Winter Birdwatching!

January and February are months here in New England where there is nothing much happening other than occasional weather freakouts and bread and milk stock-ups. It's a time for me when I find it hard to leave the house sometimes, nevermind find photograph opportunities! So I headed to a place where I knew nature wasn't taking a break, Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge, located in Charlestown, Rhode Island.

I love chubby little chickadees, but they are very hard to photograph! Hardly ever staying in place long enough to click the shutter, they fly and move so fast.

And here comes the sneaky little nuthatch. His feet and huge, perfect for climbing quietly down tree trunks and even hanging upside down.

A fuzzy little woodpecker was making a racket, and that's the only reason I even knew he was hiding here. That, and his bright red hat.

Above is the adorable little titmouse.

And here's another chickadee with a giant sunflower seed, perched on the edge of a birdfeeder near the station.

My Mother's Birds, Attack Spider, and 80's Cardinal

My mother seems to have a way of attracting some interesting characters to her backyard. Last year, she sent me photos of the hateful woodpecker that was eating her roof and waking her up every day. She actually considered buying the "Birds-Away Attack Spider", a creepy and kind of hilarious stuffed  toy-looking black spider thingy that supposedly drops down to scare off the offending woodpecker when he starts to peck. 

Seriously, you have to click on that link, it makes me giggle. Especially when they state that even though the spiders are exposed to wind, rain and such, that "[there is] an Attack Spider death rate of about one out of eight a year, or a survival rate of 87.5% per year".  ahaha!! 

 Not the pesky woodpecker, just a friendly (quiet) one I spotted one day. They're striking and easy to spot!

Anyway, I guess he left town since then but now my dad has begun complaining that the giant male Northern Cardinal that's been living in their yard for years has now started the bizarre behavior of"head banging" against his car mirror. Which I think is funny because the cardinal has hair/ bangs like he is from the 80's which goes along with the headbanging theme. The other day I visited and snapped some quick pics so my mother could see the birds up close (sometimes, my 300mm lens is like having fun binoculars that take photos!) 

Above, the 80's hairdo I was talking about..

Above a beautiful Blue Jay I caught hiding behind a branch..

A pleasingly plump American Robin. He was sharing a tree with Mr. Cardinal.

I can't wait to use my new lens more this Spring, although when the trees fill out it will be harder to spot the birds in them. Sometimes I just listen for their songs and then aim my camera in that general direction at its longest focal length and poof! They appear through the lens. Also somewhat unrelated but I would looove to visit Machias Seal Island in Maine/ New Brunswick (it is part of both the US and Canada) sometime in June or July to see the Puffin colony there.  Maybe I can convince my sister to make the 8 hour one way trip with me...:)

Fun with Birds and my new lens!

I've been toting around my new 300mm lens on weekends for those "what kind of bird is that?" sightings and occasional public bird feeder fun. Before I got this I was struggling to make out blurry blobs taken with my 105mm- so not enjoyable. I'm still learning, but it's incredibly hard to photograph birds! Anyway here are some of my shots from the last two weeks, species and location.

Tufted Titmouse, Mystic, CT

Red-tailed Hawk, Mystic, CT

Downy Woodpecker, birdfeeder at the Nature Center, Mystic, CT

Mourning Dove (sleepy!), Mystic, CT

Male Northern Cardinal, Trustom Pond, Charlestown, RI

Female Northern Cardinal, Trustom Pond, Charlestown, RI

Squirrel, stealing all the bird seed, feeders at the Trustom Pond welcome center, Charlestown, RI

Northern Mockingbird (thanks, Kristy!), South Kingstown, RI

White-throated sparrow, Trustom Pond, Charlestown, RI

American Starlings, at the Equinox Diner, Mystic, CT (yummy burgers there, BTW)

Mourning Dove, Mystic, CT

Nuthatch doing a tap dance, Mystic, CT

Black-capped Chickadee, Watchaug Pond, Charlestown, RI

Great Horned Owl, rescue inside the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, Mystic, CT

Downy Woodpecker (I think!), Nature Center, Mystic, CT

I also got to see my first ....Mole, crawling out of the ground near Trustom Pond. It was like a little gray mouse, but I couldn't see its face, he came out for some fallen birdseed and then disappeared... Not sure what kind of mole this is....  Here is the little guy...