Sunday, November 15, 2009

Female Yellow-rumped Warbler at Blue Hills

Back in early October we went for a hike to Blue Hills and I snuck in a little bit of birding. I'm not sure I've mentioned this before, but Steve and I set a goal a few years back to hike every trail at Blue Hills. When we go, Steve is very serious, carefully planning a route that will cover the most ground. We don't stop until we get to the summit marked for that day (remember, this is Blue Hills- so the summits are quick to get up, but there's always a nice view of Boston). There's little time for birding, so I have to choose my birds carefully.

I recognized a unique call and stopped to take pictures of this female yellow-rumped warbler. Of course I identified her afterward, but at least I knew enough to stop and take notice of the call! :)



Also in October I got Steve to go with me to check out Borderland State Park
. We used the entrance off Bay Rd. in Easton, I believe. Since moving to Bridgewater I had wanted to go birding there, and although we didn't see any lifers, I still had some nice lighting for these shots of this mallard pair:

I also saw some ducks sitting out on the "sand bar" although not really a sand bar, but are of low water in the middle of the pond. I noticed the blue bars and thought it was something interesting, but then went back and consulted my Sibley Guide and realized it was most likely a juvenile mallard duck.

UPDATE: Thanks to Hap in Minnesota for sharing his insights- he thinks the duck on the right is a Black Duck, and based on these Google Image Results I agree. Thanks for teaching me something new!

10 comments:

meg said...

yay you're back!!

Dawn Fine said...

yeah..shes Back..nice to see you out birding..I think its great you are hiking the blue hills..its been ages since i have hiked there..

Birdinggirl said...

@Meg- Yay! You were making me feel guilty so I knew I better hurry up and post the pictures I was banking.

@Dawn- Thanks! I'm glad to be back. I'm finally starting to fall into a routine again. Blue Hills is great. And fall/winter hiking is the best- hope to do lots more of it.

Judy Lehrer Jacobs said...

I just posted a link to your site on the Friends of the Blue Hills blog - http://friendsofthebluehills.blogspot.com/ so people can check out your photos.

I'm glad you're enjoying the Blue Hills!

Judy Lehrer Jacobs
Executive Director
www.FriendsoftheBlueHills.org

Birdinggirl said...

@Judy- thanks for the mention on your blog. I had no idea there was a Blue Hills blog! I've spent a lot of time hiking there, and it's also a great resource for birders. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm glad to see you are back
in the bird and blog fold. Guess
you have been pretty busy. If I
may, I would suggest the duck on
the right in the last photo is a
Black Duck judging by the color
of the speculum; the duck on the
left is may be a Mallard. Also,
in your post when you visited your
friends at Central Park, I think
that mystery thrush is actually a
Fox Sparrow. See what you think.
Hope I have been of some help.
Hap in New Hope (MN)

Birdinggirl said...

@Hap- thanks for sharing your insights! I'll add your tip about the black duck to this post.

I wasn't 100% sure about the thrush/fox sparrow so I'll gladly add your input to that post too.

Happy Birding!

- BG

Unknown said...

Great post! I have a Flickr friend who LIVES in the Blue Hills. He's explored every inch, I swear! His name of Flickr is OPHIS, and I'll send him a link to your post.

WELCOME BACK, BirdingGirl - I'VE MISSED YOU!

Birdinggirl said...

@Sue- Thanks! I have a backlog of blogs to catch up on, but I need to see what you've been up to. You and Pete get out there and make some great trips. I need to venture out more.

I'll check out your friend's Flickr page. Blue Hills is great!

Anonymous said...

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