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Last week I met up with other members of my camera club to take pictures along a trail at Hammonasset. It was a windy evening but we were fairly sheltered along a short trail at Meig's Point, and we found lots of things to photograph.
Song Sparrows are found in an enormous variety of open habitats, including tidal marshes, arctic grasslands, desert scrub, pinyon pine forests, aspen parklands, prairie shelterbelts, Pacific rain forest, chaparral, agricultural fields, overgrown pastures, freshwater marsh and lake edges, forest edges, and suburbs. You may also find Song Sparrows in deciduous or mixed woodlands.
Not too much in the way of novelty at Hamo a few days ago. Not that I would have noticed while trying to survive the bitter wind. We did find this perfect little jingle shell, though. I don't think I'd ever seen the pearly, translucent lower shell before.
On 10/19 I took my camera to Hammonasset, not knowing what I would find. I was surprised to see THOUSANDS of Tree Swallows flying everywhere. I guess they were in migration from farther north. It was in the 30s at 9 a.m., so I don't know how many insects they were finding in the air, although as time went on I did see insects closer to the ground. For a while I tried to capture the action, but the birds flew too fast and too erratically for me, so I just stood there and watched and listened. I could hear the snap of their wings as they passed, sometimes so close to me I could have reached out and touched them (if I could have moved my arm fast enough!). As I walked to the tip of Meig's Point I came upon a large Cedar in which hundreds of birds were taking turns resting. There was a lot of coming and going. From a distance, so as not to disturb them, I took these photos (at 1/2000 of a second). The close-ups are not very clear because they are massively cropped. In the 5th photo you can get a sense of how far away I was standing. By late morning the activity had died down, probably because they had continued their journey south.
A small crowd clustered around taking photos of this Great Blue Heron. He was in no hurry and didn't mind modeling for us for a while.
Also known as chokeberry. Native. "The sour berries can be eaten raw off the bush, but are more frequently processed. They can be found in wine, jam, syrup, juice, soft spreads, tea, salsa, chili starters, extracts, beer, ice cream, gummies and tinctures. The name 'chokeberry' comes from the astringency of the fruits, which create a sensation making one's mouth pucker." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aronia
Taken at Hammonasset State Park on an outing with my camera club
Cornell's range map shows Belted Kingfishers live year-round in CT. In early October this one had attracted a small crowd of birders at the salt pond at Meig's Point. Periodically it flew off the rock and dove into the pond. (I did not catch any action shots.)
With its top-heavy physique, energetic flight, and piercing rattle, the Belted Kingfisher seems to have an air of self-importance as it patrols up and down rivers and shorelines. It nests in burrows along earthen banks and feeds almost entirely on aquatic prey, diving to catch fish and crayfish with its heavy, straight bill. These ragged-crested birds are a powdery blue-gray; males have one blue band across the white breast, while females have a blue and a chestnut band.
Male feeding in shallow rainpool. Hammonasett SP, Madison, Connecticut, USA. 13 May 2020. © Frank Mantlik
In order to get close, I had to walk around the pond to where the fun was behind the heron. I don't see many of these in CT. Photo taken in Sept 2013.