Monday dawned cold -- Headed to the Ocean to see an old guy who grabbed a surfboard and headed out -- but he used a paddle. I think his knees were not good at getting him from lying on the board to standing. Lots of gulls, shore birds & Long-tailed Ducks
Old Surfer
Long-tailed Ducks
Succotash Marsh was mostly swollen with water.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Had a lovely ride in the Great Swamp -- beautiful snow & birds
Eastern Bluebird
White-breasted Nuthatch
Snow
Other dribs and drabs
Red-breasted Merganser, Charlestown Breachway
Dunlin, Charlestown Breachway
American Tree Sparrow
Horned Lark, Misquamicut State Beach
Started in Newport on Tuesday and while I was trying to attach my scope to my car window, it got jammed and I needed to find a hardware store for pliers. While I was waiting for one to open, I drove over to Third Beach and on the way -- I saw the Short-eared Owl flyby and go down in that Marsh. I waited for about 10 minutes for it to come up again, to no avail. No great photos or great birds that day.
Wednesday started with some snowy residue, had a few good Ducks at Perry Pond, but not much else.
Canada Goose & Female Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Matunuck Beach Drive - Flooded
On Thursday I headed to Colt State Park in Bristol -- was hoping to find the Female Barrow's Goldeneye that has been "hanging" there. No luck! But here is what I did see...
Common Loon
Common Goldeneye
On the way home there was a report of a Redhead at Perry Pond. I found a couple of them.
Male (left) & Female (right) Redhead
Male Redhead
Female Redhead
Male Redhead
Friday was a long and productive birding session -- my favorite bird of the day was the Little Gull. I didn't think I got any photos, because my focus setting was to the far right, but I managed a few photos that are good enough for an ID. I started the day at Spray Rock lookout in Weekapaug looking for the Little Gull, but saw only Bonaparte's
Initially thought this was a Shearwater, but realized that I was looking at it backwards and it is a Red-throated Loon flying away from me.
Bonaparte's Gull, Weekapaug
Little Gull, South Kingstown Town Beach
Tufted Titmouse, Great Swamp
Red-tailed Hawk, Great Swamp
Horned Grebe, Charlestown Breachway
Cooper's Hawk, Dunn's Corners Road
Red-shouldered Hawk, Watch Hill
Lots of rain and wind on Saturday morning, so I started at Spray Rock in Weekapaug, but didn't stay long because the parking spaces were in the Splash zone. The waves were crashing and the Bonaparte's Gulls were flying.
Bonaparte's Gull
The second stop was Camp Cronin -- I arrived to an empty parking lot, but 1/2 of it was littered with big stones tossed in by the waves. I managed to find a fairly dry spot and tucked in. Shortly after this video, a Dovekie flew by.
The parking lot filled up in the 30 minutes I spent here and the fog came in. This it what it looked like just before I left.
Off to Scarborough Beach to see if there are Black-headed Gulls in residence and there was a lovely little immature one.
Black-headed Gull
Sea Foam piles up at Scarborough Beach
Big tree branch down on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road
Bald Eagle, Avondale
The day ends with a Rainbow
I went out birding this morning despite not feeling 100%, so I didn't stay out too long. I did finally do something I've been thinking about for some time. I have a e-trike that I haven't used much because unbenounced to me it was less of a bike and more of a mobility device. The first time I used it I messed up my knee because the seat can't go high enough for me to pedal effectively. It's sat in my Garage for a few years and a few weeks ago I decided to see if I could get it to work for me.
As you might imagine, it was a bird that motivated this. There has been a Western Flycatcher in Burlingame Campground since November 20th. It's at least a mile walk to get out there and it's been cold (add multiple excuses here), so I haven't braved it. But it's a paved road, so I should be able to use the e-trike to get there.
Today I made sure the battery was fully charged (my biggest worry after 2 years of no use) and took a 2 mile test ride through the neighborhood. I had more than 1/2 the battery left when it was done -- so that will work. The next step is to see if I can manage to fold it up and load it in the car (weighs 50 lbs) and reassemble it. I can do that in the garage and plan to do it tomorrow. It's snowing now, so I'm glad I did the test drive before that started.
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