Whew!! I've been cooped up inside for several weeks now, working toward a huge deadline. But now the deadline has come and gone, the work is done (yay!), and I can finally get outside again for some relaxing wanderings in the woods. And how perfect that this new freedom has come just in time for some really great spring-like weather!
It was gorgeous yesterday morning when I visited Osbornedale State Park. The animals were definitely feeling the onset of spring, too! So much of the park was just the same as when I visited here at the end of February last year; aren't seasons amazing? A male Northern Cardinal was singing jubilantly from the tallest trees:
Male Red-winged Blackbirds were all over the place, calling and flashing their bright shoulder patches:
A tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet fluttered around in the woods, checking out the sap flowing from a tree trunk:
Mmm, sap:
I love how the same place can be so similar from year to year, but there's always something new to see. The Eastern Bluebirds I met here last year were absent, but dozens of American Robins were foraging in the stubbly fields:
I'm happy to see Dark-eyed Juncos while they continue to hang around for another month or so:
I was also very happy to meet a few Fox Sparrows under the trees; I think these birds are super pretty, and I only see them every once in a while:
An Eastern Chipmunk watched me from high up in a vine-covered tree:
Happy almost-spring, little mammal! That's quite the fortress you've got there, and a lovely throne.
My favorite surprise of the day was a trio of Hooded Mergansers in a small melted corner of the pond -- two fancy males and a plainer female. These birds are so much like perfectly carved and painted statues, it's amazing:
Those are some really awesome costumes, especially when the males decide to raise their hoods:
Female Hooded Mergansers are also very pretty, of course, with their own funny fancy hair:
I am definitely excited for the many more spring happenings soon to come!
Things are really starting to warm up out there! No so much in terms of temperature -- it was quite cold when I went for a walk this morning in Osbornedale State Park, and there's a good several inches of snow still covering the ground -- but the birds are sending out a pretty clear message: Spring is coming!
Over the past week or so, Song Sparrows and Northern Cardinals have started practicing their springtime songs around my apartment, and these birds were in especially fine form during this morning's walk. I heard sweet sparrow and cardinal calls from all directions pretty much all morning. This cardinal took up a perch high in a tree, where he could beam out his song across the park (and show off his fancy costume!):
And I heard a new (for this year) sound this morning that makes me think of spring even more: The Red-winged Blackbirds have started calling!
It may not look or feel like spring yet outside, but it sure is starting to sound like it!
This morning's walk held several additional delights, too. A tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet flitted around in bare (but bud-covered) branches:
(If I'm not mistaken, those are Spicebush buds swelling up!)
A couple of American Crows found a Red-tailed Hawk in the woods, and chased it off across the sky:
I can't help feeling a bit sorry for the raptors whenever they get mobbed like this. But, well, I guess being a predator has its downsides, and these sorts of encounters do make for some very cool and dramatic scenes:
At one point, a very aggressive mockingbird chased a male Eastern Bluebird right into my path, and I got to have a mini photo shoot while he caught his breath:
We have some very pretty birds around here, and bluebirds are definitely some of the prettiest. With that warm rusty red breast and pure white belly, and those luminous blue wings.... Yes, you are an extremely fetching bird:
And I noticed my new favorite thing about the male bluebird's costume from meeting this fellow up close today: I love, love, love the shade of baby blue on the underside of his tail feathers!
Now that I've gotten my massive snow for the winter, I'm looking forward to more signs of spring to come!
All of a sudden, it feels like winter around here. I went for a walk in Naugatuck State Forest this afternoon, and even though the sky was completely clear and the sun was bright, it was pretty darn cold!
This was my first time back in the forest since Superstorm Sandy, and there were so many fallen trees out there, mostly big conifers. Crews had already come through and cleared the trails (with big trucks, if the tracks in the mud were any indication), but I still saw a lot of strangely oriented trees on my walk:
The storm also scattered fallen branches and pine cones onto the paths, and I saw groups of chickadees, titmouses, and nuthatches actually hopping around on the ground foraging through this stuff -- that was a pretty cool and unusual sight. A few other birds were foraging low in the trees as well, including our two kinglets -- I feel like I've been seeing a lot of kinglets this fall, or maybe they've just happened to be unusually accommodating for me and my camera. This Golden-crowned Kinglet looked like a decorative ornament hanging on the bare branches:
And this Ruby-crowned Kinglet was actually showing its namesake spot of red, which I've only ever seen once before on these little birds (look closely, it's there):
On the lakes were two birds I don't often see around here. A female Bufflehead (or possibly a young male) was diving into the cold water and popping back up again every few seconds:
And a fluffy little Pied-billed Grebe floated along nearby:
As I left for home, the sun was sinking and it was getting even colder in the woods, but this trio of Mallards sure seemed comfortable in their late afternoon bath:
It's nice to know that the woods made it through the storm, albeit with several fewer trees still vertical. The chopped up fallen trees along the paths look strange and awkward right now, but I'm sure they'll blend into the normal forest scene before too long. I'm glad I got to visit the woods today to keep up to date with its changes.
