Goals for the weekend

Delia's to-do list:
1. mow lawn (may need machete)
2. groceries
3. change kitty litties
4. get new front tires on car (before I run over a marshmallow and have a blowout)
5. go birding and take photos!

Apologies for my sparse posting of late; it's been busy at work and I'm still shaking off this cough/touch of tuberculosis, so I haven't gotten outside as much as I've wanted to.

I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. I also might try to go to a native plant sale at a local farm called Rhoneymeade, which is a big farm/arboretum place down the road from me. It just depends on how long it takes to get the car tires.

What's on your agenda for this weekend?

For Lynne

For our bloggy Flock pal Lynne, who's suffered some very hard losses lately. Many people don't know much about poet John Donne, whose verse is often quoted. He was always a man of faith, having been educated by Jesuits as a child. He wrote secular poetry for the first part of his career, but he later entered the ministry and spent the rest of life writing religious works.

This is one of his best, and I dedicate it--especially the last two lines--to you, Lynne.

"Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne (1572-1631)

Death be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,

For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,

Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,

Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,

Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.

Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,

And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,

And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;

One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

The new birding place pays off!

I told you about the rail tunnel/trail area last week, and how I thought it might yield some good birding, right? So I woke up early and went there yesterday morning with a novice birder named Gretchen, and we had a great time exploring the place -- such a great time that I took exactly ZERO photos. So this post will be pure narrative; sorry!

I admit we got there a little late (8am); we should've been there by 6:30 but we had some trouble getting going, what with my allergies/cold thing that is hanging on. Still--the first bird we saw was a lifer for us both: a Hooded Warbler, flitting among the bushes at ground level, so from the elevated path it was a great view--no warbler neck! I was so busy pointing it out to Gretchen, explaining the field marks and handing the binocs back and forth that I just didn't even think to get the camera. This would be the trend for the entire trip.

There were birds everywhere, and the pines around the rail tunnel were filled with Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Northern Parulas! One RC Kinglet was flashing his little red crown so openly that it was obvious he was out for some serious mating. What a stud.

Here's a list from this area:
Hooded Warbler (Lifer/FOY)
Northern Parula (FOY)
Wood Thrush (FOY)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker (FOY)
Northern Flicker (FOY)
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Ovenbird (FOY)
Brown Thrasher
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Grackle
Am Crow
Northern Cardinal
Canada Goose
Mallard
Turkey Vulture
Am Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Mourning Dove

After Gretchen and I left the tunnel trail, we took this road that was deceptively named the Sieglerville-Milheim Pike. Some "pike" -- after about a 100 yards, the pavement ended and it was all winding cinder road for 16 miles! Off-roading in a 2001 Honda Civic is not exactly big fun, but we made it through and had breakfast at the locally (and supposedly world-) famous Honey Creek Inn, which serves some amazingly good French toast. Yum!

En route along the "pike," we caught a Broad-winged Hawk finishing off a small bird (possibly Tufted Titmouse, judging from the feathers) right next to the road. We had time to observe field marks both on the ground and in flight, as he was not eager to leave his kill. I wished Susan could've been there to appreciate the wild hawk action.

Later, we drove to a small woodlot on Indian Road to see whether the Red-headed Woodpecker was still there. Sure enough, he made an appearance within ten minutes of our stopping there, making it three straight years I've seen him there. It was like seeing an old friend.

The day turned a little chilly, but we spent it all outside either birding or just hanging out on the Adirondack chairs and watching the marsh. No doubt about it: spring is really here!

Oooh--this morning, one of the State College Bird Club bigwigs emailed me to ask if I would lead a field trip to this spot on Mother's Day weekend--wow! I don't know what all that entails, other than pointing out the spots where I saw birds last time and just generally being helpful. I hope it's not much more than that, as you know I'm a little shy.

Border wall project still going strong

Despite the idiocy of building a border wall to try to keep out illegal immigrants, the federal government is still going full speed ahead to get the wall built. DCBirdingBlog has a great piece on the environmental impact such a wall will have on the area, and you can always visit the No Border Wall blog for more updates and information on the unconstitutional tactics the Bush Administration is using to ram the project through.

I hope there will be some attention paid to this issue during the RGV birding festival in November.

Exciting birding in new places

Yesterday I took the scenic route home with the intent of checking out a new birding place that my work pal Hillel told me about: an old rail tunnel near a little burg called Coburn, through which Penns Creek flows. There's a trail where the train tracks used to be, and Hillel thinks it might be a good place to see woodcocks. As I've never seen a woodcock, I wanted to swing through there and maybe catch some early evening peenting and displaying.

