Sunny Day at Hullett

Sunday April 28, I woke up at about 8am and the weather looked nice. I decided to temporarily forget about my heaps of schoolwork and spend some time birding. The winds weren't great for spring migration and it was still pretty cold despite the sun shining. My dad and I left shortly after 8 and headed over to Hullett Marsh. Check out our Ebird lists below:

Ebird list before lunch
Ebird list after lunch

We didn't see anything too groundbreaking but it was nice to get out and enjoy the weather (and get some driving experience in!).

Hullett is made up of six country blocks with a few interior roads that lead to parking lots. While its primary attraction is hunting, it is also used by many locals as a place to hike, canoe, and go birding. 

The past few days of rain made most trails through Hullett impassable without hip waders. Today was also the first day this year that Tree Swallows began showing up in numbers... most of them seem to have already chosen the nest box they will occupy.

Tree Swallow

Many birds are already nesting, including Killdeers. They usually nest in open areas because their eggs are camouflaged amongst gravel or dirt. Camouflage is a method used by many birds for many different reasons. The eggs of Killdeer are camouflaged so that predators can't see and eat them. 

I'm already looking forward to the Killdeer chicks hatching because they are one of the most adorable fledgling birds.

A few insects were out and about including beetles, butterflies, and dragonflies. I managed to snap a shot of this Six-spotted Tiger Beetle:

I'm still working on my insect identification and rely pretty heavily on iNaturalist. If any of my IDs are wrong please let me know in the comments. Thanks!!

I also found this butterfly which I have identified as a Milbert's Tortoiseshell. This was a lifer for me! We also saw a Red Admiral that was too quick to get pictures of. I'm beginning to expand my interests to include more leps (Butterflies and Moths). 

I find that when it comes to birds, butterflies, and herps, they all have their own 'time' throughout the year. When the birding begins to cool down into July, that's when odes and butterflies are peaking. 

We went down Conservation Road on the Northwest side of Hullett and it was shockingly dead for birds. We saw a few darners that refused to hold still. Then, when we were on the bridge I noticed something moving down the stream being pulled by the current. 

It was an Eastern Garter Snake! The first snake I'd seen this year in fact. The water was very cold and the snake was swimming against the current to no avail. We watched him float down the river until finally he managed to reach the shore and climb onto to dry land, a happy ending. 

After that, we decided it was time to head home. I have no birding plans coming up except for Rondeau which should be in about two weeks. After Friday this week, I am hopeful that all of the school work will slow down a bit and I can do some actual birding this coming weekend. 

First Post

I've always wanted to start a blog but I keep coming up with excuses; "I'm too busy"... "I wouldn't even know what to say," etc. But not this time. So, here we go.

With the spring migration beginning, many of the new returns are welcomed... even if 90% of them are Turkey Vultures and Common Grackles. While the only real birding that I've gotten the chance to do is in my patch, I've still come across a few interesting things.

The main hotspots I go birding include Hullett Marsh as my main one, Exeter Sewage Lagoons, and during fall and spring migration, The Bluff. 

Hullett Marsh 

The Bluff in the fog

Unfortunately I have no actual pictures of Exeter sewage lagoons but in all fairness, 

they ARE sewage lagoons.

For me, the thing that got me into birding, like many birders, was a bird. It clicked for me about 5 years ago when I was hand feeding Chickadees. I only started birding seriously in the past two or three years though.

Hand feeding Chickadees (March 2019)

The camera I'm currently using is a D5600 with a 70-300mm lens which I love. It doesn't have the reach for some birds but of course I still try to take pictures of those way-too-far birds. I've had it for about 2 months so I'm still trying to get the hang of it.

My new-ish camera

Things are looking pretty busy the next few days (yeah there's that excuse) so I don't have many bird-related plans except for a short trip to Hullett. There is a Rondeau trip on the horizon though; about mid May. As for now, I'll just have to keep up with school and continue honing my warbler song ID...