwatching is obsessive. It's INCREDIBLE to do it in a locale such as this... if you haven't been on a Tuesday Tweets, well you gotta do it SOMEDAY! (double click on photos to enlarge)

Our List:
Northern Cardinal
Gray Catbird
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Laughing Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Double-crested Cormorants
Semi-palmated Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
Great Blue Heron

Gray Catbird (looks like a juvenile to me, fluffy feathers)

Gray Catbird

Lesser Yellowlegs

Double-crested Cormorants, Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Black-backed Gulls, Lesser Yellowlegs

Gulls, Gulls, GULLS... and a cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Gulls, with Yellowlegs on the spit of marsh grass (top of photo)

Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, 2 Laughing Gulls (juvenile)

all coexisting quite nicely on the mudflats

Great Blue Heron

Semi-palmated Plover

Great Blue Heron

Happy Birding!

Sunday, September 4, 2016

9.5.16 - Bird Nerd Moment - South Middle Beach
South Yarmouth, MA

There's a storm brewing... it's still off the Atlantic coast and is hundreds miles south of here, but it's coming....that's what all the weather folk are saying anyway. When this happens on the Cape, what's cool is, often you can see a storm headed right toward you, from a distance because we can just go to Nantucket Sound and well... look southeast. So I decided I wanted to do that. Today has been BEAUTIFUL here in Yarmouth anyway, and I wanted to go see what the water was doing. Curiosity got the better of me. I took a quick drive to our resident (aren't we LUCKY?!) beach, which is about 2 miles from home....

Well... as you can see - conditions at South Middle Beach - were perfect. It was breezy, the storm had evidently stalled out at sea as it was, pushed around by other pressure systems... meteorology is something I know nothing about. I pretty much look outside to forecast the weather, and I rely on our gaudy, one-winged fence ornament - Placido Flamingo - to let me know about the wind. I find him quite trustworthy.

What was remarkable about this quick visit to the shore for me (sometimes that's all I get) was that I noticed a flocking of House Sparrows on the Rosa rugosa, AKA Beach rose. I wondered what they knew about the storm that we didn't. Typically you can learn a lot by observing wildlife and their habits and patterns. When a bad storm is coming, they KNOW. They seek shelter long before most of we humans do... this amount of House Sparrows did seem slightly unusual to me though... so of course, out came the phone camera. I know, not everyone is fond of House Sparrows (invasive species) and I've still got a beef with them from this spring. They kicked Tufted Titmouses out of a nest box in my yard. Stinkers.
I had to take photos of them... tough to count, due to camouflage, but I believe there were about 40 that I could see...surprisingly quite well-hidden in the roses. See how many you can count! (double click photos to enlarge)

How many House Sparrows can you count?! (click on photo to enlarge!)

Happy Birding!

Sunday, August 28, 2016

8.28.16 Bird Nerd Moment - My backyard
Yarmouth, MA

Sipping coffee on a sunny Sunday morning on Cape Cod...I'm mentally choosing to ignore the tug of the school year, and the routines that await all of us in just a few days. I don't drink a lot of coffee, but it is the morning ritual that I enjoy most of all, and I'm getting to enjoy every sip, outside in this weather, that just won't quit! This summer's weather on Cape Cod has been incredible. I know, I know, there's a drought, and we need the rain...of course we need rain. One of my favorite Cape Codders commented on this: "We really need the rain." He said, "Yes. On Cape Cod, we need summer rain on Wednesday night, once a week, while everyone is sleeping. THAT is when we need rain here." I couldn't agree more, and Mother Nature has pretty much stuck to that plan for most of our summer here. It has just been spectacular. Hot Hazy Humid - perfect. Why and how are coffee, rain & birds all coming together here... and WHEN?! Now.

SO - I'm sipping my delicious coffee, enjoying some warm sunny peace on our back deck, which is surrounded by oaks... the trees' leaves are sparkling with sunbeams and for a few minutes, I haven't heard anyone calling me from inside the house. All is quiet...until a small flock of Common Grackles arrives, one after the other. They fly in rather quietly and perch - about 10-12 of them, here and there all around the branches in my yard. The photos I've posted below are less than great - but all I had to snap a few shots was my phone camera. (double click photos to enlarge)

Common Grackle

Common Grackles - dark forms here and there

in the branches

Birds who flock, are beginning to flock again, be it for migration, shelter from an approaching storm, keeping their family groups safe & close. So these grackles are bouncing from branch to branch, making their tell-tale calls & inspecting all that they please all over the oaks. I believe some of them MUST be juveniles, though I can't see all of their eyes from the distance they're at. Juveniles do not sport the yellow iris the adults do. For a beat, I think about what the heck it might feel like to be fearful of birds, because I'm surrounded. It's a grackle ambush! I don't know why it popped into my brain, but it did. I have heard that story over and over again and I have also heard that for many of the folks who have ornithophobia: an irrational fear of birds; that it is common that some frightful occurence involving birds has happened to them at a young impressionable age. Perhaps they'd inadvertenly wandered too close to a nest or into a territory a bird was feeling particularly protective about. I know people get dive-bombed by birds - I've SEEN it! I suppose if you were the young human at a tender age and that happened to you, it would freak you out too.

I think of it at that moment I guess, because I feel surrounded...surrounded by grackles and watching their behavior and feeling like I'm in a sort of heaven. I also understand that my comfort level with essentially every living creature ( save arachnids ) does not translate into euphoria for most everyone. This moment below, from Ace Ventura - Pet Detective sums up MY happy place essentially... I would sing too if that were me...

I'm at home with them. I'm in my glory. I'm loving being exactly where I am, surrounded by Common Grackles and watching them, and listening to them as the summer breeze sways the branches and rustles the leaves. All I'm doing is having a coffee on my back deck, and I'm transported by the birds. They really are magical in that way... I know not for everyone, but for so SO many. It's such a special gift... the existence of birds. I hope you've been able to enjoy their company recently too.

Happy Birding!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

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

Birds, birds...BIRDS! We saw perhaps the most amount of species of different birds on this particular Tuesday Tweets, and it was an added bonus, that the weather was Cape Cod Perfection. It was hot, but there was a gentle breeze, lots of sunshine... a time to be outdoors, binoculars around your neck, comfy shoes on sandy feet and a smile on your face.

We don't always make it to Cape Cod Bay, because the birds we see and hear along the way are so often wonderfully distracting and detaining... we simply (well I simply) cannot make it all the way to the water in a mere hour. This morning was a slightly extended Tuesday Tweets. I could not tear myself away from the shore, with the terns flying just above our heads, singing their beachy song - at least that's what it means to my ears. When I hear terns screeching and calling and creating the sound that is all their own, it makes me want to stretch out on the sand and take a leisurely beach nap. It's that peaceful for me. I realize sights and sounds of the shore have different meanings to different people, but I was mesmerized this morning. We were overrun with TERNS! It was gorgeous.

The bird nerds seemed so pleased and I have to make mention that a former Birding 101 KidSummer Kid and her mom, joined in on this particular Tuesday Tweets. I am so PROUD of her! I loved birding with her! She was taking it all very seriously and seemed to be enjoying each moment, identifying species and taking in the moment that we all so fortunately were able to share together. Thanks Bird Nerds! What a morning! (double click photos to enlarge & don't miss Rick's photo contributions!)

Our List:
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
American Robin
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Osprey
American Crow
Barn Swallow
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Eastern Towhee
Prairie Warbler
Mourning Dove
Laughing Gull
Cedar Waxwing
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Phoebe
Baltimore Oriole
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Ruddy Turnstone
Black-bellied Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher (???)
Least Terns
Common Tern