Road Trips (2): Quincy MA

Ruby on rail

Our other road trip this summer was to Quincy, Massachusetts for our favorite science-fiction convention, Readercon, which I blogged about a couple of years ago.

such purple, very finch, wow

Our friends Barbara and Jim drove us up, and as we do every year we stopped at Traveler Food and Books in Union CT (they seem to have no website, but here's a newspaper story about them). They have good food, a used bookstore in the basement, and they give away free books with every meal; highly recommended.

They also have bird feeders right outside their window, and the feeders are quite active.

eating on the run

So we got in some bird-watching while we ate. (I don't seem to have ever blogged about the place before; how odd.)

looking sharp

Even through the window, I got some pretty decent photos. The hummingbird feeder was used by four birds, which I think were a female with two fledglings, and a male.

showing the kid the ropes

Telling a female from a juvenile is hard with Ruby-Throateds, but I saw one plain-throated bird bird show up with another on two occasions, and the second bird I think was different each time.

what the heck, one more hummingbird photo

And the male came from the opposite direction. Males have nothing to do with raising the young, anyway.

Readercon used to be in Burlington MA, and we'd go to Middlesex Fells on the first morning before the con began. This year, we went instead to the nearby Blue Hills Reservation. It seems very nice, but we got there a bit late in the morning, so the birding was slow. We did hear a bunch of singing Scarlet Tanagers, but nothing presented itself for a good photo.

full bloom of youth

The hotel in Quincy was set on the top of a hill, and at the bottom was a nice pond. Ther were geese and ducks, of course, and a Green Heron hunted on the far side. Closer up, the Red-Winged Blackbirds were abundant, including the interesting bird above, one of a group of what appeared to all be young males. Note the epaulettes; I don't think I've seen them so yellow before.

color photo, black-and-white scene

Also there were chickadees chasing each other around in low trees. This fellow had a lot to say, both singing and scolding.

Command the last fruits to ripen, give them another sunny day

On Sunday, I walked up the west side of Central Park from 81st Street to 110th, in search of late Bluebirds. It was a glorious day for a walk, sunny and crisp. There were Fox Sparrows around Tanner's Spring, Shovelers and Ruddy Ducks in numbers on the Reservoir, and north of the Reservoir, in a cherry tree along the dirt track, a Purple Finch devoured the fall fruit.

I have read that birds can't taste sweet; they love fruit because it's savory. But they do love it.

Several Starlings worked the same tree, as joggers ran past and couples strolled hand in hand.

Further north, the Great Hill was covered in a fine grey mist of Juncos. No Bluebirds, though.

Blue Grosbeak, Purple Finch

I was feeling poorly on the weekend, but then I saw a report online of a Blue Grosbeak at The Pond in Central Park. That's a very nice bird for Manhattan. And so, off Elena and I went.

It was supposed to be in the area just over the fence to Wollman Rink--the same place the Marsh Wren had been the other week.

We were waiting only a little while when I heard a low metallic chink and a big-beaked brown bird popped briefly into view in the midst of the reeds. It was gone in seconds, too fast to make an ID, but we assumed it must be the hero bird.

The next wait was longer, but knowing the bird was in the area made it easier. Eventually there was another low call, a stirring in the phragmites a bit farther back, and--

our hero

--there it was. Chunky grosbeak beak, very warm brown, sort of a crest, rufous wingbar. That's the bird. I think the fact that teh other wingbar was pale means that it's an immature bird rather than an adult female, but I'm not sure.

The Blue Grosbeak was a life bird for both of us, and my 183rd species of the year in New York County.

My 182nd was a Purple Finch at the Evodia feeders in the Ramble.

So there are still a lot of nice birds coming in this Fall.

Prattsville, conclusion

Ruby-Throated resting by the roadside

Sunday morning in Prattsville, my host and I took a long walk down a road toward Schoharie Creek, and on a gravel path branching off from that. Unfortunately, neither road came very close to the creek itself, but there was a fairly good variety of birds, like the male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird above and this American Redstart.

Redstart rockin' in the branches

There were interesting sights that weren't birds, as well.

why did the newt cross the road?

That's an Eastern (Red-Spotted) Newt who crossed the road in front of us, and on our return a butterfly settled down on the driveway

goodness gracious, Great Spangled Fritillary

I know little about butterflies, but I think this is a Great Spangled Fritillary.

Back in the meadow next to the house, the birds continued singing all day long, but mostly stayed out of sight. The Song Sparrows were the most visible.

sing! sing! sing!

The Common Yellowthroats and the Chipping Sparrows sang constantly, but I only had glimpses of them. This is the closest photo I had of either species:

Chipping Sparrow, momentarily out in the open

Other birds were in the vicinity as well--we had a glimpse of a Black-Billed Cuckoo and heard a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo sing several times. I never heard a Purple Finch singing, but they must be nesting nearby since I saw a small group of females.  This one stopped on a low branch for a minute until the others caught up; then they all flew away.

leading the way