Today I was up at 5:45AM in order to get to Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge by 7AM. The Forbush Bird Club was hosting a field trip from 7-11. Mt. Auburn is a prime area for migrating warblers, and this week was really the first major showing of migrants so far this spring. There were two major problems: The weather. Gray and misty, with off-and-on showers stayed with us the whole four-hour walk. My binoculars. First, the strap broke on my binoculars, so I was carrying them the entire time. Then, not 10 minutes later, as I was wiping the eyepieces dry with a cloth, one of the eyepieces broke off and dropped to the inside of my binoculars. Uh oh. I only had one working eyepiece, so I continued to use it, but it definitely took the ease out of viewing. (I have enough trouble sighting birds through my binoculars anyway!)
I saw several life* birds and several first of years (FOY), making it a great outing in spite of my technical and meteorological difficulties:
1. Chimney Swift* (flying overhead)
2. Black-Throated Blue Warbler*
3. Orchard Oriole*
4. Common Yellowthroat (FOY)
5. Great-Crested Flycatcher (FOY)
6. Warbling Vireo*
7. Magnolia Warbler (FOY)
Black-and-White Warbler (click to enlarge)
Common Yellowthroat
White-Throated Sparrow
tan-striped form
Magnolia Warbler
(sorry about the exposure of this one - I had to lighten it for the bird to show up)
Common Yellowthroat
When all else fails, you an always take photos of the flowers!
I thought this beautiful sculpture was a good one for Mother's Day.
Even the dandelions are pretty!
I like all the flower shots. I just joined this blog today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maria, and welcome!
DeleteA day of highs and lows! The weather looks like a typically Scottish "dreich" day!! I am glad you saw so many lifers though.
ReplyDeleteDo you continue to photograph in spite of the typically rainy days in Scotland, or do you wait for sun?
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