We spent all day Sunday on dirt roads bisecting land owned by various paper companies – no electrical or phone lines, no cell towers, nothing but miles and miles of forest. I’d about had it by noontime, when this really started to feel like birding boot camp, but things picked up and the weather finally cleared and the darn bugs gave it a rest.
😉
Plus, there were new wildflowers and other nerdy people to enjoy them with.
Viper’s Bugloss: a pretty roadside weed. That gorgeous shade of blue gives away its place in the borage family.
Scott thigh-deep in ferns trying to call in Barred Owls: no luck, but he managed to really t-off a family of Sapsuckers. They are very excitable birds!
We found a real treat late in the day; begging calls from a dark swampy place off the side of the road led us to this baby Black-backed Woodpecker. If you squint your eyes you can see one of the parents feeding it at the nest entrance. Click on the pic! We also had really nice looks at Ruffed Grouse – a hen with two chicks along the side of the road.
Dogbane was just coming into flower and drew in this Atlantis Fritillary…
and lots of Clearwing Moths which are impossible to photograph well, I think.
Prettiest bird of the day was this singing Mourning Warbler – a gorgeous and cooperative male photographed by Scott. You knew already I didn’t take that pic, right?
😉
At day’s end, I guilted the others into the obligatory group shot. Note Spencer in the foreground snapping up bugs!
Looks like a great day!
The Mourning Warbler must have been a real treat.
I had to do some research. I had never heard of (much less seen) a Black-backed Woodpecker. Sounds like a great birding day.
Wow, the mourning warbler is fantastic. I need that on my life list.
I was thinking that the picture of Scott calling owls looked like spruce bark scaling from Black-backed or Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers! Neat to see them nesting.
Birding boot camp- LOL! I’ll have to remember that phrase. I’m usually one of the first in the group to “hit the wall”.
Good ol’ Spencer. Looks like a great group too. It’s tough to wrangle them in for those group shots.
I need to look up the origin of the name Viper’s Bugloss.
Love that photo of the baby woodpecker being fed! What a fun trip you had Laura.
Liza: It was, yeah.
John: It was… I’d only had peaks at one in the Adirondacks before.
NCMountainWoman: Yeah… they don’t look like much, do they?
Cedrorum: They’re gorgeous birds. Nice song, too.
Lynne: lol! We were kept on such a short leash you know.
Patrick: Spencer is the greatest little dog and has such adventures.
😉
Viper’s Bugloss: bugloss means “ox-tongue” in ancient Greek and refers to the red stamens. (Had the guide handy.)
Ruthie: Pretty fun, yeah.