Birding – Page 19 – Birding Boomers

Why I Don’t Go Birding Everyday

September 8, 2013joannie6535Leave a comment

It’s 7:15 AM and we’re heading out to go birding. It’s very early for me – way too early for me, in fact, since I retired. I gave up early mornings and 5:30 AM alarm clocks when I stopped having to head out at that some-unGodly time to fight traffic or catch a train to get to work. I used to think I was a “morning person” but now have decided I am definitely a “mid-morning person”. But we were up early (relatively) and heading out to do a little birding. Okay, only one more thought on ‘early’ – most birders have already been out, hiked 5 miles through the wetlands and parks looking for warblers and are, by 7:00 AM, showered, had breakfast, updated their life lists on eBird and are heading out to work. I applaud them for being the “early birder that gets the bird” knowing I am probably not ever going to be that kind of birder.

We grabbed a travel mug of coffee and headed up to the local WA WA (those of you in Maryland know the place) to get a ham, cheese, & egg croissant. We obviously cannot go birding on an empty stomach and can’t waste any more time getting our usual bowl of cereal and fruit at home. That done, we headed on down the road to Governor Bridge Natural Area. I had been reading about all the birds there from a friend’s blog. Hugh is an avid birder and nature photographer who birds every day – come rain or come shine, or more lately, come sweltering August heat and oppressively high humidity. He posts his beautiful photographs at his blog site, My Birding Photos. We hadn’t been down to Governor Bridge in many months so I figured it was time to check the place out again.

Did I mention rush hour traffic delays? Yeah, guess there are quite a few people who slept past 5:30 this morning and were out on the roads just when we wanted to go somewhere. Then again, it could have been that all those early morning birders were now on the road trying to get to work. We took every back road and alley way we could think of to get off the main roads and get down to our destination without too much traffic stress.

As we drove into the preserve, I recalled that I had meant to download trail maps since we hadn’t been there in a while. Oh well, we can just follow the sound of birds singing in the trees. Then again, maybe not. It’s now about 8:30 AM and the cicadas, katydids, and grasshoppers are buzzing and droning and scratching their legs together and making an awful racket as they are inclined to do in hot summer heat.

Hmm. Bugs. Thank heavens, we have bug spray in the car. Vowing to stay on the trails and away from possible tick and chigger zones, we spray down anyway just in case. Good move as it turned out to be a buggy day….saw some rather unique ones along the way.

I asked a gentleman getting out of his car about the trails and he very kindly and generously pointed out the main trial we could take up to a little bridge, turn left onto the trail that encircles the lake. As an alternative, we could take a smaller but closer trail and go back towards the ponds. Wow, it has been a long time since we were here. Lake? Ponds? Maybe I have this preserve confused with another one we have visited in the past. I notice that he heads off in a completely different direction towards the canoe/kayak launch….guess he thought the river would be more peaceful and quiet than the ponds or lake…or taking the same trail we were taking.

Now that didn’t take long so we’re moving up an old service road towards the lake area by 8:35-ish. There is a slight breeze that is a cool relief from the heat. I immediately hear an Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) calling in the woods and hoped that we will spot him (or her) at some point on our walk. We found the bridge with no problems. We stopped and took a couple photos and headed over to the lake which was beautiful in the early morning sunlight. There were wildflowers and bugs everywhere but no birds. There did seem to be a funny looking branch on a snag on a little island in the middle of the lake. Holey moley, it’s a Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)…..and a beauty too. Too far away for a great photo but I gave it a try all the same.

At times like this, I think maybe I should have opted for a better camera with a bigger zoom lens. Then I remember that I don’t like having to tote around a big ole heavy camera and long lens and heavy tripod and I am happy with my little Canon Powershot SX50 HS. The 50X zoom gives me enough to keep me satisfied and taking photographs but I will admit I miss out on some more distant birds. Like this kingfisher way out there in the middle of the lake. And the kingfisher was a delight flying back and forth to different perches here and there on the lake. It was very obvious that this bird had laid claim to that lake.

We found a bench and decided to take a break and maybe sit quietly to see if the birds would come to us. Not a chance. But there were bugs and butterflies and wildflowers to look at and take pictures of so I wasn’t in the least bit put out by the lack of birds. I hear again the distant call of the Eastern Wood- Pewee echoing through the area….Peeee-ooooo-weee. Drat, I just cannot get a good fix on the sound so could not know exactly where to look.

We decided to go around the lower part of the lake and then cut back through the woods to the ponds and, ultimately, back to the parking area. As we rounded the lake, I heard a tiny peep barely discernible over the din of the katydids. We stopped and were finally able to locate an Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) in a nearby tree. We could see him clearly with the binocs but I could not get a photograph through the leaves. Kind of made me long for winter and leafless trees.

