Herons, waxwings, and goldfinches: an equation that equals magic

Posted on July 19, 2022 by admin

Every now and then I head out for a walk thinking I’ll look for a certain thing but I end up finding something even more magical than what I was originally looking for.

In this case, I’d heard about a very visible nest of green herons not far from where I live. So of course I got up super early and went to see what I could see. It took only a minute to find them because mom or dad was sitting right out in plain sight in the morning light. The first picture shows the adult plus two babies behind it. There wasn’t another soul around, just the birds and me.

Look at the second picture to see how many baby green herons you can see. Check out those ginormous feet and bills and big yellow eyes! Green herons are quite common but because they are small and so well camouflaged many people have never seen one. I’m betting most people won’t see this nest because they don’t know what to look for. It’s pretty well hidden. Both adults watch over the nest and the young. The other parent was probably away gathering food. Young herons are fed by the parent regurgitating food, such as fish, right into their crops.

I hung around for a while watching them as the sun went in and out and as the shadows shifted I heard a loud squawk and saw that the adult bird was very agitated, chasing a large bird away from the nest. An immature black crowned night heron had interrupted the morning bliss for a minute but it soon landed on a half submerged log below the nest where it began to hunt for fish.

Night herons are much larger than green herons and are quite predatory. Was the immature bird after one of the nestlings? It may have just been a clumsy mistake. In any case, the parent green heron immediately quieted its young and promptly sat on them, covering them up and protecting them. The night heron was unimpressed and proceeded to catch and eat several small fish while I watched, right under the branch where the nest was.

It was joined by a brother or sister who was hunting under the overhanging greenery. It was a good game of peekaboo, as I’d see it one minute and completely lose sight of it the next.

There is a big meadow on this property and I hoped to catch some butterfly action so I headed in that direction before the heat got too intense. Like much of the rest of the world we are having a bit of a heat wave here. Staying cool was definitely on my mind.

The meadow is full of milkweed, goldenrod, chicory, Queen Anne’s lace, and all sorts of thistles and vetches. It’s full of bees, butterflies, and other insects I won’t even pretend to know or name. It’s also full of birds. Swallows and purple martins swoop and swirl overhead. Goldfinches fill the air with their twitters and calls. The bright yellow males move from blossom to blossom as the females settle in for a longer meal.

Female American goldfinch feeding on thistle

Not only were goldfinches feeding like crazy but I kept hearing cedar waxwings. All of a sudden they were all around me, landing on top of goldenrod stalks, nibbling at the buds and new leaves. What a bonanza. They moved very quickly and were very aware of me so it was difficult to get a good shot that wasn’t blurry. This was the best one. Personally, I think they are one of the loveliest and beautiful of birds.

The morning had barely begun and I felt like I’d been surrounded by magic. I came to see one thing but was rewarded with so much more.

Being out in nature is always reward enough in itself for me. I’m never sure what I will see, hear, smell, or experience but it’s always something memorable. When one allows oneself to be happy in a meadow surrounded by butterflies, birds, and blossoms, one doesn’t really need much more to feel content and satisfied.

There’s magic all around us every day. We just have to remember to slow down, look, and listen to find it.

Cape Cod Winter Birds and Berries

Posted on January 17, 2019 by admin

It’s that time of year when the robins from the north head south to Cape Cod to feed on berries. Many birds feast on berries all winter long, including mockingbirds, bluebirds, cardinals and cedar waxwings. Fortunately for them, we have many berry-licious plants that hold berries throughout the winter or at least until they are stripped clean.

Birds are not the only wildlife that eats berries. Rabbits, deer, mice and even foxes will nibble on berries as well as rose hips.

Winterberry is quickly being consumed by birds as the temperature drops. The bright red berries of this deciduous holly are a hands or wings down favorite of birds. They get eaten first and a stand of these can be cleaned out in only a few days.

This stand of berries was being attacked by a flock of dozens of hungry robins one recent afternoon. The bush was full of birds, while others waited in the trees nearby. You can see that the bush is already half stripped of berries.

As I watched the robins gorge themselves I noticed smaller birds sneaking in to get their share. I knew immediately they were cedar waxwings from the high trills coming from a tree on the other side of the huge berry bush. You can see their silhouettes are sleeker as well as smaller than the chunkier robins.

