Day 19.192: Mystery heron (solved)

Well, it was a mystery when I first saw it on my way back to work after lunch.

Best I could do with my phone

I worked out it must be an immature great blue heron.

Day 19.177: "Weekend" report

I had Thursday and Friday of last week off for the Fourth of July holiday. I ended up taking Wednesday afternoon off so that my four-and-a-half day weekend started and ended with England World Cup matches (Wednesday afternoon and Sunday night).

Our nature group also met on Wednesday in Biddeford Pool for a mid-week evening outing that felt like the start of the weekend for me.

I've recently added a 1.4x teleconverter to my camera setup and was pleased with how it held up in the fading evening light (it trades light for magnification). Here are some photos of a bald eagle we first saw perched on a chimney, then harassed by a gull before giving us a nice fly-by.

Day 19.151: Turkey surprise

When I arrived at work the other day, I saw a wild turkey sitting close to where I parked. I tried not to disturb it, but failed. As it stood up to walk slowly away, I saw there was a tiny chick as well. 

Cell phone pictures only sadly. 

Day 19.112: Madison

I didn’t have a lot of time to get out and about with my camera in Madison this week, but I did manage one short early morning outing. This is what I saw.

Rowers on the lake

The Wisconsin State Capitol 

Barn swallow (first of the year for me)

American coots (another year bird)

Common grackles

Lots of the mallards show hybridization features such as these white neck patches

House sparrow 

Red-winged blackbird

Close-up of the top of the Capitol

Day 19.110: That’s capital!

I’m back in Madison, but I connected through a different city on the way here this time:

Day 19.104: Savannah at work

Not a colleague. A sparrow as I was leaving yesterday. Only my cellphone camera to hand alas

Day 19.083: Phoebe and the turkeys

This morning I had a visitor just outside my office window. The first eastern phoebe of the year pumping its tail in classic fashion. I did my best to document it with my phone. 

And then, at lunchtime, we had turkeys getting in the springtime mood - at least the male was, the two females were either unimpressed or playing it cool. 

Day 19.082: Wisconsin birding

As I mentioned, I managed two short pre-breakfast walks with my camera half a mile down the road to some water and marsh habitat. The morning light was still a bit murky, but this is some of what I (and my camera) saw

Canada goose

European starlings

Muskrat (not a bird) (I saw at least two, maybe three)

I believe these are American wigeon

Red-breasted mergansers

There were hundreds of passing songbirds. Some were grackles, some red-winged blackbirds

This odd couple includes a greylag goose (feral). Afterwards I found that hybrids of these species exist, so they could be an actual couple

More passing passerines

American white pelican (near the eastern edge of their migration according to the map I found)

Great blue heron

American white pelicans

Common merganser loon*

I assume this is a low-rise Canada goose

Coming down near the “Caution Shallow Water” sign 

Nice size comparison with the Canada geese. These pelicans are big birds. 

At the nearby apartment building the house sparrows were building nests under the balconies. 

Both the American white pelicans and the American wigeons go on my life list unless I misidentified the latter. 

* Thank you to Josh for this correction in the comments!

Day 19.081: Flying home

I had window seats on both the flights today (Madison WI to Newark NJ and on to Portland ME). This is some of what I saw:

Pushing back in Madison before dawn (I left the hotel at 4 am)

Above the clouds somewhere in the Midwest

The Delaware Water Gap - the ridge is the Appalachian Mountains. This is near the Pennsylvania/New Jersey state line

Lake Hopatcong

Splitrock Reservoir

Midtown Manhattan

The Statue of Liberty (L) and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

Downtown Manhattan

Another view as we took off for Portland

Hudson River and Tappan Zee Bridge

 

We came in to Portland from the west and didn't get many views, but it was interesting to see this large shallow excavation next to our gate at the Portland Jetport.

And, of course, it's good to be home.