Whale-watching, Boston, June 2011

I usually enjoy my own company which is a good thing as no-one else seems to, but I was surprised this morning to find that a couple of my colleagues wanted to join me on a whale watching cruise out of Boston. I have written about the New England Aquarium’s Voyager 3 cruises, so follow this link for details and directions and look out for promotional vouchers at the hotel.

We took the 09.30 sailing to guarantee our return in time for the flight home and took a north-easterly direction past Cape Anne. The inland waters were very calm with a very gentle swell once we came out onto the open water. A few Double-crested Cormorants had passed us as we went out through the islands into Massachusetts Bay and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls squabbled behind the boat. Further out a few Northern Gannets flew low over the water or took off at our approach.

Notably, there were no shearwaters. On my most recent voyage in July last year, there were plenty of Sooties and Greats with a sprinkling of Manxes. Some Wilson’s Storm Petrels were seen, but they kept their distance as usual, so I am still waiting for a good picture of one.

At last the motors slowed as we approached another whaling cruise boat. Beyond the bow of the other boat, there was a movement in the water and we had our first whale. As it turned out, it was our only whale. One of the staff on Voyager 3 told me that they had not been seeing very many whales of late and were having to go way out to find them. I was relieved to see at least one whale for my companions’ sake, but please note that most of the whale watching companies offer a guarantee that gives a free second trip if no whales are seen.

It was a Hump-backed Whale which is usually the most commonly seen whale out of Boston. It was shallow diving and feeding close to the surface, coming up two or three times before making a longer deeper dive. Deeper dives are often highlighted by the whale raising its tail from the water to give an added downward push. Sadly today, we didn’t witness this and only saw the grey rounded back. This species takes its name from a more arched back that comes just before the deeper dive.  

As mentioned in previous posts, the whale was mostly seen off the port bow. It seemed the captain moved the boat to keep it in this position as much as possible. Knowing where to look helped me get this picture as it surfaced. The white of the fins showed beneath the water just before the whale spouted and I was able to get focus and shoot.

Species seen;

Wilson’s Storm Petrel 5, Northern Gannet 12, Double-crested Cormorant 25, Great Black-backed Gull 4, Herring Gull 5.

Hump-backed Whale 1

For other posts from Boston, follow the links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/07/boston-whale-watch.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/09/boston-back-bay-fens-and-mount-auburn.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/10/operation-autumn-colour.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/mount-auburn-cemetery-boston-april-2011.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/back-bay-fens-in-boston-april-2011.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/06/mount-auburn-cemetery-boston-june-2011.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/06/whale-watching-boston-june-2011.html

Visit the dedicated page for posts from various locations in USA and Canada

Boston, BOS, New England Aquarium, Whale-watch

Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston, June 2011

Recent readers will notice that Mount Auburn Cemetery has become my patch of choice when visiting Boston. Reasons for this are very simple and anyone who has visited there couldn’t help but agree. It is safe, quiet and stunningly beautiful. This first week of June is no exception with the sun shining and the rhododendrons in full bloom.

I observed on my last visit that Boston was trailing behind other parts of the country in progression of spring. The locustellas in New York’s Central Park had already lost their blossom by the first day of June, yet a week later, Boston’s trees were still blooming.

I had hoped that a few warblers might be lagging behind the big north push, but the sightings board by the entrance disappointed me by noting only one Magnolia Warbler for the previous day. It was quiet, but there was still some movement. Northern Cardinals were attending a nest low in a bush and Warbling Vireos were singing their very pleasant song.

Other signs of the approaching summer were well advanced with young American Robins already out of their nests and feeding among the headstones. The Great Horned Owl chicks had fledged from their nest and were high up in a huge maple tree. Both chicks were looking well and one played peek-a-boo for a while.

One of the adults was hidden from view in the same tree. It had picked a spot that caught the evening sun and could only be seen from one particular point.

The White-throated Sparrows and Blue Jays which had been so much a part of my April visit, had moved on, but had seemingly been replaced by Eastern Chipmunks.

There is a Red-tailed Hawks' nest in the cemetery, so the chipmunks’ nervousness was very understandable. I didn’t see the nest today, but any chicks will have hatched by now and will need feeding. Imagine being a chipmunk and looking over your shoulder to see this and then sudden blackness.

It was late in the evening now and I bumped into a dozy Raccoon who looked in need of a coffee to wake him up.