Winterberries, holly berries, rose hips, privet berries and cat brier berries will all be gobbled down by winter’s end. Many of these will be planted wherever these birds and animals leave their leavings behind and new plants will grow.

One plant that is full of berries is one that fools people into picking them. They may get a virulent rash and wonder where it came from. Those sweet looking white berries are poison ivy berries! It’s best to leave them for the birds.

Downy or Hairy Woodpecker?

Posted on November 4, 2018 by admin

My feeders attract a fair number of our common woodpeckers. Downy woodpeckers are probably the most common. They are fairly small and often travel with small flocks of chickadees, titmice and nuthatches. They especially love suet.

These photos were taken through a window so aren’t great but you should be able to see the size difference.

The top photo is of a downy. Note the red marking on the back of its head. This tells you it is a male. The female looks the same but does not have the red marking.

The hairy woodpecker looks a LOT like the downy woodpecker but it is much larger. As you can see in this photo, it is actually bigger than the feeder. It is also a male.

Beginner birders often have trouble telling these two similar birds apart. It’s easy when you have something to measure them against, like this suet feeder. If you’re lucky you might catch the two birds in close proximity but I wouldn’t hang around waiting for that to happen. Both these birds are easy to see in our woodland areas but as you can see, they also like neighborhood feeders.

You can learn lots more about these interesting woodpeckers by clicking on the links above.

All those brown birds of a Cape Cod fall

Posted on October 26, 2018 by admin

Hi all–lots of time has passed without a post but those of you who follow me on Facebook and Instagram know I’ve been super busy. While posting some photos on FB this week I realized that many people are easily mystified by all those LBJs of the bird world. LBJ was a president but it’s also the code for LIttle Brown Jobs and you’ll hear birders refer to these a lot, especially in the fall.

Most of you probably have noticed tons of blackbirds all over. These flocks are mixed, full of grackles, starlings, cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds. Look at the two birds on the feeder (I apologize for the blurriness–taken through a window and at a distance). On the right is a female house sparrow. The larger bird on the left is a female red-winged blackbird. You can see that the red-wing is larger and has a different shape than the smaller, stockier sparrow. Their beaks are different and so are the striping patterns.

This little bird was traveling with a pair of song sparrows in my yard this week. It isn’t a song sparrow, though. It is an immature cowbird. It’s a late one so it fooled me–fortunately Sue Finnegan, master birder and banding expert, was able to ID it for me. Many of us have house finches at our feeders but check out this trio. Their markings are much more distinct than the drabber house finches. They have distinctive eye patterns as well. These are immature or female purple finches. I’ve yet to see a male in my yard this fall, but I check often. Have you seen these scrappy guys around? These are starlings in their winter plumage. The glossy guy on the bottom left is a grackle. Here’s another shot of a house sparrow(L) and a female red-winged blackbird (R) And then there’s this little guy. Hiding in the grasses, feeding on seeds is its favorite thing to do in the fall. This is a song sparrow. Stripey with a noticeable dark spot on its chest, these are small sparrows often found on the ground, rarely at or on feeders. And, these are only a few of the LBJs you might find on the Cape in the fall. Identifying these birds can be challenging and fun. Keep your guidebook handy and study the size, shape, markings and behavior of the birds you are watching to help you identify them. I hope this helps! Each link will take you to a page with much more information.

Spring is finally here!

Posted on May 2, 2018 by admin

It’s been a long, hard haul, pulling spring into shore here on Cape Cod. Our springs are always fugitive things, playing hide and seek with us for months, but this year was especially brutal with March bringing a quartet of high level storms.

Today is May 2, however, and spring is springing up all over. Mayflowers are in bloom in many of our scrub woodlands. Look for them on sunny sides of paths. They love disturbed areas.

Fiddler crabs are enjoying the sunny, warm weather as well. Look for them in tidal areas near salt marshes. Often you will see the telltale holes but no crabs. That’s because they hear you coming. Try standing still where your shadow is not cast over their holes. In a few minutes they will usually re-emerge and go about their business. Don’t move or talk, though, or they’ll scurry back to safety.

