Very Quiet at Park. Luckily, Had Some Turkey Fun!

It was 34 degrees at about 8:00 a.m. The meadow has now been mowed, but the park was very quiet today. All I saw were some robins, a cardinal couple, a few song sparrows, a junco, some geese flying and a seagull.

Therefore, I decided to pursue a new interest - a flock of wild turkeys that has been roosting in the trees on a street nearby. Since I recently saw the movie on Channel 2 "My Life As a Turkey" ( a documentary about Joe Hutto, a naturalist who raised a flock of 16 wild turkeys from egg to adulthood), I've been more and more curious about this local flock.

After leaving the park, I knew they would have left their roosts and wondered where they go during the day. Today, I discovered them in a Rachel Road resident's side yard. Here is a very short video of the turkeys.

Christmas Bird Count

Richard, Haynes and Greg

Today was the Christmas Bird Count.!

We met at Chris' house at 7:00 a.m. Some of the group had already gone owling and had seen screech owls at Kennard Park. It always sounds so exciting, but I can't get myself up and out by 5:00 a.m. on these dark, freezing cold mornings. Some day, I'll get it together…

After coffee and delicious coffee cake, the birders broke into several groups and covered specific areas. I was in a group with Haynes, Richard and Greg.

Red-tail Hawk

It was only in the 20's but we held out for four hours of birding. We covered Kennard Park, Newton South, Hammond Pond and Houghton Gardens. We had a great time! I won't list all the birds we saw today because most of them were our regulars. However, we did see a nice red-tail hawk at Newton South, huddled in a tree. In fact several of the birds looked awfully cold - all puffed up and hanging out in trees and shrubs.

I would say our most exciting moment was when we arrived at Hammond Pond. I think it was Greg who spotted a blue heron. It turned out there were three of them! We also saw several hooded mergansers looking absolutely spectacular as well as a ring-necked duck and some gulls. We had seen one of the herons fly off and we discovered it later as we walked around the pond. It was looking very chilly on a tree branch. For us humans, the winds across the pond were almost unbearable. The woods were much more tolerable.

Chilly Blue Heron

In the Houghton Gardens area, we were pleased to see two hairy woodpeckers. Deeper in, Haynes pointed out a golden crowned kinglet flitting about and then a brown creeper that we were fortunate enough to have several good sightings of.

As we were leaving, I was happy to see all three herons together. Whether you're a bird or a birder, it's nice to have friends to hang out with on a day as cold as this.

Gardening Season Officially Over

This friendly pumpkin was left
on a rock to greet people?

Arrived at the park around 8:15 a.m. It was 32 degrees and clear. Right away, I noticed that the gate to the gardens was closed and locked, marking the official end to the community gardening season.

The meadow has not been mowed as it usually is in November, even though we were informed it would be. Perhaps they are just late. I'm sure the birds are happy about the delay.

It was a pretty quiet day in general. Everything was covered in frost but slowly started melting as I walked around. I saw several house finches, juncos, goldfinches, robins, a few white throated sparrows, and some tree sparrows as well as a few chickadees.

Down by the river I saw two mallard couples reminding me that ducks can be really fun to watch for soon.

Got word today that the Christmas Bird Count will be December 18th. Stay tuned for more details.

Last Flowers Standing

Tansy

Weekend Update: Saturday was 47 degrees and Sunday, a cooler 33 degrees.

It's pretty quiet at the park. The most active area seems to be the lower part of the upper gardens near the meadow.

Between Saturday and Sunday, I saw house finches, song sparrows, robins, white throated sparrows, my first American tree sparrows of the season, lots of goldfinches, cardinals, tufted titmice, chickadees and a blue jay. Also, had a nice but brief sighting of a cedar waxwing couple in the Mulberry tree.

Some Nice Surprises!

Bluebird Male

Bluebird Female

It was 50 degrees this morning! Not bad for November. Very pleasant and sunny.

The woods at the parking lot looked dramatically different today. They looked like they were all cleared out! It took me a minute or two to realize that all the leaves had fallen off the oak trees and now you could see right through.

The lower gardens were very quiet so  headed to the upper gardens.

A flock of goldfinches flew out of the artemesia in the meadow as I headed up. There were several song sparrows, and some house finches and then I saw something blue. I only caught a glimpse of it, but I was sure it was a bluebird and then it disappeared. I couldn't have been happier, when 5-10 minutes later, it appeared on top of the favorite purple bird house along with two females. I have to think these are our bluebirds. It makes me feel better. Saw a few juncos, but literally only a few. A brilliant red cardinal appeared and a female downy in the woods at the back of the gardens as well as a few robins.

Hermit Thrush

Then Mary Lou appeared! She saw a hermit thrush, which of course I missed. However, as we headed around the path, she spotted the same or another hermit thrush in the leaves on the ground with a beautiful fox sparrow and a couple of white throated sparrows. We followed them into the woods and got to watch them for quite a while. They were like a little gang, going everywhere together.

Hermit Thrush Eating Berry

We walked down to the pond seeing virtually nothing, but when I turned around to head back I saw yet another? hermit thrush having a field day with some bittersweet. Did we see one, two, or three hermit thrushes today? We'll never know...

In Transition

Wild Grasses

It was chilly out, but not as cold as it could be, so I was grateful.

Before I even got started, something made me want to check the Bird Register. I was really excited to see that birdwatchers, Scott and Aviva are back from Israel! Scott was the first one I knew about in Newton to start a birding blog and I've missed his sightings and writings! Welcome back you guys! Hope you had a great time and can't wait to hear about the birds you saw.

Many leaves are off the trees. The maples that are left are a beautiful orange and the oaks are their usual dreary brown with the leaves still clinging. Most of the vegetables and flowers are dead making things look a little sad and lonely.

Goldfinch

The upper and lower gardens were pretty quiet except for our regulars. I saw lots of juncos, song sparrows, a few white throated sparrows and a few robins. The evening primroses are still proving to be a great attraction for the goldfinches which are now all sporting their winter coats.

As I was about to head home, I noticed that it was quite sunny down near the soccer field. If I was a bird, I guess that's where I'd be, so I headed down there.

Downy Male

It turned out to be a hotbed of activity. It was sort of a mixed flock of upper garden birds i.e., goldfinches, juncos, white throated sparrows and song sparrows with the addition of a red bellied woodpecker, a downy, cardinals and nuthatches. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it was so fun to see them hanging out together.

Last Saturday of October

Young Swamp Sparrow?

Well, it's definitely getting chilly now. It was about 36 degrees and clear at 8:00 a.m.

Arrived and saw that Mary Lou was there. Before I headed to the upper gardens, I checked out the path that cuts through the edge of the meadow. There have been lots of birds hanging out as they fly back and forth from the shrubs to the artemesia.

Chipper

Was immediately greeted by a really cute yellow rump. This is the second one that has let me watch it very close up for quite a long time. Lots of song sparrows and juncos.

Mary Lou was on her way down when we met and we ended up going to the upper gardens together. It was filled with sparrows. We saw chipping sparrows, swamp sparrows, song sparrows and white throated sparrows. We did not see any white crowned or savannah sparrows. Also saw a female cowbird, a cardinal couple, more juncos and some goldfinches.

Palm Warbler

Mary Lou headed to the lower gardens which she had not yet explored and I stayed a little longer. I'm so glad I did, because finally, I saw my palm warbler - not one, but two! They flew up from the meadow into a tree right in front of me and hung out there long enough for me to get a good look at them. Now, I feel like my fall is complete.

White Throated Sparrow

In a few more weeks our tree sparrows should be arriving and then we know that winter is on its way!