Hummingbird Day!!!

Daddy woke me and he told me to get dressed because we were going to try and get a rare hummingbird. We drove all the way to a persons house and we went in their back yard. we saw signs showing us where to go. When we got there we heard a Red-tailed Hawk and then we heard hummingbirds making noises in a bush. Then the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds came out and went to a feeder then a Rufous Hummingbird came out and attacked the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. It was hiding in a bush and just flew to the feeder and back and went to its favorite place in a tree. it was hard to get a picture! There were loads of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds there!! It was a lifer for daddy and me! Next week we are going to Cape Cod for a week and hoping to get some more birds! I am almost at 250!!!!

Checklist
stakeout Rufous Hummingbird, Townsend (2014), Middlesex County, Massachusetts, US

Life Bird

260

Rufous Hummingbird

stakeout Rufous Hummingbird, Townsend (2014)

US-MA

24 Jul 2014

Year Bird

247

Rufous Hummingbird

stakeout Rufous Hummingbird, Townsend (2014)

US-MA

24 Jul 2014

Rufous Hummingbird

Owen after his lifer Rufous Hummingbird. The bird is actually to the left of the feeder on the swing

Puffin Trip!!!

Grammy, grampy, daddy and me started at Plum Island we were looking for Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, Gull-billed Tern and other rare birds! We started at the beach and this guy was there and he said the Royal Tern was here 5 min ago but no Sandwich Tern. Then we kept on going and it started pouring.  We only got  a Least Sandpiper that was new for my big year. We left Plum Island and we went to New Hampshire and we went to a marsh place and we saw some Great Egrets and the White Ibis was with them!! We went to Scarborough Marsh in Maine and at the bridge we saw lots of swallows we saw Barn and Bank and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  Then we walked and saw a Tree Swallow and we saw a mink it was so cute and we saw a Little Blue Heron with the ibises and it flew off then we got lots of Saltmarsh Sparrows. We also saw a Stripped Bass on the bridge swimming, Our last stop we were near the hotel and we saw loads of Nelson's Sparrows!!!

Checklists
Parker River NWR, Essex County, Massachusetts, US
salt marshes s. of Rye Harbor, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, US
Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland County, Maine, US
Weskeag Marsh, Knox County, Maine, US

The next morning we took to a ferry to a Vinhalhaven island and we saw Common Eiders, Laughing Gull, and a lifer Black Guillemots. it was so foggy!!! After we got off the ferry we saw Captain John Drury waiting for us. His boat is the Skua. We went to out to an island called Seal Island. There were lots of Puffins, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Arctic Terns, Common Terns, Wilson Storm Petrels, and some Common Murres. We got to see some porpoises! We also saw 1 Northern Gannet and it was the only one we saw.

On the way back we saw Bald Eagles on Otter Island. We saw seals on our trip! We also got to see the all white Great Black-backed Gull! It had no black or gray!

Checklists from Puffin Trip
Rockland - Vinalhaven Ferry, Knox County, Maine, US
Seal Island NWR (restricted access), Knox County, Maine, US 
Otter Island, Knox County, Maine, US


Year Birds

236	Least Sandpiper	Parker River NWR	US-MA	16 Jul 2014
237	White Ibis	salt marshes s. of Rye Harbor	US-NH	16 Jul 2014
238	Little Blue Heron	Scarborough Marsh	US-ME	16 Jul 2014
239	Nelson's Sparrow	Weskeag Marsh	US-ME	16 Jul 2014
240	Black Guillemot	Rockland - Vinalhaven Ferry	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
241	Wilson's Storm-Petrel	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
242	Northern Gannet	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
243	Common Murre	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
244	Razorbill	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
245	Atlantic Puffin	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
246	Arctic Tern	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014

Life Birds

250	Least Sandpiper	Parker River NWR	US-MA	16 Jul 2014
251	White Ibis	salt marshes s. of Rye Harbor	US-NH	16 Jul 2014
252	Nelson's Sparrow	Weskeag Marsh	US-ME	16 Jul 2014
253	Black Guillemot	Rockland - Vinalhaven Ferry	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
254	Wilson's Storm-Petrel	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
255	Northern Gannet	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
256	Common Murre	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
257	Razorbill	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
258	Atlantic Puffin	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014
259	Arctic Tern	Seal Island NWR (restricted access)	US-ME	17 Jul 2014

