Consolation Prize

     The worst part about loving birds, birding, and being outside is Twitter. Because you're sitting at work and there go the tweets (literal tweets)... clay-colored sparrow, lark sparrow- just chillin' all day, together in Green-Wood Cemetery not only yesterday but continuing today!
     Yesterday my sister and I rode our bikes 75 miles around NYC- so yesterday was a no-go. But today... oh man, oh man. I also today did my first day on a bike commuter/pollutant exposure study, so I had to zip home- make sure I wasn't breaching protocol and I got my stuff and ran back out the door.
    So with this study, I have to wear some stuff- a vest with some microPEM air monitors- and when you put on binoculars and the camera, you look pretty ridiculous.
     Anyway, I made it to Green-Wood, to the spot that I freakin' walked through SATURDAY when the lark sparrow was first seen and got to work snooping around...

So I arrived.. and the first thing I did was trip because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking... I notice though a very pointy-winged thing... falcon? seems a little off for falcon...
NIGHTHAWK! (A common nighthawk, to be exact)

What a nice treat! I had been wanting to see these guys as they gather over Prospect's Neathermead in sometimes good numbers and I had yet to go. And I have been wanting to go- so it was awesome to see a few on this very short trip out.
I have pretty fond memories of seeing these guys during cross country practice at Bethpage State Park in High School on late afternoons in the fall. I remember seeing them and wondering what they were. I consulted the field guide in secret when I got home (ew, don't let other people in school know I do this-- nah, they totally knew. #nerd) and was amazed to discover what the heck a nighthawk was.

There were at least 5 soaring around above Green-Wood at the Sylvan water area. They were a nice consolation prize because I could not find the lark sparrow.

But. I did find this guy!
A clay-colored sparrow!

Stuck out pretty well from the many chipping sparrows and cowbirds around. Very beautiful in the late day sun. I have seen this species once before on my first Christmas bird count, but it was SO. FAR. AWAY. This bird was super not shy and beautiful. Glad I got to see it in such beautiful light.

--And now it's time for dinner and bed (before 8pm) as I will be monitoring Tribute in Light tonight for migrating birds. Wish me luck-- I am anything but a night owl!

All That and a Bag of Chips!

     I woke up yesterday exhausted. I drank a cup of coffee (which I do every day, but not for caffeine, but because I like the ritual and flavor), still exhausted. 12pm, still yawning uncontrollably. By 2:30 a migraine is in the midst. 4:30pm, time to leave, have been wearing sunglasses indoors the last hour because my eyes hurt from any light. I accomplish a decent amount for the day despite this hurdle, but have zero energy to ride my bike. I nearly fall asleep with it on the train. End up on the couch with a look to me that even worried Tim. Wake up today-- rainbows and sunshine!
     I officially feel old- a week of me getting home late each night (not late-late, more like 9pm late) -- due to pretty nerdy things like training for bird monitoring at tribute in light this coming 9/11 (actually my shift is 9/12 from 2-4am!), training for a study I am assisting in with my bicycle commutes, and a minor league baseball game to see Noah Syndergaard and his beautiful self pitch a few innings. But I suppose all that adds up and by Friday I was pretty beat.
     I was happy to feel good today because it was birdy out there and I have a bike ride tomorrow with my sister! I got some pretty decent looks at some birds this morning and it made me feel better about my last couple of "meh" days of birding. I was excited because there was much chipping type going on. In fall, warblers don't sing like they do in spring migration. Chip calls are used as warning calls but also as contact calls during migration, to let everyone who is moving along together stay together and in contact. I used my ears to guide me in Green-Wood today, following every little "chip" I heard and following with my eyes for activity.

I had a good feeling traveling to Green-Wood today, I read a tweet from The City Birder about how the trees near the Civil War Monument were "dripping with birds," talk about tantalizing!
I walked in and within 5 minutes I had 4 warbler species already seen, en route to the hill where the monument sits.

Pine warbler in a spruce tree.

Flycatchers, or known as Empids among birders. They are the biggest pain sometimes. But I think I got this one... Pretty darn sure this is a yellow-bellied flycatcher- yellow underside, large head... 

...and pretty contrasting feathers on the wings.

In case you wanted some bird humor about flycatchers... thankfully the yellow-bellied has a yellow lower mandible.

