PILEATED, PALM WARBLER & TURTLES

Grey day, but warm and a pleasant wind.  Too much to paddle, though, given my shoulder.  Hard raking, too!  :-)
Several interesting sightings recently:

• A pileated woodpecker moving through the dead trees along the shore of the pond
• A pair of wood ducks
• Several phoebes, some snagging mosquitoes and other bugs from over the pond, some doing their territorial call around our house, some sitting in branches
• Two Palm Warblers - beautiful birds!  We have seen them only once before.  Very bright yellow breast and belly, with some rufous lines on the breast along the wings, a rufous cap and yellow stripes above and below the eyes.  The thing that called my attention to them, instead of, "Oh, its just a goldfinch", was the bird bobs its tail continuously!  They are not feeder birds, but may be seen on the ground or in the pine trees.  They are in migration, heading further north.
• Juncos are still here
• Haven't seen the bluebirds recently, but also haven't been at my desk where I see them in the morning
• MANY Painted Turtles today!  Linda thought the log looked funny; that was because there were 10 turtles on it.  I went to take some pictures and discovered that there were 40+ on the three logs up stream a bit on the pond.  I spooked the 10 on the initial log, but some came back.  

I count about 40 here!

7 of the original 10

HAIKU FOR A COLD SPRING DAY

Haiku have always fascinated me; I love the 5, 7, 5 rhythm of the syllables and the minimalist nature of the poems, and of course, the twist of the last line.  NPR was reading from a haiku contest for Cherry Blossom Weekend in DC this morning, and it got me thinking in haiku today...

A grey cloudy sky,
The sleet's hard and stings my face.
Hmmm... it's mid-April? 

Yes, there's sleet and cold,

But it's a beautiful day -

There are daffodils.

A goose on her nest,

The osprey dives for dinner,

Our pond is alive.

This next one had several last lines; ultimately I went with the chuckle of this one.  So often I feel like I hit a shell.

Bright sun on the pond.

My paddle dips the water.

Whoops. Thwacked a turtle.

OK, OK... how about this, then:

Bright sun on the pond.

My paddle dips and rises,

As my mood goes up.

Check the comment area for haiku from other authors.
Share YOUR nature haiku!!  Leave one in the comments area.

FIRST PADDLE OF SEASON

Finally got myself out on the pond today!  Went for a paddle with a friend who hadn't seen our wonderful pond.  She got a great introduction!  We hadn't even pulled away from shore when a muskrat came motoring down the pond; we got a great view.   Then we headed toward the dam and there was a heron fishing at a snag.  Another great view!  Two fishermen were on the shore.   There is a new muskrat lodge on the south side of the pond and the one I was watching last fall is looking rather disreputable and unused.  We paddled up pond to the mouth and there was a pair of Canada geese, one on the nest and one guarding.  

All of that was a pretty good series of sightings, then we spotted an osprey!  When it first flew across the pond, I only got a quick glimpse and I assumed red-tailed hawk, but it flew like a gull...  Then it landed and I got my binocs on it and it was an osprey - beautiful!  Somewhat small - perhaps a male.  We got to watch it for a long time and saw it dive into the water twice.  Missed both times.  Then we lost sight of him.  Came around a corner and he was on a branch looking out over the water.  He saw us and flew.  Later Carol called to say that there was a bird she couldn't see well enough to identify, with a black and white head, in the tree between our houses.  I went outside and it was the osprey and he had finally caught some dinner!  

On a not-so-good note, the pond scum is coming up from the bottom and floating on top already.  I saw, but couldn't reach, several water chestnut nuts today, too.

At the feeder: Juncos are still here, we have bluebirds in the feeder and the white-throated sparrows are calling.  Those are the oddities.  Otherwise, normal bird sounds.  Linda and I were out on the porch for "first bird" this morning.  We like to sit in the dark and wait while the sky lightens and we hear that first bird call!  It is usually a robin.  GORGEOUS Coopers hawk on the branch outside the kitchen window yesterday!  So much to watch around here.  :-)

So what are YOU seeing?????

SCREECH OWL UPDATE

(Info updated)
First of all, it is a truly gorgeous night!  I stood out with the neighborhood screech owl for about 20 minutes, until it started getting a bit too dark.  

I was walking Blake and heard a screech doing its trill call and I knew that the owl had been sitting in its hole, so I walked down that way to see if it was the owl in the hole calling, or a second one.  I couldn't tell!  I watched the owl in the hole for a long time - it must be a ventriloquist!  

I walked beyond the tree, where it couldn't see me, but I could watch where the hole is and could see if it flew.  I heard the calling from that direction, but it was very quiet, so it sounded far off.  I gradually moved to where I could see the owl again, but still couldn't tell if it was calling or if it was another bird.  Its mouth wasn't moving at all.  Finally, I saw it!  The throat collapsed when the sound stopped!  I also saw it move its head and open the eyes wide and look at something.  

