Birds at Belmont with Pre-schoolers

Last week I spent a day volunteering at Belmont for a pre-school field trip. I led an activity about birds – with the children sitting on a blanket and looking out over the meadow. There were 5 groups in all: 3 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. We talked about birds using pictures of birds on a felt board and feathers (I whooshed a turkey feather through the air and they were surprised at the noise it made!) – but the real show was behind me at the bird feeders and the meadow and a high snag in a tree a little further away.

At the feeders: one group saw a nuthatch, several groups saw the grackle,

And all of them saw red-winged blackbirds.

There were some ‘mystery’ birds at the feeder as well and birds we could hear but not see. But that just made it fun to listen and see how many birds we could hear.

In the meadow, the mourning doves looked for food among the grasses dried from last year and the newly emerging plants. The red tailed hawk was in a high snag across the meadow for all the morning sessions! The afternoon sessions got a fleeting look at the red trailed hawk flying across the meadow and into the woods where we were hiking.

Toward the end of each session we listened to recorded birds sounds. The preschoolers were very tickled to discover that the recorded sound for ‘red-winged blackbird’ matched what they had been hearing all morning!

Belmont Manor and Historic Park – April 2016

I volunteered for a preschool field trip and finished up a Master Naturalist project at Belmont Manor and Historic Park this month so was able to look around at the spring unfurling there. Early in the month – the maples provided a lot of color. The red maples are indeed very red.

The sugar maples are more subdued but still colorful compared to a lot of other trees that were still looking like winter time in early April.

I’ve already posted about the Horse Chestnut buds and the Ginkgo from earlier in April. Someone commented that there was a female tree somewhere because last fall there was an awful smell from some kind of fruit tracked into the nature center by a field trip group. I had somehow missed the female tree, so I made a trip specifically to photograph it. The male tree was unfurled a bit more – everything a little battered looking because of some frosty mornings.

The female tree is not as far along and the structures are not as large. The buds near the base of the tree are still tightly curled. I’ll continue to take pictures of both trees through this season (and try to avoid stepping on any fruit in the fall since they are reported to smell like vomit).

The black cherry was full of new leaves and reproductive structures by mid-April

And the Dawn Redwood (a deciduous conifer) was getting new needles.

I enjoy the stands of lilacs at Belmont. They remind me of several family homes I visited as a child.

Dandelions are everywhere.

I checked the bald cypress by the pond in mid-April. Tree swallows were buzzing past close to my head as I hiked down – they must have already staked out the nesting boxes and are defending them from anything that comes close. The bald cypress was not as far along as the one I photographed at Brookside earlier. The buds on the lower branches were still very tight.

Higher up the buds were just beginning to open.

And the dried cattails from last season were full of noisy red-winged blackbirds. They’re defining their territory too.

Brookside Wetland

The boardwalk between the Brookside Gardens and Brookside Nature Center goes through a wetland where a little stream of running water runs and after rains the ground is soggy. The fence to keep the deer out of the garden crosses the area and the boardwalk. By the end of March, the skunk cabbage is rapidly spreading its leaves under the Bald Cypress trees (see the cypress 'knees' in the picture) and the red winged black birds are screeching and move around in the trees jockeying for territory and mates.

A few of the of the skunk cabbage have blooms – those odd looking purple and white structures hugging the base. In other years those blooms can be seen when snow is on the ground but this year March was very warm.

The plants like to very wet areas but not necessarily in places where the water is constantly in motion.

Most of the time the cypress knees look old and worn. But they must be growing too this time of year since many of them amongst the skunk cabbages has a smooth reddish sheen that was new growth.

As I neared the gate going back to the nature center, there was a cardinal in a holly – on the garden side of the fence. I posed with its feathers fluffed…between songs.

The little stream that runs between the wetland and the parking lot has a rocky bottom – probably scoured with the runoff from every rain. Wet rock always looks more colorful than the dry.

Photographs through a Window – March 2016

March has not been the best month for ‘through a window’ photography because 1) there have been a lot of cloudy days (i.e. bad lighting) and 2) I have been out and about away from home/my favorite window on a few too many mornings when the birds are most active. The cardinals are still around. This one seemed to be looking right at my camera!

Early in the month we had snow and the heated bird bath was popular but no birds stayed around very long.

The snow made caps on the tops of the sycamore seed balls and coated the tree’s limbs.

But it was soon gone and robins are around our yard again. This one was fluffed up with the cold.

I usually don’t photograph sparrows but this one looked more distinctive – a chipping sparrow. The juncos are still around too but maybe on the verge or leaving for their summer homes much farther north since there do not seem to be as many.

I’m still tickled when I catch a mourning dove blinking. The light blue color of the lid is a surprise. The pink of the leg and foot is good on this one too. The dove may look a little scruffy because it was cold and wet when this picture was taken. The blur of red behind the dove is a maple in bloom…and the little bit of yellow is a neighbor’s forsythia at the edge of the forest.

Yesterday I saw a red winged blackbird at the feeder. I was surprised that he was light enough to not pull the spring down to cover the seed hole! He enjoyed his snack!

Bird Photography through a Window – February 2016

It’s been a good month for bird photography through my office and kitchen windows. There are several kinds that visit daily. The male cardinal is so brilliantly colored that he always stands out. He is bigger and quite assertive about keeping the juncos at bay when he’s hungry. He’s too big for the feeder so he hogs the seed bowl when he is around.

His mate is the same way.

The blue jays visit the maple tree

And the bird bath. The jays are noisy so I usually have plenty of warning that the flock is passing through. The bird bath is popular when it is very cold because it is heated and probably the on only liquid water around.

The dove come in pairs…and sometimes larger numbers. They like both the seed bowl and the birdbath but sometimes sit on the deck railing and look out over the yard. There was one odd instance when the dove turned around and appeared to be watching me cook dinner through the kitchen window.

The robins have been increasingly common at the bird bath. Previously I saw them in the yard occasionally. One afternoon when the snow was melting the robins were having a feast of worms that must have been close to the muddy surface.  This particular robin has come to our birdbath several times. Can you spot what distinguishes this bird? (Part of the left foot is missing.)

I see the crows frequently and sometimes here them. They sometimes flip debris from the gutter over my office. They very seldom sit anywhere that I can photograph them. This one seemed to be posing for his picture.  Note how different the feathers on the head are from those on the back and wings.

There are others that are less common. A pair of pileated woodpeckers came through a few times this month. They stay in the woods behind the house.

We sometimes see house finches but the juncos generally drive them away from the feeder.

The same is true of the titmice.

A flock of red winged blackbirds came through early in the month. At first I thought they were something else because they were not all black. But I did notice the red and yellow patches. It turns out that these are immature males!

Some of them were blacker…and more mature.

Cowbirds also came as a flock and gobbled up most of the seed in the bowl. There are still some around but not as many at one time as that one cold afternoon. No other birds could get close to the bowl.