Bluebirds

On average there are six to 10 bluebirds around the farm this winter. One morning I counted 16 in the maple above the feeder. I think their plumage looks brighter against the drab winter landscape than in the spring when they have their breeding plumage. On warmer days they explore the many nest boxes we have around the pastures and are always eager to take advantage of the suet/peanut butter mix I put out for them. In the summer the bluebirds eat insects, but in the winter when the bugs have disappeared they switch to berries and fruit like many other birds that overwinter in New England. The bluebirds also come to the feeder to eat the sunflower pieces and seem to enjoy splashing around in the birdbaths.

It is easier to see the birds now that the leaves are gone. The sugar maple outside our bay window seat usually has bluebirds, house finches, chickadees, titmice, goldfinches, English house sparrows and mourning doves. This concentration of birds invariably attracts a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk that chases down an unlucky bird for a meal.

In the winter it is easier to see and follow the red-tailed hawk that regularly hunts in our pastures. This hawk is easily noticed when the sun highlights his white breast as he perches in a tree, sometimes for close to an hour until he spots some unsuspecting rodent and swoops down and grabs it. This large raptor is easy to identify in flight by its rust-colored tail. On our morning walks, crows and blue jays alert us to the presence of a red-tail by their incessant cawing as they harass the hawk. Alarm calls of crows and blue jays are good indicators of the presence of raptors and owls.

On Dec. 18, the coldest day of the winter so far, we ventured out with a couple of hardy birding friends to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count. I think the birds were smart in staying hunkered down somewhere to keep warm as we only positively identified four crows, 12-plus juncos, 12-plus American robins, and one great blue heron in the three hours we walked the trails in our assigned area. A total of 69 species of birds were noted by the participants in the Groton/Oxbow circle. Among these was a Baltimore oriole and an orange-crowned warbler, which is unusual at this time of year.

Junco

There were numerous gulls and what we thought were black ducks, common mergansers, buffleheads, and a common loon on what is left of Bare Hill Pond although without a spotting scope it was not possible to positively identify them as the open water was a long way off. The draw-down may help in killing the weeds, but I find it hard to believe that it is not having a negative effect on the wildlife that call the pond home.

In early December I went to Joppa Flats to join a morning bird walk. There had been reports of a Cassin's kingbird and a barnacle goose in the area, neither of which I have seen. Cassin's kingbird is a southern species out of its usual habitat. The barnacle goose is a Eurasian species. Although we did not see those birds, we did see a lot of water birds.

What we saw that day was surpassed by a walk I took between Christmas and New Year's Day. I again joined the "Wednesday morning bird walk" at Joppa Flats Audubon Center. Our first stop was parking lot #1, where we walked out to the ocean. Because there had been a storm the day before, the ocean was riled up with large breaking waves. Floating on the ocean we saw black, surf, and white–winged scoters, and several long-tailed ducks.

Close in to the beach were a couple of red-necked grebes and further out were five or six razorbills. These pelagic birds are usually out in the open ocean, so we were lucky to get good views of them. Up in the sky we saw gannets, Bonaparte's gulls, an Iceland gull, and a bird I had never seen before, the black-legged kittiwake.

Heading further into the refuge, we stopped at one of the salt pannes. At this time of year the pannes are usually frozen, so it was exciting to see so many birds taking advantage of the open water to feed and preen. The first ducks we noticed were northern pintail. These diving ducks are not usually here at this time of year but were easily recognized by their white rump and long tail feathers, which are distinctive when they up-end to feed. A similar feeding posture is taken by the gadwall, of which there were dozens, but their rumps are black and they do not have the long tail feathers.

Also in the pool were a number of buffleheads and black ducks, which were fairly indistinctive except when they show the purple/blue patch of feathers on their side.

Razorbill

While watching the ducks we also saw a greater yellow-leg foraging amongst the sea grass along with a long-billed dowitcher. The long-billed and short-billed are, to me, very similar, and we only confirmed that the dowitcher was the long-billed when it flew and uttered its call, which Bill Gette, our guide, instantly recognized.

Throughout the morning we saw several raptors. The rough-legged hawk has a wingspan of around four feet and has the habit of hovering above the marsh to observe its prey. The harrier is slightly smaller but is easily identified by the way it floats over the marsh when hunting. We also saw a red-tailed hawk perched in a pine tree and, on walking back to the van, a peregrine falcon streamed by.

The one bird most of the group was hoping to see was the snowy owl. An owl had been seen around the marsh and in the dunes but unfortunately did not show itself this day. There is usually at least one snowy on the refuge in the winter, so I will just have to make another trip to try and find it.

It was a beautiful day to spend time on the refuge, and seeing over 30 species of birds made this end-of-year trip even more memorable.

David Durrant lives with his wife, Pamela, on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they watch birds—their own peacocks, chickens, and wild birds.