Entries Tagged 'Birding Trips' ↓

Today I went on a field trip with my birding club to Starved Rock State Park to search for gulls and Bald Eagles on the Illinois River.

Once we got there we went up to the lock by the dam on this balcony overlooking the river. It was really windy but not as cold as yesterday’s below zero temperatures. There were tons of Herring Gulls and Bald Eagles. There were tons of different plumages of juvenile Bald Eagles. There were also a lot of Common Mergansers, a few Common Goldeneyes, one Redhead, a Red-breasted Merganser and some Canada Geese.

One of the trip leaders from my bird club Dan Williams spotted a Thayers Gull and I hurried to get a look. This was a life bird for me! I was very excited to finally see one.

We also watched a barge come into the lock. It was pushing and breaking ice to get in and as it was coming in gulls and eagles were swooping around catching and grabbing fish. It was really cool.

Although it was pretty cold, I was so glad that I went on the field trip.

One of the many Bald Eagles we saw - Photo by Birdfreak

Horse-drawn Wagon - Photo by Birdfreak

Yesterday we went to Williams Tree Farm to find the perfect Christmas tree. All the family rode on a “two-horse open wagon” out to where the trees were. The farm has many trees but also has eleven golden retreivers that live there! We got a Colorado Blue Spruce and will be decorating it on Friday. I cannot wait!

One of Eleven Golden Retrievers - Photo by Birdfreak

While we were out there we saw a Rough-legged Hawk and a bunch of Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows. We also looked for a reported Snowy Owl but did not find one. We did see Horned Larks and Snow Buntings along the road.

Last Saturday’s field trip was cancelled because of rainy gross weather. So I finally got to go birding today and it was so fun. I also posted about this on my local bird club’s website NCIOS.org. It is so cool that all the bird club members can write about their bird sightings on it.

We hiked at Rock Cut State Park. We got there around seven. Five birders went, including me. The five of us saw quite a few warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos(!).

It was kind of chilly but got warmer near the end of the hike and it was sunny. I had a great time.

Bird List

1. Blackburnian Warbler
2. Black-and-white Warbler
3. American Redstart
4. Black-throated Green Warbler
5. Tennessee Warbler
6. Nashville Warbler
7. Common Yellowthroat
8. Magnolia Warbler
9. Blue-headed Vireo
10. Red-eyed Vireo
11. Dark-eyed Junco
12. Northern Cardinal
13. White-throated Sparrow
14. Field Sparrow
15. Song Sparrow
16. Chipping Sparrow
17. American Goldfinch
18. American Robin
19. Swainson’s Thrush
20. Eastern Bluebird
21. Turkey Vulture
22. Great Blue Heron
23. Mallard
24. Canada Goose
25. Double-crested Cormorant
26. Belted Kingfisher
27. Pied-billed Grebe
28. Eastern Phoebe
29. Eastern Towhee
30. Ring-necked Pheasant
31. Black-capped Chickadee
32. House Wren
33. European Starling
34. Mourning Dove
35. Downy Woodpecker
36. Red-bellied Woodpecker</liL
37. American Crow
38. Blue Jay
39. Common Grackle
40. Cedar Waxwing

On the field trip I got to go on in Massachusetts I saw a LOT of great birds. We saw different types of terns, gulls, and lots of shorebirds. Total LIFERS for this trip? 24!!! Most of the lifers I saw are from this trip to South Beach, Cape Cod.

Sanderlings are one bird that I saw for the first time. I can’t believe how many different kinds of birds were out there. There was also a lot of them!

Sanderling - photo by Birdfreak

One of the coolest birds I saw was the Ruddy Turnstone. It is one of the best looking birds and it actually turns the rocks over and we got to see them doing that! We also saw a big Ruddy Turnstone battle, but no one was hurt.

