Apparently even though the biweekly bird walk from the Norman Bird Sanctuary was on the NBS calendar for today our guide decided to cancel because of the holiday. Unfortunately my friend Mark and I never got the word, so we ended up at the parking lot a 7:53 am to find nobody there, and our friend Bob calling me on my cell phone to sheepishly admit he was the one who was supposed to pass the info on to us. Not to worry! Mark and I went to a few places and then went to Miantonomi Park on the north end of Newport, a haven for small migratory birds and beginning to get very active right about now. We bumped into our friend Matt up there, and we went a-wandering. We heard some Eastern Phoebes, saw and heard some White-throated Sparrows, saw a Northern Flicker, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a Cooper's Hawk. Plus the air was full of the usual suspects - Robins, Cardinals, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, and the like. It was definitely a good day for birding.
Afterward I did my usual trek through Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove and a wandering route home from there. Lots of Chickadees, Titmice, and Goldfinches making a ruckus in Ballard Park, and lots of Red-winged Blackbirds in the trees and reeds around the Cove salt marsh, plus a Greater Yellowlegs in the salt marsh itself. And on the way home I found another Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Definitely a good day!
Afterward I did my usual trek through Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove and a wandering route home from there. Lots of Chickadees, Titmice, and Goldfinches making a ruckus in Ballard Park, and lots of Red-winged Blackbirds in the trees and reeds around the Cove salt marsh, plus a Greater Yellowlegs in the salt marsh itself. And on the way home I found another Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Definitely a good day!
Here's one of the Red-winged Blackbirds in a tree along Hazard Rd.
And here's the second Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, in a tree along Brenton Rd. behind the Underwood School.
© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
Those blackbirds are quite something – I have never seen any birds like these before. I don’t know much about birds. I took the picture of a nest and just posted it on my blog because I did not know what kind of birds they were. I bet you would know. I enjoy watching birds in my backyard, and we have many types. Your pictures are excellent.
ReplyDeleteWow....I've never been able to get that close to a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Wonderful photo. I really enjoyed your Yellow post and the fog bank was really cool!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant colouring one that red-winged black bird. Don't recall seeing any round my area ( tho' prolly scared off by all the hawks? ) I'll stick to sunrises, heh...
ReplyDeleteJust love that red-winged blackbird!
ReplyDelete(And the panama is pretty cool, too.)
So much fun to see such different bird life. On my property there are few small birds due to the larger ones taking over and the lack of small shrubs, we're tree ridden here and full of crows,magpies and parrots big enough to carry you away!
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