No such luck on the woodcocks, but while on the scenic route over Brush Mountain, I saw a lifebird: a ruffed grouse, the PA state bird! He was right up on the edge of the little road, looking around. If I'd had my camera out and ready, I would've gotten a great shot, as I was maybe ten feet away from him. But he moved into the brushy cover too quickly for me; I waited to see if I could spot him again, but it was impossible. He mixed in too well. Still--a lifer!

So I drove on to the old rail tunnel, parked, and started looking around. Here are some shots of the old tunnel, hewn directly into the rocks many moons ago:

The moss had grown onto the rock around the entrance to the tunnel:
Here, you can see that while they prettied up the entrance with cut stone, the actual tunnel walls themselves were left natural:

I love seeing moss growing like this; it's so soft and green and alive, with water flowing out of the rocks:

Sigh. So beautiful. While I was looking at the tunnel, I heard a bird sound--a single "chock" that resonated through the woods. I thought it might be a some sort of grouse or a turkey, but I've listened to a lot of those sounds (owls, gamebirds, etc.) and just can't find it. It was a warbly but sharp "chock" sound. Does anyone have any other guesses?

I also saw a first-of-year Eastern wood-pewee; here are my best shots of him:

I thought it might be a phoebe, but the beak and the size were wrong; I'm pretty sure it's a wood-pewee, but if you disagree, please let me know!

I also saw a northern harrier, several brown thrashers, and the usual flurry of American robins, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, European starlings, and American crows.

I can't wait to go there super-early one morning, to see what migrants might pass through. I'm hoping for some good birding there as the migration gets into gear.

Flower Roll Call

Marigolds! (from two years ago!)

Started by Monkey von Monkerstein with irises.

Update!

Cap'n Dyke with Alstroemeria!

Splotchy with Daffodils!

Fran with Clematis!

Politits with Peach Blossoms!

Bubs with Scilla!

Great Kittehrary Classics

of Kittish litter-ature:

Psssst...

Want to read my review of RTP's and James Fisher's Wild America, and other great book reviews by cool people like me? Go here.

Around the backyard and inside

Some pics I took on Saturday, to show you the status of spring in Central PA.

First, a bad picture of the little daffodils!

The plants are only about five inches tall, but we already have some little blooms. That's a hopeful sign!

The state of the garden--de-weeded for the most part, and getting ready for some mulch and some seeds:

Looks pretty barren now, but just wait! Soon I'll be able to plant lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and squash! And Kat will probably plant some new flowers and stuff in that front area that isn't fenced in. I'll have to wait on the tomatoes, green beans, and green peppers--need much more warmth than we're having now.

Winter's still holding on, providing plenty of cotton-batting skies for me to admire:

But the lilac tree is budding!

That totally pumps me up. This lilac bush (about ten feet tall) perfumes the entire backyard when it's in bloom.

Remember my little mushroom? It still looks the same:

Really nothing at all like a morel. I wonder what it is.

Finally, a picture of Miss Kitty Claws, taking a nap. She always looks so sweet when she's not biting and hissing:

Sorry, but Niblet's been a little shy of late, hanging out in his Magic Bunny Dreams house, so I haven't been able to post any Friday Night Nibbles.

Happy bird-day!

I'd like to wish my adopted actor Hugo Weaving a very happy birthday.

Here he is, being a bad-ass in V for Vendetta.

Happy bird-day, Hugo!

Local birding in the news

This editorial appeared in our local paper the Centre Daily Times on Monday, March 31. It's just beautifully written, and the sentiment is oh so close to my heart. Also--I know Dave Brandes' brother; he's my birding friend from work, Hillel, whom I've mentioned on the blog before, the one who showed me brown creepers for the first time on the walking trail at our workplace. Hillel is such a great guy, and he sent me this piece. I'll have to go there for a Hawk Watch soon and get some photos.

Our View
Eagles in flight offer a reward
A mere seven miles from the oblivious rush of downtown State College, a few hearty souls, hot chocolate in hand and binoculars pressed against anxious eyes, patiently but excitedly scan the sky.

Is there a more majestic, a more inspiring sight than an eagle, riding unseen seasonal currents on its annual journey northward in spring or south again in autumn?

Thirteen years ago, Dave Brandes, a Penn State hydrology and engineering student, was walking with his dog along the Mid-State Trail when he spied a golden eagle circling overhead.


He returned the next day and was rewarded: He saw 15 more golden eagles and —eureka!— four bald eagles, and thus, with a fortunate discovery by an observant lover of nature, began the annual spring raptor count on Tussey Mountain.


Gradually, more bird enthusiasts got involved and, in 2001, it became a full-time, February-through-April effort to tally hawks, ospreys, falcons and, yes, eagles on, as it turns out, one of the busiest raptor migration routes east of the Mississippi River.


As of a week ago Friday, 215 goldens — a record — had been observed and counted at the hawkwatch site, just a short walk from the Jo Hays Vista, named for a legendary Centre County educator, in the Rothrock State Forest south of Pine Grove Mills.


The Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, the State College Bird Club, The National Aviary and others now sponsor the watch, which Dan Ombalski coordinates.


It is one of those rare endeavors that combines the pure research of the scientist with the enthusiasm and passion of the volunteer hobbyist.


And it came about almost by accident. We say almost because the careful observation and appreciation of our natural surroundings is never accidental.


And those who do take the time and make the effort enrich not only their own lives, but ours — those of us who are too busy, too involved or too unaware to notice.


Just knowing that hundreds of eagles have silently passed by only a few miles away is inspirational.


Seeing them, of course, is even more so.


One, alone, is worth the effort.

The Case of the Mystery Egg. Status: Case closed.

blatantly and unabashedly stolen from Susan's blog

Note: I was trying to get my post up about this little "mystery" before Laura and Susan did, but Blogger was being a pain about uploading my photos. Still--here's my side of the story!

You remember the "mystery egg" I found on the marsh a couple posts ago?

Well, um... it wasn't an egg.

It was a little plastic ball.

How could I have been so incredibly wrong? you ask. I'll tell you why: Because I didn't touch it! I thought it was an egg, so I figured I'd better not touch it! I couldn't really tell, but it looked like an egg to me.

So of course Susan, aka Science Chimp Junior, just pushed aside the grass, grabbed up the "egg," and noted the -um- plastic seam on it:

"Hmmmm" indeed! "Sure," I said, "laugh it up!" But if it had been a rare egg, and I had scared its mother away with my scent... yeah, they wouldn't be laughing then!

Laura and Susan came into town for my commitment ceremony with Kat, and on Sunday morning they came out to the Marsh House and went birding with me! What a blast we had. Here are a few of the very few photos I took, as I was too busy laughing and scaring birds. We did find some more interesting "mysteries" to investigate on the marsh:

Here, Grissom and Willows work a particularly bloody crime scene:
I love the serious look on Susan's face here. She and Laura wondered whether it was a tree swallow--look at this brilliant irridescent blue feather:
They decided it was likely a mallard. (Oh, and note that Susan is wearing her Ruthie J-knitted gloves.)

There was evidence everywhere, including blood:


We also came upon some coyote poo! Susan pointed out the fur:

and the bits of bone and grassy matter:
It was so much fun being with someone else who has to pick up everything and touch everything and try to figure stuff out. I thought I was observant, but these two are far more watchful and knowledgeable about things than I am. It was a real pleasure to bird such familiar territory with new eyes.

Even if they did bust my mystery egg wide open, and what "yoke" there was, it was on me.

Revised and updated yard bird list

the view from Long Pond to my house, the second white blob from the left

Based on my conversations with Laura and Susan, I've updated my yard list: 66 species! (fireworks sounds)



Before, my list had 35 species: 35 different kinds of birds that had actually landed in my yard. But when I count the marsh and Neighbor Ed's yard (both places I can see from my yard) and the air above my yard and the marsh, then I get 66. 35 isn't bad, but 66 absolutely rocks.

What do you consider a "yard bird" when making out your list? Or do you even bother to keep count?

Big Weekend commitment and birding!

Photo courtesy of Voices of Central Pennsylvania-- yes, Kat is really that tall.

The commitment ceremony was incredible; thank you so much for your good wishes! There must've been at least 500 people there, cheering us on.

Here's a list of links you can follow to read the local (and not-so-local) coverage of the event:

Local TV Channel 6 coverage

PSU's paper's coverage

Some other web site's coverage

Centre Daily Times coverage (State College's newspaper)

Altoona Mirror coverage

YouTube - Pride Commitment Ceremony at Penn State University -- these kids and their internets

The official site for the event -- contains stories about a lot of the pre-event publicity, both positive and not-so-positive

I'm supposed to get a bunch of photos from the million different photographers who were covering the event, so I'll post more photos when I get them!

The geographically closest Flock members Susan Gets Native and Laura H Somewhere in New Jersey were able to drive in for the event and we went birding on Sunday morning! They've both got coverage of our trip to the marsh as well, so be sure to check that out.

Unfortunately, I haven't even had a chance to download my photos from the camera, so I'll have pics later. For now, I'll tell you that the marsh really showed off for these Flock members! We saw
-wood ducks--at least 50 of them! of course, we were being bad birders and laughing and talking the whole time, so we only saw them as they flew up in terror!

-two sharp-shinned hawks, a male and a much larger female, trying to get it on in mid-air! The male was chasing the female, but only once did it look like they came close to a talon-lock; after that, the female played extremely hard-to-get.

-first-of-year tree swallows -- several pairs were arguing over the few nest boxes out there on the marsh. I'm thinking I need to make a couple of nest boxes tonight and mount them on the other side of the marsh, nearer the house

-Northern pintails -- from far away enough so we saw them on the water

-Great blue heron -- also fleeing in terror, but with those huge slow-motion elegant wingbeats

-mallards -- flying and honking at us for scaring them

-American coot -- in a driveby! We were on the boardwalk, and he half-flew/half-ran across a clearing in the loosestrife and cattails right in front of us

-red-tailed hawk soaring over the hill across from the marsh

-Carolina wren, calling a lot

-spring peepers, peeping even during the day

-muskrat -- a life mammal for Susan

-coyote poo, complete with little bones and fur in it--courtesy of Susan pulling it apart

I think that's everything we saw; an important development came when Susan and Laura informed me that you can call any bird that you can see from your backyard a "yard bird," which increases my yard bird number bigtime! I'll have to update my lists and see what I get.

We also discussed the possibility of having a birding festival right there on the marsh -- and you won't believe it, but Creeped-Out-by-Birds-Kat (COBBK?) came up with that idea! We could camp out in the backyard in tents and bird all over Penns Valley. Or who knows? Maybe I can swing something with the owners of the marsh and the very nice old bed-and-breakfast right next to it! This idea has definite possibilities, so stay in touch! We have a lot of great birding areas in this area, including a couple of hawk watches. Hmm...

Susan lobbied long and hard to make our next Flock gathering at Magee Marsh in May. Interesting--they have "garlic mustard pulling parties" there; perhaps we should have "purple loosestrife pulling parties" on the marsh. Believe me, now's the time; it's all dead and easy to grab, and then we could have margaritas in the backyard.

Public service announcement

Please see this post on my other bloggy to explain why I'm going to be off the blogs for a few days. Enjoy your weekend!

Listserv email trauma

I am enrolled (or whatever you call it) on the PA Birds listserv, and I just had a little trauma, thanks to my over-eager posting. A while back, I found what I thought was a feather from a Northern (yellow-shafted) Flicker. I posted my discovery here, along with some other photos.

Anyway, just now, someone sent a call out on the listserv for an ID of a feather -- with pics of a feather just like mine. The sender said something to the effect that "if you're really confident, reply to the whole listserv; if not, just reply to this other address." So of course Eager Beaver Delia (stop snickering!) writes, "I'm fairly certain that's a Northern Flicker feather, as I found one just like it after seeing a flicker in my yard last year!" etc. etc. I even linked to my blogpost and everything! I'm thinking, "boy, oh boy, maybe I'll get a little more traffic on the blog!" right?

But wait -- So then another listserv guy sends in an email that says he'd bet his boots that it's a guinea fowl feather. So I panic--I google guinea hen, and sure enough -- their bellies are covered with these spotty feathers! I've just embarrassed myself on a statewide listserv!

I then think--I should take my guess back! So I email the listserv and say "oh, you know that guy's probably right -- there's a farm about five hundred yards away with guinea fowl" or something to that effect.

But wait again!--neither of my emails has appeared... I then get an email saying that for some reason, my listserv email was sent to the listserv's monitor, who happens to work at the same company I do (cool). So that's why my email did not appear yet! So then I think, my pal the monitor -- he'll delete it before it goes out, if I ask him to! So I send him an email and ask him to delete my other email. Then no sooner do I send that email than I get a second "your email's being sent to the monitor!" email from the listserv! Sorry, pal who is the listserv monitor and works at my workplace!

AAGGGH!!!! Sometimes I hate the immediacy -- and the some-time lack thereof -- of email.