On my way out of the cemetery, I took a detour to check on the owlets one more time and was lucky enough to see one of them shuffling along the branch and taking a short flight to the other side of the tree.

Other Mount Auburn visits with details and directions can be found here;

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/09/boston-back-bay-fens-and-mount-auburn.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/10/operation-autumn-colour.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/mount-auburn-cemetery-boston-april-2011.html

For more Trip reports about Boston follow this link.

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/09/boston-back-bay-fens-and-mount-auburn.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/07/boston-whale-watch.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/back-bay-fens-in-boston-april-2011.html

This link will take you to the dedicated USA and Canda page which will lead you to other sites and reports from around the continent.

Species seen; 19

Mallard 6, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Wild Turkey 1, Mourning Dove 4, Great Horned Owl 3, Chimney Swift 4, Downy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, Cedar Waxwing 5, Grey Catbird 8, American Robin 45, Blue Jay 2, Common Starling 20, House Sparrow 20, Warbling Vireo 1, Chipping Sparrow 1, Northern Cardinal 6, Red-winged Blackbird 6, Common Grackle 20.

Bullfrog in Willow pond.

 Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston, BOS



Central Park, New York. Xena and the dragonfly.

The story goes that many years ago, a gentleman living in an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York felt that any cultured chap should be able to witness the birds as mentioned by Shakespeare from his own window. To this end he took it upon himself to import House Sparrows (Hamlet) and Starlings (Henry IV) from England and released them into the park. Why these two should be selected instead of the Lark (Romeo and Juliet), or the Throstle and the Rosset (Midsummer Night’s Dream), we can only guess. This well intended, but misguided, patronising act resulted in a combined exotic population in the USA pushing 6 billion. I don’t know what name Stratford’s finest was working under when he wrote, ”Xena – Warrior Princess”, but it was she that caught my eye rather than the starlings and sparrows this morning.

The park was laying back and smoking a metaphorical cigarette in the afterglow of migration. Few birds were moving or singing in the warmth of the first day of June. But this is Central Park and there is always something to see.

Strawberry fields was very quiet until I came upon a Raccoon who was heading home for the day. It squeezed into the crack in the tree and was gone.

At the bridge that crosses into The Ramble from West Drive, a Snapping Turtle had dug a nest and was laying eggs into it. She used her back right leg to carefully position the freshly laid egg with the others. It was charming to witness an animal with a reputation for being so aggressive, behaving so gently. She laid perhaps 20 as I watched and from a brief glimpse into the nest, I would estimate that she had produced 30-40 eggs in total. The Green Wednesday volunteer group were taking a walk before beginning their shift as unpaid gardeners and deserve a mention for working so hard on a hot and humid day.

The Carp had started spawning in the warm conditions. In the margins and shallows of the lake, furious splashing indicated that the male was chasing the female and thrashing against her to stimulate her to release the eggs for fertilisation. An unfortunate trait of carp spawning is that the eggs are quickly eaten by the accompanying fish in the melee. Once the feeding starts, the successful breeders, being of a forgetful nature, join in and start to eat their own eggs. The advantage of the frenetic spawning activity is that the eggs are spread in the splashing and enough are missed to mature and hatch.

Although the migration was well past its peak, there were some birds that are either resident, or have chosen to stay and breed in the park. American Robins were busy feeding young and gorging themselves on early ripening fruit and florescences. This one is a real city bird with some window bokeh.

My camera took it upon itself to go monochrome just as I encountered a Northern Cardinal, one of the most strikingly coloured birds on the continent. Perhaps it was just as well, as this one is beginning to show the signs of strain from having to attend to a growing family. He seems to have lost his lustre.

In The Ramble, at the spring above Azalea Pond, a Blackpoll Warbler showed briefly, but did not approach closely. Here, I met my first birder of the day, Rikki (sic) who suggested that a few late warblers had been seen on the point.

The Point is a spit of land jutting out into the boating lake. Rikki pointed out the song of a Warbling Vireo, but I was not able to see it until I moved further along the spit where three more vireos were singing.
A locustella tree had finished flowering, but was still attracting a few stragglers. One of each Magnolia Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Canada Warbler were seen.

