Birds and Books

Two of my Favorite Mystery Series

2012-01-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

So, having written about 20 bird blog entries for every 1 of books, I have decided to mention two of my new favorite mystery series!

I recently started reading the Anne Perry "William Monk" series and have really enjoyed it so far. The first book is called "Face of a Stranger". The series is set in Victorian London and involves some very well-drawn characters, including William Monk, a police detective who has lost his memory in an accident, and Hester Latterly, a former nurse in the Crimean War. Monk awakes in a London hospital with no memory of his former life. When other police officers visit his bedside, he at first thinks they've come to arrest him. He gradually comes to realize that he himself is one of them. From other people's reactions to him he sees that he was disliked, and indeed feared, by most of them. He has no idea why, but is determined to find out while somehow keeping the fact of his memory loss from everyone.

He finds an ally in Hester Latterly while working on a case involving a Crimean war hero. She is prickly, independent and outspoken- everything he finds unattractive in a woman. By the end of the book, however, they have both learned to rely on each other's intelligence and courage as they solve a brutal murder in which the main suspect is revealed to be Monk himself. Not remembering a thing from the night of the accident, Monk does not even know if he committed the murder!
It's a suspenseful story as well as a richly detailed account of life in the Victorian era. I enjoyed many of the other books in this series, which involve everything from desperate dockside criminals to above-the-law society murderers, the horrific conditions in hospitals of the time, the ineptitude of Army officers, the brilliance of courtroom showdowns and many small details of life at the time that make these books often feel like reading history rather than fiction.
Anne Perry's webpage

My new favorite mystery series is the "Benjamin January" series by Barbara Hambly. The first book is called "A Free Man of Color" and is set in New Orleans of the 1830s. From the first page, the reader is immersed in the colorful, precarious and dangerous world of a free black man living in a place where most black men and women are thought of as valuable merchandise to be bought or sold like cattle.

Benjamin January is a music teacher and surgeon as well as the son of a former slave who became a "placee", or colored mistress, to a white man. At this point her children were freed and able to choose new lives for themselves within the strict confines of New Orleans society. The most subtle gradations of "whiteness" determined your place in society- from darkest full-African black to the light-skinned octoroon (a person with only one African great-grandparent, and still considered "colored"). The darkest-skinned men and women were almost never anything but workers in the sugarcane and cotton fields, while the octoroons could often rise to wealthy and powerful positions within the free colored society of the city.
"A Free Man of Color" begins with the shocking murder of one of these women. Everyone is in costume, and almost anyone could have committed the murder, in the confusion of the dancing, music, drunkenness, arguments in French, Spanish and English, deadly duels and utter chaos of a Mardi Gras ball. It's up to January to find the real murderer when he discovers that someone has accused him of the murder and that those in charge of "law enforcement" find him to be a perfect scapegoat.

I've read many more books in this series and loved most of them. The intricacies of the Creole French, Spanish, slave, American and free colored societies of that time and place truly come alive in this series. It can also be surprisingly funny, especially in scenes with the almost unbelievably filthy and loutish "Americans" (which covers everyone from brawling Kentucky riverboatmen to ribald riverside prostitutes and even the lieutenant of the city police- one of my favorite characters). January's developing relationship with Rose, a gawky, fiercely intelligent schoolteacher, and his friendship with Hannibal, an elfin Irish expatriate and opium addict who plays violin like an angel, make for a memorable and delightful supporting cast in this excellent series. Enjoy!
Barbara Hambly's webpage

Hunting Mushrooms

2011-12-30T17:04:00.002-05:00

I've spent most of the fall and early winter looking for mushrooms and have found some really tasty ones! My favorites have been the Maitake, or Hen of the Woods, mushrooms. These grow in grayish clumps at the base of hardwood trees, usually oaks. They have a wonderful flavor but can be difficult to clean since they tend to have lots of bits of leaves and grit attached to the mushroom. I just scrub them and hope for the best!

