A Mixed Bag

I got up early this morning to go birding. My goal was not to waste precious daylight driving and to be at my first destination at first good light. I didn't get to my first spot exactly when I wanted to, but I was within fifteen minutes of my goal time. 

My first stop was Lake Tiogue in Coventry. There have been Tundra Swans there for almost a week, but I had yet to see them because I am not old enough to retire. When I pulled up I saw two swans right away. I put my binoculars on them and they had the black bill and the yellow under the eyes of the Tundra Swans. 

 From Tiogue I went south. My next stop was in South Kingston to look for the Least Bittern. Least Bittern is a small wading bird. They are not very common anywhere. They are alos very hard to see because they blend in well with the marsh grass. The one in South Kingston has been very cooperative for photographers. It hangs out about 25 feet from a small bridge, sometimes right in the open for hours.  It was not so cooperative today. I did see it but stayed well hidden in the Phragmites. I could see it with my scope and binoculars but only little pieces of it at a time. Others were there also, I looked through their scopes but we all had the same view.

Just as it was coming out to feed, this Great Blue Heron flew in scaring the bejesus  out of the little Least Heron. The Least took off running through the grass. I went back two more times hoping it would come out of hiding, but it never did.

 In the area of the Least Bittern I came upon a cooperative crow while driving

After I left the crow I tried for a few other species without any luck. I went looking for the Fox Sparrow under Trustom's feeders but it wasn't there. I was told someone saw a Wood Thrust at Trustom also, but I'm sure it was long gone by the time I half heartedly looked for it. Lastly I tried for the Evening Grossbeaks that were at Burlingame a couple weeks ago. Again I struck out.

I did find the American Bittern at Trustom. It was flying around the pond. As I was driving back to look for the Least, I drove by a lady with her camera on a tripod. I looked out into the field and saw the same Barred Owl I saw two weeks ago. This time it was in a tree a lot closer than last time. I took a few dozen pictures of it.

On my way home I stopped in Narragansett looking for gulls but there weren't very many on the beaches. This worked out for me because I got home before the rush hour traffic. All in all, I had a good day. I didn't see all of the birds I wanted but had great views of the Tundra Swan and Barred Owl. I saw a Blue Winged Teal on a pond. I saw two different species of Bittern so I'm not complaining.