Dateline: 19 June 2022
A long time since the last official BirdingPI.com survey of the Canoe Portage Trail area (including Duck Pond Trail and Gas Well Trail). Weather was nice Sunday, so dispatched a team for a couple quality hours in the woods. Beautiful spot, plenty of interesting bird, mammal, insect, and plant activity.
In trail news, the Duck Pond Trail east end (where it ends at the road by Duck Pond) remains flooded and impassible (see below). Other trails locally lightly muddy, but generally in good shape.
Iris season’s starting to wind down. In homage, here’s a nice shot of iris x hornet, along the Duck Pond Trail:
Common Grackle in the sun, along the Duck Pond Trail:
Lots of wren activity; looks like House Wren. This female (?) was busy procuring caterpillars for feeding the brood in a nearby nest box.
Happy to see a Little Wood Satyr butterfly (again, off the Duck Pond Trail):
“Green Heron Summer” continues. This individual flew in while on stakeout watching the nearby House Wren nest box. (It’s an area of duckweed swamp bordering the trail – see photo towards bottom.) More exciting content on this heron tomorrow! Preview: “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Also saw Baltimore Oriole (juvenile), Red-bellied Woodpecker (adult and juvenile), Robin, Gray Catbird, Mallard (female), etc. (Pics generally too shady or obscured by vegetation.) Here’s a Great Crested Flycatcher in stealth mode:
Another excellent butterfly sighting, a Red Admiral:
Here’s a shot of the swamp (off Duck Pond Trail), to (i) give a better sense of environment, and (ii) illustrate why the iPhone isn’t your first choice for bird photography:
Finally, in site news, proud to share the cover art for BirdingPI.com’s forthcoming LP (180 gm half-speed pressing vinyl only) entitled Nature: Sounds of the Earth at Love and Play. Release date 27 August 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon.
