Category Archives: David Weld Sanctuary

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

Yet Another Ring-necked Pheasant

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

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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

I Am Not A Birder #1

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

I am not a birder, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I just like taking the pictures. I don’t really know the species. I just know some of the basics. Blue Jays are blue. Cardinals are the red ones. Crows are black, Seagulls are white, and they’re both noisy. Beyond that, I need to hit the field guides for clues.

These are two shots I took at David Weld Sanctuary about three weeks ago. This guy was singing away in a dense thicket. It was his voice that caught my attention. Had he not been singing I probably would never have noticed him, but he was putting down some great licks and I wanted to find out who he was.

When I got home and was reviewing the day’s catch I pulled out my Sibley’s and tried to identify this Robin-sized songster. My first guess was a Wood Thrush. But the eyes weren’t right. Wood Thrushes have all brown eyes and this guy has a dark pupil with a golden ring around it. Also, the Wood Thrush has a comparatively smaller tail than this bird. And this bird has a long thinnish bill that Wood Thrushes do not have. So it was back to turning pages. And lo, five pages later was my bird, a Brown Thrasher. Or at least I think it is. I can’t be sure because I am not a birder. But perhaps some of you are and can confirm or contest my guess. At any rate, here is another pic of this guy belting out a tune. Go baby go. JK

Another Ring-neck Pheasant at David Weld

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Saturday, May 10, 2008

I took a hike through David Weld on Wednesday morning. Birds were everywhere. I went looking for this guy through the open fields. As I was following him I flushed up a hen. I snapped a quick pic but the focus was lousy. This male was content to let me trail him for a bit. I suspect he was leading me away from his loved ones. The colors on these birds really come alive in the sun. That breast flashes just as brilliantly as his red face. I’m not sure the camera truly captures it. Here’s another shot of the same bird. JK

Ring-necked Pheasants

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Thursday, May 1, 2008

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If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. I went back to David Weld Sanctuary this morning to try my luck at getting a shot of a Ring-necked Pheasant. And lucky is what I got. After hiking the short loop (I’m not crazy about the long loop – it brings you very close to some back yards), I was going to see about going into the field where I saw one yesterday. On the way I spied two hens taking cover from me in some Timothy (tall brown grass). I took a few shots but the birds were in good cover.

Meanwhile, as I’m shooting, I’m hearing a rustling behind me which I take to be a squirrel in the undergrowth. Pheasants are cooler than squirrels, (no offense to you squirrel huggers), so I pay it no mind. When the two hens were out of sight I turn and this guy is ten feet away and coming out into the open. I think he was deliberately trying to distract me from his family. I’ve seen quail (I assume they were Bobwhites) do the same thing. I can’t say for certain that distraction was his intention but that’s the feeling I had. I was glad enough to get the shots.

This is one of the hens. They do a better job of blending in than their mates. JK