Over the last couple of years I've spending a lot of time along the shore during the winter months. There are a lot of birds I get to see at the shore during the winter that I don't see other times of the year.
The Horned Lark is one such species.They stay mostly on the ground and have a look of their own.
I especially like their colorful black and yellow facial pattern. I can't say that I'm excited about the approaching winter but I do look forward to winter birding.
I was near a little nature area called Whalebone Creek in Hadlyme last week hoping to find a Red-headed Woodpecker that's been hanging out in the area. I found the woodpecker which turned out to be just a few hundred yards outside over the New London county line (making it ineligible for the Middlesex County list I'm keeping).
I attempted about 100 photos of it but the bird was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. During the failed attempts of getting the right photo I ended up doing something different altogether; studying the caching behavior of Red-headed Woodpeckers.
I made an informal count of 40 trips of this bird flying from one side of the road to the other side of the road. After a while I realized it was collecting food (mostly acorns) and then caching it in a dead tree. Afterwards I googled and found out that Red-headed Woodpeckers are known to do this.
I wasn't thrilled about getting crappy photos in the wrong county but getting a first hand look at the caching behavior of a Red-headed Woodpecker made it feel as like it was time well-spent.
If I sleep late on the weekends I feel as though I'm missing out on something so I do my best to be up before the sun rises.
As I crossed the bridge I continued to admire the view and decided to drive down to harbor park to catch the morning light reflecting off of the Connecticut River.
Getting up early is usually all about the birds on weekends for me but sometimes the reward may be as simple as the view of a brilliant morning sky.
(note: I did have 2 Great horned Owls calling back and forth outside of my house at 4am this morning which I managed to locate but could not photograph).
