Scattered Seed

It was two evenings ago that I was cleaning up in the kitchen and caught sight of the first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season. He was zipping around my nectar feeder, so I called George out from the computer room to see. We are always amazed when these tiny little hummers happen upon our feeder out of nowhere.

I grabbed my camera, but having just inserted the door screen over the weekend, it took a minute for the camera to focus and it was too late…..he had flown on.

We’ve been watching the past couple of nights to see if he, or others, should return, but not yet. I wanted to offer a little extra incentive, so we picked up some little pots tonight with fuchsia plants started in them. They should fit perfectly in the little basket George attached to the deck rail near the hummingbird feeder.

I hope there are more hummingbirds headed our way that find the combination of my homemade nectar and little fuchsias too hard to resist.

I was hanging clothes on the line yesterday, when I saw a bird hop to the ground from the lilac bush. A white-crowned sparrow! They stop by for a few days as they come and go on their migration.  So far I have only seen one,  whereas last year there were four at a time.  

It will be a brief visit,  and then it will move on.   Hopefully I will see them on the return trip in October.

We made it over to the marsh relatively early this morning.   First to greet us, in the usual spot, was the great blue heron.

The other evening we discovered the little drive that would take us closer to the south end, so we parked the car and started there.   We were no sooner out of the car,  when we saw the flash of a yellow warbler.   A first for this year!

It was a steep descent down a thorny path to the railroad tracks,  which George convinced me we could do,  but only because he went first and I kind of slid down after him.

Canada geese were noisy and everywhere….

as were the red-winged blackbirds….

killdeer were along the tracks in several places…..

as were snapping turtles, sunning themselves on the rails.

George spotted a green heron to one side of us,  and I saw an eastern kingbird on the other.   Both were firsts for the year….  If it weren’t for the sun beating down on us,  we would have stayed in that spot longer.

We opted not to attempt the thorny, steep climb back to the car,  but walked the tracks north to the road.     We encountered several geese with nests nearby.

Another flash of color crossed our path,  and this time gave me ample opportunity for pictures.

A palm warbler!

As we neared the north end of the marsh,  I could see a mass of white on a post in the water,  but could not make out what it was till we got closer.    We were still mystified by the black head,  until it took off and we could see that it was a gull…..a Bonaparte’s gull!   A first for me.

By the time we reached the road the sun was pretty high in the sky, and the temperature had risen into the 80’s.   It was our second day out in the heat and the sun, so we were ready to call it a day,  but we’ll definitely be back.

Despite all the outings we had last week that involved birds, I still kept my camera trained on the goings-on around home.

Red-winged blackbirds came each day, but not in great numbers like a month ago.

The females have arrived just recently.

A dark-eyed junco or two are still hanging around the yard.   I expect them to head north any day now.

Robins are everywhere.

Every year there seems to be a resident killdeer on the circle. We spotted this one across the street at the edge of the neighbor’s yard.

Mr. and Mrs. House Finch spent two days checking out our porch light for a possible nest sight. We let them be to see what happened, but they moved on to something better.

The common grackles are birds that I have just learned to put up with. They seem to dominate the feeders much of the day, so I let the feeders go completely empty once in awhile and then they move on for a bit.

I had been watching for the chipping sparrows to return, and this past week brought the first little one of the season.

Not wanting to miss that first ruby-throated hummingbird when it arrives, I made up some nectar and hung the feeder over the weekend. I usually don’t see a hummingbird till the first of May, but I’m ready.

And finally, a close-up of the lilac bush that grows under our bedroom window. It hasn’t produced much in the way of flowers the past couple of years, so George pruned it about a month ago.   Morgan wrote that the lilacs are nearly ready to bloom in their Queens neighborhood,  and it seems that ours are not far behind.

Last Thursday was our day to head north. We made our monthly stop at Sauder’s for bulk foods, and were heading on to Auburn to spend the afternoon with Dad and Evelyn. We always try to fit in a drive around the loop through Montezuma Wildlife Refuge because we never know what we’ll find.

On this day I caught sight of three birds with black heads and red bills out on a little island.   We always try to get pictures so that we can study any new sighting later on and make sure we ID it correctly.     Besides my field guide,  which still left me guessing,   I relied on eBird and the new version of All About Birds to help me out.    I hope I identified this correctly as a Caspian Tern.