Ruddy Turnston battle - photo by Birdfreak

NEW To My Life List

1. Greater Black-backed Gull
2. Lesser Black-backed Gull
3. Common Eider
4. Laughing Gull
5. Northern Mockingbird
6. Semipalmated Plover
7. Piping Plover
8. Black-bellied Plover
9. Common Tern
10. Least Tern
11. Roseate Tern
12. Arctic Tern
13. Black Skimmer
14. Ruddy Turnstone
15. Willet
16. Wilson’s Phalarope
17. Whimbrel
18. Peregrine Falcon
19. Snowy Egret
20. White-winged Scoter
21. American Oystercatcher
22. White-rumped Sandpiper
23. Red Knot
24. Sanderling

I saw Horseshoe Crabs and Gray Seals for the first time too. I had so much fun on this trip, I don’t remember another time that was so fun. I really got to explore and study a lot. My uncle took a lot of photos. I can’t wait to go on another birding trip!

Horseshoe Crab - photo by Birdfreak

Short-billed Dowitcher - photo by Birdfreak

Red Knots - photo by Birdfreak

I was allowed to join a field trip to the Cape Cod National Seashore off the coast of Massachusetts. We had to take a boat to reach the salt marsh and then even had to wade a bit to reach the island from the boat. It was very cool.

Me on the boat to see cool birds! - photo by Birdfreak

I got an amazing number of LIFERS - but you will have to wait until tomorrow to read more about them. This post is about the cool birders and bird bloggers I met while on this field trip.

I met a birder and bird blogger named Corey Finger of 10,000 Birds. The Arctic Tern we saw was new for both of us!!! Corey is a really good birder and a very nice guy. I enjoyed talking to him.

Corey of 10,000 Birds - photo by Birdfreak

Another bird blogger I met on this trip was Julie Zickefoose. We talked about Horseshoe Crabs and Piping Plovers. We also saw a lot of both of these on this trip. She was very nice to talk to and a super good birder.

I also met bird blogger Sharon or Birdchick. I thought she was really good at birding and was fun to be around.

Birdchick - photo by Birdfreak

Ben from 600 Birds and John from Born Again Birdwatcher were both really nice too. Another young birder, Helena from Adventures of Bird Girl was also there. It was exciting to be around all of these birders and a lot of them are also bloggers which was so great.

Ben and John - cool birders - photo by Birdfreak

There were three guys from Swarovski too, Rob, Dean and Clay. Clay was the main guy heading the field trip. They were so very nice to us. Rob looked for Horseshoe Crabs with me and we found a lot of cool things on the beach. We even waded in the shallow water and talked a lot. I like that all the great birders did not treat me like a little kid on this trip and made me feel like a part of the group.

Rob and Dean from Swarovski - photo by Birdfreak

Clay - photo by Birdfreak

the whole gang - photo by Birdfreak

I was so lucky to be able to go on this field trip. It was one of the most amazing trips I have ever gone on and I saw a ton of birds, including a lot of LIFERS!!

On Day six, Eddie hung out at Swarovski Optics and Grandpa and I hung out in Providence. We took the bus downtown and found an old arcade building that was really cool. But Grandpa and I wanted to find a real arcade so we kept looking and found a place called Dave and Busters at a huge mall called Providence Place. The arcade was closed, so we went to visit the capitol of Rhode Island.

The capitol was beautiful and made of all-white marble. The stairs and stairways were very neat. The library had a great spiral staircase that Grandpa could go up but I could not because it said: “No Children” so I was kindof mad. We saw the Senate and House of Representatives and other offices.

After the capitol visit, we did some more shopping. We ate lunch back at the mall and my Grandpa go Rhode Island’s Best Hamburger voted as the best for seven years in a row. We did some more shopping including some used book stores and bought books.

We didn’t bring a camera, but we had a great time. Oh, and I did get to go back to the arcade and played for awhile which was really neat!

We spent day five in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is small but full of great scenery and things to do. We were lucky to have great weather here.

