Early Morning Birdwatching

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been doing a lot more of my runs in the morning now that the sun's out so early. It's great especially since we're having a little bit of a heat wave so it's still nice and cool in the morning.

I really like the challenge of trying to identify birds without slowing down or stopping. The path I run along is very dense in vegetation, which makes it even harder to spot the birds when I hear their calls.

The few birds I was able to spot yesterday morning included two Baltimore Orioles (very vocal), a Goldfinch and what I believe was a Northern Waterthrush, since my Sibley Guide says they're very common in dense shrubs and small trees new slow-moving or standing water. I've seen these little and white-streaked birds during many of my trips down to the river, but I haven't put much effort into identifying them. I'll have to get a better look next time.

I'm going to be down the Cape this weekend for Memorial Day. I'm a little nervous about the traffic, but I'll try to be optimistic. We're going down Sunday to go camping in North Truro. The Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary is on the way and I really want to try and stop there. I know they have some wonderful trails and it's an excellent spot for birding.

Charles River Birdwatching

I'm taking a break from my Hawaii posts to report on some local birds I've seen along the Charles. Yesterday morning on my drive to work I saw a Baltimore Oriole fly across the road and land on a shrub. Its yellowish color caught my eye and I'm glad he landed low enough for me to get a good look at him.

Baltimore Oriole:

Courtesy of www.briansmallphoto.com

I've also seen quite a few warblers in the trees along the river during my runs either in the morning or after work. I've read that the best time for birding is either early morning or dusk and it's been true according to my experiences.

The two warblers I've been able to remember and identify are:

Black and White Warbler:

Courtesy of www.jeffraflik.com

Yellow Warbler:

Courtesy of www.jnweb.com/british-columbia/

I'll pick up with my Hawaii posts soon enough. I still have my Kauai pictures to post so there should be at least one or two more posts from Hawaii.

I really want to get in some more birdwatching locally now that the weather's nice. I'm going to North Truro on Cape Cod for Memorial Day weekend and I'm looking forward to stopping by the Wellfleet Sanctuary. It's over 1,000 acres of wetlands, beach and pine woods. I know it's an amazing spot for birdwatching and I really want to check it out.

Big Island- Punaluu Birds

On the day of my friend's wedding we made a trip to Punaluu, a black sand beach south of Volcano where we were staying. It was a little overcast once we got there, but it was cool to experience the beach and as an added bonus there was a small wetland area behind the beach where we were able to get some close pictures of ducks and other birds.

Here's a view of the area:

Yellow-billed Cardinal:

Hawaiian Coot:

Lesser Yellowlegs:

Myna bird:

Muscovy Duck: