Wordless Autumn View

From Blogger Pictures

Bolton Notch with the kids

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Safe to say the kids and I (and my wife) are now recovered from the flu - although we weren't as sick as we could have been, kept us out of commission for a week as a family.  Election day with school out, the kids and I took a nice jaunt to Bolton Notch.  Although not the same as going by myself and staring for minutes at a time in silence, the kids were having a great time and running and playing along the trail as we went, and seeing them feeling better makes it worth it.

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   I have found on my birding jaunts, that setting small goals helps.  Often I find myself hoping for pristine pictures of 30 new life birds, but then that won't happen (maybe in Puerto Rico next month eh?).  So hoping for relaxation, nice views, and a few nice pictures is what I hope for, and often I find myself with a bonus.
   Last year I remember around november finding a bunch of roosting robins in the back of the pond near a small marsh, and found them again.  There were at least 25 if not 50 robins, chasing each other and singing, mixed with several blue jays.  A large hawk with pale brown dorsum and white ventral surface and few markings soared through the swamp, not appearing to chase anything.  Too close to use bins quick enough, but a good "B" look at the body size/markings.  I had a poor head look.  I decided perhaps a goshawk but more likely a juvenile red-tailed hawk.

From Blogger Pictures

   My bonus today was  nice looking wood creeper on tree allowing me enough time to get my camera up and although not the best, a decent in-flight shot.  As usual, this pond seems to be a popular stop over on migration for canada geese.  I keep looking for the odd other species in with them, no luck yet.

From Blogger Pictures

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Autumn Zen

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From Blogger Pictures

Every morning on the way to work I like to stop for five minutes at a few spots when I have time to listen to birds, watch the sunrise colors, etc.  This gives me a bit of peace and helps me face the day ahead.  If I was independently wealthy , this would be 6 hours a day, but alas.
So I wanted to share for those interested some of these moments.  You will see the spots are nice, and lately not many birds, but there are some.

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

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Mansfield Hollow

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Thursday I went to a spot not too far away I had heard good bird reports on.  By this no rares but just a good amount, especially waterfowl, which I seem to be particularly drawn.  It was easily found and a nice secluded spot set between two main thouroughfares, but once inside the forest, the peace of nature was all about.  I ended up going on most of the trail, giving my legs and back an excellent workout.  Why my back - well my usually shoulder bag with notebook/birding guide/water/powerbars hung from one side and on the other shoulder were tripod and digiscope - never used it either - that thing gets heavy.

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    I started on the yellow trail down to the lakeside.  The Lake was encased with fog and I could not see more than five feet beyond the shore.  I did see numerous song and white-throated sparrows and dark juncos in the underbrush along the shore, hopping along the ground and in the low to mid-branches.

White-Throated Sparrow From Blogger Pictures

   Then I heard some splashing, ah, water birds, as I creeped along and came upon an older gentleman playing fetch with his pretty golden in the lake...sigh.

Still a bit of color From Blogger Pictures

  I decided to follow the blue trail in land, which nicely had many side loops that took the hiker along the water's edge so I had a good view of the fishermen and their boats but alas no water fowl, save for the call of a female mallard in the distance.

Downy Woodpecker From Blogger Pictures

   Along the trail, I followed my plan of stopping when hearing chickadee's and nuthatch.  At one point, rather than seeing other birds, I must have stumbled upon some secret meeting place (or an unseen predator was behind me) as close to 20 chickadees and 5-9 titmice flitted from branch to branch in a half orb in front of me with their harsh calls warning me off.  As soon as I started walking, they went back to their secret doings.
   On other small stops I managed to see some other lovely birds, many white throated sparrows, a few yellow-rumped warblers, a golden-crowned kinglet, a blue headed vireo (life bird), several downy, 1 hair woodpecker, several cardinals (the males chasing each other around in pairs ), a quartet of turkey vulture, crows, bluejays, 2 brown creepers (good looks but no pictures).  The lighting early on was not the best, and I am still adjusting to the new camera, so again without many pictures, I still had a lovely birding day and a nice nap afterward.

Turkey Vulture From Blogger Pictures