Raglan's Wood, Tyson's Corner,

The weather was threatening to be wet and windy for the next day, so I popped out quickly to Raglans Wood (Google Earth ref; 38 55 23N 77 14 28W enter via Tyspring St. off Gosnell Rd) for my fix in case tomorrow got rained off. There was not much time before dusk, but the evening looked very pleasant if just a little chilly.

White-throated Sparrows and Northern Cardinals were making plenty of noise, but I had only brought a small compact camera which was unable to discern the birds and focus on them among the branches.

Thankfully, it takes a nice landscape picture, even in portrait attitude, so this is more of a descriptive post. The White-tailed Deer that can often be seen there were quite approachable this evening, and filled the frame much better, making focus possible.

The cropping zoom of post production reveals a curious pixel property that makes the picture look as if it has been hand painted. It's an attractive effect in the right situation, but not the one I was hoping for in my new compact camera.

A Red-shouldered Hawk was heard in the woods beyond the cut. A new path has been opened up and I followed it in search of the hawk, which I assume must be resident as I always find it here. A party of birds along this path included American Robin, Brown Creeper, Carolina Chickadee and White-breasted Nuthatch. Further along I could hear Hairy Woodpeckers, but was thrown into a crisis of confidence about my aural skills as I was seeing Downies, then a larger bird with a bigger bill appeared around the base of the trunk to confirm what I thought I was hearing.

In the past, Raglan’s Wood has not produced much in the way of birds, but today it was as productive as I have seen it. None of the birds were terribly special, but there was a better selection than previous visits, with 20+ species in just over an hour.

Species seen; 22

Great Blue Heron 1, Canada Goose 1, Red-shouldered Hawk 3, Mourning Dove 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker 1, Downy Woodpecker 2, Hairy Woodpecker 2, Northern Flicker 1, Eastern Phoebe 1, American Barn Swallow 1, Carolina Wren 3, American Robin 4, Carolina Chickadee 3, Tufted Titmouse 4, White-brested Nuthatch 1, Brown Creeper 1, American Crow 3, Common Starling 6, American Goldfinch 1, Northern Cardinal 12, White-throated Sparrow 8, Chipping Sparrow 1.

Links to other posts from Raglan's Wood can be found below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/09/raglans-wood-tysons-corner-fairfax-va.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/07/raglans-wood-july-2011.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada Page for other posts from nearby, including, Great Falls Park and Shenandoah National Park.

Raglan's Wood, Tyson's Corner, Washington, IAD

Central Park, New York, April 2012

April has barely rubbed the sleep from her eyes, but already Central Park is up and dressed for the new season.  It still seems a little early for such a flush of leaf and it may make warbler spotting a little tricky over the next few weeks.

I entered by The Pond in the south-east corner, accompanied by the “pibbidy-pibbidy-pibbidy” of the White-crowned Sparrows. The park was quiet, early on Easter Saturday morning, but I soon found that everyone was gathered over on the north corner of Sheep Meadow for an organised run. I moved quickly beyond the massing runners and spent most of the day skulking around in The Ramble. A Red-tailed Hawk occasionally flew over, screaming and a Chipping Sparrow was seen by Bow Bridge (Google Earth ref; 40 46 33N  73 58 18.50W).

Northern Cardinal

 At The Oven, Northern Cardinals waited expectantly for offerings from one of the park’s many feeders while a Red-bellied Woodpecker excavated a nest hole in the top of a dead tree.

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Maintenance Meadow was bathed in sunshine and blossom. There were lots of birds here including Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin and my first Eastern Phoebes of the season.

Eastern Phoebe

The feeders, maintained by the Central Park birding community (at Google Earth Ref; 40 46 38N 73 58 10W approx), were as popular as ever. Socks containing blackseed attracted the American Goldfinches which were starting to show their summer plumage. Feed sprinkled on the top of a rock brought in the White-throated Sparrows which already looked splendid.

White-throated Sparrow

 A small artificial stream known as The Gill runs out from the Azalea Pond and snakes through the woods towards the lake. A Louisiana Waterthrush had been reported from here I couldn’t recall seeing one before in the USA, so I stopped to see if it would return. Other birders had recently seen it pass back upstream and pointed out a Winter Wren while I waited.

