A Wild Place!

 8:15 to 9:15am, 58 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Wind Wind 4 SW, Bar 30.30 Steady

Sat down by Fall Brook, a much wilder place than I had been sitting. Picture above is of the brook. Yesterday when I scouted how to get here, there were pools of water in the foreground of the picture. We are in drought. Should get some rain tomorrow. However, it will not be enough. 

The spot I sat at this morning is on an "island" in Fall Brook. No water so scare quotes. There is forrest in 360 degrees. I need a swivel chair. Birds are in every direction! Where I had been sitting only had a few places to look for birds. This is a whole new experience. The woods are deep. I can see the back of Condominiums 1-4. My subdivision. A shed from one of the houses across the crick. It is down maybe twenty feet below the surrounding areas where the houses are. I only once felt wind. 

I did not see many birds. I did however hear them. In the Fall Brook Valley there are less car noises. Less wind to blow the bird noises away. I heard an Eastern Wood Pewee for a solid five minutes. They will be moving to the Amazon Rain Forrest soon. The Little Forrest is an international hot spot! Definitely worth the price of admission. I need to hear a bird repetitiously for it to be in my brain in a recognizable way.  

I heard a Pileated Woodpecker today. Unlikely in Portland Today. As I said I have seen one not far from here in Payson Park. Multiple calls. I like how my brain is lumping certain species together.  I am noticing the calls of woodpeckers similarities. Mostly I hear Downys, Flickers, and Red-bellied woodpeckers. Their calls and songs are similar. The call of the Pileated was in line with those. So, I am going to say it was there. It was in a deep and dense part of the valley. I stood and turned to see if I could find it. However, I had no such luck. 

It will take some time to know where the birds travel in this part of the Little Forrest. At one point I could see birds flying from my former sit spot across the gulley. I know where the cardinals travel around the gulley. It will take some time to get to know how the birds travel in the valley. I heard one squirrel alarmed at me being on the "Island" I am sure other inhabitants of the Valley in the Little Forrest are not sure about me being there. 

Merlin Identified 19 bird species. Swainson's Thrush is new. I played it back and listened to the calls on the app. I am counting that one. Red-tailed hawk was the only red dot. Since I have seen them in the Little Forrest I am sure it was there. Plus the crows were pissed and chasing something off. 

The More I Learn

 

6:20 to 7:10am, 48 degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 4 mph N, Bar 30.38 rise

The more I learn the less I know. Or really the more I learn, I realize just how much more there is. I was convinced the birds had chilled out due to weather changes. Cold mornings were way quieter than before with below 60 being a kind of line. Beware small sample sizes! It felt more like a summer morning. Birds were chatty and moving about. Way more species than the last week or so. Just when I was thinking I have a handle on the new normal. It is always when I think "I got this" that something goes awry.

At one point this morning, a mallard flew over. I heard its call and new it was flying over. Its call was moving in flight. I looked down and mallard was displayed on Merlin. Usually when Merlin hears a mallard it is an agitated squirrel. There was an agitated chipmunk in the copse of trees this morning. Not a normal spot for that. I could not see anything. Birds did not really quiet. So a mystery. 

It was nice to hear the Downy Woodpecker come from over by Fall Brook. Across the Little Forrest to the feeder at Number 23. I can usually find them before they get to the feeder. Not always though. I am convinced that Northern Cardinals live in the dense copse of trees across from my sit spot. I see them move from the feeder at 23 to the copse. Also, moving from the top of the bog to the copse. I can rarely see them in that group of trees. Plenty of shelter from prying eyes. Still thinking of moving my sit spot into the Fall Brook Valley. Must explore down there. 

I did not post yesterday. I went out in the morning and it was moderately chatty. In the afternoon, It was windy. Merlin does not like the wind. I saw more species than Merlin heard! Merlin heard 2 species (crow/ Cardinal) and I saw 3! (Cardinal/catbird/chickadee) 

Merlin heard 20 species this morning. It still wants there to be a waterthrush. least sandpiper maybe. Magnolia Warbler! could be traveling through. Who knows?

More Rain!

 4:00 to 5:00pm, 65 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 4mph S, Bar 29.83 fall

It rained all day and we got less than half of an inch. We needed the rain. We need more rain still. After raining all day there were a few small puddles in the crick. It would be nice if Fall Brook started flowing. It may not happen until the spring thaw. If we get any snow. Wicked El Nino happening right now. I am reading that it will be the strongest ever recorded. I am so new to the Little Forrest that I can not compare it to a normal or wet year. 

It was pretty quiet after the rain. It probably rained a bit during my sit. The Northern Cardinals were still fairly active. I was able to see them in the undergrowth much better than usual. I could be getting better at spotting them or they are more open with me. I suspect it is a bit of both. I can hear them but without a bit of motion it is hard for me to find them. The one above was across the Gulley in the back yard garden of the Barrows. I saw a couple down in the leaves across the Gulley. If i did not see motion I could not have found them with the binoculars. The cardinals really blend in. I could not see them without the binoculars even though there was nothing in between. Great camouflage.

