Category Archives: Birds

A few More Puffins

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Ok , after all that build up one little Puffin picture was probably a bit anticlimactic so here are a few more. I took over 100 so there’s plenty to pick from.

Puffin portrait

We were in the blinds for a little more than an hour. There was a lot of activity.

On Watch

Puffins flying in and out.

The Landing

They were quick. Those of us taking pictures were trying for that iconic shot of a puffin with fish in its beak but that was harder than expected.

Stike a pose

We’d see the birds flying in from a successful fishing trip but they immediately popped into their burros. Once they had fed their little puffins and came back out they stood around and photos of empty beaks were easy.

Eye Contact

Puffins make their nests in holes in the ground that they dig with their claws. They also makes nests in the rocks.

In the Rocks

Because they are little, the other birds try to steal their catch so they waste no time above ground. The best I was able to do was get a picture of a Puffin with a beak-ful of shrimp. No fish.

Shrimp Take Out

The other photographer in the blind with me did get a fish shot. You can see her beautiful pictures at www.mywildlife.zenfolio.com.

The gathering

One of the most fun things that happened while we were in the blind is suddenly we heard a tapping. At first we thought they’d come back to get us out of the blind but then we realized the sound was coming from over our heads. The birds were landing on the roof of the blind and it was their little feet we were hearing.

Puffin

Puffins make the strangest call. For a little bird its terribly guttural, not pretty at all. When I’d see one calling it reminded me of a donkey braying.

Can You Hear me now?

All in all it was a great experience. I am seriously thinking of doing it again. This was one time that everything lived up to expectations.

Shrimp Its what's for dinner

 

Ahoy! There Be Puffins!

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So far we’d seen razorbills , gannets and a stranded seal but only a few puffins. It was time to reverse the procedure we used getting from shore to the Barbara Frost. We needed to sit on the gunwale, swing our feet over and step into a little tender boat. The problem is it was quite a step and the little boat wasn’t a solid landing. No it was bouncing up an down in the waves. Thank goodness for Captain Andy and his strong arm. He was right there to lend support.

Once on land we had a long uphill ramp before we started across the flat part to the light house.  This is where the being fat, old and out of shape nearly did me in. I couldn’t get the camera back pack on my back over the life jacket we were required to wear and it was dragging me down. Just as I thought I couldn’t take another step, someone from the group grabbed the back pack as they went by me and team leader Scott took my arm to help me. I was happy but boy did I feel old!

seal island

On land the razorbills look like little penguins even though they aren’t any relation and unlike penguins, flying is not a problem.

Razorbills

Once everyone was gathered in front of the lighthouse we were given our marching orders. We would be taken to the blinds and left there. We were to stay put until someone came back to get us. We were not to disturb the birds in any way. Cameras and lenses had to be within the blind. Only open the windows on one side of the blind at a time. Good luck and have fun.

The blinds weren’t all that big and there were 4 of us crammed in the blind I was in. Two of us had cameras and the other two were just interested in bird watching. I gave up trying to swap any lenses, there just wasn’t room but once we opened the little windows any complaints about space or cameras were forgotten. There were the Puffins.

Fly My Pretty

It was worth it all!

3:30 am is sooo early!

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Thursday morning it was time to rock and roll. Get out of bed, get moving. It was time to head to Marshfield MA where I would meet up with the Audubon Society for a tour of Maine’s Peatlands culminating in the PUFFINS of Machias Seal Island!

By  5 AM we were loaded into the Audubon van and headed to Ipswich River Sanctuary where we hooked up with another van. Altogether there were two leaders, Scott and Sue and 12 participants.

For the most part these are hard core Birders so I was about to be introduced to a whole new way of looking at birds. We were still on the road at lunchtime so when a Subway came up we pulled in and made the clerk’s day. The poor girl was faced with 14 hungry travelers and she was working all alone.

After lunch we all piled back into the vans and soon we were entering blueberry country. Our Birding stop was the Blueberry Barrens.

Blueberry bush

The birders were looking for Upland Sandpiper, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow to name just a few species.

UplandSandpiperOntarioCropped

We traveled on another long dirt road. It made me think of the time Sandy and I got twisted around on an Indian Reservation. We called it the “Longest dirt road  in the world”. This one was a close 2nd.