Louisiana Waterthrush

After a while the Louisiana Waterthrush returned, but settled on a patch of mud across the stream with the light behind it making for very contrasty pictures. Normally, I would be willing birds to come out into the light, but on this occasion, I was pleased when it stepped into the shade and allowed me to get a better shot. It stopped for a while before bobbing off upstream again.

I wanted to get a better picture and crossed the stream and hid behind a tree to give a better angle. A Hermit Thrush came down to the water’s edge to keep me clicking while the Waterthrush was absent. They had been very common in the park this morning, but not very approachable until now.

 

Hermit Thrush

The Louisiana Waterthrush returned, but was moving fast across the fallen branches and sticks in the stream. I wasn’t able to get a still shot until it ducked back into the shade and stopped for a moment.
The path along the south side of Turtle Pond produced Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees along the bank of the lake. I finished up at the model boating lake to catch up on how Pale Male and his new mate Xena were getting along.

One of the birds is constantly sitting on the nest so it is assumed that eggs are being incubated, but no-one was prepared to commit how many may be in the clutch. Half a dozen hawk watchers filled the benches looking up towards the nest on 5^th Ave and drew a collective breath as a foolhardy Peregrine flew in and suddenly changed direction to head north and out of sight.

Birds seen; 34

Double-crested Cormorant 2, Great Egret 1,Canada Goose 15, Mallard 25, Red-tailed Hawk 3, Peregrine Falcon 1, Mourning Dove 20, Red-headed Woodpecker 12, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4, Downy Woodpecker 8, Northern Flicker 3, Eastern Phoebe 8, Winter Wren 2, American Robin 150, Hermit Warbler 45, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6, Tufted Titmouse 6, Brown Creeper 2, Blue Jay 40, American Crow 1, Common Starling 20, House Sparrow 60, American Goldfinch 12, Yellow-rumped Warbler 4, Louisiana Waterthrush 1, Northern Cardinal 15, Dark-eyed Junco 30 White-throated Sparrow 100, Swamp Sparrow 5, Chipping Sparrow 1, Field Sparrow 1, Common Grackle 120, Red-winged Blackbird 2.

There are more posts from Central Pak and New York at the Links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/03/hooded-merganzer-lophodytes-cucullatus.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/10/central-park-new-york.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/04/central-park-new-york-new-york.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/01/out-of-towners-central-park-new-york.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/06/central-park-new-york-xena-and.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/03/approach-to-broad-channel-train-station.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-york-new-york-so-good-they-sent-me.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada Page for more from the continent of North America

Rehab in Mote Park

Keeping kids entertained during the Easter break had driven me crazy by mid- afternoon and I escaped while they weren’t looking and took the bike down to Mote Park for an hour.

I entered from the Ashford Road. A Mistle Thrush was feeding from the grass here, still managing to get into the hardening ground of drought-hit Kent. The Old Pond is just along from here and has recently been dredged. I have not seen the Water Rails here since the improvements.

I followed the River Len upstream and found Blue Tits and Great Tits among the Alders along the bank. A high pitched call was a Eurasian Treecreeper and it took a few moments to pin it down. Despite it being fairly close across the narrow river, it would not sit still for a nice portrait.

A Common Blackbird was seen and heard singing at close quarters and was more obliging than the tree creeper.

Birds seen; 27

Grey Heron 2, Mute Swan 4, Canada Goose 12, Mallard 12, Tufted Duck 3, Common Moorhen 3, Comon Coot 6, Black-headed Gull 35, Herring Gull 2, Stock Dove 4, Common Woodpigeon 35, EUrasian Collared Dove 4, Grey Wagtail 1, Northern Wren 1, Mistle Thrush 2, Common Blackbird 4, European Robin 7, Blackcap 1, Great Tit 6, Blue Tit 8, Eurasian Nuthatch 2, Eurasian Treecreeper 1, Eurasian Jay 3, Eurasian Magpie 15, Carrion Crow 25, Common Starling 6, Chaffinch,

Other posts from Mote Park can be found at the links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/02/jack-sipe-in-mote-park.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-my-own-doorstep.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/04/cats-back.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/04/poaching-on-patchwork.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/04/while-cat-is-away.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/keira-knightly-in-mote-park.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/mote-park-cormorant-oct-2011.html

Visit the dedicated UK page for more posts from the area, including Leybourne Lakes and Oare Marshes.

