The second half of our 2010 BwBTC New England Trip (held in August) was spent at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
(photo credit: Dawn Fine)
At this point in the day I was more focused on socializing and simply spotting birds- not taking pictures, so I'm sorry to say all I have is a single video of the Ring-necked Pheasant we all had fun watching:
This was around the time that the
alligator was spotted in Rhode Island, so that was a topic of conversation as we were all gathering for our group photo on one of the viewing platforms. We didn't see any alligators, but I did see a huge snapping turtle sticking its beak out of the water to breathe.
BUT I am happy to spread the link love, and share links to the outing recaps on my BwBTC friends' blogs.
Check out Dawn (our BwBTC outing organizer)'s recap for some terrific pictures of the ring-necked pheasant, and the black-billed cuckoo (or red-eyed vireo?). Not to mention a fantastic group shot of our New England BwBTC group. We had some fun trying to get it right with the timer (her husband Jeff had to keep running back to join the group after starting it), but eventually we succeeded.
http://dawnandjeffsblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/bwbtc-bird-trustom-pond-nwr.htmlThis was my first time meeting Cindy, and I had such a nice time chatting with her. That's what's great about our BwBTC outings- they bring together people you wouldn't ordinarily go birding with (she hails from Brooklyn). Her recap features some terrific close-ups of the shorebirds.
http://longingformaine.blogspot.com/2010/09/great-bwbtc-birding-adventure.htmlMy neighbor John (Bird Man of Bridgewater)'s recap:
http://johnhmitchell.blogspot.com/2010/08/bwtpc-trip.html He managed to get a picture of one of the many warblers we saw along the Trustom Pond path (Magnolia Warbler- my favorite). How he did it- I don't know! They were very elusive.
Larry of the Brownstone Birding Blog applied some creative color filters to his pictures of the trip. See for yourself:
http://brownstonebirder.blogspot.com/2010/08/bwbtc-find-proof-of-avian-life-on-mars.htmlDan of Nature Observances managed to get some crazy pictures! My favorite has to be his intimate close-up of the ring-necked pheasant hiding in the bushes.
http://forestal-plantedtanks.blogspot.com/2010/08/bwbtc-group-outing-to-charlestown.htmlMy cousin Susan of The Nature of Framingham met up with the group here at Trustom, and got some really nice pictures of the Osprey. Also- on an interesting note, one of her blog connections pointed out the mis-identification of the black-billed cuckoo. Her reader Ryan said that it's actually a Red-eyed Vireo.
http://natureofframingham.blogspot.com/2010/09/birders-who-blog-tweet-and-chirp-trek.htmlAfternoon bird list (thanks to Dawn and Jeff for compiling it):
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Caspian Tern
Black-billed Cuckoo (or red-eyed vireo?)
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Blue-winged Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
It only took me 6 months, but finally I posted my 2010 BwBTC trip recaps :) *sigh of relief*
Here's a lovely macro shot of a tomato hornworm caterpillar taking a little break from gorging himself on my tomatoes. Ever seen one before? They're huge and pretty startling to come across when you're pruning your tomato plants. They blend right in, until you accidentally touch one- hopefully not with the horned end!
