While I was trying to get a shot of a downy woodpecker at one end of the marsh, I heard some geese fly into the other end. I have seen them fly over the town a number of times recently, but it had been a while since I had seen them on the marsh. This is three of the five that I saw.
As I mentioned, Yellow-rumped Warblers were abundant in the trees all around the marsh this morning. This young one, however, flew onto the ground and hopped along the edge of the trail, coming within four feet of where I was standing.
There were birds everywhere at the marsh this morning. Starlings at the entrance on the power lines. Purple finches in the trees just before the entrance to the trail. Red-winged blackbirds busy in the cattails. At least a dozen cormorants feeding on the marsh. Countless yellow-rumped warblers in the trees. A downy woodpecker in a chokecherry tree. Chickadees singing away in the wooded section. Six pheasants bursting out of the tall grass. Mallards feeding in the duckweed. And this lone Great Blue Heron standing vigil in the cove at the sailing school.
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Right after encountering the deer on the trail this morning, I saw this female Wood Duck very close to the path. I was able to get in a quick shot before she took off into the water.
I was walking past the little pond below the sewage lagoons this morning, when I startled a pair of young White-tails on the trail ahead of me. They scrambled along the path until their curiosity got the better of them, then they stopped to look back at me for a few moments before disappearing into the woods. They could be the pair that I've seen a few times with their mother earlier in the season. Now they seem to be on their own.
It started to rain when I was about half-way around the marsh this morning, so I tucked my camera in a plastic bag I always carry just in case, and headed home. Then I noticed this Black Duck lying on a clump of grass, and thought - the perfect shot for illustrating 'like water off a duck's back' - !. So I poked a little hole in the plastic bag to look through the viewfinder, opened the end of the bag that covered the lens, and depressed the shutter button through the bag. Viola!
I'm almost certain this is a juvenile female Purple Finch. I also saw an adult female at the same location. These finches may migrate a short distance south of us, or they may remain here for the winter. They are especially fond of black oil sunflower seeds.
Now this was a lucky happenstance, to get two birds with one shot. I was focusing on the Yellow-winged Warbler when the Gray Catbird flew into the bush. I wasn't even aware it was around. The catbird should be leaving shortly, but the warbler will probably stick around for awhile yet.
The shrubs that border the trail that runs by the sailing school were alive with birds this morning, including this bird, which I think is a juvenile Song Sparrow. Positively identifying many birds at this time of the year is an art in itself. I'm afraid I have a lot to learn.
I'm pretty sure this is a Swamp Sparrow. It happens to be the first one that I have noticed at the marsh, although other people have seen them here. It could be some time before it heads south.
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