I picked up a Blue Jay high in the canopy by motion. I would see motion and try to get the binoculars on it. It moved four or five times before I cloud get an identification. It was not making noise. As gerry says, "little by little the bird builds its nest." I am learning the ways of the Little Forrest, little by little. Practice makes progress. 

Merlin identified 6 species. They were all there!

Wind!

 

3:00 to 3:45pm, 69 Degrees, Clear, Wind 10mph S, Bar 30.10 even

Wind from the south blows the bird sound away. I heard a Blue Jay and an American Herring Gull that Merlin did not. Not sure what the gusts were up to. Maybe fifteen to twenty, Clearly a new baseline for fall. Less species and less birds altogether. Although some exciting things still happen. I sat for a bit yesterday afternoon and a Red Tailed Hawk was right above me in the trees! It was screeching up a storm. I think if that happens again I will try and walk out and see if I can see it from the parking area. 

I also went out this morning. Wind was about 2mph. Birds were much easier to hear. It was in the low fifties. I figured it would be quiet. It was for parts. Still some chatting and with the lack of wind Merlin was picking most of it up. I saw my first Goldfinch in the part I normally sit in. They are usually down by the bog or Fall Brook. I hear them but they do not normally visit my section of the Little Forrest. 

Merlin heard 6 bird species in the afternoon. I hear two more.  In the morning Merlin Heard 12 species. I am not sure about the Hudsonian Whimbrel. A shore bird. It could have flown over however. 

Baseline

 8:00 to 8:30am, 58 Degrees, Clear, Wind 6mph NW, Bar 29.91 rise

Baseline seems to be back to a little more "normal." Not as many bird species as during summer. However they are chatty again. The Northern Cardinals are moving about and calling to each other. I am picking up birds better by motion than I have been. I saw the female cardinal above from quite a distance. I saw some motion in the branches. I was pretty sure it was not a squirrel. Used the binoculars to see this one. Then took a picture. Slightly cropped. It would have been easy to miss this bird that was in plain sight. 

I was only out for a short while. Someone shut the dumpster with violence. A really loud bang that I have not heard before. Folks often put stuff in the dumpster when I am sitting. It does not usually disturb the Little Forrest. 

I did not post yesterday. I did go out to the sit spot. It seems the birds are chattering at a normal level even if there are not as many species as summer. Perhaps, the low pressure and storminess had them quiet. 

Merlin heard 9 species. I know the mallard was an agitated squirrel. And once again a Northern Waterthrush. At some point I may believe that one.

Fall

 

4:15 to 5:00pm, 65 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 5mph SSE, Bar 30.26 Fall

Super slow again. Merlin only heard a Blue Jay for the first twenty minutes. I heard goldfinches on my way out. There was a game at Cheverus High School. It usually quiets the birds a bit. However, not this much. It was 30 minutes before a chickadee made some noise! Seven bird species and each one was pretty solitary. Not like a flock of twenty chickadees. I am guessing that fall has made a new baseline. 

I also went out in the morning. I should have wrote that up at the time. I sat down by the boggy area. It was quiet as well. The birds were chatty in the beginning. Then they went quiet. I did not hear an owl, however Merlin did. Great Horned Owl. Unlikely in Portland Today. Then things got quiet. Every time Merlin hears the owl things get quiet. I do not know if there is one, I do suspect there is. I saw a Carolina Wren for the first time in the Little Forrest down in the boggy part. It was clear there were two birds moving and feeding in the briars and brambles that cover the ground. They moved two hundred feet or so across the boggy ground never coming above the plants. Getting ever closer as they moved. When one came up, it did not stay long. It was maybe twenty feet from me. None too happy about it and was gone. Amazing how fast a bird can disappear into the undergrowth. 

Merlin identified 17 species in the morning and 7 species in the afternoon. Blogger wont let me upload photos! 

Still Quiet

 

1:00 to 1:40pm, 72 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 9mph NNW,  Bar 30.13 even

It was quiet today. I also went out in the morning. It was drizzly. So I figured I would get better action in the afternoon. No such luck. In the morning the squirrels, chipmunks, and even a ground hog were all active. The birds not as much. I am definitely better at spotting birds. I am picking them up in flight more and more often during my sits. Perhaps it is because my attention is drawn down towards Fall Brook and Canco Woods. It is more wild in that direction. I am going to move down there at some point. There is a spot near Fall Brook that is drawing me in. Hard to see from where I am sitting now. It is across a boggy area. The Crick filters through this boggy area before it joins Fall Brook. I need to go down in the Gulley and explore the boggy area to find the best way over to the spot that draws my eye. 

The Blue Jays have come down more in the Little Forrest. I believe they are getting comfortable with my presence. This is the first time I had an unobstructed view of one. It saw me pointing the camera, called and was gone. 

Merlin heard 13 bird species in the morning and 9 in the Afternoon. Northern Waterthrush both times. Maybe there is one IDK. I saw a White-Breasted Nuthatch in the afternoon with no calls.