Okay, so most of these shots were taken in the morning! But you get the idea. Today was our biweekly bird walk, and this week we were all over the place - the Third Beach salt marsh, Gooseneck Cove, and Brenton Point. Most of the birds were spotted through binoculars and were out of camera range, even with my telephoto. But some good shots were to be had once we got to Brenton Point.
This is the bonus shot of the day - a tagged and banded Ruddy Turnstone, a bird in the Sandpiper family. When I report this to our RI birding network, this tag info will be passed on and the taggers will be able to follow the path of this particular bird. Science in action!
There were a good three dozen Ruddies scattered along the rocks and seaweed piles out at Brenton Point, and they were sharing their space with a bunch of Semipalmated Plovers, of which this little guy is a prime example. Cute little critters, aren't they?
Brenton Point is kite central this time of year. Being at the confluence of Narragansett Bay into the Atlantic Ocean, this is a prime spot for great breezes. We were there a tad early for the usual kiter crowd, but they were starting to gear up as we were wrapping up our visit. This cobra kite was the most impressive up at the time.
On the way back into town I stopped by Tern Rock in Gooseneck Cove to watch the Double-crested Cormorants. As I've showed you before, earlier in the season this rock serves as a nesting colony for Common Terns, but once the young'uns have fledged the Terns move off and the Cormorants move in. They'll be there well into October, when they'll head south for the Winter. They'll be replaced by Great Cormorants, who winter here. But not on this rock; Great Cormorants prefer ocean rocks. I guess they like the surf!Of course, having given you the song title in the subject line of this post, I can't leave without posting a music video. So here you go - Felix Cavaliere and the Young Rascals with their 1967 hit "Groovin'" (yeah, we're in the WayBack machine again!):
As a bonus, how about the Young Rascals' other big hit, which is a bit more appropriate to the time of day these shots were taken - "It's a Beautiful Morning"? And wouldn't you know it, I found a video of Felix performing it live at the rotunda on Easton's Beach in Newport back in 1997. Gotta love the Universe's odd little tricks!
Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
I love this post, Roy! That little Ruddy is so cute...perfect capture of the number too. I remember the first time I heard "Groovin." I was going into the first grade. I loved the song instantly and still do.
ReplyDeleteAs always, such wonderful photographs which somehow have such a sense of scale about them. I wonder how those bird tag numbers work - you would think that with just two letters and a number there wouldn't be enough combinations to effectively record all the birds that need recording.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteAlan, they don't try to tag all the birds, only a sampling in each location; it's less to track the movements of individuals as it is tracking the movements of populations.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, but my particular favorite is the kite. Even tho I'm not a big 60s rock guy overall, I have to say that "Groovin'" is a really good tune. Nice pick.
ReplyDeleteWow, kites have changed!
ReplyDeletewow that ruddy turnstone is one handsome bird!! your birdshots never fail to brighten my day!!
ReplyDeletechirp, chirp!!