We also saw a lone tundra swan,  4 gadwall,  6 mallards,  8 northern shoveler,  2 redhead, 10 ring-necked ducks,  1 great blue heron, 1 osprey,  1 killdeer,  5 Canada geese,  1 lesser yellowlegs,  8 ring-billed gull,  2 purple martin, 1 tree swallow,  3 red-winged blackbirds, 1 common grackle,  and about 75 American coots.

After leaving the refuge,  we took the short drive down to Mud Lock,  to check out the bald eagle nest.

I am always in awe when I see one.

That’s what it looks like,  and it sleeps Eight!    What were we thinking?   We were looking at four-person tents,  and they appeared really small and neither one of us would be able to stand up in it.   Then we  looked at a six-person tent.   I don’t recall how an eight-person tent got into our cart,  but that’s what we were setting up in our backyard this afternoon for a practice run.

One and a half hours to assemble,  a half hour to take down.   We’ll work on that.  Fortunately I remember George’s particular way of  laying out,  setting up,  and taking down tents.   The procedure involves following directions and trying not to offer unsolicited advice…..things go much smoother that way.

It definitely is roomy,  with little pockets and shelves,  and an impressive rain fly.    Things have changed a lot in the past twenty-five years.

Here’s how we camped at Watkins Glen State Park in 1984,  with an old army tent that friends gave us.   That’s Morgan on the right,  and friend Amanda on the left.

And an updated version in 1992 at Elk Neck State Park in Maryland.   Rebecca does the take-down with George,  while Garrett and Morgan stand by.   We were doing college visits with Rebecca that summer.

It’s been a long time,   but we’re both looking forward to pulling out the old lantern,  camp box and cook stove,  and spending more time out of doors this summer.

My vacation is winding down.  One more day and then I return to work.

It’s been a most relaxing week.   Every day has been about birds and out-of-the-way places.    We’ve been to Catherine Creek Marsh,  the Horseheads Marsh,  Beaver Meadow Audubon Center,  Sinking Ponds in East Aurora,  Lake Erie shoreline,  Dryden Lake,  Stewart Park in Ithaca,  Sapsucker Woods at the lab of ornithology,  and Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.      It’s been great fun,  and I wish it could last.

However,  things need to get done,  and today we accomplished a long awaited task.     My friend, Amy,  gave me the heads up about an e-cycling event happening at the community college today.   Having twenty-some years of electronics stored in the house,  George spent yesterday gathering stuff up,  and loading it into my car.

There were two tractor trailers on campus waiting to be filled,  and a line of cars ahead of us,  but a well-organized group of people that unloaded our car in a hurry.   Our count was thirteen items.     At our regular recycling center,  each one would require a $15 fee for disposal,  and this was all free!     It was well worth giving up a few hours of our vacation for.

Not to waste a trip up the hill,  we drove around to Spencer Crest Nature Center that borders the campus.   It wasn’t the best time of day to be birding,  and the woods were exceptionally quiet.   We saw a few birds,  but nothing unusual.   It was a nice day for a walk in the woods though.

For twenty-three years we have passed by the marsh.    Our neighborhood even circles around an extension of the marsh, but is fondly known as “the swamp” by the neighbors.    I never really paid much attention to what was happening in these areas.   The Horseheads Marsh sits next to an industrial complex,  and with all the trucks coming and going,  and the train tracks running straight through,  I never imagined much wildlife would be found there,  other than the Canada geese that have been known to stop traffic.

Mike had made mention of birding at the marsh, and I was surprised with some of the sightings he was reporting.    Last Friday we made it a point to stop.    What a great birding day it was!

We found this great blue heron out on a little island,   holding a nice pose for me.

Between the water and our walk north along the overgrown train tracks,  we also saw Canada geese,  wood ducks, blue-winged teal, a killdeer,  mourning doves, blue jays,  American crows,  tree swallows,  black-capped chickadees,  eastern bluebirds, American robins,   northern mockingbirds,  European starlings,  song sparrows,  a cardinal,  many red-winged blackbirds,  and a couple of American goldfinches.

Today we  made it a point to stop again.   We added ring-necked ducks,  mallards,  a chipping sparrow,  a turkey vulture, a northern flicker, ring-billed gulls,  common grackles, and an eastern phoebe to our list of birds at the marsh.