Over the past week or so, the weather has been wet, foggy, cold, hot, sunny, cloudy, stormy and sublime. Sometimes all in the same day! Bad weather does make for good sky photos….

There’s nothing like a calm, beautiful morning at the beach, though. The photo below is from this morning’s walk at Kalmus Beach. Piping plovers were flirting, gulls were catching spider crabs and the sweet song of a horned lark warbled out of the dunes.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time walking in the woods. This week I’ve been in the woods in Hyannis, Barnstable and Mashpee. Lots of birds, including towhees, pine warblers, chipping sparrows, woodpeckers, red breasted nuthatches and a broad winged hawk in Mashpee. A red shouldered hawk at Long Pasture in Barnstable.

On the home front, the orioles, catbirds and hummingbirds have arrived so put out those feeders for these hungry migrants. Stay tuned for the amazing warbler show which will be busting out on Cape Cod in the next few weeks.

As always, I’ll be doing the Mass Audubon Birdathon. More on that in a few days.

Cape Cod Spring Sketchbook

Posted on April 19, 2018 by admin

Wow! It’s been awhile since I wrote a blog post. I’m busy on Facebook and Instagram (just search for Cape Cod Art and Nature) these days but would like to get back to posting here as well.

It’s been an interesting spring so far. Spring, you say? What spring? It’s been a non spring, actually! One of my recent columns talks about this and you can read it here.

I’ve joined a #100dayproject challenge this year and have been updating my sketchbook daily. I’ve always kept a sketchbook journal but it hasn’t really been daily, except in small spurts. I try to draw on location out in the field but to be honest, it’s been too cold to paint out there. I add the color with watercolor in my studio. On rainy days I’ve used things like shells and feathers from my collections.

On one rainy and blustery day I sat in a beach parking lot and drew these flirting laughing gulls.
Lichens are always interesting and challenging to draw. I often add notes, thoughts, questions to my pages. I also list the birds I see or hear. I’ll be offering an online nature journal class that will start in the next few weeks. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to get outside and observe. If you would like to be added to my email list please let me know at capecodartandnature@gmail.com For some reason wordpress doesn’t allow email links in posts so I apologize for the extra step. Just copy and paste in your email bar.

I’m heading off to a writer’s conference this weekend. And yes, I finished my middle grade novel for kids. I’m hoping to find an agent. More on the book soon. Until then, enjoy what could be spring weather this weekend!

King Eider at Cape Cod Canal

Posted on March 29, 2017 by admin

Every winter we get a few birds hanging around our area that are fairly rare but which appear as singletons with some regularity. For example, harlequin ducks, beautiful birds from the far north that usually winter off the rocky Maine coast, can be seen off the Cape in several locations almost every winter. There may be one or two that spend a good part of the winter by the canal jetty each winter and there always seems to be at least one seen at Nauset or Coast Guard Beach. I have seen them in both locations each winter for at least 10 years but just the one or two.

King eiders are another northern duck that seems to make a yearly appearance here on the Cape in the winter. Most often seen with the flocks of eider ducks in or around the Cape Cod Canal one can sometimes be seen off the outer Cape beaches or off Sandy Neck, which may be the same one seen by the canal. That’s a king eider smack in the center, hanging out with his common eider buddies.

Some years I spy one but for the last few years when a king eider has been reported at the canal I have missed it. This year reports have been coming in over the last few weeks that a very accommodating king eider drake was being seen daily by the herring run on the Wareham side of the canal. The weather was rough and I was busy and I enjoyed everyone else’s photos. Until yesterday. Yesterday we were heading to New Bedford so we had a chance to stop and see the bird.

As everyone else had mentioned, it was indeed, right there and easy to spot. I do not have a fancy camera so you can see how close the bird was. If you’re so inclined, go see it. One of these days it will leave but for now it seems quite content to hang out eating shellfish and crustaceans which are abundant in the canal, especially along the rocky jetties.

The Blackbirds are Back!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by admin

It’s always one of my favorite and first signs of spring–the return of the blackbirds. I often get common grackles before I get red-winged blackbirds at my own backyard feeders but I know the red-wings are around because I hear them.