I spotted a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). We have noticed that there do not seem to be many Monarchs around this year. Some of the folks from our local bird club have also remarked on this. So I was encouraged to see a Monarch here but discouraged that there was only one.

There were other butterflies and, to my delight, we caught sight of a hummingbird moth. If you cannot see a hummingbird, then the next best thing in that size range is a hummingbird moth. Turned out to be a Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis).

We found a picnic table and took another break – I am big on breaks – and watched a small Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the shallows near the shore. He was lying under a water plant and seemed to be watching the smaller minnows near the bank. We waited to see if he would pounce on one and catch his mid-morning snack but he never did so no show for us today.

There is only hot sunshine now. The gentle breeze has disappeared. We head back into the woods on a smaller trail leading down and between the wetland ponds looking for a little coolness. We still were not having any luck with the birds. Then, as we come to a smaller bridge between two ponds, we stop for a moment and suddenly there were birds everywhere. A small flock of Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) were flitting back and forth between the trees. Then there are Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor). The birds are moving from tree to tree and I cannot get the binoculars and the camera operational at the same time. Can they ever stand still for just one minute? Nope.

Then we spot a pair of birds that are different. We call out what we see – gray upper, rounded head, white wing bars, pale underparts – a little yellowish, white throat & breast. What is this bird? I know it but just cannot put a name to it. I know that I know it. This is making me crazy. But they fly away and we move on.

It’s very hot now and getting late so we head back to the car. We look for the vireo that has been reported near the Pokeberry (Phytolacca americana) bushes by the parking area. Nothing. We load up and head out. We know that we will come back to this place in the future and this particular spot in the woods where the birds seem to be congregating. As we pull out of the preserve parking lot, I hear again the lonely distant call of the Pewee….peee-oooo-weee, peee-oooo-weee…just wish I had caught a glimpse…..and then it finally hits me. My mystery grey bird – of course, the Pewees that I had been looking for all morning but then didn’t recognize when I saw them. Rats! They had been right there in front of me….okay, the tree had been out in front of me…the birds were way up high in the tree.

As we drive down Governor Bridge Road, we remember that we had spotted good birds along the perimeter of the back parking lot for the Baysox stadium. The gate is open so we swing in. We see a small flock of mostly brown birds – maybe female grackles or cowbirds or starlings. They ducked low into the high grasses on the edge of the lot. Then as we rounded the corner on the back side of the lot, we spot a bit of blue…. a strange looking bird catches my eye…partially blue but mostly a mottled brown-blue with a light chest. I am a confused but take a couple photos in hopes that I will figure it out back home. Then he flies and joins a flock of about 10 of them heading into the garden of a house just across the road. And I realize these were fledgling Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) – just getting their blue feathers. They will be lovely in no time but, right now, they are a splotchy bit of a mess making identifying them ever so difficult.

Back home, it is just about lunch-time so we take a break for a sandwich. We watch a little TV while we eat and a History Channel show on the Protestant Reformation gets my attention. So I started watching it and, forgetting my chores and all the things I meant to do today, fell asleep. Always good to take a little nap after a long morning birding though, isn’t it? I wake up about 3:00 PM and the Protestant Reformation is moving into the 19^th century so I continue watching until it ends sometime in the 1960’s. Wow, who knew it lasted so long? Somehow they had connected the dots from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King, Jr. Wow again!

The local time at my house was just past 4:00 PM. Now, I figure I really ought to get to those chores. After all, my original plan had been to do a couple hours birding (which turned into about 5 hours altogether) and then come home and catch up on things. But I procrastinate a little and pick up a magazine and figure I’ll spend a few minutes reading about the birds I didn’t see this morning. Before I know it, it is 5:00 PM and it is time to get a little exercise in so I spend 30 minutes on my stationary bike.

And then I am exhausted and it’s time to get dinner started. Well, I obviously cannot get to those chores now.

So, let me see – let’s recap:

Went birding;
Saw at least 5 birds I could positively identify – about 5 more I could not;
Saw a Monarch Butterfly and some bugs and a fish;
Took 25 or so blurry photos of something that might be a bird in a tree;
Deleted most of them;
Got lunch;
Caught up on the Protestant Reformation;
Did some exercise; and,
Helped get supper.

An amazingly productive day altogether! Then again….Guess not. Good thing I will be able to start all over again tomorrow. But maybe I’d better not go birding for a couple days – might be good to get some of those chores done before my next outing.

For more information about Governor Bridge Natural Area:

http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Nature/Governor_Bridge_Natural_Area___Canoe_Launch.htm

Birding On Board — Netherlands Trip Notes

July 25, 2013joannie65354 Comments

First there are gulls – there are always gulls. Of course, if you are near the water anywhere in the world, you will see gulls.

