5-29-16 Parker River NWR, MA

5-29-16   Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts

  Even though the weather wasn't very cooperative, keeping us in windy, misty, and cloudy conditions all day, we still enjoyed many good sightings even though the conditions for photography were limited.

The Atlantic Ocean was a bit gnarly that day!

Gray Catbird

We were fortunate to come upon a pair of Catbirds building their nest and to watch their diligence in the construction.

 Also it allowed us to get a good view of the often unseen rufous vent or undertail coverts

One of the pair would sing as the nest construction continued.

Male Purple Finch

A new trip bird for us and the state bird of New Hampshire.  It is interesting to watch the males hop as high as 12 inches in the air while puffing their chest and cocking their tails to attract a mate.

Male American Goldfinch

Mute Swan

We saw only two swans in our 3 days on the refuge.

American Robins

Lindsay spotted Mama Robin on her camouflaged nest.

When Mama left for a few minutes,

we snuck in for a quick peek.

Earlier in the day we had watched this young Robin calling for food from a parent.

Savannah Sparrow

Another new trip bird for us, these birds are very able runners; once discovered, they tend to drop into the grass and dart away.  We snapped this photo right before he did just that.

Wild Turkeys

Just can't get used to seeing these birds foraging in the salt marsh grasses. 

The idea that Benjamin Franklin preferred the Turkey as the national bird of the United States comes from a letter he wrote to his daughter in 1784.  He criticized the choice of the Eagle as the national bird and suggested that a Turkey would have made a better alternative.

Eastern Towee

 Interestingly, they have red eyes across most of their range, but the towhees in Florida and southern Georgia have straw-colored eyes.

Eye color is variable from southern AL to southeastern NC.   

This pattern may reflect the fact that the pale-eyed form, which was isolated when FL was an island during the Pleistocene era, is now coming back in contact with the red-eyed form of the mainland.