Lazy Summer Birding Time

 As the hot summer days roll in my motivation for birding in the humid weather decreases. I like to get out early without much ambition and just pick any old spot to see what's around.

 There was a ton of these dragonflies around but I'll be darned if I could get one in focus. That's when the light bulb went off. Since I was in summer mode I decided to look for the macro-focus which I never use. After a few minutes of fumbling around I found it and it worked! I'll have to try that again some time within the next 5 years.

 Where there are insects there's bound to be some flycatchers like this Great-crested Flycatcher.

Hmm-I wonder what this Red-winged Blackbird is eating?

 It's kind of nice seeing a great Blue Heron out of the water and in a tree for a change. That's what summer birding is all about for me. No hurry, no goal, and an early finish to beat the heat.

First Summer Weekend Shore Tour

 We had beautiful weather for the first official weekend of the summer. I decided to visit the central shoreline where there were still several bird species I have not yet seen this year.

 I haven't done a lot of reading lately but I've noticed these little free libraries popping up everywhere. What a great idea! You can take a book to read for free and leave a book that you've already had the pleasure of reading (or not reading). It's the 10th anniversary of the start of the little free library. You can read about the history of its beginnings here: Little Free Library.

 I stopped by to see my old cottage at Cornfield Point. I never owned it but I can't tell you how many times I used it as a landmark while out on the sound in my fishing boat.

 There are so many Osprey down at the shore these days that I wouldn't have time to count them all. It's a good problem to have.

 Also numerous are the egrets. Here is the Great Egret enjoying a little morning snack. 

 Here is a Snowy Egret proudly showing off his posture.

 There were about 2 dozen oystercatchers along side the egrets. I saw them all in an area called Pilot's Point. It is a great place to get up close to the birds during low tide. They are so busy eating that they aren't easily spooked.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons are a little more difficult to find but I've been able to find them in Clinton the last few years.

So it was a nice start to the summer for me. Gorgeous weather and 4 new species for the year: Little Blue Heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron, American Oystercatcher, and Least Tern. 

How did you spend your first weekend of the summer?

No Bird No Body No Focus No Eyes No Tail

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. If I don't have anything interesting to say, I count on an interesting photo to help me tell a story. If a photo is good enough then I don't have to say anything. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words. It seems that recently the photos fell short of inspiring me to write a post.

This bridge photo was taken in the wee hours of the morning.I wanted to write about how it was a beautiful area that didn't have a big variety of birds but was a great place to find Acadian Flycatchers. I heard them and got a glimpse of one but no photo and no post.

I took a couple of head shots of a Great Egret and............

a Great Blue Heron but they didn't come out as I hoped so that was the end of that post.

 I heard a Bobwhite calling and was excited about it since few Bobwhites exist in the wild in Connecticut. This one was standing on a fence post singing the Bobwhite song. It might have been raised by someone and released but I love  seeing and hearing it sing that clear 2 note song. I was only able to get a photo that was good for identification.

Boat-tailed Grackle singing in the rain. Can you see him? That's great but I don't know if he can see you without any eyes!

Not a bad Red-winged Blackbird photo except for one minor detail. For 5 points can you tell what part of the bird got cut off in this picture?

I found a pink lady slipper! If only it were a bird! Maybe it will give me good luck for next weekend!