Cape Cod Bird Nerd: August 2016

Sunday, August 28, 2016

8.28.16 Bird Nerd Moment - My backyard
Yarmouth, MA

Sipping coffee on a sunny Sunday morning on Cape Cod...I'm mentally choosing to ignore the tug of the school year, and the routines that await all of us in just a few days. I don't drink a lot of coffee, but it is the morning ritual that I enjoy most of all, and I'm getting to enjoy every sip, outside in this weather, that just won't quit! This summer's weather on Cape Cod has been incredible. I know, I know, there's a drought, and we need the rain...of course we need rain. One of my favorite Cape Codders commented on this: "We really need the rain." He said, "Yes. On Cape Cod, we need summer rain on Wednesday night, once a week, while everyone is sleeping. THAT is when we need rain here." I couldn't agree more, and Mother Nature has pretty much stuck to that plan for most of our summer here. It has just been spectacular. Hot Hazy Humid - perfect. Why and how are coffee, rain & birds all coming together here... and WHEN?! Now.

SO - I'm sipping my delicious coffee, enjoying some warm sunny peace on our back deck, which is surrounded by oaks... the trees' leaves are sparkling with sunbeams and for a few minutes, I haven't heard anyone calling me from inside the house. All is quiet...until a small flock of Common Grackles arrives, one after the other. They fly in rather quietly and perch - about 10-12 of them, here and there all around the branches in my yard. The photos I've posted below are less than great - but all I had to snap a few shots was my phone camera. (double click photos to enlarge)

Common Grackle

Common Grackles - dark forms here and there

in the branches

Birds who flock, are beginning to flock again, be it for migration, shelter from an approaching storm, keeping their family groups safe & close. So these grackles are bouncing from branch to branch, making their tell-tale calls & inspecting all that they please all over the oaks. I believe some of them MUST be juveniles, though I can't see all of their eyes from the distance they're at. Juveniles do not sport the yellow iris the adults do. For a beat, I think about what the heck it might feel like to be fearful of birds, because I'm surrounded. It's a grackle ambush! I don't know why it popped into my brain, but it did. I have heard that story over and over again and I have also heard that for many of the folks who have ornithophobia: an irrational fear of birds; that it is common that some frightful occurence involving birds has happened to them at a young impressionable age. Perhaps they'd inadvertenly wandered too close to a nest or into a territory a bird was feeling particularly protective about. I know people get dive-bombed by birds - I've SEEN it! I suppose if you were the young human at a tender age and that happened to you, it would freak you out too.

I think of it at that moment I guess, because I feel surrounded...surrounded by grackles and watching their behavior and feeling like I'm in a sort of heaven. I also understand that my comfort level with essentially every living creature ( save arachnids ) does not translate into euphoria for most everyone. This moment below, from Ace Ventura - Pet Detective sums up MY happy place essentially... I would sing too if that were me...

I'm at home with them. I'm in my glory. I'm loving being exactly where I am, surrounded by Common Grackles and watching them, and listening to them as the summer breeze sways the branches and rustles the leaves. All I'm doing is having a coffee on my back deck, and I'm transported by the birds. They really are magical in that way... I know not for everyone, but for so SO many. It's such a special gift... the existence of birds. I hope you've been able to enjoy their company recently too.

Happy Birding!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

8.16.16 Tuesday Tweets - John Wing Trail - Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Brewster, MA

Birds, birds...BIRDS! We saw perhaps the most amount of species of different birds on this particular Tuesday Tweets, and it was an added bonus, that the weather was Cape Cod Perfection. It was hot, but there was a gentle breeze, lots of sunshine... a time to be outdoors, binoculars around your neck, comfy shoes on sandy feet and a smile on your face.

We don't always make it to Cape Cod Bay, because the birds we see and hear along the way are so often wonderfully distracting and detaining... we simply (well I simply) cannot make it all the way to the water in a mere hour. This morning was a slightly extended Tuesday Tweets. I could not tear myself away from the shore, with the terns flying just above our heads, singing their beachy song - at least that's what it means to my ears. When I hear terns screeching and calling and creating the sound that is all their own, it makes me want to stretch out on the sand and take a leisurely beach nap. It's that peaceful for me. I realize sights and sounds of the shore have different meanings to different people, but I was mesmerized this morning. We were overrun with TERNS! It was gorgeous.

