Osprey drops in to my Cape Cod Wedding!

The majority of 2011 was spent planning my wedding, but now that it's over I'm finally catching up things I've neglected...like my blog! I still squeeze in birdwatching when I can (today I had pine siskins, black-capped chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches at my bird feeder, plus saw a golden-crowned kinglet while on a walk at Carver Pond), but sadly I haven't had the time to sit down and blog regularly. That's going to change in 2012. I've really missed going birding and now I have considerably more time on my hands. I also changed jobs around the time of my wedding, and instead of commuting 2 hours into Boston I now drive 30 minutes to Plymouth. I found an amazing job at SmartPak Equine, a horse supplement and equestrian supply company.

Now that the holidays are over I finally have time to go through all my wedding photos. I've been working putting together a book for us, one for my parents and one for Steve's parents. Hopefully

that will be done soon!

While looking through all the photos I keep noticing all the bird ones. We got married at the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis, MA (on Cape Cod). It's located right on the ocean, so naturally there were lots of shorebirds, gulls, and even an osprey made an appearance. My wedding photographer Lindsey Light was amazing. She and her assistant Mike were very accommodating and when I told her I was a birder and I would love if she snapped some photos of the birds she willingly obliged. In fact- in some of these pictures it wasn't even intentional! The osprey was fishing in the breakwater while we were getting photos taken on the narrow dock. It was hard to concentrate on photos when the osprey was right next to us diving into the water for fish. Here are the photos- enjoy!

Herring Gull

At first I was doubtful this was the Osprey in this photo, but after checking my Hawks at a Distance book I'm reminded that the Osprey has a distinct "M" shape in the sky at a distance.

Herring Gull in the background

Osprey flying in low hunting for fish

Osprey

All photo credit in this post goes to our amazing wedding photographer Lindsey Light. If you're getting married soon, or looking for portrait photos in general (she does engagement photos, as well as baby and family pictures) definitely check her out.

Difference Between Grackles and Starlings

I saw a sad sight today during my lunchtime jog—a dead grackle. Or was it a starling? I'll get to that in a minute. I was making my way down to the trail along the Charles River when I saw what I thought was an injured bird in the middle of the road. It was just sitting there and I figured it was just stunned or maybe had an injured wing. The bird probably didn't have much of a chance, but the least I could move it out of the road. As I got closer to the bird I saw it had its mouth open and then I realized the gruesome truth—it was dead and was frozen in that position. I just got shivers thinking about it. The poor thing. Anyway, so it got me to thinking 'What is the difference between grackles and starlings?' I use the two interchangeably and haven't really made an effort to sort it out. Until now. I like to use All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as an online resource. The site is comprehensive and easy to use. (I also really like the 'Cool ...

Killdeer Chick in Yellowstone National Park

These were taken at West Thumb Geyser Basis, along the beach. It was really cool to get to watch these little chicks up close and personal. I had never seen Killdeer chicks before- only adults. These pictures are from our trip to Montana/Wyoming in July 2012.

Indigo Bunting at Mt. Auburn Cemetery- Lifer!

I was so excited to see my first Indigo Bunting today. I quickly ran over to Mt. Auburn during lunch to take advantage of peak warbler season before it's over. I'm going to be in San Francisco for work all next week so I fear by the time I get back the birds will have moved on. There were a lot of birders there today and of course lots of activity around the Dell. That's where I saw a flash of blue fly into the undergrowth at the edge of the water. None of the other birders with scopes set up were bothering to look at it. I'm assuming they had already seen it and were focusing on other more exciting birds- such as the pair of screech owls that have been reported at the Dell recently. Here is where I first sighted him at the edge of the water. There was also a female cardinal there splashing around trying to cool off. He then flew up into the bushes on top of the wall behind the Dell, where I got a better picture. I was very pleased with the day! It's addicting tho...

BirdingGirl

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