Someone else came for the birdy action today.
An American kestrel scouts out the abundance of American Redstarts.

The best part about migration- birds are hungry and in a rush to get where they are going. Night time is flight time, day time is refuel time- and they will do whatever it takes to catch their food. In spring time, these black-throated green warblers will strain your neck as you try to get a look at them-- but come fall, they will feed wherever the food is at. This one at eye level up a grassy hill as it chased flying insects on the ground.

Saw many small groups of brown-headed cowbirds. This little group had some character to them. They sat, fairly proud, not at all caring of my presence, and had a this look... decipher it as you wish.

A chipping sparrow- it threw me off, honestly. I am so used to their spring look- come non-breeding, they have a completely different look that made me think twice.

I had some trouble with this bird last week- but due to me mis-id'ing at first, I will always remember-- this is a Cape May warbler!

An Ovenbird-- seen with similar looking/behaving birds like veery's and Swainson's thrushes. While the ovenbird looks like and acts like a thrush-- it's a warbler.

A lot of black-and-white warblers everywhere-- on tree, on headstones, on the ground...

Also abundant, magnolia warblers. This one hunting for insects among the leaves.

And the most abundant-- after the 4th one, it becomes, "ugh, another redstart."
American redstarts are everywhere, but you have to check every time because it could always be something different!
No pictures, but this happened and good thing I checked, because among redstarts, I got my first ever Nashville Warbler!
Also, this is the best picture I may have ever got of a redstart because it sat still for 2 seconds, instead of half a second.

Better looks at that Cape May...

Still a really good looking bird in the fall.

B&W Warbler... like I said, one trees, headstones, and the ground.

Also a nice sight of a scarlet tanager who dropped in and gave me a good enough look.

A very stoic Northern Flicker-- out in the open-- not their usual gig. I always find them in the grass or hiding in a tree.

Again, flycatchers-- but I also think I am lucky on this one, large head, no eye ring-- feeling pretty good calling this an Eastern wood-pewee.

Left on a nice note of two pine warblers foraging on this hydrangea-type plant.

Glad to have had a good morning out- I definetly needed it!

Skimming Through...

     Not going to lie, the past few outings I have had, were not really feeling super satisfying. I saw some birds, but it didn't feel special. Mostly because I felt like I was mis-id'ing, feeling not super confident, and getting myself down a bit about birding. What a weird way to feel, right?
     I took notice of skimmers staging themselves on the beach in Coney Island in the morning. I really like skimmers, their behaviors are unique and like no other, their look is just the same, and they fly in such beautiful synchronization, they are really irresistible birds to watch-- even if you have seen them a thousand times.
     So yesterday morning I sought them out on the beach in Coney Island and I found them. A group of maybe 30 birds, maybe a bit more with adults and immature individuals, resting together on the sand, out of the reach of the waves.
     I decided that I need to get over my mistakes I make in the field identifying-- it really hurts no one, and it is one of the best ways I remember birds. So I suppose I need to take some advice from Ms. Frizzle and embrace my mistakes as chances to learn.
     Anyway, here are some things from some outings I felt so "meh" about plus my skimmer friends!

Sanderlings earlier this month at Plumb Beach, a pre-work bird outing.

Plumb Beach on another day, a common yellowthroat sits still... behind stuff.

I watched some snowy egrets interact. There were three of them, two adults and one small, younger birds. Almost as if this one was a young of one/both of the adults and was trying to mooch off them for longer. It seemed one of the adults would not tolerate it.

Cue the music... 

Last weekend I visited Green-Wood Cemetery and got one of the best looks I have ever had of a great crested flycatcher.

A foraging white-breasted nuthatch also in GWC.

A black-throated green warbler among 1,000,000 American redstarts...

Some morning yoga. This pose is called seagull spread by master gull yogi, the laughing gull.

An immature laughing gull.

And a fun group of black skimmers!

Immature birds are easy to pick from the crowd.

A second group of skimmers, west of where I was, flying near Seagate.

While I was observing the skimmers a lady began walking up to them (I took a seat on the sand and stayed still). This gull was not a fan, and walked up to me. A ring-billed gull, to be exact.

Really close.
After my skimmer time, I went to work for a very exhausted version of myself kind of day.

