When life gets in the way...

 I am not a fan of real life getting in the way of my nature. The last month has been really hard since Laurie has had some serious medical issues which lead to a broken foot. She has been in either a hospital or rehab (not drug rehab) since July 15th. So if you are wondering why I haven't written much, I've spent almost all of my time either working, sleeping, or visiting. 

   While none of us wants to deal with health issues of our own or loved ones, I realized something... when I'm birding, fishing, hiking, etc... for me it is real life. I don't look at those things as something I do when I can but rather something I need to do to be human. It was an interesting realization, but I think it is probably true for anyone passionate about their hobbies. Our hobbies are just as important to us as our jobs, wealth and maybe even family and health. I mean, when I was injured, I can't tell you how many times I dreamed of albies or how heartbreaking it was for me when I couldn't chase a rare bird. Health first, yes, but then love life.

 Anyway, I have gotten to sneak off a couple of times since July 15. I figured I'd share a few photos of some cool things that have been around

 

 I've actually gotten two lifers since Laurie got hurt. The first was the famous Flamingo that has been vacationing in the Northeast. I got to see it on the first day it was in Rhode Island. My phone blew up with reports of it from everyone that knows I'm a birder. Today I got to see a  Lark Bunting. This is a midwestern bird. It was in Norton and I went to it after visiting Laurie right before dark. Weird, everyone told me about the Flamingo, but no one has sent me messages about a Bristol County first bunting. On a downside, I didn't have a memory card in my camera today.

  Last week I went snorkeling and seining with Allison O'Connor and seining with Louise. This is the time of year when tropicals get lost in the Gulf Stream and make it to New England. The day did not disappoint. The only bad part of the day was I dipped on catching a Dogfish at Fort Adams despite hearing they are so plentiful they are a nuisance. 

The most beautiful fish I saw was a Beau Gregory. They are a stunning tropical fish that I saw snorkeling. I don't have an underwater camera so I didn't get any photos.

Crevalle Jack

Mojarra species

Pompano

Permit

Same Permit

   I've been leaving my minnow trap in the water hoping to catch this little native. It is a Banded Sunfish (in bad light). It took weeks of baiting it up everyday. It only had any species of fish a few times but it had crawfish every time I checked it. One day when I threw the crawfish back in the water a Bullfrog that I hadn't seen hopped over and devoured it. So after that whenever I caught crawfish, I always threw one over to my new friend. I fed it all summer. 

Below is the friendliest Buff Breasted  Sandpiper ever. For three days it would walk right up to anyone sitting still. It got so close to me I could have pet it. 

This morning I went and saw baby Diamondback Terrapins as they were hatching. With the addition of the Terrapins and the lifer Lark Bunting I am up to 381 New England vertebrates for the year

Short Bigeye

 

Both photos by P Carl

   Today I got another lifer and it was a tropical fish that most certainly got caught up and took a ride on the Gulf Stream. The species is known as a Short Bigeye. They get to twelve inches or so. When they are adults they live in six hundred feet of water on the Continental Shelf in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It stands to reason that the big eye is so they can find food in the deep  almost dark water of the deep

   As with many of these southern species, I had never heard about them until a couple weeks ago. They have been showing up in Rhode Island and on Facebook. Apparently, enough got swept up the coast that people have been running into them.

   Thursday I got a phone call from my friend Carlos that he was seeing a bright orange tropical fish. I had remembered seeing this fish on Facebook and sent a photo to him and my friend Sue and that is what they thought they saw.

 

Today I went to the mudflats looking for birds and hoping the fish were there. I brought my seine just in case. Myself, Sue, Carlos, and another birder named Carl caught six of them in one swoop of the seine. We took a bunch of photos though mine are terrible. Luckily, Carl took a lot of photos and many came out great. The two photos in this post are his.

   Juvenile tropical fish end up dying when the water temps drop in the fall. They don't have a chance to make it back into warm water. Because of this, the fish we caught today were donated to a local aquarium. This way the fish get a second chance at life and the public gets to see them.

Saw two new birds today. Up to 372 species.