We saw more Greater Black-backed Gulls at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge.

Greater Black-backed Gull - photo by Birdfreak

I spotted a bird flying….could it be? My THIRD LIFER - a Northern Mockingbird!! We saw Northern Mockingbirds a lot after that and I was so happy to see them.

Northern Mockingbird - photo by Birdfreak

We also found a large group of Double-crested Cormorants. Some of them were drying their wings and it was so neat to see them. We also found more snorklers. It looks like something I might want to try someday. Day five was very fun, hanging out in Rhode Island!

Day Four (July 29) we left Vermont and went through a small part of New Hampshire and on into Massachusetts.

Welcome to New Hampshire! - photo by Birdfreak

We found a really nice restaurant called Quabbin Woods Restaurant to eat breakfast. It was in Petersham, Massachusetts. Then we drove through Massachusetts, and into Connecticut and then into our fifth state of the day…Rhode Island!

Welcome to Rhode Island - photo by Birdfreak

Two years ago in fourth grade I did a report on Rhode Island for school. I was so excited to finally get to visit!

We first drove across a bridge to Conanicut Island. There was a great lighthouse and and I got my first look at the Atlantic Ocean!

We went to Beavertail State Park and we walked along a ridge that looked out to the ocean. We saw scuba divers, snorklers and my first of many LIFERS, Black-backed Gulls! My second LIFER of the trip I also saw here: a Common Eider! Then we went down this narrow, trail down to a rocky area near a beach. It was really cool.

We drove to Newport Island and found an Osprey nest. We did some shopping for souvenirs and then went to our motel in Middletown, Rhode Island.

Osprey’s Nesting - photo by Birdfreak

Our second night was spent in Ithaca, New York. In the morning (July 28) we visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. First we went into the visitor’s center. The visitor’s center had a library with tons of bird books. We hiked around and explored the area around Cornell. We saw two groups of smaller children learning in a class. The teachers had nets and buckets. I saw a Wood Thrush and heard an Ovenbird.

Me and Grandpa at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology - photo by Birdfreak

Checking out Cornell - photo by Birdfreak

After we left Cornell, we traveled to Albany, New York to visit the capitol. It was huge and beautiful. We saw the Senate and the House of Representatives.

photo by Birdfreak

I love the stairs and stairways in capitol buildings, they are very neat. The outside of the capitol looked kind of like a castle. We could only go three stories high, but it went up a lot higher.

Albany Capitol - photo by Birdfreak

After we left the capitol, we drove across the Hudson River on a really great bridge. We drove through Vermont and bought real maple syrup there.

Our third night we stayed in Brattleboro, Vermont.

On day two (July 27), we visited Presque Isle State Park and saw a really cool lighthouse. This was in Erie, Pennsylvania.

photo by Birdfreak

We left Erie, Pennsylvania and headed to Allegany State Park where Mon@rch (Tom) lives. Tom is cool and really smart. We met in the parking lot and went for a short hike to look for Prairie Warblers.

We didn’t find any Prairie Warblers but it was fun. We went to the park station to check it out. Then I got the chance to do something very exciting! I got to help Tom band five baby Eastern Bluebirds!! I took them out of the box, and even got to put a band on one of them. One baby pooped in my hand.

Mon@rch helping me band baby Eastern Bluebirds - photo by Birdfreak

I learned how to tell male and female babies apart by looking at the color of their wings. I found out that if the color is in between you record a U which means you can’t tell if it is male or female.

Baby Eastern Bluebird - photo by Birdfreak

Tom then took us to Thunder Rocks. The rocks were huge and fun to climb around on. One was in the shape of a dinosaur’s head and tried to eat me.

Photo by Birdfreak

Tom asked a guy to take a photo of us all together. It was a great way to end our visit, which was too short. I liked hanging out with Mon@rch and we all had the best time.

Eddie, Grandpa, Mon@rch (Tom) and Me