A Disturbance

 

8:15 to 9:15am,  54 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 7mph N, Bar 30.13 rise

When I walked down to the Island, I could hear the Northern Cardinals calling away. I even saw a couple in the underbrush across the brook. Then, things got quiet. My first thought was that I had disturbed things and the birds were taking some time to decide about me Then the crows got noisy. They were flying from over the Ocean (ave), then the Little Forrest and beyond to Canco Woods. Not sure what set them off. I have been noticing there are less crow sounds down by Fall Brook. It may be that the brook is so much lower than the condominiums that their noise travels over where I am sitting. It was about a half an hour before birds landed on the feeder at Number 2. It is a well established feeder and gets a lot of action. Some something had the birds in the Little Forrest quiet.

I am still new to the Island in Fall Brook. I saw my first chipmunk on the Island. I knew they were down here. I had just not seen them. I saw a couple of prints from a deer down there. There is certainly more wildlife in the Valley than the Sit spot above the Gulley. More will be revealed. 

Merlin Identified 16 bird species. Red dot for Common Merganser and Northern Waterthrush. I suppose it is possible a merganser flew overhead. Although it is a little early for them. Common Loon, also possible it flew overhead. Also, a little early for the loons to come down from the lakes. I did hear a Great Blue Heron overhead. Man, can they make some noise!

Am I connecting?

 10:30 to 11:30am, 59 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 5mph S, Bar 30.10 fall

The birds were pretty quiet during my sit. Someone across Fall Brook past the trees was cutting their lawn. I do not know if this was why. Or it was the beginning of the rain. It drizzled a few times in my hour along the brook. I think it is the fifth tome I have sat there. I do not yet have a feel for what is baseline. 

I had an unexpected visitor this morning. I heard some branches break and looked downstream. I saw my neighbor from Number 7 for a second. He was clearly moving up steam. He crossed the brook and was gone. No more branches breaking. I expected him to come up to me and talk. But he was gone. I suspect he saw someone down by the brook and wanted to investigate. His unit is twenty plus feet in elevation higher than the brook. I was hoping to talk to him. I heard he had or maybe has a wildlife camera I would love to hear what is there in the night and when we are not looking.

I am sitting about an hour each day in The Little Forrest. I am certain that I am connecting to the place. Watching and listening to the inhabitants is certainly a connection. I question just how welcome I am by the inhabitants. Yesterday, there was an agitated squirrel across the brook. I believe I was the source of agitation. It took about a week before the squirrels at the top of The Gulley stopped being agitated. It will take some time for them to get used to me. I am noticing the comings and goings of birds. The routes they generally travel. Some I noticed from sitting above the Gulley. I now have a different perspective on some of those pathways. 

This morning lying in bed with the window open I could hear the birds start to sing. First a Blue Jay, then a Black-capped Chickadee, and on of my favorite songs the Carolina Wren. I love this connection. it is not just birds singing. It's jays, chickadees and wrens. While i do not yet recognize individual birds, I bet some of them recognize me. 

Merlin Identified 13 species. Only the Hermit Thrush had the red dot. Everything else is a regular voice in the Little Forrest. 

Who knew?

 

8:00 to 9:15am, 55 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 7mph N, Bar 30.12 steady

The Common Yellowthroat (above) likes to feed and cavort down in the briars and brambles of the boggy part of The Little Forrest. I am learning. Practice makes progress! As my friend Gerry, an 80 something lobsterman, says "little by little the bird builds its nest" except he says it in french. There is a joke. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice. What are you practicing today? 

I have been sitting down by the Fall Brook in the Little Forrest for about four days. Today was the first time I really noticed how much bird life there is in the Bog. Down in the briars, brambles, and ferns. The birds do not come up to the top where you can see them easily. However, you can follow the motions. Being mindful of what motion is the wind and what is bird motion. This takes practice. In the time I spent sitting above the Gulley, I learned to differentiate wind, squirrel and bird motions. Just by sitting and being mindful of what is going on in the Little Forrest. I also saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler. And more than a few Mystery Birds.

