Cormorant And Gull Sharing Lookout Duty

 My birding adventures are brief and less frequent during most of the summer. I came upon a rocky area in Saybrook where a cormorant and gull seemed to be sharing lookout duty.

 The rock next to them seem to be a popular spot among the local terns.

I like when cormorants spread their wings to dry. It looks like a bird that should be guarding Dracula's castle.

Here's a little clip of the terns. I just noticed that some were banded.

Swallows On The Roof & Flickers On The Beach

 We are headed for a 5 day heat-wave so I got an early start this morning.I decided to take a quick walk through the farm fields to the river. Seems there are a few birds on top of the barn roof. Wonder what they could be?

 Seems to be barn swallows (hope they had their shingles vaccine).

It was a short walk down to the river and it seems that the Sycamore Tree was loaded with flickers, a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and a couple of Cedar Waxings. They were all gone when they saw my camera come out.

I passed by a few butterflies along the way.

 Time for me to go. It's only 9am and already 90 degrees. Even the flickers are heading for the beach! 

Meditative Birding

Our minds have a tendency to wander and have repetitous thoughts that distract us from the present moment. 

A simple meditation technique can help. 

Focusing on our own breaths whenever our minds start to wander can help us relax and be more in tune with our immediate surroundings. 

If you can reach some level of a meditative state while birding your heightened senses can enhance the experience.

You become more aware of the sounds of your footsteps. Bird chatter in the woods suddenly sounds like a symphony with each bird playing its own instrument. Birds stand out in vivid detail through your binoculars.

Time becomes suspended with an hour feeling like a minute and a minute feeling like an hour.

It takes a little patience but meditative birding is worth the effort.

It's Okay For Birders To Sit Quietly By A Brook

 Birders are often focused on the number, variety, and rarity of birds they can see.We may even use technology to call the birds to us. One of the things that sometimes get lost in the modern era of birding is the joy of letting nature find you as opposed to trying to chase it down.       

Sitting quietly by a brook is a soothing way to appreciate the beauty of an early summer morning.

 Watching as the sunshine lights up the mist rising from the water.

 Or watching birds land quietly nearby as you melt into the landscape that surrounds you.

Birds sometimes may give you a better glimpse of their natural behavior when they're not trying to avoid our presence.

 You can even take time to notice other things outside of birds like this gigantic fishing spider I came across a couple of years ago.

One thing that is great about birding is that you don't always have to approach things the same way. Sometimes birding seem more like a sport but it's up to each individual birder what approach they take. My rules say that there's nothing wrong with sitting down next to a cool, babbling brook.