Common grackles are big, bold and glossy birds with big yellow eyes. Their fan shaped tails are distinctive as is their raucous behavior. You always know when they are around.

Male grackles are the first to arrive, though it is difficult to tell males and females apart. Their big, solid bills help the crack corn and also eat carrion. They will gobble down seed and suet faster than you can say, hey, leave some for the squirrels and they often bicker while doing so. You have to give them credit in the looks department though. I think they are gorgeous birds, all that color glowing off them as they turn in the light. Their calls are loud and scratchy, often compared to the sound of rusty gate hinges.Red-winged blackbirds arrive in large flocks, often mixed in with grackles. Like grackles, the males arrive first and almost immediately begin to stake out territory.

Check out this guy’s raggedy tail feathers. All migratory birds look a bit haggard when they first arrive. They are often thin, minus a few feathers and in need of a good rest. That doesn’t stop them from declaring their superiority, however. Flocks of blackbirds often quibble in the still bare trees and will sing, if we can call it singing, louder and louder as time goes on and the others don’t move. That’s when you’ll start to see some aggression as one bird will decide to chase the others away. This early in the spring the others often ignore such antics and just move away a foot or so, if that. When they first arrive, the epaulets of the male red-winged blackbirds may appear dingy and lackluster. In a few weeks time the yellow and red will become quite bright, all the better to see and be seen in their world. Those bright red patches can be puffed out to seem much larger than they are. These are used as warning signals while setting up territories and chasing out would be interlopers but are also used to attract mates once the females arrive. Most are familiar with the “conkle-a-REE!” call of the red-winged blackbird. If you haven’t heard it yet, keep listening. By the end of this week they should be singing Cape wide.Have you seen a red-winged blackbird yet? Where?

Welcome, summer!

Posted on June 19, 2015 by admin

Oops, I’ve been busy and I have not been updating here. I’ve been working with kids in the woods, at the pond and at the salt marsh. I’ve been drawing and painting, catching frogs and writing.

One of the coolest things I did over the last few weeks was attend a bird banding demonstration at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The table was all set up with the necessary tools for weighing, measuring and recording.

The next step was to check the mist nets which had been set up in areas migratory birds fly through but which also had some protection.

The little bag holds other bags which can gently hold the birds found and carefully removed from the nets.

Look what we found! A great crested flycatcher! These guys are feisty and vocal in the wild and they are when captured as well.

Feathers are examined to determine condition and age of the bird.By blowing on the belly of the bird the bander can tell if the bird has a bare brood patch, meaning it is sitting on eggs. In this species both male and female can have brood patches so sex was not determined.

The bird is then weighed. It looks sort of tough but really, the bird is quieted by the darkness and the fact that it can’t move. It is only in the tube for a matter of seconds.

After all that the band is affixed to the leg and all info is recorded.

A moment is taken to admire and thank the bird for its cooperation

and then it is released. When releasing the birds, they are held close to the ground which helps them orient themselves.

Let’s just say the birds do not hang around after being released. This one actually called and chatted back and forth with what we assumed was a mate almost immediately. All of this takes place in a matter of minutes, by the way. The bird banders are very kind, calm and aware of the bird’s dignity and stress level. I have seen birds banded before but it was a pretty cool way to spend a morning.

Winter visitors at the bird feeders

Posted on February 25, 2015 by admin

This has been a tough winter for many of our feathered friends. Copious amounts of snow have made it difficult to find natural food and many birds that don’t usually visit feeders have been coming around, hoping for some nutritious handouts to tide them over.

For the first time in my yard I have had a hermit thrush. Hermit thrushes do over winter here on the Cape in small numbers but in 30 years I have never had one in the yard until now.

Another bird that we have all summer but not usually at a feeder in the winter is the gray catbird and yet one showed up about two weeks ago and visits the suet feeder daily.

This isn’t a great shot but check out that rusty red under the tail feathers!

Another unusual visitor has been this northern mockingbird. Again, a bird that we know is around even in the winter but which usually stays far away from the feeders.

And then there is the visitor to the feeders none of the other birds like to think about but hey, it’s been a tough winter and even the Cooper’s hawks are hungry…