On my way down the side of the Gulley, I heard an owl! Super exciting. Merlin unfortunately did not hear it. It did identify a Great Horned Owl later. I did not hear a hoot then. I listened to the song of the Great Horned Owl and it could be what I heard this morning. It is on the Ebird list for Canco Woods. 

it was a bit of a strange morning. Downy Woodpecker did not come up in the first hour. Also, Goldfinch, one of the most heard birds in the Little Forrest did not come up until I was on my way out. 

Merlin Identified 20 species. Northern Waterthrush again. This time I saw a mystery bird by slow moving water so..maybe. Great Horned Owl was the other red dot. I am inclined to believe this one. First time in a while it identified a Cedar Waxwing. I had thought they went south. New, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow.

A Brook Runs Through It

9:00 to 10:30am, 68 Degrees, Wind 10mph NNW, Clear, Bar 30.00 steady
 

There is water in Fall Brook today! About a half inch of rain last night. I was not really facing the brook. So, I don't know if any birds were drinking or bathing. Yesterday, I saw a Northern Flicker flying u from the brook bed. It was probably at one of the puddles. No flowing water yesterday. 

A slow start to my sit this morning. It did pick up. I chose a spot on the Island where I could see the feeder at Number 2. I saw Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, Northern Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers and mystery birds. The jays chased off some of the other birds. 

There were a lot of clear calls from a Red-bellied Woodpecker this morning. Would love to get a good look at that bird. Straight overhead at one point. Still could not pick it up. I have no doubt it was ther even without a sighting. I heard the Carolina Wrens singing upstream. Love their song! I wish they had flown in closer. 

I saw a lot of mystery birds. As a matter of fact, I saw more mystery birds than birds I could identify. I see birds flying and all I can do is identify general size. Not much in the way of color. More time sitting will make it easier to identify birds. Practice makes progress! I saw two birds on my way out that I could not identify. One was in the bush at 23. Could not get a good enough view through the foliage. And this bird below. 

Too big to be a sparrow. Perhaps robin sized. A mystery. 

Merlin Identified 23 species. There was so much water that a heron stopped by. It was flying overhead. I am not believing Black Scoter, an open ocean bird. Water Thrush again! Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is new. I saw a few small birds in the could be a Flycatcher. So I am adding it to the list. 

Everywhere!

 

12:40 to 2:10pm, 66 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 6 mph SE, Bar 30.15 fall

Birds were everywhere when I walked down to the Island. They were flying around the the grass on my way across the parking lot. Ten or fifteen small birds flew into the bushes at Number 23. A couple of doves on the grass as I entered the Little Forrest. Birds in the brush below Building 1-4. Birds flying across the bog towards the feeder at Number 2. Birds in the bog. Birds on the other side of Fall Brook. There is a storm coming and I suspect they are feeding before hand. 

When I got to the Island, my sit spot, there were birds moving about the far side of the brook. Mostly Northern Cardinals. I saw a Swainson's Thrush when I first sat down. It was along the brush at the edge of the brook. Then the cardinals began to seriously chatter. I suspect they were letting the inhabitants know I was there. It was quiet for ten minutes or so after that. Then things really picked up.

I saw more different bird species than I ever have in one sit. many first sightings in the Little Forrest for me. First Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Northern Flicker, Red-breasted Nuthatch. I also saw, Downy Woodpecker,(above) Black -capped Chickadee, American Crow, Blue Jay, House Sparrow, Cardinal, American Goldfinch, American Robin, Grey Catbird, Carolina Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch. Many birds I could not identify. Although, most were probably in this list.

It was truly amazing! I was able to pick up birds far away in the canopy, It was hard to identify them. I am getting better at putting the binoculars on them. It is still hard to get the right spot in the Little Forrest. A lot of was that the right branch on the right tree. Practice makes progress! At one point the chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, and downys had me surrounded! It was hard to know wich way to look! It is definitely the new sit spot. 

Merlin Identified 21 species. Most were probably there. Northern Flicker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker all have moved into the Likely in Portland category! Mourning Dove was my Merlin Bird of the Day. 

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?