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. 

Quiet Morning

 

8:15 to 9:10am, 64 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Wind 9mph NNW, Bar 30.06 rise

A really quiet morning. As I said yesterday, the more I sit in the Little Forrest the less I know what baseline is. I would have expected a lot more chatter at 8:00 in the morning. I heard a White-Breasted Nuthatch as I walked out to the sit spot. (picture above from yesterday) It was also the bird I heard the most. Usually, the chattiest bird is the cardinal or chickadee. Really a different morning. Merlin did not pick up a cardinal until twenty seven minutes! Almost always one of the first birds I hear. Very few chickadees as well. Maybe the season change has the birds acting differently than what I have experienced. 

Towards the end of my sit I heard a Belted Kingfisher. It sounds a bit like the Downy Woodpeckers song. I am sure it was a kingfisher as I hear them along the East End waterfront, Prout's Pond, and The Marsh in Scarborough. Was kind of surprised as there is no water in The Little Forrest. There is water just across Ocean Avenue. Down stream of the Little Forrest on both sides. The condominiums across Ocean water their grass relentlessly. So that there is water in Fall Brook on one side of their property and water in the unnamed creek on the other. They must have a large water bill!

As I was moving out from under the canopy I heard the screech of a hawk. Merlin says Broad-winged Hawk! I looked up and saw it! I could not get the camera to focus on it when it was close enough to get a usable photo. I did however get to watch it in the binoculars for a bit. The third hawk in the Little Forrest! It will be headed to Central or South America soon. 

Merlin Identified 13 bird species. I am not buying the Northern Waterthrush. It really wants that bird. Almost every time Merlin lights up the bird, the sound is coming from a high spot. Not where the water would be if there was water. Added Broad-winged Hawk and Belted Kingfisher to the Sit Spot Bird List.

Active Afternoon

 

12:05 to 1:25pm, 71 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Wind 9mph N, Bar 29.97 fall

A really active afternoon for the birds. When I got to the sit spot the Black-capped Chickadees were starting to hit the feeder. I try not to look much or raise the camera towards them. Ignoring them seems to make them more active. The chickadees seem to be a (touchstone?) species. If the chickadees are feeding and moving about the other birds seem to feel safe to do so as well. There was new behavior by the chickadees. Usually, they get close to the feeder and then drop on it. Today, some were flying from over the flood plane of Fall Brook all the way to the feeder. Also, their flight path was directly in front of me! Not all of the chickadees were doing this but enough to notice that this was a new thing. The birds know which way I am looking. Most of the time when the chickadees are at the feeder I can hear Tufted Titmice. Usually behind me. (above) Today one came down to the feeder and I saw it. Took the pictures of this one after it moved off a bit. Then more came! One was less than ten feet right in front of my face! I did not try for a picture. I want them comfortable with me. 

The Blue Jays came down into The Little Forrest in a way they never have before. They flew through at one point. At another one was low where it had a view of me. Was definitely checking me out. Mostly it had a view but its body was on the far side of a branch. One even was on Pinky just above the feeder. It declined to get on the feeder however. 

This Northern Cardinal was also checking me out. It is rare that I get an unobstructed view of a cardinal. It is even more rare that they are as close as this one. I could not resist a picture. It flew off pretty fast. It landed a bit further off. It was mostly behind some branches but had a small direct view of me. It was still checking me out. The birds were comfortable with me today. At one point I saw three Downy Woodpeckers at the same time. They were moving about together. Neat to watch that. 

Jon Young in his book What the Robin Knows talks about base line behavior. The more I sit in The Little Forrest the more I see. I do not really know what base line is. It has been incredibly different so many times. My guess is that it may take a few full years to really know what baseline is. 

Merlin Identified 14 bird species. Most were the normal suspects. Yellow Billed Cuckoo came up. Red dot. It could have been traveling through on their way to South America.

And then...

 

4:15 to 5:00pm, 71 Degrees, Mostly Cloudy, Wind 8mph NNE, Bar 29.86 rise

The birds were chattering normally for a half hour and then.... they went quiet. Not sure why. There were no alarm calls, just quiet. It will remain a mystery. Picture is of a female Downy Woodpecker in the tree I call Pinky. Most days I sit a downy will appear in this tree. Some great dead branches for a woodpecker. And it is on the way from the deeper woods across Fall Brook to the feeder ant Number 1. 

Just because the birds are quiet does not mean they are gone. Or out of my sight. I saw what I think was a song sparrow in the detritus on the side of the Gulley. A two inch bird moving amongst leaves and twigs is hard to spot at 200 feet. It was motion. It hopped a few times. Then I used the binoculars to see it. In its own way it was very exciting to see and identify a bird that way. The hoping motion gave it away. 

Merlin Identified 15 bird species. Most of them were probably there. I still do not think the Northern Waterthrush is there no matter how many times Merlin says it. But you never know. The song sparrow was not on Merlin. I also saw a Mourning Dove. Not on Merlin. 

Subdued

 

 

8:00 to 8:40am, 65 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 3mph NW, Bar 29.79 even, 

It felt really subdued in the sit spot this morning. As quiet as it gets at this time of day. The normal cardinal chatter was not even there. Does the barometer have something to do with bird activity? It is pretty low. Moon phase? Even the cars on Ocean Avenue seemed quiet. High humiidity and fog warning on the coast can dampen sounds. 

Merlin Identifies 15 species. I got a Carolina Wren, My bird of the day! A year round resident of Maine. It was the highlight of the morning. The little guys can really belt it out! 

Wow!

 6:20 to 7:10am, 63 Degrees, Cloudy, Wind 5 SSE, Bar 30.00 falling

I talked to a neighbor yesterday and she suggested I sit behind Number 1.No body is in Number 1. It has a nice view of the Fall Brook valley. Fall Brook rises to the east and drops off to the south, running down to Back Cove in Casco Bay. It is definitely more wild back there. Fall Brook is part of Canco Woods there. I am going to have to walk and explore back there at some time. I did not like the sound of the cars coming from Ocean Avenue. I can still hear the car pollution from my normal sit spot. However, it is less. So, I decided to move back to my regular spot. 

I am glad I moved back to my normal spot. I like feeling that I am in the woods. At Number 1, I am on manicured grass above a retaining wall. Shortly after moving to my regular spot, I saw a large bird fluter to the top of Old Red. I could not see it through the leaves. Way to many Norwegian Maples. Then it took off heading west. Large hawk! In The Little Forrest. The light was not great. When I looked at Merlin It had added Red Tailed Hawk. So I am going with that. I have heard them overhead but not seen one in the Little Forrest. Thinking of moving my sit spot to below the retaining wall so I can see the Crick in the Gulley and Fall Brook Valley. Some exploring will happen. 

It was a subdued morning. Storm is coming. It looks from radar mostly north and south of here. Birds still moving about. A few birds flying from the feeder at Number 1 to the dense copse of trees. I noticed a spot that needs a name. At the end of the back yards where it gets wild again. I saw a few birds moving about there. I do not have a great line of sight. However it needs to be checked out. At one point I could hear Downy Woodpeckers calling back and forth. One was over by the feeder at Number 1. And the other at the spot where it starts to get wild. Then the downy at the feeder flew through the Gulley into the wild where its partner was. Pretty cool. Also, there was another close pass. A dark bird flew within five feet of me below head hight. Moving fast. Maybe a catbird. 

Merlin Identified 15 bird species. Mostly the normal suspects. I saw the Red-tailed Hawk. It will be moving south soon. It will probably stay in the States. Northern Water Thrush, Merlin really wants that one. They migrate to Central America. It is possible one is here and remembers when there was water here. And again with the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.