Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Birds of Spring, and a new camera

A couple of weeks ago we, a local VT Audubon group, met in the evening to watch a Woodcock's mating dance. It was close to 8 PM and dusk was descending fast over the large bumpy field of faded grass, when we heard the first peenting. We moved closer to the source of the sound and stood in a half circle listening and waiting. The peenting continued at regular intervals sometimes closer, sometimes farther away indicating that the bird was walking about.

After several minutes of peenting the bird finally took to the air. It went up fast and high -  a member of the group indicated the flight pattern by the zig-zag motions of his hand. It was too dark by then for me, but we all heard the fluttering song of his wings. I had made a recording a couple of years ago. (If you use the Chrome Browser the sound starts right off and the browser lacks an on-off feature.)

When you listen carefully you'll hear the following sequence: the thin nasal  buzzy "peent" call preceded by a barely audible "tuko" sound, the twittering made by the wings during sharp turns, and the vocal chirping during aerial flight which becomes louder as the bird descends. The last part of the descent is silent. Then a soft fluttering of the wings as the bird lands.

I also took some photos of the bird on the ground, rotating in place while peenting. 







During the last week of April spring had arrived and migration had started. On a recent walk I saw and heard a couple of Blue Gray Gnatcatchers calling to each other across the trail. 




 The male sports a uni brow which gives it that fierce look.







Also present were Palm Warblers and Myrtles (Eastern Yellow-Rumps)



A pair of Blacks and White Warblers were flitting through the trees, One of them was a male, the other probably an immature bird or a female.

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The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is considered a migrant in VT, but I have also seen it here during a Christmas Bird Count. This the first one since last summer. 





The new camera
After reading Lillian Stokes enthusiastic review of the Canon Powershot SX50SH I had to have it, because its telephoto lens could zoom out from my current 400mm to 1200 mm, a feat that for my Nikon D300 would cost me thousands of dollars, and anyway would be way too heavy to carry. So I sold my Powershot S95 and bought this camera instead. I found out, though, to utilize this power I have to spend hours of practice. At such high power magnification with resulting small field of vision it's impossible to keep track of small birds on their foraging trips through the trees. So for that I went back to my large Nikon. 

Maybe I will yet the hang of it, anticipate, move faster... The camera works great for stationary birds, like the juvenile Red-throated Loon below which showed up on a sheltered bay of the CT River, or the Great Blue Heron about the snag his breakfast, or the Eastern Towhee below or the White-throated Sparrow.




 Have you noticed when the waiter brings the plates with food to the table, the diners' eyes pop out  just like this? 


Eastern Towhees were present in large numbers. This one was at Montague Sandplains WMR where, at dusk, I saw a whole flock of around 30 to 40 birds flying overhead east to southwest

The backyard is teeming with White-throated Sparrows. I have been scattering black oil sunflower seeds on the grass to avoid having them all at once sitting gobbled up by grey squirrels.



 This White-throated sparrow has unusual bright yellow alula feathers at the shoulders, which I haven't seen on any of the illustrations in my guide books. Alula feathers are often hidden; it's probably a variation, not a hybrid. 



Happy Birding!


13 comments:

  1. So good to see you birding again and enjoying your new camera. A 1200 mm zoom sounds awesome, I find it difficult enough with my 500 mm.
    Beautiful birds. Your white throated sparrow with the unexpected yellow feathers is a bit like my Australasian Grebe that I saw and caught the green wing flash on that is normally hidden.

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    1. Dear Arija, thank you for your comments. I haven't gotten used to my camera yet and still lug my large Nikon DSLR around, especially while trying get small fast moving warblers that are migrating right now. I hope you are well. I haven't yet found my footing back in the birding world yet, still struggling with the surgery which had to be redone...But I know I'll get better.

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  2. Hi Hilke

    Nice to see a post filled with all these lovely birds. I really enjoyed the Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, he does look very serious and grumpy with that unibrow. I thought the photo of the feamail loon was really well done and I have always been fascinated by woodcock.

    Great stuff
    Guy

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    1. Thank you, Guy! I had a good day when photographing these birds. In the meantime migration has stalled because the weather was too good! All the birds were taking advantage of it and passing right over us at night. So hope for a weather front!

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  3. Hilke, congrats on your new camera. Cool sighting of the woodcock. I am using the Canon SX 40 and would love to get the new SX50. Your birds and photos are wonderful. Happy Birding!

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  4. Thank you, Eileen! I am still learning to operate this new camera and have been using my big Nikon instead during the warbler migration. Because of the beautiful weather haven't seen too many migrants yet - it's been a disappointing season. Hope it's better for you!

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  5. Congrats on your new camera and well done with the red-throated diver juvenile, it's beautiful...

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  6. Wonderful photos! These are breathtaking! and, I would love to see and hear a woodcock doing his mating display!

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  7. Eileen, I have considered getting the Canon Powershot SX50SH for when I don't want to carry around my much heavier gear or for when I want to do video. Congrats on the new camera and these images!

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  8. I am always hoping that the perfect superzoom will come out because an slr with a big lens is not in my budget right now. Some of those photos are great though-especially the RT Loon! I want more zoom but from what I've been reading what I really want is a superzoom with a bigger or better sensor. I know the panasonics have been working on that. I guess there is no perfect camera. They all have their limitations.

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    1. A moderately-sized portable camera with super-zoom and large sensor is pie in the sky, not with any amount of money physically possible :-(

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  9. Hi Hillke Jo Ann here, so nice to meet you and Bill and your dogs! Coincidentally Bill and I saw Bobolinks in the meadow just before the entrance to Dummer State Park! This is the Vermont Agriculture Education center field. Jo Ann

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    1. Thanks, Jo Ann! I drove out there this morning. The meadow had been mowed but they'd left an uncut strip in the center where I saw a male Bobolink perching on top of a tall green forb preening himself, and two female/juvies perching in the grass at a lower level. Got some fairly decent shots and will include them in my next blog post.

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