The Vibrance of June!
Wow!! Every year our feathered friends pop with breeding plumage colors that are truly hard to believe! I am nursing some tendonitis in my right wrist from all of my time with my camera, so I am picking my mornings very carefully! I obsessively check the forecast for temps, wind, and the time of the sunrise and then I plan my attack! :). Needless to say, June mornings are my earliest mornings of the year - that beautiful old sun sure does rise early in June!
For this post, I am giving you a combination of shots from three mornings at Bullitt that I would rate as 20’s on a scale of 1-10! Early morning dawn temps of high 40’s/low 50’s and no wind… just delicious air that made me want to sing right along with the birds! Let me tell you - dawn’s chorus has been incredible - lots of singing at the top of their lungs - just so, so beautiful.
As soon as I arrive and I have my camera ready, I pull out my phone and tap on my Merlin app. Immediately a huge list of birds shows up as it tells me the songs and calls of the many voices that I am hearing. I am finding this a lot of fun and a great learning tool for me. No doubt when next spring rolls around it will once again be like I have never learned any bird’s song - but I will keep on trying to learn…
I am definitely a creature of habit. I have a fairly set routine that I follow at Bullitt as I like to follow the sun around so that I have many opportunities for first light on various parts of the property. Because Bullitt is surrounded by mountains the sun hits different areas at different times. I just love that while I am set up at one place waiting for the sun to explode behind me - other areas are still in total shade so that I can then move on to them and get that same experience again and again…
So here goes… these are truly mornings that are seared into my memory. I hope that you enjoy!
First morning…. This is before sunrise during dawn’s early soft light- this stunning male Cardinal landed here for just a second - wow!
And then I heard a little Common Yellowthroat to my left!
And guess who I heard next?? Every single morning lately the Chestnut-sided warbler has been singing non-stop!
Just as the sun exposed behind me this spectacular Yellow warbler stopped in for a second!
I was walking around when I spotted these gorgeous lupines…
I love walking on the mowed walking path through the upper field to see if I can spot any birds getting seeds from the tall grasses… I scored this particular morning! I saw movement to my right so I set up low and kept creeping forward and was finally able to find a tiny “window” to look through the grasses in order to snap this shot of this beautiful Goldfinch…
I made my way back to a favorite birch tree I like to check out before calling it quits. This time of year the Yellow-bellied sapsuckers like to work on drilling more holes into the tree! This tree also hosts a whole variety of birds depending on the day - so it is always worth my time to check it out. Well….the Yellow-bellied was there and he and I were both in the right place at the right time to get great light on him!
The second morning…. I can’t tell you how long I have wanted to photograph a Scarlet Tanager! I haven’t seen them often but wow when you do you never forget it! I saw this flash of red and followed it to the top of this tree!!
As I was walking back through the short trail in the woods I saw something scurry up ahead of me…
I heard a beautiful song that kept repeating and repeating so I whipped out my phone and Merlin told me it was an Indigo Bunting!! I have been looking and looking to try and see one this year…. well, finally I spotted it at the top of a pine tree!! Incredible!! Who can believe that color???
Once I got home I said to Lorraine that if she felt like it I would like to take a drive over to the North Meadows in Deerfield to see if we could spot a Green heron. This is the time of year they make their way there to the two ponds. As is typical when Lorraine joins me, we arrive and she immediately spots a Green heron! And then says to me - I see three! Seriously, how does she do it?? I have no idea but glad she does! I was having a hard time getting any decent shots as the sun was setting and the herons were flying and moving around in the shaded part of the north pond. When all of sudden Lorraine says - one just flew to the log that is lit up in the pond!- so thank Lorraine for this shot! :)
Third morning…As I mentioned in an earlier post I would keep trying to get a better shot of an American Redstart… this was that morning! I took this at dawn and I had just been playing around with the settings on my camera and thankfully had chosen the correct settings when all of sudden he showed up for 2 quick shots before he took off! What a way to start the day! :)
After these shots I went to the upper field as I was hoping to spot some Indigo buntings in the field…. I kept walking and walking and all of the movement and songs were coming from the trees that surround the field - nothing from the field. Well, I kept at it and was just about up at the top when I saw movement at about 45 degrees to my left! I got ready and could not see what was making the grasses move when all of a sudden I got a tiny peak of you know who for a split second - the Indigo Bunting! You will need to look closely to see him… I wish I had been able to get more of him but as soon as I took this shot he went lower in the grasses and flew low across the field. But at least it confirmed that this field is one worth spending time at!
The most beautiful song was loud and clear over my right shoulder coming from the woods. I once again took out my phone and Merlin told me it was a Wood Thrush. I stood still as he sounded just maybe a row back into the woods and I just hoped he would pop out… I waited and waited and waited… and he did!!! Wood Thrushes are known as nature’s flutists for a reason - absolutely stunning song…
These are now starting to bloom everywhere in the fields up there…Common Milkweed
Behind the red barn near the parking area is this post which gets lots of action! Just about everyone wants to be on it and there are usually swallows, bluebirds, red-wing blackbirds etc always vying to be on top! This morning was the first time I had ever seen a Goldfinch take its turn!
Last but definitely not least… the other day when I got home Lorraine asked if I wanted to take a drive up Rte 5&10 to see if the Eagle’s nest had anyone in or near it. For the past 5 years there has been a nest there. The nest is right off the road near the top of a pine tree. You park and walk back on the sidewalk and have a wonderful clear shot of seeing this magnificent nest, it is huge! When we arrived no one was there. Lorraine said let’s take a little ride and come back and check again, so we did. Guess who was there??
As always, thank you all for your comments, texts, emails etc. - I sincerely appreciate them! I also appreciate any and all corrections when I have misidentified a creature - thank you!
As we approach the longest day of the year, Lorraine and I wish you all a wonderful summer!