Dreary

 

6:40 to 8:00 am, 64 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 8mph E, 

There is a a storm coming. I think I need to start adding barometric pressure to the top line. I suspect birds are far more attune to that than modern humans are. Should start raining after dark tonight. I may have felt some heavy mist or a drop in my sit spot. The birds seemed subdued. There was chatter just not that much. Also, I do not think it was blowing 8 mph like the app said. 

As I said yesterday, I moved the sit spot ten feet to the east. And was rewarded with a view of this hole in a tree. Maybe a white oak. Will definitely investigate more. It looks as if there is a whole on the left hand side as well. A green leaf in there makes me think it is in use. Perhaps a woodpecker? A squirrel hole? I saw nothing come or go, yet. More will be revealed if I just sit and let it happen.

Since the birds were quiet this morning I was sitting very still. No turning, shifting, craning my neck, just still. At one point I turned and a small greenish yellow bird was coming right for me. It was perhaps five or six feet from me when I picked it up. It flew within two feet of my face and it was moving. I never really got to focus on it. It came and went in about a second. One of those did this just happen moments. Wild! I am guessing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Unlikely in Portland today. I am only guessing this as Merlin Identified it today. The Little Forrest is wild. 

I am once again reminded by how much can be learned by sitting quietly and listening. Not just learning about birds. I never once learned anything by speaking. It is by listening that I learn. Folks will talk to fill the void. It is amazing what can be learned by sitting quietly and letting life happen around you. 

Merlin heard 23 species. It did not pick up Herring Gull. I heard a few on the wind. Northern Waterthrush again. This was a mis identification today. It was picking up a chipping noise at the top of the Gulley. Not where the waterthrush would be. It heard a Great Egret for the first time in The Little Forrest. This I will add to the list. Very plausible one was flying over. Not going to add the fly catcher to the list. It is plausible that the flycatcher was migrating to its wintering grounds in Southern Mexico and Central America. Wildly connected to the world is The Little Forrest.

Small Changes, Big Rewards

 

3:40 to 5:00pm, 68 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Wind 7mph E

Wow! Another Black_capped Chickadee feeding frenzy. I moved another ten feet to the east. A seemingly small change. Big difference. The chickadees fed for a long time. My small change made a large difference to the inhabitants of The Little Forrest. I am closer to where the crick turns south into Fall Brook. Or would if there was any water. I could hear the chickadees off to the east. Then see them is silhouette on the far side of The Little Forrest. Near the yards of the houses on the other side of the Gulley. Into the dense copse of trees. Into Old Red, Into Pinky, then everywhere! Mostly I sat still and let them be. From their perches near the feeder to the feeder and back they went. At times they would perch on a branch less that five feet from my face! Too close for me to move. Sometimes flying just feet over my head. On and on they sang and flew. The Little Forrest was alive with bird song and activity. It became contagious. Then came the White-breasted Nuthatches. 

And then the Downy Woodpeckers

It was amazing at one point there were maybe thirty chickadees, two nuthatches, and two downys that I could see at once. Just alive and letting it be. I think letting the chickadees feed freely allowed the others to feel safe. The Blue Jays came lower into The Little Forrest than they usually do. I saw more of the jays than I ever have. Maybe five at one time. I suspect some of that was my small move, ten feet, to the right.Small change, big reward! A better advantage point of seeing where Fall Brook is. Fall Brook comes out of Canco Woods and the south into Casco Bay, in the Gulf of Maine, in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Little Forrest is connected to the larger world. And the larger world affects The Little Forrest. At one point I could hear the Norwegian Cruise ship blow its horn. More than two miles away as the crows from The Little Forrest flies. Do the people of Norway think of The Little Forrest when they send their ships here. Probably not. However their noise pollution comes anyway. Today the Little Forrest was connected to Norway. It is all connected. I have a meditation teacher named Devon who says, "if a butterfly flaps its wings in China it affects us here."

Merlin heard 21 species. Most were probably there. I question the wild turkey. I know I put it on the list for the Little Forrest. However, I am thinking of taking it off. Northern Waterthrush came up again. No water in the crick or Fall Brook so... I did see a bird down where it is clearly damp and water would be. It was the size and shape of a waterthrush and the colors were right. I can't say for sure. A little move in the right direction and was rewarded with a new sight.