Maine Dirt Road

The scenery was beautiful. The day had turned cool  and damp and eventually it started to rain.

Maine

We stopped to check out a marsh with a beaver dam. The birders used powerful spotting scopes and saw all kinds of birds.

Beaver lodge

We finally arrived at our home away from home at about 5 pm. For the next 4 days we’d be staying at the Machias River Inn.Machias River Inn

Dinner was at 6:30 at Helen’s Restaurant and then we wrapped up our day. We’d be up bright and early the next day. Breakfast was at 6 am!

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

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My Plantar Fasciitis has improved dramatically. My foot still feels a little bruised but I can walk without limping so it was time to see if it would hold up for a hike. I only have a couple of weeks before my Big Maine Adventure which will involve .5 – 1 mile hikes. It doesn’t sound like much but if you have ever experienced the pain of Plantar Fasciitis, you know it’s like walking on a golf ball! 10 feet is too far!

To improve my motivation I decided to head for Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick, MA. This is an Audubon property and I hadn’t been there before. It had the added benefit of being in Natick so I could include lunch at Kelly’s Roast beef.

Kelly's Roast Beef

Before I left the house I dug around to find my Audubon membership card. I’ve never been asked for it but I’d never been to Broadmoor before either. Turns out it was a good thing I made the effort. They have a Welcome Center that is staffed and they do check memberships.

Broadmoor

When I pulled in I was surprised to see a full parking lot. I figured that I wouldn’t see much with that many people tramping around but it turns out there are more than 9 miles of trails.

No way was I going to try any of the longer trails today. So I settled on the Mill Pond/Marsh Trail.  It’s a mile long but I only covered the Marsh section. I wandered a boardwalk, watched a swan groom itself and admired the sunning turtles.

Broadmoor Swan

I met some nice people along the way but it wasn’t really as crowded as I expected.

Turtles

I will have to go back again as my foot gets stronger. I want to see the little waterfall at the ruins of the mill and there is supposed to be an active beaver pond with a dam and lodge.

Boradmoor-11a

Now to head home and see how the foot feels. Fingers crossed!

So Wassup?

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Wow, Things aren’t letting up at all. Last weekend I stole an hour or two to head out with the camera. Still trying to get the hang of this “Raw” stuff. I got a few practice shots but I just wasn’t feeling inspired.

Museum of Natural History, Providence RI

Museum of Natural History, Providence RI

Just a day on a Swan

Just a day on a Swan

Then Sunday, Mother’s Day I left Taunton early in the morning to drive to upstate NY to take my mother out for lunch. I can’t tell you how old she is. I am sworn to secrecy but if I have her genes I’ll be around for a long time. My sister went with us to the 99 restaurant where we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch. I was back home by 8 pm.

During the week I confirmed my Maine trip in July with the Audubon Society and started doing the preliminary research for the Maui vacation in November. Then Saturday dawned sunny and warm. The first really awesome day we’ve had in forever!

I had an appointment for an oil change at 10 am. From there I planned to go to the Norton Reservoir where I’d spotted a family of Swans to see if I could get some fun pictures of the cygnets.

I picked up my car after the oil change  and headed up RT 44. At the first set of lights the car stalled out! Strange it was running fine when I dropped it off. I started it up and off I went again. A bit farther down the road I got a text message and pulled off into a Dunkin Donuts to reply. Stalled again. What’s going on?

IMG_20160514_123737

The last straw was as I pulled up to the reservoir. The engine started shaking and there was a squeeking, clanging kind of sound so I pulled into the parking lot for Norton Liquors and called the service station. They agreed to send a tow truck. While I waited I took a few pictures of the adult swan and the babies.

Swans-a

Swan Mom-a

Swan Family 2=a

Hurry Up.

Once back at the shop we checked the oil and it was clearly fresh and full. After a diagnostic and multiple mechanics looking it over the car was pronounced in dire shape.

It still turned over so they didn’t pronounce it dead but the prognosis was grim.The “lifters” inside the engine were done for. I needed to either replace or rebuild the engine.

It was time to go car shopping.