When you are on a river boat cruise, you spend a good portion of your time either on the boat or on a walking tour of the towns where you are docked for the day. And I found out that you do not spend as much time birding as you might have planned to do back months ago when you were planning the trip. Prior to the trip, I had ordered guides for the area from Amazon.com® – actually I ordered three guides. Now that might seem like it is at least one guide too many but I have never been known to walk away from a good deal. I found two great deals on used guides at Amazon….when you can get a used guide for less than $5, then you pretty much just have to buy it just in case you might need it…and think how much money I saved by buying three discounted guides rather than one at full-price (Joannie logic for sure). One turned out to be too technical with not enough color photos but the other two turned out to be just right – right size, right number of photos, right amount of technical information for a more casual birder like me. So those two went into the suitcase and were carried on the trip with me.*

I also went online to birdingpal.org and tried to make contact with birders in Amsterdam. We had a free day before the ship sailed and I was looking for a little help in doing just a little birding and asked for suggestions of places to go to in/around Amsterdam. I sent several messages but, alas, got no responses. So my first experience with birdingpal turned out to be… not so good. But, knowing that even common birds in Europe would be new to my husband and me, we decided to wing it (pun intended)….when it comes to birds, you mostly have to wing it anyway and timing is everything.

Before I move on, one little travel hint. I have a little trick I use to keep track of the birds I see while on a trip. I tuck little Post-It® flags in with my guidebook and when I see a bird, I add a flag to the photo and description in the guidebook. I add the date and location of the sighting. Later when I am back at the hotel room or, in this case, the boat, I can go through the guidebook and note down all the birds I have seen that day and check descriptions against the photos I might have managed to take during the outing. Ultimately, when I am back home again, I can flip through the guidebook and prepare my trip bird listing and I remove all the little flags from the book before stowing it away until next time. Now, I know that more serious birders would have already uploaded their daily lists to eBird and may not need this hint but it is a little trick that I have found helpful for me when traveling.

But getting back to gulls, we didn’t see as many as I thought we would see. Or at least, I didn’t see as many different kinds of gulls or other seabirds as I thought I would see. For the most part, there were Black Headed Gulls (Lorus ridibundus) which were new to me and therefore okay by me. I am more used to Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) with black heads back on the east coast in the States so getting to know another gull with a black head was just fine. I did see quite a few Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) which were very familiar to me and a few Greater Black-Backed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) but there just didn’t seem to be as many other kinds as I would have expected when taking a river cruise.

There were tons of pigeons and, being pigeons, came in all shapes and sizes (mostly big) and were absolutely everywhere. Every tour guide we met seemed to have a complaint about the pigeons. Among them were Wood Pigeons (Columba palumbus) and Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto), both new to me. Although people complained a bit about the number of pigeons in the cities, I just tried to enjoy the view and pick out the ones that were different from the rest and were new to me.

Birding while cruising turned out to be rather difficult considering the boat is moving down the middle of the rivers, channels, waterways which was usually some distance from the shorelines where most of the birds were hanging out. Add the 6 knot cruising speed of the boat…which sounds very slow until you try to focus on a bird on the shore before it is long gone…and you have a challenge. But we did okay in spotting birds notwithstanding the difficulties. We got distant views of a good sized flock of Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) and closer looks at several Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) that were spotted on a grassy area near a lock along with numerous other Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), Coots (Fulica atra), and other ducks.

Now, the Mallards are pretty much the same as those we have back home in Maryland although there seemed to be quite a few hybrids. This is not unusual since Mallards are known to breed with American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) but the Mallards here seem to have intermixed with domestic ducks so we saw many brown splotched Mallards. It reminded me of the pigeons with all the variation on basic colors possible.

On the other hand, the Coots and Oystercatchers were very similar to their American counterparts but were different enough that you can tell they are an old world species.

Speaking of Coots, don’t you love the blue feet on that bird? I cannot remember ever seeing a Coot out of water, so was very surprised at the size and color of their feet.

It was the same with the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) which looks remarkably like the Great Bearded Heron (Ardea herodias) in America but is decidedly different when photos of the two birds are viewed side by side.

Most of our birding luck on the trip came in the towns when we managed to squeeze in time before or after a walking tour. I have written already about our visit to the Amsterdam Botanical Garden several weeks ago in the post, Birds in a Garden, so I won’t go back over the birds we saw there in this post. (Except for adding a photo of the Ring Necked Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), of course.)

We did manage to find birds also along the way as we followed the tour guides through the towns but one of our best birding moments came in the town of Hoorn when we found a wonderful park by a canal totally by chance when we sort of got lost looking for something else.

