Flash Frog

I hiked pretty much all day today. From Napatree Point to West Greenwich I found trails. I also found vernal pools. The places I visited were places I'd never been (besides Nap). So I was pleasantly surprised to come across croaking wood frogs at multiple spots. I think this is going to be a very good year for them breeding.

I didn't sit and watch them too much today. After sitting with them for an hour yesterday, I didn't want to "waste" my day. However, I came across a pond at Nicholas Farm Management Area that was just chock full of frogs. So I gave myself ten minutes.

When I walked to the pool the ones closest to my shoreline scattered. However, after only a quiet couple of minutes they came right back. The light was bad so my flash popped up. I took a couple pics with the flash and liked how they came out. I think they are better than anything I took yesterday of frogs in the water.

Frogs never look as happy to see me as I am them

Frog Porn

A Visit with Wood Frogs

Because I had an "appointment" to have my friend Dave fix and teach me the proper  way to replace guides at 2:30, (thank you again!) I planned on birding some locations close to home for a change. The first place I went was Lime Rock Preserve in Lincoln. My highlight was a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks.

However, while I was walking back to my car, I heard the tell tale call of Wood Frogs. I found the vernal pool, sat my butt down on some wet moss and stayed for an hour listening and watching. To show for my efforts, I had one very wet ass, and some decent photos, and some new amphibious friends.

Morning Cloak

Some Deer in a field

Hairy Woodpecker

Royalty at the Cape Cod Canal

I went to the Cape Cod Canal today to search for the almost legendary King Eider. You may remember that I saw one last spring also. You may remember that, because I shamelessly overused a couple of the photos on multiple blog posts.  

   People have been taking the drive to the Canal for over a week. It was there last week when I went for the Tundra Swan and Snow Geese, I just knew I couldn't fit in all three chases in one afternoon. 

So I went today looking for King's. There have actually been two reported. One that was spectacularly bright and a duller younger male. I ended up finding the younger male. After I found it and watched it for a few minutes, I searched for the other one without success. In my search, I had multiple people asking me if I'd seen one. So I sent many people in the direction of the one that I found. 

Besides the King Eider, there were many species of sea ducks at the Canal today. The water was glass calm and the ducks were hugging the rocks. From my vantage point on the bike path, I got some great looks and really easy pictures.  Photos below. Most of the photos have not been cropped at all. The ducks were right along the bike path

For anyone interested in seeing the King Eider, here is where they were today. The one that I saw was near Pole 63. If you park at the Fishing Pier and go left, it is only about five poles down. The other one was reported to be under the Sagamore Bridge. I walked down to the bridge, but there was a guy fishing and there weren't any ducks around. No one I actually talked to saw the one under the bridge. However, the people that I talked with had others tell them they saw it. I suspect it was there earlier in the day. Those would be two good spots to start. 

Female Common Eider

Brant

Surf Scooter

Common Loon

King Eider

Male Common Eider

White Winged Scooter

Common Goldeneye

Female Eiders are actually quite
pretty close up

Goldstar

There is an online ticket selling service called Goldstar. As opposed to sites like Stub Hub that resell you tickets above face value, Goldstar sells tickets at a discount. The site gets tickets from venues such as theaters, sporting events, and concert venues. Then they sell them at a cheaper rate. The goal of the site is to get people to go to events that normally wouldn't.

For example, over the summer I went to see Brian Wilson (of Beach Boys fame) at Foxwoods. The face value of the seats I sat in ranged from $45-50. However, through Goldstar I got the tickets for $26. https://southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/search?q=brian+wilson 
I had no plans to go to Foxwoods, but when I got an email for twenty six dollar tickets to a musical genius, I was not passing that up.

Once you sign up, you will be bombarded with a couple of emails a day. I guess some people would consider this frustrating. I figure I get enough spam crap anyway, I may as well get fun ideas. When you sign up, you choose the city you are closest to. Then you can see what is going on in and around that city. For me, that is Boston. Although I'm not going to drive into Boston very often, they list a lot to do outside the city.  Like other ticket brokers, there is a "convenience charge". They usually add five dollars or so to a ticket. However, when you get a fifty dollar ticket for twenty dollars plus a five dollar fee, it doesn't feel too bad.

