Category Archives: nature

Outings

While most of my outings involve birding – usually 1-3 miles on trails, roads, and city sidewalks, I also get out for the exercise, fresh air and nature, away from others.

The trails we walk have many trees with all sorts of growths and shapes, like these ones.

Last week, I spotted this different lump in a tree.

That’s not Vermont Spanish moss but a resting porcupine — high up in a tree.,

One of my favorite downed trees reminds me of a Green Heron hunting for food.

A backcountry beaver pond from which two shy Wood Ducks flushed.

And my birding buddy, muddy legs and all, is always ready for the next outing.

As we wait for the warblers to arrive, there’s always neat stuff to enjoy on our walks.

Fall Woods Walk 1

Ginger and I have been exploring a local forest and its network of trails. Yesterday, we walked and birded for nearly three hours and never saw anyone. 

It was quiet: there were no road noises, chainsaws, people, or dogs – all was I could hear was the jingle of her harness, the chirps and trills of the ever-present chickadees, and calling of crows and the drumming of woodpeckers. It was lovely as the temperature climbed from 45 into the sixties – a perfect Fall morning and a welcome break from the onslaught of disturbing news in the nation and the world.

I took my time and saw a lot of birds but thought I’d first give you a flavor of the trek. I’ll sort the birds out next post. 

These old farmlands have a variety of stone walls, old foundations, interesting debris, and lots of natural features that catch your eye. This massive boulder right near the start has a big crack and missing piece that piques the imagination.

Just across the trail is an old hubcap which probably has a story behind it.

The leaves are starting to turn and it’s goldenrod and aster time in Vermont.

A Common Yellowthroat enjoying fall color

Some of the forest is being used for sugaring.

The sap transmission lines are left up year-round.
Ginger explored some of the old pails
This tree had an interesting burl
This tree had an interesting family using it.

Here are a few more shots from the walk:

My Birding Buddy – ready for the next adventure

It is heartening to know that these trails and quiet forest have been preserved and protected for future generations.

Not just birds

While foliage covers up some of the birds this time of year, we enjoy the wildflowers and critters that we see on our walks. Ginger has a fetish about squirrels and today, several crossed our path.

This Red Squirrel was just above Ginger’s sight line and waited for us to pass by.
A Grey Squirrel hunkered down, staying out of sight.
Well, not exactly

Late in the walk, I saw something I’d not seen before. There was a wake on the river and I thought it was a River Otter but …..

This Chipmunk was motoring along, and casually departed onto the sandy shore. The dog was none the wiser.

We also saw and heard a number of birds so we’ll share some images next post. Great time to be out and about in Vermont.

Some Spain Shots

We have been enjoying the weather, the culture, and the people this trip — birding has been just another activity, but still very enjoyable. Here are some birds and flowers from some of our outings.

Some flowers along the trail.

Little Grebes are cute but sure like to dive in the muckiest water. Time for a shower.

Here is a Northern Shoveler between and egret and a coot.

Hey, you looking at me?

Even the common House Sparrow looks pretty sharp today.

Guango Lodge

Located next to a busy highway and disturbed by recent pipeline work, Guango Lodge was not our favorite stay, although the food and accommodations were fine. We opted out of the bus trips and spent several nice walks on the trails.

The lodge had a wonderful river running past it.

 

 

And nice views

While watching the antics of Inca Jays, we also noticed some lovely flowers.

This private suspension bridge was a little to high for my comfort level but not Sally’s

Returning, we enjoyed some of the hummers flitting about the lodge feeders.

Tandayapa Lodge -1

We arrived at Tandayapa Lodge, a lovely site located within the verdant cloudforest on the western slope of the Andes. In spite of a long day of birding already, we spotted the wonderful balcony with many feeders and dozens of hummingbirds. We were slow to check into our rooms with all the action underway.

Many of us had not seen Pufflegs before.

Throughout our stay, hummers came for hand-feeding. These found Sally’s Iphone and finger  intriguing. Photo credit: Kate Thompson

As would be our habit, we were up for breakfast and on the bus before light. It was cool and foggy but just after we got to our hiking spot and had started to walk, our guide heard and then spotted the bird of the day, a Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan.

The yellow rectangular plate on the upper bill helps differentiate this toucan from most others.

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans inhabit a restricted range and are listed as near threatened. They are threatened both by deforestation and subsequent habitat loss, and by illegal capture for the pet trade.

After birding a couple of hours, we boarded the bus and were descending this winding dirt road when the guide yelled “stop”, we bailed out to seeing him holding an earthworm.

This worm was docile on a chilly morning, just trying to cross the road.

That’s my size 15 boot for comparison. We left him in the bushes unharmed.

We no sooner had loaded back up and driven a kilometer when the bus stopped and off we trooped to see a big, bad tarantula crossing the road. We watched her – she was almost the size of my hand.

 

A purple tarantula

One of the things we did on this foggy day, since the birds were relatively quiet, is to delight in the flowers we encountered. I’ll share them with you in the next post. Adios, amigos.

Revisiting Chickering Bog

After weeks of rainy days, I took advantage of a sunny break to revisit the Nature Conservancy’s Chickering Bog which I had first explored in late 2015. The trip over there is scenic and birdy and these guys watched me while I listened to a Least Flycatcher along the way.

My first Vermont Killdeer greeted me at the parking area.

The trail in was loaded with mosquitos and bird song — warblers, vireos, ovenbirds, and others — and a pair of camera-shy White-throated Sparrows.

A real treat was a Winter Wren who packed a lot of song into a tiny body. The photo quality is poor due to low light and an elusive songster.

Lots of other items to see — here are a few:

Mourning Cloak on the road

Bunchberry?

I came home to this guy, who with his spouse, visits the feeder daily. What a joy to watch the grosbeaks, purple finches, and hummingbirds for a needed dose of crimson.

Spotting Borregos

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and borrego, the Spanish word for bighorn sheep. On our last day there, we took a hike up the Palm Canyon trail to check out wildflowers and do some birding.

We spotted this hummingbird hawk moth along the way.

Further along, we saw a hiker intently watching the far hillside and found she had a group Bighorn Sheep in sight. There were about nine, mainly ewes and youngsters, far across the draw.

Returning, we ran into a larger group, being gawked at by the many weekend hikers. There were a couple of big guys with this crew.

In spite of the Saturday crowds, it was a great finish to a week-long stay. Next is the Pacific Ocean and sea breezes for a new set of adventures.

A Verdin Nest

Recently, I mentioned our new-found interest in nesting birds. Yesterday, we were watching Verdins bounce from limb to limb singing away when I saw one scoot into a cactus and disappear. Another nest?
Here’s the bunch of twigs we saw.

I could see some movement in the bundle of twigs and sure enough, out popped a Verdin.

Sally watched as the Verdin flew off to nearby sage bushes breaking off twigs, and warning me as the bird returned as I kept the camera on the nest.

I can’t brag about the photos but here are a couple of construction in progress.

We watched for ten minutes or so, entranced by the steady work of this little olive-capped bird. Slow birding can bring some lovely experences – it made our day.