Yesterday, a few migrating Palm Warblers showed up in our yard, adding some brilliant color to these gray and drizzly days:
This was actually the first time I've seen Palm Warblers in our yard, and I am (as always) super grateful for the Red Cedar trees outside our windows that allow us to see visiting birds so close:
I just love this bird's outfit. The chestnut cap and chest streaks are especially wonderful:
And those yellow-olive trousers are pretty cool, too:
These birds are definitely welcome visitors!
I love spring. Let the parade of migrants begin!
Apparently I've been going to the wrong woods for spring wildflowers for years now! Well, "wrong" isn't quite what I mean; I still get to see Trout Lilies and violets and trilliums and other cool things at all my usual haunts. But today I visited the Bent of the River Audubon sanctuary, where I saw tons of wildflowers that are by no means rare in Connecticut but that I've missed entirely until now.
Like, for example, Bloodroot, whose blooms were closed when I first arrived:
But which opened into luminous beacons as the morning progressed:
I think these flowers are even prettier in the shade of the forest floor:
There were Dutchman's Breeches, fancy little flowers dangling over wonderfully frilly leaves:
And carpets of tiny Spring Beauties:
This little flower is definitely worth admiring up close:
I was already familiar with some of the other flowers I saw, but that didn't make them any less awesome. A few Red Trillium plants bore nodding blooms:
I think these are some of our most beautiful wildflowers, and I'm very glad I got to see them again:
I also admired the Trout Lilies, of course, stout dark plants in the sun:
And wispier individuals in the shade:
I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing these plants:
So yeah, this is a pretty amazing place for wildflowers. And some other early spring sights made this morning's visit even better. A few Northern Rough-winged Swallows are setting up nests in holes in the riverbank:
I had way too much fun watching these birds perform their aerial acrobatics above the river as they jostled for territory:
A couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were foraging at the edge of the woods, and the female got close enough for some pictures:
Pretty bird:
When I caught up with these birds again later, the male was busy putting on a performance. He would fluff up his feathers and stretch his head down:
The female fluttered from branch to branch all around him, and he kept turning to face her. Bird courtship is so strange and interesting:
What do you think, Ms. Gnatcatcher? Is he fluffy enough for you?
In another part of the woods, a few Palm Warblers worked their way through the underbrush:
One of the last creatures to make an appearance during my visit was this large (multi-foot-long) black snake, who wound its way across the path:
At first, I thought this was a Black Rat Snake, but on closer inspection (and after a bit of research) it turned out to be a Northern Black Racer. How cool, a new snake for me! This website gives a good description of the differences between these two species of large black snake; this creatures' smooth scales were the biggest clue about its identity, since Black Rat Snakes have slight ridges on their scales. This snake rattled its tail against the dead leaves to warn me away -- an awesome behavior I'd never seen before -- but my zoom lens let me get a portrait before the snake disappeared into the woods:
With so many awesome plants and animals, I'm hoping to return to the Bent of the River again soon. I'm very curious to see what will show up here in the coming weeks!
The trees haven't quite reached their peak yet, but everything was looking very fall-ish when I went to visit the meadows at Naugatuck State Forest this morning:
The goldenrod stalks that were ablaze with yellow blooms in August are now topped with gray-fuzzed seeds, which several small birds seemed quite crazy about today -- a group of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers was moving constantly from tuft to tuft the whole time I was there. This Palm Warbler took time out of his/her busy feeding schedule to pose for a few pictures:
How lovely you look next to those old flower heads, little bird, their muted fall yellow being so similar to your own.
Thank you for humoring me and my camera clicks!
Also thoroughly enjoying the goldenrod's bounty this morning were a few Swamp Sparrows, a new bird for me:
These little guys are quite fun to watch, with their rufous-striped crowns and quirky perked-up tails (at least, this particular fellow kept his/her tail up high).
Little birds down in the grasses, and big birds above. Turkey Vultures are so common around here that it's easy to overlook them, but they're really quite majestic in flight:
And lest we think the insects might have gone away already, this wandering Ichneumon Wasp (species unknown) says otherwise:
It was a great walk, and I'm looking forward to more gorgeous fall days like this one!
Fall is quickly approaching! We woke up to lightly frosted cars this morning, and I spotted my first orange-tinged maple while I was driving yesterday. So my trip to the Naugatuck State Forest yesterday morning may be my last summer walk of the year, before fall starts really moving in!