An ADK Weekend

     Tim and I made a visit upstate this past weekend to visit family and get away from the city. The area where we visited was absolutely gorgeous. We did some hiking, some canoeing, and made some campfires. It was a really nice time and a huge thank you to Tim's aunt who let us stay at her place.

So, I don't know much about fungus, but there was an amazing array of fungus on the forest floor. It came in every color, shape, and size. Always beautiful!

Auger Falls, a nice trail off Rt 30.

In the time we left for our Auger Falls hike, an Osprey was hanging out on the tree in front of our Aunt's camp. It was still there when we returned, and it stayed for most of the evening with this fish-- that seemed more like jerky.

A very yellow in the face song sparrow.

In the patch of flowers next to our camp, ruby-throated hummingbirds were regular visitors.

And hurray for better lighting...

Cruddy pictures of a male ruby-throated hummingbird! That throat changes intensity with the light. This one is loving the jewelweed.

Day 2, while Tim went for a 10 mile run, I took a walk along the River Walk Nature Trail in Speculator. It was super nice, its very easy to walk with informational signs a lot of pileated woodpecker evidence-- and I heard some drilling, but none sighted.
Every morning clouds and haze burned off to reveal beautiful lakes, mountains, and trees. 

The forest floor had a lot of fungi, but also happy to see a lot of Indian Pipe growing. This plant is parasitic and gains its nutrition from fungi that grow with the roots of trees. So this plant grows well on the dark forest floors. I think they are so beautiful and ghostly.

Across the street from the area where the River walk Nature Trail is-- is a "Public Park" on Lake Pleasant. I found a nice little stand of milkweed and was delighted to see little monarch caterpillars on many of them! I have never seen them so tiny!

Let's talk about how dumb I am. I found this slightly larger cat-- but failed 100% to see a smaller one, on the same leaf, until looking at this picture now. BAD!
Also it appears the smaller one just molted- see that little morsel next to it? And it's also probably eating it. BAD JEN!

The biggest cat I found.

And a hungry common yellow throat before leaving.

Late on Day 2, we hiked 6 miles RT to OK Slip Falls. AND I MADE FRIENDS!

Before birds, herps were (and still are) a huge love of mine. I have kept and continue to keep reptiles, but I also like seeing them and amphibians in the wild. I found 2 red-back salamanders under the same fallen piece of bark.

AND THEN...

A red eft, the larval version of an Eastern Newt on the path we were hiking! 

I washed my hands in a stream after helping him to log to hide, because those bright colors warn of a bad taste due to toxins in their skin. On my skin, the toxins won't hurt me, but if it is ingested, it could be icky and potentially uncomfortable.

Sneaking into a little hidey hole.

The view at the end of the hike is pretty great, I learned this is one of the tallest falls in the Adirondack region.

And more interesting fungus along the trail.

This one reminds me of a coral's calcium carbonate skeleton.

This one, honestly just looks delicious.

Day 3, we canoed in the morning from Lake Pleasant to Lake Sacandaga. Tim was a good guy and let me sit up front so I could be ready with the camera and binoculars.

Mallard, black duck, and hybrids were the regulars on the waterways where we stayed.

A young yellow-bellied sapsucker in the marsh between the lakes.

On day 3, we also visited the Adirondack Experience, a really nice museum on Blue Mountain Lake.
After our visit we got in a nice short, but uphill, err... mountain hike to Sawyer Mountain. This is the view from the end of the trail. Not too shabby!

We clambered over a lot of roots, but these were not only impressive, but beautiful as they coat the slope. Tree roots hold in patches of soil, as there is a lot of rock not too fat down, the trees seem to play a vital role in protection from erosion and allow plants to grow along the forest floor.

Oh, hey there. This little Fowler's toad was hopping on the trail. Good thing we saw it, because it looks like the forest floor.

Tim, having a try at toad handling. Again, you don't want to lick fingers after this. Those bumps behind their eyes are glands containing toxins.

Camouflage working well.

That evening we went out on the boat and were treated to not only seeing a loon, but listening to it call. I lightened this one up a lot to see it's face a bit better, but in such low light- meh. This was a thousand times better in person.

Loons yodeling in breeding plumage is pretty great stuff. 

We really enjoyed our visit North and time spent with family. What a great weekend trip to a beautiful place.