This week on the marsh

Last night, I took advantage of the ever-increasing amount of daylight remaining when I get home from work and took a walk on the marsh. I got another picture from up high near the road of some ducks, including American Wigeon and Northern Pintail (though I don't think there are any wigeons in this pic): I decided I would get closer to the Long Pond, and if I scared away the ducks, I would just camp out there and wait for them to return. Well, sure enough, just as I saw some Wood Ducks swimming around, I scared them away and then it was pretty much a mass freak-out as ducks everywhere scurried from my fearsome presence:

help!

omigosh!

please don't eat us!

Um—sorry ’bout that... And while some ducks did return, they never returned to the area near where I sat down with my scope and camera, all set to take some award-winning photos. Instead, they flew over me and scowled, thinking, “Get out of here!” I think what I need to do is take some sort of portable blind with me out there, and then I could just sit inside and wait for the ducks to come back. They're too smart to come anywhere near someone watching them while holding a big black tube. They're no dummies.So I got up and saw a sparrow and, as I was watching it for ID purposes, I heard what sounded like a small plane buzzing about two feet over my head! I was just about ready to hit the dirt when I realized it was two mallards, giving me the business! I felt a little like this:

Run, Cary!

At one point, though, I think I might have heard a Common Snipe, but there were so many RWBLs all around, and all of them were being very vocal and telling me to leave their area right now!, that it was hard to tell what all I was hearing. I also heard what sounded like a baby’s “waaah,” coming from a densely brushy area (damn that purple loosestrife!). I couldn’t see what was making the noise. This morning, I went to What Bird? and listened to the sounds made by all the likely marsh birds I could think of (Virginia Rail, Sora, Snipe, Woodcock) just to make absolutely sure, but I didn’t hear anything like the waaah noise. Any guesses?

I did, however, see a real cat on the marsh:

He was stalking around toward the Long Pond when he saw me and then just sat there, staring at me, while I stared back at him. And just look at those evil eyes, staring at me and burning into my soul! Right after I took this photo, he decided he’d had enough and ran the other way. I’ve never seen this kitteh anywhere around the marsh before; I wonder where he came from.

I also heard (drumroll please) SPRING PEEPERS! Now I know it’s spring! They started up by the time I got back home.

Some other things I saw:
Mr. Cardinal, calling for Mrs. Cardinal. Loudly.

This may well be the best picture I've ever taken of a RWBL:I lightened this up a bit so that you could see that this RWBL is doing his “oh-ka-lee” (or as Earl Cootie would say, his “Jim Cav-ieeeeee-zel!”) thing here.

These two muskrats were doing some sort of mating ritual where they swam in unison, like a pair of ice skaters, always about a foot apart, all around the Long Pond:

“Looks like muskrat luhuhuh-uh-uv!”

This was right around the time those two crazy ducks buzzed me, and I figured it was time to leave! The rest of the pics were taken on the walk back to my house.

Another RWBL, in the sunset (red wings in the sunset, way out on the sea...):
Some rather strange scat here; you can see it’s almost like a bunch of really black grapes, pressed together in a big lump. It was probably two inches across. Any guesses?

One bunny’s very bad day:I thought I’d found an owl pellet right next to this, but I think it was just some old cat poo. Dangit... and gross.

This egg has been here since the last time I was on the marsh (3/9/08 – I forgot to report it here), and since then it’s snowed and been really cold: It’s right near my garden, just on the marsh side of the fence. It’s about the size of a chicken egg, and it doesn’t look like anything’s been brooding on it. Why is it here? What bird would lay an egg under the grass like this and then just leave it? We don’t have any chickens anywhere around the marsh, but it’s perfectly white and chicken-sized. Maybe it’s some other animal’s egg? (Platypus???) I didn’t touch it, just in case maybe someone has been tending it, but it’s a mystery egg for now.

Bird's eye views and the lack thereof

While doodling around the birding blogs this morning, I came across a very cool link to MSN's Live Search Maps, which has a "bird's eye view" option so that you can view your own property from the air! As an example, here's my parents' house:

That's it, boxed in red. (ed. note: their house is for sale, and it's in Harlingen, home of the RGV birding festival! Hint hint!)

Note the fact that while others in the neighborhood chose to build pools in their backyards, my parents chose to beautify by planting all kinds of trees and plants--pecan, citrus, grape, peach, bottlebrush, hibiscus, roses, etc.--that serve to attract many different bird species to the backyard. You'll remember way back from when I started this blog that my mom is a bit of a bird lover herself. She gets tons of hummers, doves, chachalacas (which scared the pee out of me the first time I saw one pecking at the glass patio door -- her babies are nothing if not demanding of regular feeding).

