Barred Owl Ipswich & Salisbury

So I searched the reserve for the PI Barred owl & the Saw Whet that was sighted this week. No luck. However the ol' Rileys were kind enough to call me with news that one of their resident Barred Owl's was sitting in the pines. It was up pretty high, but I'll take it, best shots I could do with how high up it was.

2 Days later found this Barred Owl in Salisbury...quite a week for Barred's !!!

Random Happenings

So its been a pretty good birding week & a terrible picture taking week.  (on my part) However the sub par shots I did manage to take do tell some pretty good stories.

I caught a Merlin terrorizing a few thousand Starlings near lot 1 in the Reserve. Awesome to watch. The battle ensued for a good 40 mins.

The Starlings would try to take off from the shrub, and the Merlin would try to grab one, forcing them all back down. The Merlin shot threw the flock relentlessly, it was pretty ridiculous to behold.

The Merlin just went through where the flock is condensed. 

Also impossible to get a shot of the little Falcon it was moving so fast, at least with my level of photography skills. Once put up however the Starlings made impressive patterns as the Merlin flanked them.

This fuzzy blur is about what it looked like jetting by me

While looking for owls in the Salisbury "owl thicket" I found hundreds of Monarch Butterfly's roosting for the night. (can butterfly's roost??) Anyways, that was pretty cool. Also lots of Red-breasted Nuthatch's.

& Finally I caught a young Redtail hunting the North Field in the reserve. The bird caught a number of mice & snakes in a very short period, and seemed very pleased with itself. I was a true champion with this one.  I initially mis-identified the raptor & then proceeded to take roughly 300 pictures with auto focus thinking it was manual... getting not one shot in focus. Still a cool hawk. From these shots you can tell its a redtail, but it looked dark as hell on the ground initially damnit. 

Also... a tagged Gull on Sandy Point

Fall Migration

So lots to see on P.I. The shorebirds are passing through, large numbers of: Black Bellied Plovers, Semi-palmated Plovers, Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Dunlins, and Sanderlings crowed the flats at Sandy Point.

Spotted a very early Merlin on the P.I. Bridge. & I also am posting a few picks of the tree swallows from last week that have since moved on.

Got eaten alive taking this shot, probably have west-Nile....

Lots of Swallows

Sandy Point

Good contrast of the B.B plover in size

While I didn't get pics I caught a Kestrel & a Golden Eagle in N.H. at my buddy's wedding a real treat.

Misty morning & smoked meats

Well I ventured out this weekend to hit the morning PI mists. Nothing to exciting for birds, but some great misty shots, even with the telephoto lens.

                                                                   Gold Finch

The rest of the weekend my buddy Chris who was up from the big city & I explored the world of my new Brinkmann Smoker. A nice Home Depot find. I have long wanted to smoke & cure fish, but with the extreme heat...and a desire to not smell like hot smokey fish, we went with pork loin. AMAZING. I suggest everyone I know in taking a small interest in smoked meats, it is ever so tasty.

I love the "ideal" setting...no temperature needed

wooooooo

Chris getting busy with some maple syrup

Chris at Greenbelt Newbury, & might I add looking a bit more fashionable then me.. with my safari hat.

Red Headed Woodpecker

Casey & I hit New England Bio-Labs to check out the Redheaded Woodpecker. The Redhead an infrequent migrant & rare breeder in Mass, was actively feeding about the swamp area. Managed to get a few pictures in, but more of a watching experience. Great bird, I had only seen one previous to this venture. 

The Bio-labs had some other great species about, I haven't been out there since I was a teenager. Of note where; a Green Heron, a jv Yellow-crowned Night Heron, a Coopers Hawk, and lots of Eastern Blue Birds.


Here on P.I. the Tree Swallows are starting to mass by the thousands, if you have not been out on the island for this, there have to be hundreds of thousands of them... given the right day. I had at least 5,000 + at lot one, and another group by the Wardens. Lots of peep's in the pannes on Sunday, and a few BCN Herons flying threw the mist. A Peregrine & a jv N. Harrier.

Gray day

                                                    Also a few cool yard creatures as well.

Early Morning on P.I.

I got up early today & caught some good birds in the reserve. 3 total BCNH, 1 mature in North pool, and 2 imm at Stage pool. 2 American Bitterns. One of the Plover pairs at Sandy Point had young running around. I didn't get to close but managed to get a few shots in of them. Alot of peeps around in the pannes, and also alot of Short-billed Dowitchers all over ??. 

Imm BCNH

Great Egret & BCNH's

P.P Chick

You'll see this prior to being attacked  by Terns

Least Tern

The Victoria

Fence Turkey