The day before we left for the cruise, I had spent some time working in our garden back home and was tackling the removal of some Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) that had gotten totally out of control and was rambling about everywhere. Now, what I didn’t realize was that Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) had grown up in the Creeper and was hiding there like some sneaky snake ready to pounce on those of us who are most susceptible to its evil poison. Only I could get a poison oak rash the day before I left on vacation….and then not realize that I had it. So, about the second day of the trip, I found out that I had a nasty rash in several places on my hands and arms and a day or so after that I figured out what it was exactly. Fortunately, it was a relatively light case so I wasn’t totally miserable and didn’t need a doctor. But I am in Europe with poison oak and I am not even sure that they have the plant over there, let alone any idea of whether or not they had anything resembling calamine lotion with which to treat it. And who takes calamine lotion on a cruise? Nobody, that’s who.

After about three days, I am thinking I need to find anything that might help the incessant itching. We found ourselves with a little time after the walking tour of Hoorn but before we had to be back to the boat for lunch and decided the time was right to find a drugstore, or an Apotheek as the locals call it. We got directions to go down a half a block and turn left and proceed for a couple blocks and the pharmacy would be right there – has a big green cross on front of the building — couldn’t miss it. Have you ever noticed how local people have no real idea of distances when it comes to their home town? Everything is just right there, not far at all, and you can absolutely never miss it, whatever it is. Well, we went down the block and turned left….so far, so good. But the distance to the next intersection of any size was more than just a couple blocks; it was more like 1/2 mile. And, of course, the pharmacy wasn’t just right there – well, it was but it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. We stood there a bit before realizing the store was on the corner but just wasn’t obvious…it didn’t look like a pharmacy…it looked like just another building. Having found it, we went in and inquired about calamine lotion and somehow or another made the pharmacist, who was perhaps the only person in the Netherlands we met who didn’t speak English, understand what we were looking for and why. Turns out they did carry calamine lotion and had a single bottle left in stock which we happily purchased for 9 Euro – not cheap by any means but I would have gladly paid more at this point. (Note: I just found out by looking at answerbag.com that poison ivy/oak is a North American native plant and is non-existent in Europe. Now I am wondering what they do with calamine. Oh well, I am just happy they had that one bottle when I needed it.)

As we left the pharmacy and headed back to the docks, we noticed a lovely park that ran along a canal and backed up to the houses and back gardens of the houses along a parallel street. And where there is water and there are gardens and, more importantly, where there is open space, there are birds. We took the long way back through the park and we did get lucky with views of a Jay (Garrulus glandarius), Jackdaws (Corvus monedula), and a Redwing (Turdus iliacus) and more views of Magpies (Pica pica), Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus), and Coots (Fulica atra).

Now a Jay is one bird you would never get confused with an American Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)….totally different birds.

Mission accomplished with several new life-birds on the list and a bottle of calamine, we headed back to the boat, promptly got lost following my finely honed sense of direction, then got back on track when the husband took the lead and we made it back in time for lunch. But don’t tell him that I ever admitted that I got us lost and he got us back on track…..I might never hear the end of it.

All in all, without really looking or doing any serious birding, we saw 42 different species that we could affirmatively identify. We saw several hawks overhead and from a distance, plenty of gulls that were not close enough to see discriminating marks, and other birds we just couldn’t identify so we do not include them in the count. Since this is the first time we have looked for birds in Europe at all, most were life-birds and added to our combined life list quite nicely. Notably missing from the list were woodpeckers. We just did not see any woodpeckers although we did hear a bird that sounded very much like a Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) from back home.

I also expected to see Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) everywhere since they are very invasive in the States but I was surprised by how few we did see in the Netherlands. There were Starlings at the airport when we arrived in Amsterdam but we never encountered them elsewhere. The birds might have been everywhere else….we just didn’t see them anywhere else. Maybe the pigeons keep the starlings in check. Finally, I expected to see more migrating birds, especially waterfowl but, other than the flock of Barnacle Geese, we did not see large flocks of any ducks or geese although the area is in a migration flyway.

It was an excellent trip and we did see awesome birds although that wasn’t really the purpose of the trip. I do wonder how many new species we would have seen if we had actually gone birding with a guide, found a few more parks and gardens, or had more than 10 days in which to look……something to think about and to plan for on future trips.

* Guidebooks:

“A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Britain & Northern Europe”; Peter Goodfellow & Paul Sterry; Beaufoy Books; 2010; (purchased from Amazon.com®)

“Birds of Britain and Europe, Photographic Field Guide”; Jim Flegg & David Hosking; New Holland Publishers; 1990; (purchased from Amazon.com®)