Believe it or not, they also have comp tickets. Yes that's right, free tickets. They are not completely free because of the added fee, however I've seen tickets that were comp (roughly five dollars) that have a face value of over forty dollars.

The reason I'm writing this post is a show Laurie and I went to on Friday night. I had gotten an email from Goldstar with upcoming events. One of those events was "The Buddy Holly Story" at the Hanover Theater in Worcester. I had wanted to go to it anyway, but never asked  Laurie. I bought two tickets from Goldstar for $20 each plus a $5.75 fee. So I got tickets to a Broadway show for twenty six dollars! The face value of our tickets was forty nine dollars (plus convenience charge).

Of course, with the discounted tickets you are not going to sit in the front row. You usually pick up the tickets at the Will Call window so you don't know where you will be sitting. At the Hanover I expected to be sitting in the balcony. This did happen. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be only five rows up. We were about as close to the stage as we were for Jersey Boys and I paid $71 for those tickets.

The Buddy Holly story was awesome. As much as I enjoyed Jersey Boys, I liked Buddy Holly better! The guy that played Buddy was awesome.  He was an unbelievable musician. I never would have gone if it weren't for Goldstar. I had a great night at a Broadway show for twenty six dollars a ticket.

Author's note- No I do not work for nor am I sponsored by Goldstar. It is free to sign up. You can look and browse events never buy anything. I wrote the post because I preach about having fun and getting off of the couch. I would feel guilty knowing a place that sells tickets at a discounted rate and keeping it to myself 

Patriotic Red Tailed Hawk Photoshoot

I went to the East Bay side of Rhode Island today looking for birds. Actively finding birds seemed a lot more fun than soaking Powerbait then pulling it out of the guts of a trout that would undoubtedly  swallow it.

I thought a pretty good omen fro the day was a Bald Eagle cruising over the highway five minutes from my house. It turned out to be one of three I saw today. The other two were at St. Mary's Pond, Portsmouth.

I also went to Sachuest today. There was a lot of bird activity there. I saw all three species of Scooters including my nemesis the White Winged Scooter. I also saw the Snowy Owl , not as close as last time I saw it but still quite a sight to behold.

The highlight of the day was a Red Tailed Hawk that had no fear of people. When I saw it, it was on top of the flagpole at the Visitor Center with people standing right under it snapping photos. It couldn't be bothered to care. From the flagpole it was actively hunting. Twice while I watched it, it flew down to attack voles and mice. After it failed from the flagpole, it moved to the top of a small cedar tree next to the parking lot. Needless to say, everyone was snapping photos including yours truly. Many photos below highlight list

Highlights for today

Sachuest- Red Tail, Snowy Owl, lots of sea ducks including hundreds of Surf Scooters

Boyd Marsh- Red Throated Loon

Driving on I-95 bald Eagle

St. Mary's Pond- 2 Eagles, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler

Red Throated Loon

Muscovy Duck (not wild, but swimming with wild ducks

Gree Winged Teal

Birds of the North

After doing absolutely nothing yesterday, I decided to get out today. There have been some "good birds" on the Massachusetts South Shore the last few days. I considered going to look for them yesterday, but I was on call from work. I didn't want to be an hour from home if we had an emergency at work, so instead, my head found my pillow and my eyes closed.

So after I got out of work today I made a beeline for Carver, MA. There has been a Tundra Swan at Atwood Reservoir. I had never been there, however, the good people at Massbird gave easy directions to the pond. The reservoir is in the middle of cranberry bogs. It is about a ten minute walk to the pond. I saw swans right away but they were not the one I was looking for. A guy coming from the other direction told me the swan was about a half mile walk around the pond. I thanked him and headed in that direction. Sure enough, there it was with a bunch of Canada Geese.  I got some pictures and watched it for twenty minutes or so. On my way back to my car, I also saw a Hermit Thrush.

Snow Geese

I hurried back to my car and made my way to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield. Four Snow Geese had been seen since at least Thursday. You know those days when you pull up to your fishing spot and the fish are blitzing right in front of you and no one is there? That is what today was like for me on the birding front. I pulled into Daniel Webster (DWWS, from here on out) and there was a turkey walking on slippery snow right in front of me. To my right, the four snow geese could be seen from the lot. I walked down the path and got some halfway decent pics of them. They flew off along with the flock of Canada Geese.

