Sunday, March 29, 2015

Birding southern Rhode Island

Friday. I did some birding in South County Rhode Island. I hit many spots and had a good time. I am not sure how to report my birding trips. Clearly if I list every species I see the reader will get bored. I know you could care less if I see mallards, geese, and robins. Also reading a list is boring and your mind is going to wonder. So I'll only post number of species I saw. I'll list the good birds and any memories.

I started at the overlook at Cards Pond. I was hoping for, and rewarded by northern pintail ducks. Then I went to Moonstone Beach. I looked into Trustom Pond. I wanted to see the snowy owl that has been reported but no luck.

Then I went to the Trustom Pond parking area. The feeders attract many species. I saw 15 different species. Some of the good birds were house finch, goldfinch, downy woodpecker, American tree sparrow, and white throated sparrow. Even better were 2 fox sparrows. Two hairy woodpeckers had been reported. I hung out until one showed up. I studied it and made sure I could tell the difference from them and a downy.

I ended up with a migraine so I took an hour nap at my next destination. I ate lunch and slept at Charlestown Breachway. I didn't see anything there.
I checked out Perry Pond and saw wood ducks and green wing teal. They are such a pretty bird.
Lastly I went back to Trustom. I was going to sit at the bird feeder but a guy coming back told me the snowy owl was on the rocks in the middle of the pond. I got my scope and hoofed it to Osprey Point. The Snowy was just sitting there. I was so excited to se it. Besides being a life bird, it is such an awsome bird. All of the sudden it started tearing apart what I thought was a rock. It turns out the black "rock" was a duck it had killed. I watched it eat for half an hour. The owl wasn't close, but in the scope, I could see the owl's eyes and blood on the chunks of meat. What an experience.

I ended the day with four deer. I saw about forty species for the day. Many were first of the year birds, including an osprey.  I got the lifebird, but it wasn't about numbers. It was about seeing wild animals and the experience.

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