The bird nerds seemed so pleased and I have to make mention that a former Birding 101 KidSummer Kid and her mom, joined in on this particular Tuesday Tweets. I am so PROUD of her! I loved birding with her! She was taking it all very seriously and seemed to be enjoying each moment, identifying species and taking in the moment that we all so fortunately were able to share together. Thanks Bird Nerds! What a morning! (double click photos to enlarge & don't miss Rick's photo contributions!)

Our List:
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
American Robin
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Osprey
American Crow
Barn Swallow
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Eastern Towhee
Prairie Warbler
Mourning Dove
Laughing Gull
Cedar Waxwing
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Phoebe
Baltimore Oriole
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Ruddy Turnstone
Black-bellied Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher (???)
Least Terns
Common Tern

Bumble Bees with legs COVERED

in pollen!

Photo Credit: RICK

Osprey - by the next Tuesday Tweets

we probably will not be seeing any Osprey for 2016

European Starlings - flocking on the power lines

American Goldfinch - male

Bird Nerds on the saltmarsh

Song Sparrow

Eastern Chipmunk

Prairie Warbler - Photo Credit: RICK

Prairie Warbler - Photo Credit:RICK

Mourning Dove

Cedar Waxwing...couldn't see the mate

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird - Photo Credit: RICK

Gray Catbird - looks like juvenile, kinda scruffy looking

Baltimore Oriole

Sometimes photos look blurry and more painting-like

(never will claim to be a professional photographer)

Laughing Gulls with breeding plumage filling in

in varying stages

Laughing Gull - Photo Credit: RICK

Double-crested Cormorant - Photo Credit: RICK

Sure wish I could...

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone - Photo Credit: RICK

Ruddy Turnstone...on a mission, which

did not phase the Laughing Gull in the least

Common Terns - Photo Credit: RICK

Black-bellied Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher (???) Common Tern

Photo Credit: RICK

So very strange to observe so many different species

of birds, mingling so happily & in such proximity!

Everyone's happier on the shore!

Herring Gull - juvenile - Photo Credit: RICK

Common Tern - juvenile - Photo Credit: RICK

Ring-billed Gull - Photo Credit: RICK

Laughing Gull - juvenile

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phobe silhouette

It's COOL to be a BIRD NERD!

Happy Birding!

Friday, August 12, 2016

8.12.16 KidSummer Day Camp - Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Brewster, MA

Our last day. Today is also the last day of KidSummer 2016 at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History! I really cannot believe it. What an inquisitive bunch of bird nerds this week! That being said, I wanted to mention what I sometimes do with local school kids in that we make an, "I Wonder" board. I asked everyone to think of a question related to birds that we could either answer immediately, or think about together, or research themselves. One of my favorite websites (which some of these bird nerds already were aware of) allaboutbirds.org, is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website and it is a wealth of information you'll find fascinating! It's great place to find out answers to their questions and learn more about what birds have to offer! See the photo of their questions below.

We were determined to make it to the beach today, and we sure did. It was hot, hazy & humid yet again...but we bird walked with plenty of water, took shade breaks and I just kept checking in on everyone to be sure all were A-OK. We made it! Wait until you see the photos tell the story of what we did, how we enjoyed the mudflats, and the water, and the creatures and the simple beauty of spending quality curious time at the edge of Cape Cod Bay. Feathers were found, as well as sea creature evidence, left behind in the sand, and have I got a story for you! One of the bird nerds, while exploring the tidal pools, discovered many hermit crabs, one of whom was SHELL-LESS! He needed a new shell! Or she... either way, this little hermit crab was desperate for a shell for shelter in the blazing sun and caught in the tidal pool, which would be a danger zone without the protection of a shell. We decided to help out! S/he was crawling around trying to fit into shells that already had residents... kinda hilarious to observe. Use your imagination! We found a selection of empty periwinkle shells for options and the second or third shell fit JUST RIGHT! What a moment on the shore! I have never seen this in many MANY years of scouring mudflats & tidal pools. It was a triumphant moment for the bird nerds, for me, but I think mostly for the hermit crab snuggling into her/his new home. I don't know why I've felt so many children's book references this week... I suppose it's been that wonderFUL. This experience reminded me of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab - another precious children's book. It's been a fantastic week with this flock of bird nerds. I'll miss them & I look forward to hearing their bird stories and bird questions someday! Thank you bird nerds for your stories, your questions, your patience, your quiet, your creativity & most of all, your curiosity..(double click photos to enlarge)

Our List:
Osprey
House Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Goldfinch
Barn Swallow
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Tern (tough to ID from the distance we were at)
American Crow
Song Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Great Blue Heron