I walked the path to Fox Hill. DWWS has a lot of hawks that winter over there. I knew if I went up the hill I'd see some. Sure enough some Red Tailed and Northern Harriers were flying over the field. However one of the "harriers" didn't look right. It didn't have the white rump that is a telltale sign. It also looked chunky and had thick wings.

The reason was because it was a Short Eared Owl. It flew around getting closer and closer to me. It was actively hunting. After a few minutes it perched on a bluebird box about thirty yards from me.  It only made for proof pictures. However, in my spotting scope I could study its facial disk and even stare into its yellow eyes.

Heavily cropped picture of the Short Eared Owl

All in all, it was a hell of a lot more fun way to spend the afternoon than I did yesterday

Like Bobby Darin, this guy was slipping and sliding

Oh What a Night- Jersey Boys at the Hanover Theater

Last night Laurie and I went to the Hanover Theater to see the musical Jersey Boys. The show is about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It was my birthday present to Laurie (her birthday is March 21). However, I was so excited to give her the tickets, I gave them to her on Christmas.

I bought the tickets the day they went on sale to the public. We got fifteen row seats. The price was $71. I'm pretty sure that was a mid price level ticket with closer tickets more expensive. I bought them so long ago, it is tough to remember. As for parking, there were a couple of lots and a couple garages within two blocks of the theater. I didn't want to sit in a garage for an hour after the show so I paid $10 in a private lot. I have no idea the price of anything else.

This was our first experience at the Hanover Theater is Worcester. It is easy enough to get to off of I-290. It is less than a mile from the exit, although there is a tricky intersection to take a left at. The theater itself is fairly small. The seats aren't overly large, but they are nice and cushiony.  They do not let folks into the theater until about 15 minutes before the show. We have to wait in the lobby until the ushers open the curtains. I don't understand the logic to this. It just causes a mad rush to the seats by a thousand people instead of a trickle of folks at their own leisure. However, I don't pay the taxes on the building so I don't make the rules. Speaking of rules, cell phones and photography are prohibited, hence the picture of the ticket at the top left corner.

The show lasted roughly two and a half hours and was awesome. There is an intermission about an hour and fifteen minutes in. The show is narrated by  "Tommy Devito" one of the Four Seasons. He tells the story as they go through their history. They play all of  Frankie Valli's and Four Season's songs. One really nice thing was there wasn't really any set changes to sit through. When they went from one scene to another, it would take five seconds and the flow never stopped. The guys that played the Four Seasons were really talented. I can imagine the hundreds of hours of practice and rehearsals to get the footwork right for the songs.

If you saw the movie directed by Clint Eastwood, than you can almost mouth along with the dialog. The movie follows very closely the musical. I could remember many of the lines that were coming before they were spoken.  I wish I would have seen the musical before the movie only because I knew what was coming and it would have been a little more fun to not know what to expect. However, if I'd never seen the movie, I probably wouldn't have wanted to go to the musical, so I guess it worked out in the end.

This was my first experience with an actual Broadway show with a professional cast.. It was the first musical or play that I paid more than thirty dollars a ticket. I had said a year ago on this blog that I hadn't found a play/musical that I was willing to pay for an expensive ticket. That was before Jersey Boys came to town. I really wanted to see it. I anticipated buying the tickets for two weeks before they were made available to the public.  There was no letdown or disappointment. the show was awesome. I believe there are shows tonight(Friday), Sat, and two on Sunday.

http://www.thehanovertheatre.org/


Side note-  The people in the row behind us were extremely annoying. There was a couple that was to my left that talked, to my right were three women that talked many times. Finally the woman beside me told the people to the left to stop. I told the people to the right to stop talking. We each had to say it twice, but they were much quieter during the second half. The couple was in their sixties, and the three women  were late fifties. How the hell can you be that age and not have manners? Who brought these people up, were they not taught respect as kids? The lady beside me and myself basically had to gang up on these people to shut them up. I paid $71 a ticket to hear the show not them, and I'd feel the same way if I paid three dollars a ticket. Common sense and manners should not be a lot to ask. For the record, these were the only obnoxious people in the whole place. You could hear a pin drop in the entire seating area except for two different groups of assholes in the same row!