Scarborough Marsh photo by Owen

Nelson's Sparrow

Great Egret photo by Owen 

 Snowy Egret x Tri-colored Heron Hybrid

Little Blue Heron

Mink

White Ibis

Owen taking photos of swallows on the Eastern rd Trail at Scarborough Marsh

Owen at Scarborough Marsh after his year Little Blue Heron

Owen after his lifer Least Sandpiper and White Ibis

Owen after his lifer Nelson's Sparrow

End of the night settling down before our big Puffin Trip with John Drury of the Skua in the morning!

breakfast at the motel in Rockland, Maine before the ferry ride to Vinalhaven

Owen on the ferry leaving Rockland

see how foggy it was? this was on the ferry over!

arriving at Vinalhaven

 Atlantic Puffins photo by Owen

 Razorbills and Atlantic Puffin by Owen

 Common Murre

Northern Gannet

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

Black Guillemot

Bald Eagle photo by Owen

Ivory Great Black-backed Gull

Owen and Captain John Drury of the Skua!

Contact Info For a Great Trip

John Drury
P.O. Box 267
Vinalhaven, ME 04863

Phone: (207) 596-1841 (Green's Island) May-October,

Phone: (207) 863-4962 (Vinalhaven) November- mid April

E-Mail: johnbdrury@gmail.com, checked infrequently during summertime, best to call in summer

there is a gallery of photos I have taken from the boat recently at:
http://www.vinalhaven.org/image-galleries/sea-birds-around-vinalhaven-ph...

http://sightingsfromskua.blogspot.com/ some more recent better quality images here, I will try to post more pictures during the summer

My New Binoculars!!

I got new Binoculars for free from Carl Zeiss! They sent me good Binoculars to help me see birds better and get more birds! They saw my blog! Thank you so much for my binoculars!!!!

Dad Note-

I personally want to thank Carl Zeiss for communicating with me and believing in Owen and doing what they did. That was very generous of them donating a pair of 8x42 Terra HD Binos. He loves them and its a major upgrade from what he was using. 

Stormy Day

Me, auntie loreal, liam and daddy went to western Massachusetts to try and find a Mourning Warbler. We went to a place to see some Black Squirrels. It took a little while to see a Black Squirrel then finally we saw it but it was really shy and the Gray Squirrels were too. We also saw a bird fly into a window and die. It was a Red-bellied Woodpecker. That made me feel sad. At the Mourning Warbler spot we were getting attacked by bugs!!! When we were driving on the roads we saw an American Woodcock and daddy got a picture of it. We also saw a Ruffed Grouse in the road! Then we heard Purple Finch singing!  Then we went to a barn and we saw a Cliff Swallow on a wire and it was thundering and lightening. Auntie Loreal was scared in the car! There was more Cliff Swallows living at the barn! Then on the way home we stopped at a hotel and there was more Cliff Swallows at the hotel in their nests on the corners of the hotel.


Checklists
October Mountain SF, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, US
Ayr Hill Farm , Berkshire County, Massachusetts, US 
Hampton Inn, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, US 


Year Birds

233	Ruffed Grouse	October Mountain SF	US-MA	02 Jul 2014
234	Purple Finch	October Mountain SF	US-MA	02 Jul 2014
235	Cliff Swallow	Ayr Hill Farm	US-MA	02 Jul 2014

Life Birds

247	Ruffed Grouse	October Mountain SF	US-MA	02 Jul 2014
248	Purple Finch	October Mountain SF	US-MA	02 Jul 2014
249	Cliff Swallow	Ayr Hill Farm	US-MA	02 Jul 2014

Black Squirrel (Eastern Gray Squirrel)

American Woodcock

Owen after his life Ruffed Grouse and Purple Finch

Owen staying dry after his lifer Cliff Swallow