BirdingGirl

I try to get in at least one day of birding at Mt. Auburn Cemetery each year during peak spring migration. I made my trip there right on the cusp of peak migration- April 30th. I usually try to get there sometime in late April- early May to see the greatest variety of wood warblers, plus other colorful migrating birds. The day I was there I got to see some of the usual warblers, and even a lifer for me- the chestnut-sided warbler. Maybe I had technically seen this bird before on a group trip where it blended in with the rest of the birds we saw, but on this day it definitely stood out to me as the most exciting warbler of the day. Here are some pictures of the Chestnut-sided Warbler preening: Other (non-photographed) highlights from the day included: Northern Parula Yellow-rumped Warbler Black and White Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Baltimore Oriole Chipping Sparrow Here's a red-tailed hawk we saw at the end of the day as we were walking back to the car. That's usually w...

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...

Steve and I celebrated Valentine's Day by going for a hike to Blue Hills on Sunday, and then for a in our backyard- Stiles & Hart Conservation Area- on Monday (President's Day). Trying to keep things cheap now that we're saving for a wedding! We had gorgeous weather- temperatures were mild enough to go out with just a fleece & vest- yet there was still snow on the ground, which made for some pretty photos. All the ones in this post are from Stiles & Hart. Notice Steve in the background throwing a snowball at me: We were out midday and didn't see anything too interesting, although these was this red-tailed hawk hovering over the marsh area. I was inclined to think it was a Cooper's Hawk, since my neighbor, the Bird Man of Bridgewater , has one regularly stalking his feeders. Upon closer inspection though, the red tail is distinct. See the hawk using its "rudder" in this picture? Not the brightest picture, but the red tail is distinct, even with...

Steve and I spent the weekend with my dad at the South Shore Antique Auto Club trading bee at Great Woods (a.k.a. Tweeter Center, a.k.a. Comcast Center) in Mansfield, MA. I've been going since I was 12 years old, helping my dad load up the trailer with his junk, set it up Saturday morning, and pack up what's left on Sunday afternoon. For the past couple years we've gotten spaces in Lot 9, which was previously used for vendor parking, but as the trading bee has grown they've started selling spaces up there. The lot is grass and gravel and usually reserved for people guys ripping it up with their mini-bikes, 4-wheelers, dirt-bikes and anything else loud and obnoxious. My dad really likes being up there though and we get good traffic and usually good sales since there aren't many other vendors around us. I saw a hawk land in a tree on the edge of the parking lot and of course grabbed my camera to try and get some good shots. Steve and I took turns with the camera. Her...

Unlike my last visit back in May, there was no assortment of migratory warblers today at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, but the wildlife certainly kept me entertained. The sweltering heat must have brought the animals out of their hiding spots. Today was the first time I saw or even heard of the famous Mt. Auburn Cemetery coyote family. During my first pass over Indian Ridge I saw a photographer with a large scope on a tripod trying to get a shot of the mom who was staring at us from between two gravestones off in the distance. Can you see her? Try clicking on the picture for the enlarged view. Throughout the day I also saw a groundhog, some very nervous squirrels (explained by pictures to come) and some cute chipmunks. You can see his chubby cheeks in this picture: Squirrels are not too exciting but I couldn't help photographing this one who was up in the same tree that the chipmunk was underneath while I was so close: While photographing this house finch: I noticed a (what I assume to be...

Apparently there are three resident red-tailed hawks at Fenway Park. One of them attacked a middle school student from Connecticut while she was there on a tour of the park. She received a scratch on her forehead and was treated and released from Children's Hospital. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff What a terrible thing to happen, but at the same time I'm fascinated by these Fenway Park hawks. Boston.com has full coverage with both a news story and a pictorial giving a high-level account of the story. I recommend taking a look at the pictorial by clicking on the image above because there are some amazing pictures in there. WCVB, TheBostonChannel.com, also covered the story and has a video of the hawk watching visitors in one of the luxury boxes. The video captures both angles- the visitors chattering behind the glass and of the hawk perched in front of the window watching them critically. Click on the image to view the video (taken by reporters touring the park) on their site. It...

I had the good fortune to sit down with wildlife biologist Dave Scarpitti and discuss his topic for a break-out session at the Mass Audubon Birders Meeting. Dave is an Upland Game Bird Biologist with MassWildlife and will be speaking about habitat management in Massachusetts and how birders can play a role in this conservation effort. Many birds have learned to adapt to their urban surroundings. Can you give some examples of birds going through such a transition right now? Red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures can be seen circling around highways- this is something that we've seen within the last 100 years. These are birds that have been around for thousands of years so they have learned to adapt to their current environment. The highway provides an open space for hawks to hunt small prey and it provides roadkill for the turkey vultures. Humans have altered every square inch of land so everything has learned to adapt. What are the types of birds in Massachusetts requiring large tra...

Finally I was able to get out and do some birding this past weekend. It was great to spend some time outdoors and also to get some good pictures. Thursday and Friday my boyfriend and I were in Vermont visiting his friends and then Friday afternoon we took the ferry from Charlotte, VT over to Essex, NY and cut down to PA for my college homecoming. We really lucked out with weather and had great driving weather and warm temperatures throughout our trip. The last two days of our trip we left up in the air and after pondering our next move over some craft beers in my college town we picked Gifford Pinchot State Park since there was a camping icon on the map. Oh that and the fact that it was the closest state park to Field of Screams , in Mountsville, PA! My boyfriend found a brochure for it in Sheetz and decided we had to go. It turned out to be pretty impressive. It's a strange feeling to be out in rural PA and then drive up to a such a sophisticated haunted house- it was like a c...