I'll Sleep in June

Tadpole at Trustom

I had Friday and Saturday off from work this week, and I played hard. My "weekend" started Thursday night when my friend Laurie and I went out to eat at a place in Lincoln, RI called The Lodge. It was a spur of the moment idea. The food was very reasonably priced ( I got a 16 oz prime rib for 14.99). Just as importantly it was delicious. I do not like chain restaurants so to find this locally owned establishment was awesome.

Since I stayed out kind of late Thursday, Friday morning came early for me. Both days I planned on birding during the day, then fishing after supper time. I started my day at Ponaganset Road in Foster, RI. This place for reasons I don't know, is an excellent place to see spring migrants. I ended up seeing a Broad Wing Hawk and Yellow Rumped Warblers there.

 Then I took a fairly long ride to Atlantic Ave in Westerley, RI. There was a Eurasian shorebird there the day before called a ruff. I managed to see it, but did not report it since none of the "experts" would have believed me.

 From there I went to Trustom Pond. I was doing a sort of "Big Day". Doing a  normal big day would

The deer did not move at all.
It assumed, if it stayed still I
wouldn't see it

mean seeing as many species as you can. Not spending much time in any one spot.  I was trying to see as many new spring migrants as I could. I wasn't worried about time. I wasn't trying to see as many species as I could. For example, I have seen many Great Egrets this spring, they are pretty common in salt marshes, yet I didn't see any on Friday. I didn't go out purposely looking for any because I had seen them this year.

Trustom was pretty good to me. I saw new for the year or for RI, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Kingbird, and Yellow Warbler. My kingbird was the first to be reported in RI this year (many others on Saturday were reported). I also saw other cool things such as a deer, tadpoles, towhees, and ruddy ducks.

After I left Trustom, I hit multiple spots on the shore. I looked for ducks and shorebirds at Succotash Marsh. Then I went for a walk in Narragansett. As of writing this, I lost the paper I kept track on. I think for the day I ended up with 42-43 species. I got six new species for RI on the day including the Ruff.

I then drove north to do some fishing in Warwick RI. I went to the same spot I went on Wednesday night where I got three keepers. I couldn't go Thursday because Laurie was over. My friend Dave went and the fish were in big time. He caught five times what I caught Wednesday. So it was a no-brainer to go back Friday. The conditions were the same, except, no fish. I fished for two hours without a bite. I couldn't stay till dark because I was plain old exhausted. If the fish would have been there, Id have stayed. They weren't so I left about 7:15.

I got up even earlier on Saturday. Ocean State Bird Club had a walk at Great Swamp in South

Members of the Ocean State Bird Club.
All the orange is because it is turkey season and hunting
is legal at Great Swamp

Kingston, RI from 7-11 am. Since I have only been a member for two weeks, I did not show up fashionably late. I mistimed the distance, so left a little later than I wanted but still pulled into the parking lot at 7:01.

The bird walk was a wicked lot of fun.There were probably twenty participants ranging from late teens to seventy. We did not see any really rare birds. All total, I counted thirty five birds. There were a couple others heard but not seen, ovenbird and yellowthroat. Some people counted them but I did not. Counting heard birds is "legal" in the birding world because you identified it. I wanted to see both species so I don't count heard birds. I got another five birds for the year on the walk. They are American Redstart, Warbling Vireo, Blue Winged Warbler. The other two were new for RI, but not I had seen them in MA, Swamp Sparrow and Field Sparrow. Although not considered rare, I think the Blue Winged Warbler is a life bird for me. Many others got a  Black and White Warbler as a lifer.

I really enjoyed the walk. The people were super friendly. Although some of the people including the leader were true experts, I did not find anyone to be a "bird snob". As most walks do, this one ran late. We got out of the woods at 11:25. Some folks went up the street to eat lunch. They invited me,

Glossy Ibis

which I thought was a nice gesture, but I declined. I had other places I wanted to go.

After leaving the nice people from the OSBC, I went to Jamestown Marsh. My goal was to see a Glossy Ibis. Glossy Ibis are an awesome wading bird. I usually see them randomly somewhere during the year, but hadn't yet this year. I am happy to say that at Jamestown Marsh, there were five today. I watched them for fifteen minutes eating in the shallows.

From there I went to Miantonomi Park in Newport. There was another rare bird there. A Summer Tanager. It is a beautiful red bird. I looked in vain for forty five minutes around 1:30. Around 4 pm, I saw a report that it was still there. So, I guess it was hiding from me.

After my unsuccessful chase, I worked my way up the East Bay. I stopped at Seapowet in Tiverton. I went for a walk at Rueker Wildlife Sanctuary. My last stop was the big field at Pardon Gray. I then drove home, where I at a salad and was off again in twenty minutes.

I met my friend Dave at our predetermined fishing spot. After the bad fishing Friday, the plan was to
leave if the fish were not there. Dave was going to check another good spot on a dropping tide. I was going to meet Laurie and watch a movie about 8 pm. I can't believe it, but the spot was fishless for a second night in  a row under perfect conditions. We worked the whole shoreline for well over an hour. True to our words, we left. Dave found a couple small fish at his next location. I enjoyed a sub with Laurie and kept my eyes open through the movie.

Tree Swallow at Pardon Grey

I'm not sure what my plans are next Friday. However, Saturday is the first weekend in May. A lot is going on. For me to do everything I want to do, I need to leave my house at 4 am. Like I said, I'll sleep when there is less going on during the summer!