Well, we made it through Megastorm Sandy in one piece, and we even still have power, unlike more than half of our town. I drove around outside for a bit today, and there are plenty of downed trees (big ones) and power lines out there, and I know we were very lucky to get through so unaffected. I can only hope for a quick recovery for those people who were hit badly by the storm.
In our yard this afternoon, several birds were making up for yesterday's horrible weather by foraging pretty much nonstop, and among those birds were two Golden-crowned Kinglets who spent quite a bit of time within camera-range of our windows.... How can I pass up the opportunity to take pictures of these fancy (and fidgety) little birds?
I'm always kind of amazed at how small kinglets are -- when I saw these guys out of the corner of my eye today, I thought for a split second that I was seeing hummingbirds. And because they're small, it's really easy to overlook them. I might have mentioned this before, but I'd never even heard of a kinglet until a couple of years ago. I think such a gorgeous bird deserves much more public attention:
These Golden-crowned Kinglets were looking particularly pretty among the bright orange and red Asian Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) berries -- these plants are invasive, but they are very pretty, too:
I'm glad I got to see these kinglets up close, tiny striped puffballs that they are. :)
It was freezing cold when I started my walk around the lakes at Naugatuck State Forest this morning. Well, not literally freezing -- it was just below 40 °F -- but I sure felt the change in temperature, and I felt silly for not bringing gloves. The weather was crisp and clear, and the birds (if their extreme level of activity was any indication) loved it. Hello, fall!
I don't know how familiar people generally are with kinglets. For myself, I'd never heard of them until about a year ago. They're tiny little birds (smaller than a chickadee), and basically adorable. We have two species in North America: Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. (Such appropriately "kingly" names.) They're not rare birds, but I don't often see them, and when I do, they're usually up high in the trees.
So I was pretty excited today when I came across a Golden-crowned Kinglet foraging in a tree next to the path, right at eye level:
Golden-crowned, indeed! Although I think "flame-crowned" would be more accurate. I took about 50 pictures of this little guy (or girl -- both sexes look the same), and almost all of them came out either with a branch in the way, or with the kinglet halfway off the side of the picture -- this bird just did not want to sit still! It did, however, give me a great view of its most attractive feature, if only for a moment:
Oh, you glorious creature.
So I finally moved on, but I didn't get very far, because just a few trees over was our other species of kinglet, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, also foraging in plain sight and right at eye level:
These guys aren't quite as flashy as their golden-crowned cousins, but they're still adorable. The "ruby crown" in this bird's name is a small patch of red feathers that only the males have, and even then it's only visible when the bird raises its feathers to display the color.
What a treat, to get to see both kinglets in one day, and so close-up, too!
Later in my walk, I came across two other birds that were equally cool, but very different from the kinglets -- two juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks:
As far as hawks go, Sharp-shinned Hawks are pretty small -- only a little larger than a Blue Jay. When I first saw these guys flying through the forest, I thought they were some sort of falcon, because until I looked it up, I didn't know hawks could be so small. The first hawk (in the slightly blurry picture above) was chasing the second one, and when the latter bird landed on a branch above my head, I could see the reason for the chase:
Mmm, a feathery meal, but not enough to for two, it would seem!
As a side note, Sharp-shinned Hawks are apparently doing quite well nationally, but they're listed as endangered in Connecticut. I'm not sure of the exact reasons for this, but the information does make seeing them today that much more exciting.
One last note from today's walk: In another sure sign of fall, the White-throated Sparrows have returned from their summer vacations up north. I saw several of these perky little birds, but they spent most of their time foraging within the thick brush, as White-throated Sparrows are wont to do, and they didn't provide much opportunity for clear photos. Can you see the hidden sparrow in this last picture?