I still have more questions than answers!  Is there a female with eggs is the biggest question?!!  Time to go do some more research. 

Had a red-winged black bird at the feeder today, the bluebirds are still here and the juncos haven't left yet. 

LATER...  Too funny.  I'm reading the info on Cornell, Birds of North America site (wonderful, detailed info!) http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/165/articles/sounds
and it said:

"Adults sing faintly inside nest cavities or close to family members and may seem ventriloquistic"

Another interesting tidbit from that page:

"Monotonic Trill is pair and family-contact song, variously called Bounce, Tremolo, Secondary Song, Warble (Gehlbach 1994c). It is mostly on a single pitch, 3–6 s long, but may rise or fall slightly at the end. Male trills when advertising nest site, courting, and arriving at nest with food; female trills to induce fledging."

And:

"Males and their incubating-brooding mates sing antiphonally day and night, whereas neighboring males sing synchronously at night (Monotonic Trills). Male trills are more frequent closer to sunset and become shorter as nesting progresses. Nesting males mostly give Monotonic Trills, postbrooding females give more Descending Trills and predator-recognition calls, but males increase Descending Trills and calls after fledging. Trills are more frequent during gibbous and full moons and before stormy weather. Male’s voice stimulates female vocalizing (Gehlbach 1994c)."

 Apparently they have many more vocalizations than the trill, whinny and screech.

"Hoots are the same pitch but sometimes descend slightly; they denote mild alarm at intruders and potential predators. Bark is a loud, single, high-pitched hoot given by more anxious individuals likely to attack. Screech is a single loud, piercing or grating call by agitated owls, often during physical defense of nests or fledglings, and can resemble a squawk or scream; it has many variants. Rasp is a rough grating call, usually falling in pitch; nestlings use it as a food-begging call, and adult females use apparently the same Rasp in food-begging during courtship. Chuckle-Rattle is a rapid 3–4 note call, accented on the last note which may be higher pitched. In mobbed adults, it may be longer and grade into a high-pitched cackle; Chuck-Rattle signifies intra- (nestling) or inter (adults) specific annoyance at benign intruders."

Also learned that the females, even when brooding, will sit in the hole for a short time and take a break.  Will also leave at dusk and sometimes dawn, to bath, eliminate waste, eat.

BEAVER SCULPTURE

Ever notice how nature is infinitely interesting?  The "Beaver Sculpture" left and below is just off to the left of the access road to the Willis Pond public area.  I don't know if the tree was cut off before or after the beaver tried to cut it down.  Anyone know?  Sure is intriguing! (Obviously not SMPond or Hop Brook, but it is nearby!)

BRILLIANT SUNRISE

Brilliant doesn't really describe the sunrise this morning and pictures never do it justice...
Morning such a beautiful time; I feel blessed that I have to get out in the morning to walk the dog.  This morning, at about 6:15, I took him out for a second walk as Linda was leaving, and the sky was just beginning to be red.  When we turned around to come back in, my breath was taken away by the brilliant sky!

All of the birds are beginning to claim their territory and it's quite cacophonous first thing in the morning.  As we stepped out of the house today, we were greeted by the calling of our resident Carolina Wren, sitting in a tree right close to the door. Linda & I call the Carolina Wren the "teakettle" bird because it says, "Teakettle, teakettle, teakettle, tea."  They are amazingly loud for such a small bird -- sure gets your attention!   Our Teakettle bird always leads the way in the morning.  If I remember correctly from last year, later the robins will sing first.

Saturday morning Blake & I were greeted by the calling of a Great Horned Owl.  Nice...  I do like to listen to the owls.  We are still hearing and seeing our little Eastern Screech Owl.  We are hoping that there are two of them and one is tending a nest in that hole!

SNOW, FORSYTHIA AND A PLETHORA OF BIRDS

It was snowing while Blake and I were on our walk, but look at what we saw!!!

 A sure sign of spring, right!

The back bird feeding area is right outside the window and is very distracting as I am trying to work...  I look up from the computer and there is a Carolina wren.  Gotta switch glasses, grab the binocs and take a look.  It is so cute!  The Carolina is the first bird we hear in the morning right now - he sits on the porch and claims his territory!

So this morning I saw, goldfinch (quite a few!) and the males are turning yellow, a lone robin trying to find something satisfying, the male of our cardinal pair, the Carolina wren, a male bluebird, 3 blue jays, quite a few juncos, 3 mourning doves, a pair of nuthatches, a pair of chickadees, a male & a female downy woodpecker, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a pair of tufted titmice.  I can also see the pond from here and there was a male common merganser.  Busy place at that moment!