Author Archives: JK

I Am Not A Birder #2

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Monday, May 26, 2008

I am not a birder but I do have field guides and they do come in handy. Generally, when I see a yellow bird I think Tweety. Blame it on a classical education. Then, when I get the song “Canary in a Coal Mine” out of my head, I start to think warblers. Not because I’m any kind of expert but because while flipping through my field guides, I’ve noticed that a lot of warblers are yellow. So, the warbler section was my first stop when I started seeing these little guys at David Weld Sanctuary.

I’m fairy certain that this is a male Yellow Warbler. Very pretty little birds. I love the reddish streaks on its chest. What a fashion statement. It really makes the bird. He should do something about those beady eyes, though.

There are at least two other species of yellow birds that I see at David Weld. A good friend of mine identified one as a Goldfinch. The other bird I’ve been seeing is, I think, a Common Yellowthroat. If I come up with any decent shots of either mystery bird I’ll post them. Meanwhile, here’s another pic of a Yellow Warbler that I took about three weeks ago. JK

Baltimore Oriole

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

After hiking early yesterday I took a short trip – two hours – in the kayak. I didn’t go far. I just putted around the north end of the river. Weather.com was calling for some afternoon storms and it seemed prudent not to go far. Luckily, I didn’t have to.

Right next to the King’s Park Yacht Club I saw this guy chowing down on some tent caterpillars. In the top shot you can see one of the hapless fellows at our hero’s left foot. Yum, yum. I’m nearly positive that he’s a young male Baltimore Oriole. It first I was uncertain but a photo in my Kaufman’s clinched it for me. It’s not my favorite field guide but it came through for me today. JK

Yet Another Ring-necked Pheasant

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Click for a larger view.

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning I took an early hike through David Weld Sanctuary before going kayaking later on. The grounds were still very wet from the morning dew and the rains that we had the day before. I was soaked from the knees down in no time. I saw several rabbits with ticks – it must be a bad year for the little buggers – and I was graced with another Ring-necked Pheasant sighting. This guy was strutting and calling from a large rock that is just off one of the main paths. I got a couple of decent shots. I should have gotten more and better ones at that but that’s how it goes. He would only call when I would duck down out of sight so I was unable to get a shot of him crowing but I could hear a great deal of wing flapping as he called. I’d like to know what’s going on there. In my mind’s eye he’s doing a King Kong across his chest. Maybe, if I try hard enough and long enough, and eat all my veggies, I’ll manage to get that magic shot. Don’t hold your breath. JK

Red-tail And Crows

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

These are some shots I took while I was out kayaking Sunday. Two crows were showing this poor defenseless Red-tailed Hawk to the exit. Something about an exclusive neighborhood, I think. I guess being top dog isn’t always easy.

The Red-tail appears to be missing one of its primaries on its left wing. I don’t think it happened during this encounter, unless it occurred before I caught sight of their altercation. The pic below shows the missing feather a bit more clearly. JK

Eye Of The Dragon

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

An eye very much like like this one saw dinosaurs. I went out for about four plus hours this morning. I found this Common Snapping Turtle just south of Terrapin Station. He and four others were pulled up along the bank. Everyone but this guy made for the river as soon as they saw me. At first this one was oblivious to my presence. He was out cold. I was even beginning to think he might be dead. And then, when he finally did raise his head to look me over, he didn’t care. I was three feet away and he just lay there eyeing me. I’m pretty sure that he is fairly old because of how smooth his shell was. Snappers are born with very keeled (jagged) shells that grow smoother as they age. Handsome brute, ain’t he? JK