BirdingGirl

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...

These pictures were taken on my birthday weekend, back at the end of March. I went down to see my parents on Cape Cod and my two birthday requests were: 1. I want to go Charlie's Place in Wareham for dinner. I've been going to Charlie's since I was a little kid and I have a lot of fond memories there. We're friendly with the owner, the prices are cheap, and their pepper & onion pizza is my absolute favorite. 2. I want to go birding. So, my parents took me to Bourne Farm in West Falmouth, and then later in the day I went for a walk on the Cape Cod Canal with my mom and my Aunt Marylou. Here are the duck pictures from the Canal. Red-breasted Merganser: Female Red-breasted Merganser: Common Eider Flock: I really enjoyed our earlier walk at Bourne Farm . There are walking, biking and horseback riding trails there that feature cranberry bogs, ponds, and an old herring run. Too bad I couldn't get very close to the ducks there since they were in the middle of the po...

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I had a great day at my aunt's house in Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod. I even squeezed in a little impromptu bird-watching, although I wish I had my Canon Powershot with me instead of just my cell phone camera, but what can you do... This red-tailed hawk eating a Thanksgiving dinner of his own was a nice surprise. We saw it as my mom, Steve and I were heading out for a walk to the beach. We spotted it up in a tree eating what appeared to be a squirrel. It was pretty gruesome in fact- for a while he was trying to free up a long string of intestines, which you can it pulling on see here, And you can see it live in this video (I apologize- I can't for the life of me get it to rotate right-side-up. But you can get the picture- you can see it going to town on the intestines): The red-tailed hawk eats squirrels and other mammals like mice, rabbits, and voles. They also prey on ground birds like pheasants and bobwhites, as well as starlings and b...

These mallard hybrid pictures were taken at Scargo Lake in Dennis (on Cape Cod) during our vacation this past August. We were vacationing with our friends Dave and Meg, and I asked Dave what kind he thought they were since he's a hunter, wildlife biologist, and general expert on the subject of birds - especially ducks. He said they looked like a hybrid- probably mallard hybrid and domestic duck. It's funny because these ducks just wouldn't learn- they kept coming in dangerously close to our rental house's dock, only to be chased off by Dave and Meg's dog Foster , who's a trained hunting dog. He had a lot of fun doing it each time though, so no harm no fowl :) Just look at this precious boy- such a cutie!

Here are some pictures of a Carolina Wren house in my parents' yard in Bourne, MA (Monument Beach to be specific). Each year my mom has at least one Carolina Wren family nesting in the yard. Usually they go after some of the more traditional bird houses she has up, but this year they decided to nest in an ornamental bird house, not meant for actual birds! Since Carolina Wrens are so small, this bird house actually suits their needs just fine. Here are some pictures of the wren nervously looking out and waiting for me to get in my car and leave. Right before this, the bird was bringing food to its babies- specifically a nice green inchworm. Carolina Wren House: Carolina Wren House in context of the yard (you can see how small the house really is): I had hope to capture the Carolina Wren call on video, but I just wasn't fast enough with my camera. But I do have an older video on my blog featuring the Carolina Wren Song .

I really enjoy the White Throated Sparrow song. I recorded some audio of the white throated sparrow song back in November at our friend's farm in Connecticut. I hear them all the time now, especially early in the morning here in Bridgewater when I'm getting ready for work. White throated sparrow photo: The white throated sparrow range has them moving northward pretty soon it looks. They're winter residents here in Massachusetts, according to my Sibley Guide, meaning they'll soon be headed north to their summer territory in Canada it appears.

I spent last weekend at my parents' house in Monument Beach on Cape Cod. My dad had to work on my car, and it was great because while I was at the house I noticed some yellow-rumped warblers in the side yard on the border of the conservation land. The only warblers I saw were yellow-rumped, except for one mystery warbler. It was very small (4.75" or smaller), and all yellow except for a gray mask/hood. The gray went on either side of its face. I only watched it through my binoculars- by the time I got my camera up it was already gone and I didn't see it again the rest of the weekend. There are so many yellow and gray warblers that I knew my odds weren't good. I guess I can just hope I see it again so I can positively ID it. Picture of yellow-rumped warbler: There were many female yellow-rumped warblers in the yard too, but I didn't get any pictures of those. They're actually very similar in appearance to males, but are just slightly more drab in color.

There are several tree swallow houses, and many more tree swallows at Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Halifax, MA. These tree swallow pictures were take when I went there on Good Friday. I was introduced to the area during a South Shore Bird Club trip, organized by my neighbor John- Bird Man of Bridgewater .

When I was home a few weekends ago I got these pictures of an Eastern Towhee. Actually, a lifer for me I believe! My mom yelled to me from the kitchen and said "there's a bird out back that's black on top and brown on underneath and my first instinct was to say that it's just a robin, but she assured me that it wasn't. So I went to look and it was a towhee!

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Provincetown March 20th. These were taken early Saturday morning as I walked out on the flats during low tide. This was my first time really observing black brants- they're pretty cool! Often compared to Canada Geese, I think these are far more interesting probably just because of the short time they're around (winter). Therefore, their friendly disposition, and bugle-like calls were much more appealing by default. You can hear the Black Brant Call in this video: They respected my personal space, as I did theirs, when walking around on the flats. Canada Geese on the other hand, would have been much more obnoxious, not moving an inch to let me by. This has been my experience with the Canada Geese monopolizing the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Brighton, and also the portion of the Charles River in Watertown Square. They're not very obliging when you're trying to carefully pick your way around on the path. Also, they're far...