Mark Twain House

Believe it or not I went some place that did not involve birds. For months Laurie and I have had March 10 planned. We had a big day going to a Rock and Mineral show in Hadley, MA. Since we had such a long drive anyway, we decided to go to Hartford and go to the Mark Twain House also.

Twain (Samuel Clemens) lived in the house for seventeen years. He wrote the majority of his works in the house. The mansion is about a 40 minute drive from Springfield and 90 minutes from my house. We bought tickets online for the tour ($20), we were warned that they do sell out.. It is considered one of the top ten best historical houses in the country.

We went on the 2:30 pm tour. It lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. The guide was extremely knowledgeable about both the house and Twain.  There are three floors to the house. The guide took us to all three, however some of the rooms are blocked off. Many of the pieces of furniture are original to the house.

During the tour we learned a lot about Samuel Clemens. We learned more about his family life and his world views than about his literature. He had three daughters and a wife. We learned about their childhood, saw where they played and how they died. It was very interesting.

The only downside to the tour was that pictures are not allowed in the house. I could take all the shots I wanted of the exterior but none inside. The gift shop sold postcards for a dollar a piece. I got a couple of them for my photo album. Unfortunately the sky was a milky grey and not a bright blue so my photos were  not postcard quality either, so I bought a postcard of the exterior also.

If you like Mark Twain at all, I highly suggest you take the drive to Hartford. The mansion is huge and the architecture is off the charts. He wrote almost all of his famous works there so it really is truly historic. Twain considered the seventeen years there to be the happiest of his life. Regular tour tickets are $20 for an adult. They also have living history tours for $25. In these tours "someone" from Twain's life is your guide. There is a butler, a gossipy maid, his wife, and his daughter.  The house is only a few minutes off of Interstate 84 and very easy to get to.

Trustom Deer

Trustom Pond is becoming Sachuest Jr when it comes to seeing deer. I think I've seen deer there every time I've gone this winter (at least 5 times). Today I saw deer at three different parts of the refuge. Some will bound into the woods but others seem to have no fear. I figure, if the deer are going to pose for me, the least I can do is oblige them. Photos from Trustom Pond below

There were a lot of ducks on the pond. The majority
of these are Greater Scaup

Horned Grebe

Why Birds?

Dunlin

I suspect many of the (very few) followers of this blog would much prefer fishing reports than stories of days out birding. There are other things to do in the winter than go birding. Of course going for walks in the woods, snowshoeing when there is snow, and even open water fishing are possibilities. However, this year at least, on my days off my favorite winter activity is birding. But why?

First off, everyone has different reasons for their hobby. Some people have hobbies to relax, others for competition, to collect things, etc... Birding is no different. There are many reasons to go birding other than the obvious... to see birds. For example, I was talking to a guy last week who only started birding a couple years ago. He is in it for the numbers.  He was disappointed he didn't see anything "new" to add to the year list. He and his daughter told me "when daddy gets something new (a lifebird) we all celebrate. His goal is to see as many species as he can.

Also, it is called birding not bird watching. Bird watching is sitting at your kitchen table looking at birds in your yard. Its a passive past time. Birding is an active sport. You go looking for birds. Chases can mean long drives, hours in the woods or scanning a flock of ducks for an hour looking for "the one" that shouldn't be there. 

For me, the reason I go birding is more complex and a mixture of many reasons all added together. Every birder has a list. Some have many lists. If a birder so chooses, they can have a life list, year list, state list, county list, a town list, and a yard list. They can really keep any list they want, such as birds they have seen in each month through the years. Many birders have all of these. I think they do it to keep themselves interested.

 For me, I have lifelist (which I have never added up) and I keep a year list. Since I keep track of my year birds on a Rhode Island website, when I see a bird in another New England state I write it in a notebook. That's as far as I go. I don't have a county list or anything else that detailed. I find the lists to be a hindrance to enjoying myself. Last week I saw some Ring Necked Ducks at Stony Brook in Norfork, MA. Ring  Necked Ducks are a cool duck that I only see a few times a year. But one of my thoughts was "I wish I saw these in Rhode Island so I could add it to my online RI website list"  It is things like that I try to avoid and just enjoy the beauty of a wild animal.

