Charles River Peninsula with a new camera

Ducks on a log, Charles River Peninsula, Needham, MA

A new camera, an up-grade from my little point and click to a larger, bulkier point and click (Canon SX20 IS). The little Canon, which has served me well, has started to have lens error problems, which will be fatal at some point (right now it can only be resurrected by smashing it on a hard surface). The new camera has a longer zoom (20x) and a viewfinder(!).

So now I can take pictures of far away orioles

kingfishers

Not that they are particularly good photos... Now I have the ability to take poor photos of flickers, blue herons and bluebirds from farther away!



I was happy to get a decent shot of the common yellowthroat below--in fact I was surprised it turned out to be a yellowthroat. It's taking me a little bit of time to get used to the viewfinder...


The problem with the viewfinder is that it is relatively low resolution, which makes it difficult to actually see what you're shooting. Especially if that thing is a hummingbird perched on a branch with foliage in the background. I may have to wean myself from AUTO mode--brightness in particular seems to change from moment for no particular reason.



As for the CRP, itself--a bounty of birds this morning, many singing sporadically--orchard and baltimore orioles, yellow-throated vireo, flickers, bluebirds, house finches, cedar waxwings, yellow warblers, titmice, house wrens, goldfinches, robins, catbirds, phoebes, kingbirds, but no red-winged blackbirds (!) and very few tree swallows.

Wingaersheek Swallows

Tree Swallows, Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester, MA

This is tree swallow swarming season. The swallow assembly at Wingaersheek is particularly impressive. Here's a taste.

Needham Night-herons

Echo Bridge, Hemlock Gorge, Needham, MA

Swimming with friends yesterday at Rosemary Pool in Needham--all of a sudden a juvenile black-crowned night-heron flew up and perched on a pool railing. It sat for a couple of minutes and then flew away to parts unknown.

I remembered having seen a group of juveniles down at Hemlock Gorge a few years ago so there I went early this morning, hungry for night-heron. An immediate success--right across the river from the banks near the parking lot.

Low light, so I tried to get closer but ended up scaring it off. I was unable to find it again.

The river is exceedingly low right now, the usual roaring waterfalls reduced to a trickle.


Of other interest, a downy woodpecker on the side of the old mill building.


And belted kingfishers. I saw them at Rosemary Pool yesterday as well. Early mornings when the pool is closed they can be seen perched on the pool railings.

Also seen at Hemlock Gorge (unpictured): a wood duck couple.

New Window Feeder

My last two window feeders failed to survive the cleaning process (the suction cups no longer stick), but here's number 3, a birthday present from my folks (thanks Mom and Dad!)

Visitors today include: chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinch, house finch, house sparrows, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, and (just checking things out), a ruby-throated hummingbird male.

The last two window feeders have failed to attract cardinals. Not this one!


My favorite visitor is an awkward young nuthatch, who still hasn't quite figured out how to elegantly swoop onto the edge of the bowl (either landing on the slippery roof or missing the feeder entirely). Second is the downy, who pounds on the vinyl window frame while waiting her turn.

Sunday Morning on Sandy Point

Terns, Sandy Point, Newburyport, MA

What would make someone get up at 5:30 and drive an hour to a beach on a Sunday morning? Perhaps the prospect of seeing a swallow-tailed flycatcher (unseen, though spotted by someone else later in the morning...). Or perhaps the sudden realization that summer shorebird watching time was slipping away.

So what was happening at Sandy Point? Swallows, mostly. In fact, Plum Island was saturated with them, some primordial numbers in roadside trees, would lift up in black clouds and then fall down again.

These tree swallows chose to rest at the beach, along with hundreds of others.


Their shorebird brethren were also there in huge numbers. Sandpipers,

plovers


and a few turnstones (flipping seaweed).


The terns discovered a food source while I was there and were diving and diving.



Meanwhile, on shore, kingbirds.

and a sweet young yellowthroat.

Return of the River Otters to the Charles River Peninsula, plus a snowberry clearwing

Keep your eyes out for river otters if you are canoeing on the Charles River in Needham/Dover/Natick. I saw a couple, very briefly, for the first time in over a year. Short long distance clip below.



Otherwise, things are pretty quiet at the CRP these days (except for the incessant whining of the red-tailed hawks). Some evidence of swallow staging, monarch butterflies increasing in number. Goldenrod in full bloom, along with purple loosestrife (pretty but troubling).


Find of the day: a "snowberry clearwing" otherwise known as a bumblebee moth. This one is pretty worn.

Sunday Morning at Great Meadows

Canada Goose among the lotuses, Great Meadows NWR, Concord, MA

A gorgeous morning at Great Meadows (a rather popular spot at 6 a.m.!). Yellowthroat, warbling vireo, yellow warbler, and blue-gray gnatcatcher families rustling leaves and making a commotion.

This great blue heron was posing on a wood duck box, itching and preening itself in the early morning sun. I like the way it disappears under its wing in the last photo.





Marsh wrens and their children were also abundant. Also preening.




Finally, shot of the day: ruby-throated hummingbird female, perched a couple of yards away.