I saw lots of exciting creatures, but many of them were too far away for good pictures. A Great Blue Heron was perched on a branch sticking out of the lake, preening its huge wings. A Belted Kingfisher was hunting, and I watched it catch a few small fish -- it would dive into the water while yelling at the top of its voice, which I wouldn't think would be a great hunting strategy, but I guess it works for the kingfisher! I saw a big owl up in the trees (the first owl I've seen since early May), but it was facing away from me, and it flew off before I could get a better look at it.
Not all the creatures stayed far away, however. At one point in my walk, a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk swooped down along the path, passing right over my head, and then perched on a nearby branch:
It was quite the experience, having a big raptor flying right at me. What a gorgeous bird. I'm glad it decided to stick around for a little while.
Fall migration is definitely happening now. This Palm Warbler was making a pit stop on its journey south, foraging in some bushes next to the path:
It's amazing how much this species changes over the year. This fellow was pretty, but so brown and washed-out compared to the brilliant yellow I saw when these birds passed through this forest in the spring. The only reason I was able to recognize this as a Palm Warbler at all, actually, was because it was constantly wagging its tail, and I remembered that behavior from my last encounter with these birds.
It was a good day for really crazy and awesome wasps. Both of these next two creatures are species of ichneumon wasp, and they're some of the fanciest-dressed wasps I've ever seen. This one, ready for Halloween with it's neon orange antennae and black body, is (I'm pretty sure) the species Gnamptopelta obsidianator:
I don't know the exact species of this next ichneumon, but now that I'm on a Halloween track, I can't help thinking how much its white-on-black pattern resembles a skeleton costume:
Here's something new to me -- Wild Grapes:
I'm not sure how it's possible that I've never encountered grapes in the wild before -- they're not particularly uncommon. Apparently one has to be careful, though, not to confuse these with other dark vine-growing berries, like the poisonous Moonseed. One way to know for sure that you have grapes is to check the number of seeds inside the fruit -- grapes have several large seeds, whereas Moonseed only has one.
So I tasted a few of the grapes, and I have to say, they were phenomenal. The flesh was very sour near the seeds (which was about 70% of the fruit), but just below the skin it was quite sweet and super grape-y. I can't really explain what I mean, but the flavor was about three times as grape as any domestic grapes I've eaten. It was amazing. So basically, I would peel a small bit of the thick skin from a grape, squeeze out the inner section of seeds and sour flesh, and then suck on the sweeter grape concentrate that was left within the hollowed-out skin. My method definitely wouldn't sustain me if I was starving in the woods, but it made for a tasty treat. Yum!
Here are some other assorted sights from my walk:
There was fungi popping up everywhere, but I'm not yet up to par on my fungi identification skills. I thought this group of pale- and bright-orange fungi was particularly pretty, whatever their species names might be:
Several trees have fallen in the recent storms and rain, and this snapped tree made quite a dramatic sight, with that tall stake pointing toward the sky:
When we were in Norway, we saw many small carefully-balanced rock cairns scattered across the landscape, left by tourists, or possibly trolls, if the guides were to be believed. Apparently the rock-builders have made their way here as well:
There's something very pleasing to me about this sight, and I hope the structure stays standing for a long time.
As a side note, deer hunting season started yesterday, but I didn't see any hunters on my walk. My sense is that this part of the forest (around the lakes) is close enough to human habitation, and so often frequented by runners and bikers and walkers that it should be relatively safe for me to visit during the week. I will, however, stay away from the deeper parts of the forest -- which includes the meadows that I so enjoy visiting -- and I will be sure to wear bright clothing whenever I'm in the woods. I don't anticipate any problems, but it's probably best to be cautious.
There were so many exciting things happening in the woods today, and I'm having a hard time deciding what to share first! OK, I'll just dive in.
So apparently I'm on something of an owl streak right now. Today, I decided to walk my usual loop in the Naugatuck State Forest, but in the opposite direction, and that turned out to be a really good idea because it got me into just the right position to spot this:
See the little fuzzy thing on the left? OMG Great Horned Owl baby! (Or possibly babies!)
I can't believe this owl's nest was just right there, and so close to the path -- I don't know how many times I must've walked right by without knowing it was there. The owl I saw the other day was in this same area, so it was almost certainly a member of this nesting pair. I'm so excited to have found this nest, but I'm also a little worried for these guys -- I heard the crows going after the owls again when I was leaving the woods, and with the nest clearly visible from the path, what if people find it and get nosy and disturb it...? I mean, I would hope no one would actually do that, and these are big birds and I guess they can probably take care of themselves, but still, I worry.... Well, I guess there's nothing I can do from here besides wait and see what happens!
I can already tell I'm going to learn a ton of new birds this summer. The migrants are starting to come back and/or pass through this area right now, and I saw at least four different small songbirds today that I'd never seen before.