This does lead to my main reason I go birding. They are wild animals. I think that is really lost on people when they think birding is boring.  Birds are wild animals just the same as bears, wolves, and moose. Birds being small, and most somewhere in the middle of the food chain have much more difficult time surviving than the glamour mammals that people hope to see on vacation. When I think about how difficult their migrations are, how so many other animals (including other birds) want to eat them, it makes it easy to appreciate them as I would a coyote.

My reasons for birding also change throughout the year as does technique. when I go in the winter I am primarily looking at ducks and birds of prey with some small birds mixed in. I usually have "target species at specific spots, for example the Lesser Black Backed Gull at Ninigret. Usually my winter birding hits multiple spots, some just a quick scan of the binoculars. The only places I hike are Sachuest (East Bay) and Trustom (South County).

The spring and fall are completely different. In May, the best month for migration, I will spend hours at one place. Last spring I walked the trails at Hellcat at Parker River NWR multiple times in the same morning. I have no list or targets. I just enjoy the collide-o-scope of colors in the woods. Frankly, seeing a specialty doesn't mean that much to me. I just enjoy being there. Seeing all the Magnolia Warblers and Redstarts is just fun. Of course I like seeing the less common Orchard Orioles and Chestnut Sided Warblers, but not just to add another species to the list but because they are also colorful.

Late Summer and Fall birding for me means shorebirds. I will go to Charlestown Mudflats and Napatree to  see the shorebirds. Again, I have no list and just happy to be there. I do not get bored seeing the very common sandpipers and plovers. If a rarity shows up, then I'm as happy as anyone, but if not,I still enjoy my time on the flats. I have also found that if I sit still many of the shorebirds will come within a few feet of me allowing for some great pictures.

Lastly, part of it is the competitiveness of finding "good birds". The competition (for me) isn't really with others or myself, it's with the birds. Finding some of the less common birds feels like a good accomplishment. I'm not even saying rare, just ones you don't see everyday like the above Ring Necked Duck or a Red Shouldered Hawk. I've seen two Scarlet Tanagers and one Indigo Bunting in my life. Both beautiful birds both somewhat common especially in migration. Seeing them was something I will never forget.

My favorite duck is a Pintail. Whenever I see them, I always take time to enjoy watching them. Just because I have already added them to my list does not change the fact they are a "good" bird for me. I try not to make it about "the next bird" as a lister would but the more important one I'm looking at now.

Birds aren't easy to find compared to big mammals. For instance, there is a little ground hopping warbler called an Ovenbird. They are very common in spring. Some migrate through while others stop here. I see them in multiple places I go. Their song is one that even I recognize. However, I see one at a time. On the other hand, many big animals live in packs. I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty I have seen more bighorn sheep in my life than I have Ovenbirds. I see Ovenbirds every spring multiple places yet I have only seen Bighorn Sheep about ten different days in my whole life. When you put it into that perspective seeing a single uncommon bird has more significance than the big cool mammals that cause roadblocks in national parks. Sometimes seeing a really cool bird such as a Snowy Owl (or any owl), Bald Eagle, or Scarlet Tanager has the same awe inspiring affect of seeing a moose does.

Seeing the Long Tailed Duck in the Charlestown Breachway last month was awesome for every reason I wrote above. They are not uncommon but you have to search them out so it is a feeling of accomplishment. There are places in Mass where they are easy to see year in and year out. Yet in RI, I have gone to Beavertail (the hotspot) a dozen times before seeing a flock. Then a week later, I saw the one in the breachway not 20 feet from me. It was so cool. Then when you see the little guy wearing his winter suit and earmuffs, well, he is downright adorable.

I'm sure I could come up with more reasons why I enjoy birding. Bottom line is I love being outside, like fishing, birding is being outside with a goal. I may never convince others that birding is a fun sport. That was not my goal for this post. I just wanted to give a better understanding to those that think it is boring, why I don't.