Solo Snakes

With my new, highly tuned snakey senses prickling, I returned to the Greensand Ridge on what I had judged to be a good morning for Adders. Clear skies last night had allowed the temperature to drop and even a touch of frost had been predicted last night. The snakes would need to bask to build up their enegy for the day.
In my eagerness, I arrived before the sun had risen sufficiently to fall on the slope. So for the first pass, there were no snakes to be seen. I returned along the path which runs along the base of the down. It looked promising, but was also non- productive.

By now, it was just after 09.30 and as I started my second pass, I found the first Adder, a small one, beside a square of corrugated iron laid out as a refuge. It was very wary and slipped away quickly as I approached, but a second Adder was seen under the sparse cover of the bushes.
I suspect that this was the same individual that Phil and I saw on our outing the other day. Then, it had a cloudy eye that we interpreted as a sign that it was about to shed its skin. Now its eye was clear and red.

It allowed me to approach fairly close before huddling itself into what looked like a defensive posture. I stayed still and eventually it uncoiled and recommenced basking.

3 Adders were seen and a couple of Slow Worms. Perhaps my snakey senses still need a bit of fine tuning. Knowing that there are snakes present gives a chap confidence to be thorough and vigilent in his search, but it would be a difficult task to find them on a virgin site without knowing exactly where to look.

The third adder I suspect was also an individual that we saw last week. It was tucked away so deep in the brambles that I would never have found it if I had not perservered in the knowledge that it was in there somewhere. My next job is to learn how to seperate the sexes. Greenie reckons all the snakes from my visit with Phil to be males when we took them for females.
On my next outing, I need to look for gradually tapering tailes to indicate a male snake, or a sudden taper as worn by the females. 

Adders in Kent

I have recently been harbouring a desire to see Adders, Vipera berus, the UK’s only venomous snake. After a couple of days of fruitless searching, I sought help from a pair of more practiced eyes and called in Phil Sharp. We met in the car park at Leybourne Lakes Country Park and headed to the Greensand Ridge, made famous by Phil's snakey friend, the author of Greenie in the wild.

A common misconception that I had carried until now is that snakes like to bask during the middle of the day (this being the most efficient time for gathering heat), thus my searching had taken place in the afternoon on the assumption that the snakes would be tempted out by the warm sunshine. Today however, we arrived at 09.30 and Phil found the first adder just moments later. It is more true to say that they bask earlier in the morning so that they have the energy to be active during the day. Reasonable temperatures overnight meant that the snakes needed just a little topping up in the morning to fuel them. The sun was only just appearing around the shoulder of the slope and we had to keep our distance to avoid casting long shadows across the snake.

Another assumption was that this was a female. The females have a brown background colour with black markings while the males’ background colour is lighter, usually grey. Some males are darker though and may resemble a female. We were not experienced enough to differentiate on any other criteria, so for the time being, we said female. Note that the eye is opaque which we took to be a sign that a slough was imminent. Phil published his account before me and received a comment from Greenie in the Wild stating that he thought that the snakes pictured were males. Thus began a trawl of the internet in an attempt to find out how to sex an Adder. Apart from the unreliable background colour, I found that the gradual tapering of the tail indicates a male and a sudden tapering is characteristic of a female. Of course if you know different.......

Very shortly afterwards, Phil spotted another two Adders coiled together in the lowest branches of a bramble bush. Without Phil, I would have certainly missed these two. Our fourth snake came as I lifted one of the refugia that dot the slopes. It coiled into what appeared to be a defensive attitude, so I lowered the cover to avoid disturbing it too much.

We climbed over the top of the hill and into another field which looked very promising, but the heat was more intense up here and the reptiles may well have gone to seek some shade by now. We did however find a Holly Blue and a Green Hairstreak, both life butterflies for me (another comment posted for Phil's account was that this was a very early Green Hairstreak and may be the earliest recorded in Kent).

This Common Lizard has lost its tail in the past, as indicated by a dark stump at the end.

Slow Worms and Common Lizards were also seen, but there was no question about which reptile I enjoyed the most. We returned towards the car and revisited a couple of the successful sighting spots. The square of corrugated iron that had provided refuge for the fourth Adder now held a fifth and made Phil jump as he had already seen number four to the side and was not expecting to find another one under there.

Thanks very much to Phil for his company, practiced eye and for driving during the fuel panic.