The female Red-tailed Hawk was sitting on the edge of her nest on the building overlooking the park at 75th Ave. I watched for a while from the model boat pond and listened to the updates from Arlene. The new female was variously called Lima or Ginger, depending on which group you adhere to. I had known her as Ginger since she came on the scene after Lola’s disappearance, but this link will take you to the Lima camp. Arlene told me that there were two chicks which had hatched 10 days before (so around 21st May). Pale Male was not to be seen today; perhaps he was resting in the park through the heat of the day.

A dragonfly larvae had crawled from the lake and looked as if it was about to burst from its case into its adult form. Using the word “burst” possibly implies an explosive escape from its outer skin and is thus a bad way to describe the protracted procedure. I knew that it would probably take a long time to happen, so I settled down and found a comfortable place to watch from. When I looked back, the case had split and the head and upper back were already showing. Thinking that the ode was in a rush to emerge, I took off my socks and shoes, rolled up my trousers and got into the water for a closer look.

I felt a little conspicuous and more than a little silly as I waited for something else to happen. This being New York, my behaviour barely registered with the many visitors to the park and I certainly didn’t think that I would distract anyone from the least known character of The Bard of Avon (writing as Arthur Balsam). I wonder if Xena – Warrior Princess would have been impressed to hear that I habitually carry a Canon?

Sadly this was as far as we got. After two hours, I brushed off the leeches wandered off to get an ice-cream. On my return, the dragonfly’s back had changed colour slightly as it hardened, but there was no further progress and eventually, I had to give it up and return to work.

Species seen; 28

Double-crested Cormorant 6, Great Egret 6, Black-crowned Night Heron 8, Canada Goose 8, Mallard 18, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Mourning Dove 2, Chimney Swift 4, Red-bellied Woodpecker 2, Downy Woodpecker 4, Northern Flicker 1, Barn Swallow 3, Cedar Waxwing 3, Grey Catbird 6, American Robin 60, Blue Jay 3, American Crow 2, Common Starling 120, House Sparrow 80, Warbling Vireo 2, House Finch 2, Magnolia Warbler 1, Yellow Warbler 1, Blackpoll Warbler 1, Canada Warbler 1, Northern Cardinal 7, Red-winged Blackbird 8, Common Grackle 25.

If you would like to go birding in Central Park, but do not wish to walk alone contact Pishing Bob at this link
For other posts about Central Park, please follow these links;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/03/hooded-merganzer-lophodytes-cucullatus.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/03/approach-to-broad-channel-train-station.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/04/central-park-new-york-new-york.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/10/central-park-new-york.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/01/out-of-towners-central-park-new-york.html

Also from New York is a report from Jamaica Bay;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/03/approach-to-broad-channel-train-station.html

Other reports from the USA and Canada can be found on the dedicated USA and Canada Page



Sheraton Hotel in Lagos; Just one lap

This post is dedicated to the beautiful Elizabeth, a security officer at the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos. She is a fine woman with many attributes, chief amongst which was the ability to gain permission for me to take photographs in the gardens of the hotel. Policy dictates that photographs may not be taken in the hotel grounds, but Elizabeth obtained permission for me to do so and even accompanied me to ensure that I didn’t get up to mischief.

Her time was precious so I had to make it quick. One lap of the gardens would not normally be enough, but even so, we managed to find a few birds. The only one that came anywhere close to sitting for a photo was an African Thrush.

From the casuarinas trees, an African Pied (Allied) Hornbill called with a whistling note that called to mind a Peregrine Falcon. They shared the casuarinas with some Common Bulbuls and Splendid Glossy Starlings. The trees visible over the wall and across the street, held Western Grey Plantain-eaters. Bronze Mannikins were tending nests with two located. Adult birds were continually flying in and out, maintaining the nests but no evidence of chicks was seen.

In the skies above, an African Palm Swift and Mottled Spinetails were scudding around, feeding. Closer to the ground a good number of dragonflies, that I suspect may be Wandering Gliders, were taking advantage of thick clouds of insects that had already taken a few nips at yours truly.

I had to look this ode up and I really hoped to find that it was called the Ninja Skimmer.

I suspected that the top and second pictures may be a female and a similar pattern on the wings of this blue individual led me to consider that he may be the male of the species.... until I saw the bottom one.