The great blue again was there,  but flew off as we approached the water this time.

It’s amazing what can be found right under our noses,  if we take the time to look.   Thanks Mike for writing about this neat place!

I was checking the blogs this morning,  and found a post by Mike about great horned owls in Ithaca.    He had mentioned our visit with him at the lab yesterday too,  so I read the post aloud to George,  who was in the next room.   After I read the part about the owl sighting,  I was surprised he made no comment.   He’s always wanting to spot an owl on our outings.

We went about our day,  catching up with things around the house,  making plans for the rest of the week.   As we finished up our lunch,   George asked if I was interested in a trip to Ithaca to see if we could spot the owl.    It sounded great to me,  as housework was getting old,  and I was ready to be outside.    I did a little homework by studying the pictures in Mike’s post,  and familiarizing myself with cottonwood trees.     I really don’t know trees,  and I need to work on that.

We arrived in Stewart Park,  and the only thing I was sure of,  was what part of the park we wanted to be in.   We had never explored the woodsy part before.    Most often we are picnickers when we stop there.

The trail took us past many cottonwood trees,  of that I was sure.   Next I started looking for cavities large enough to house an owl family,  relying on Mike’s photo as my guide.    George lagged behind me,  ever so patient,  and looking upward.    After about an hour,  he called me back,  and asked me to look up above at a clump on a tree.   I saw this gnarly growth on the side of the tree,  dismissed it,  and started to walk away.   He called me back,  and asked me to look again.   It was then that I saw what he was pointing at,  and it had feathers!     I could see them fluttering in the breeze.

We both kept looking through our binoculars,  sure,  then unsure.   It didn’t move,  so maybe we were imagining things.   It was just a clump of feathers on the branch.     As we debated,  I saw the slightest movement,  a turn of the head.    The owl!     My first great horned owl!

We backtracked on the trail to get a better photo op,  and as George took the pictures,  the owls eye’s opened and it seemed to look down and stare at us.

Other birders were appearing at that point,  and we pointed out our sighting to them.   They,   in turn,  took us to see where the cavity in the tree was,  where the nest had been.   I never would have found it.

It was a great ending to a challenging day.    George’s patience and birding technique,  not to mention his eagle eyes, again win the prize.

Thanks to eBird, I spent some time last night looking at birding hotspots, and deciding where we would spend this day. Dryden Lake popped up, and I remembered that it had a nice trail that we checked out last year. George had suggested Sapsucker Woods, as we hadn’t been there yet this year. They are relatively close to each other, so that was our plan.

We had breakfast in Dryden and on the counter, as we walked in, was the local paper with the story of the bald eagle release yesterday. It was reported that she eventually took off into Catherine Creek Marsh nearby after a 10-minute rest in the sun after we left.   That was good news.

It was a little cool and overcast at Dryden Lake, but we had a good count there. The trail is a pretty walk at any time, but today it was also busy with birds. I saw my first American Wigeon on the water, or at least my first identification of them. I am not overly-confident about waterfowl.

Sapsucker Woods, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was also a busy place, with more birds today than we have encountered there before.   George bought me a new pair of binoculars there,  as mine were lacking in the clarity that his afforded.    I was always a little jealous about that,  but having a cataract when I first started birding,  I was content just to be able to see light at the other end.

We walked the trail around the pond.   There were brown creepers on every other tree it seemed.

Three deer were grazing just off the trail,  woodpeckers broke the silence along the way,  and this great blue heron stood just a few feet away from us as we sat and watched it from a bench.

As we came back towards the lab,  I added golden-crowned kinglets to my life list.   I owed that sighting to my new optics!

Altogether we saw 22 species at Sapsucker:   mallards,  common grackles,  red-winged blackbirds,  Canada geese,  American robins,  mourning doves,  a hairy woodpecker,  a norther flicker,  the great-blue heron, a northern cardinal,  several black-capped chickadees,  a blue jay,  dark-eyed juncos,  song sparrow,  a yellow-bellied sapsucker,  tufted titmice,  brown creepers,  a belted kingfisher,  several pine siskin,  house finches,  goldfinches,  and the golden-crowned kinglets!

It was a great birding day,  topped off with a chance to meet Mike,  who hails from our neck of the woods,  and works at the lab.    He shares some fascinating information on his blog,  and it was a pleasure to meet him.