Anyway, so I punched in my address, thinking I was finally going to get a beautiful aerial shot of my house and the marsh.... Yeah--no. No bird's eye option for me! I guess I haven't done enough to merit a spy satellite taking pictures of my house (yet). This was the best I could get:

Black and white, and not too legible. Hmph. Still--I've highlighted some areas of import. The small rectangle up top is my property--you can kind-of see my house and the crazy-uncle house/Kat's office below it. The circled area is Small Pond, where I haven't seen any ducks or anything yet this year. The longish area is Long Pond, where I saw the wood ducks, etc. last week. The dark area to the right of Long Pond is where the marsh owners built the short boardwalk and observation deck last year.

Boy, am I disappointed that I can't get a beautiful view of my area with the bird's eye option. I guess I'll just have to keep working on that rocket-pack.

Birdy movie review: Fly Away Home

Last night, Em and I watched one of our favorite movies, Fly Away Home. In the movie, 13-year-old Amy discovers a nest of Canada goose eggs, abandoned when developers come into a marsh and start mowing down trees. She raises the geese, and then she and her father attempt to lead them southward for fall migration.

There are lots of cute shots of the goslings following the actress who plays Amy (Anna Paquin, whom I like a lot), bathing with her, and just being sweet baby geese. The cinematography and the music are beautiful, and it’s a great film for anyone who loves birds and feel-good movies. The movie also stars Jeff Daniels and Dana Delany (whom I've had a crush on since her work on China Beach).

I had always thought that the movie plot was pretty much all true, complete with cute kid befriending and leading the geese, but it's actually based on the efforts of an artist-inventor-pilot named Bill Lishman, who first taught geese and then whooping cranes and trumpeter swans to follow a migratory path by flying with the birds in an ultra-light aircraft. He's a lot like the Jeff Daniels character in the movie, but there is no teenage daughter in real life, which means that the tale I heard a few years ago, that the girl had died in a ultra-light accident, wasn’t true! (I'm kinda relieved about that.) Lishman started Operation Migration to continue his efforts to help endangered birds. Check out his efforts by following that link. Pretty cool.

Waterfowl on parade!

Yesterday after work I walked out on the marsh and saw quite a few new ducks and some other spring birds.

Here's the big view of what I could see (in the low light of a cloudy evening) from the road:

click for larger version

I can make out some Northern Pintails and Mallards, but can anyone else help ID any other species of duck? See the ones toward the back with the brownish heads? They look like Canvasbacks but they're too small, I think. Help! Looking from the road gives the highest-up vantage to see the Large Pond, but in that fading light and all the way from the road, and hand-held, this is as clear a photo as I could get.

Here's a cropped shot showing some mallards and some Northern Pintails:

I like that one who's apparently bowing up to take off. I loves me some ducks.

I also saw six or seven Wood Ducks farther back and to the right of these ducks, but I didn't get even a blurry photo because--despite my best imitation of Mary's stealthy sneaking--I still spooked them. I saw them through my binocs before they flew off, though, and it was definitely my best look at a wood duck. I wish I had a pic!

I also saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds; I cropped this photo within an inch of its life:

The following pic is the result of fiddling with one's camera settings despite not having read the manual:

Behold! The wonders of a wide-open aperture and high ISO, without a tripod. See the two blurry blue areas? Those are bluebirds (blur-birds) taking off. I can't wait until all these clouds are gone, and we get some decent sun.

Here are some ducks flying over--UPDATE: Canada Geese, thanks to new commenter Richard, whose blog looks cool!--and you can tell how dark it is by this time (it was close to 7pm):

I debated with myself about whether to crop out the little guy to the left, but I finally just left him in. Cropping is an art form, and if I were printing this to mount on my wall or something, I'd likely have cropped out the guy on the left. But here--well--I just couldn't decide.

Long-time readers will remember that the marsh owners, Greg and Mary Kay Williams, added a boardwalk and viewing station to the marsh last year:

The purple loosestrife may be dead, but it's still clogging up the entire marsh. Here's what it looks like from the viewing platform:

Were the loosestrife gone, you could probably see the large pond (at least one end of it).

When I got back to my yard, I remembered to check a spot where I found one little morel mushroom last year. Here's what I found last night:

Is that a young morel, I wonder? I'll keep checking.