This ode was superficially similar to the first one, but the body patterns and wing markings are different enough to make me look further and to reconsider the affiliations of the blue one. I felt that I had seen them before but had to wait until I got home to check on the Africa Dragonfly website where Dirk Motshagen's photos from Port Harcourt in Nigeria suggest that the top 3 could be Lucia Widows, Palpopleura lucia. My best bet for the bottom picture at the moment is a Portia Widow, Palpopleura portia. I am still open to suggestions however if you have any experience of West African odes.

The Agama Lizards at The Sheraton in Lagos may well be the best protected lizards to be found anywhere.

Species seen; 14

Cattle Egret 15, Black Kite 15, Red-eyed Dove 6, Laughing Dove 4, Western Grey Plantain-eater 5, Mottled Spinetail 30, African Palm Swift 1, Little Swift 4, Broad-billed Roller 2, Allied Hornbill 2, Common Bulbul 12, African Thrush 8, Pied Crow 2, Bronze Mannikin 4.

Costanera Sur pre-departure, Buenos Aires, Argentina

I had a plane to catch this morning, so it had to be a very quick flash into Costanera Sur. The Grey-headed Rails were out on the pavement to see if there were any gleanings to be had from the pavement cafes. The gates were shut so I shimmied over the fence and started to explore the long grass and pampas to the left. Rufous-collared Sparrows were feeding in the weeds and Masked Gnatcatchers were especially common this morning.

A Pampas Cavy fed within easy reach of cover and a bright chestnut bird briefly showed, but I was unable to identify it straight away. Southern House Wrens were also very common this morning.

In contrast to the first morning in Buenos Aires, the sky was overcast and the birds were very quiet. The road leading towards the river was not as productive, but then I did have a very strict time limit today and couldn’t afford to linger. The usual suspects, Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Rufous-bellied Thrush and Rufous Hornero were all seen easily and something spooked the Picazuro Pigeons and upwards of 150 took to the air in a big cloud.

Do Caracaras roost communally? About 20 or so appeared low overhead coming out from the reedbeds. Mostly they were Southern Caracaras with about half a dozen Chimango Caracaras mixed in with them. They all seemed to have emanated from the same place making me think that either there had been something worth scavenging in the reeds, or they were leaving a roost. Caracaras are closely related to falcons but spend more time scavenging than hunting.

The bright chestnut bird showed again and I was able to pin it down as a White-lined Tanager female. This was the third one I had seen although there was no sign of the black male.

The warden’s hut was manned this morning and he had put out a few crumbs for the birds. Bay-winged Cowbirds were quick to take advantage and waited on the ground below until the Chalk-browed Mockingbirds knocked crumbs from the windowsill.

Shiny Blackbirds remained aloof to start with, but soon plucked up the courage to come in closer.

My favourite of the morning were the female/juvenile Golden-billed Saltators. I had seen the splendid male on the first morning, but only briefly and from a distance. The femalesjuveniles were very confiding.

I had to tear myself away and get back, but the warden called out to me as two Orange-backed Troupials came in to feed on a fruiting palm. It was very tempting to push my luck and stay longer, but if I keep my job, maybe I'll come back again (within 15 years this time I hope).

Species seen; 34
Neotropic Cormorant 3, Great Egret 1, Southern Caracara 15, Chimango Caracara 8, Grey-necked Wood-rail 4, Black-backed (Kelp) Gull 12, Grey-headed Gull 8, Picazuro Pigeon 200, Eared Dove 20, Picui Ground Dove3, Monk Parakeet 12, Chequered Woodpecker 3, Rufous Hornero 35, Cattle Tyrant 2, Great Kiskadee 20, Southern House Wren 8, Chalk-browed Mockingbird 35, Rufous-bellied Thrush 20, Masked Gnatcatcher 12, Common Starling 5, House Sparrow 10, Hooded Siskin 6, Tropical Parula 3, Golden-crowned Warbler 1, White-lined Tanager 3, Black and Rufous Warbling-finch 2, Saffron Finch 2, Yellow-billed Cardinal 1, Rufous-collared Sparrow 15, Golden-billed Saltator 3, Bay-winged Cowbird 15, Shiny Cowbird 20, Orange-backed Troupial 2, Solitary Cacique 2.
Costanera Sur is described and directions given at this link. Other Argentinean and South and Central America trip reports can be found on the dedicated  Central and South America Page
The trip finished with 74 species seen, 18 of which were lifers
Costanera Sur pre-departure, Buenos Aires, Argentina. EZE