Another delicious mushroom is the Black Trumpet. I found these in the early fall on hillsides and under beeches. They are heavenly tasting, though a bit scary looking. I also found Hedgehog Mushrooms, which have soft "spines" underneath the caps, and Oyster Mushrooms, which are found attached to trees. They are big and white and have a sweet, fruity smell.

I did not find many Chicken of the Woods mushrooms (not to be confused with Hen of the Woods!), though I looked everywhere for them. I'd eaten them several times when I lived in Virginia but for some reason they were scarce up here this year. They have a sturdy texture and can be cooked like chicken in sauces. YUM.

I used a few field guides to help with identification. My favorite was "Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada" by David L. Spahr. This excellent book has lots of color photos and detailed instructions on where to find each species. I highly recommend it!

Cow vs. Vulture

2011-08-01T20:27:00.001-04:00

I had a truly bizarre bird experience about a month ago at Cook's Farm in Hadley, MA.

I'd stopped there for an ice cream on a really hot day and strolled around to the back of the farm to look at the cows relaxing in the back field. I noticed at least 8 or 9 Turkey Vultures up on fenceposts around the field, all holding out their wings and sunning themselves. They looked kind of spooky, just quietly holding up their wings and slowing turning around every so often. The cows were all lying down or standing around the way cows do, totally ignoring the vultures. Except for one. Apparently, a young Jersey cow decided that she didn't like these creepy things in her field and was determined to do something about it.

As I watched, she tossed her head and started trotting toward the nearest vulture. It didn't move until the last possible second when she almost trampled down the post, vulture and all. The bird looked to be in a state of shock as it flapped heavily away and crash landed into the field beyond. This sort of thing just doesn't happen. Jersey cows don't CHARGE!!! What the hell????

I laughed and then watched as she systematically ran off every single one of the vultures left on the posts. All of them showed the same blase "Yeah, what are YOU going to do about it?" attitude until they were also almost gored or trampled. It was so hilarious I couldn't stop laughing. This sweet-faced little cow was a mad-dog vulture killer!!!

Finally, finished with her rounds, she walked over to her friends and became one of the herd again. Until a vulture alighted on a distant fencepost. Obviously, he hadn't learned his lesson yet. But she taught it to him all over again in the next few seconds.

Vultures- 0 Cow- 9

(Vulture photo by Carl Kirby, cow photo by some other person. Didn't have my camera with me that day, alas!)

Baby Wood Ducks!

2011-05-13T19:54:00.001-04:00

Catching up with early May birding, this will be a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG post!

I saw two female Wood Ducks today, with 9 and 6 ducklings each! They hustled those babies away from me as quickly as they could, so I did not get any photos, unfortunately! I was riding my bike around the Meadows area in Arcadia along Pynchon Meadows Road when I saw them. This road was totally under water just a week ago when I last tried to drive down it! Four-wheel drive has come in very handy this year. As of yesterday, the Mill River Wood Ducks do not have any ducklings yet.

It's been a very busy month so far, which is why I haven't had time (or inclination!) to write for my blog! I saw a Louisiana Waterthrush perched up in a tree, singing like mad, in a small swamp along the Mill River on April 28th. I also saw my first male Yellowthroat of the year that day, skulking in a patch of thorn bushes, and my first Baltimore Orioles singing from the tops of tall trees in the Northampton Dog Park. Gorgeous birds.

I went on a bird walk in Look Park with the Hampshire Bird Club on May 1st, where I heard my first Wood Thrush of the year and saw Orioles, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, and Nashville warblers as well as my first Scarlet Tanager of the year. I also spotted a fox running along the opposite bank of the river!

Mom and I went to the heron rookery in Arcadia later that day and saw the adults on the nests, pointing their bills down and shaking them as if possibly feeding their young? We could not see into the nests and I didn't have my scope on me, but it was pretty exciting! I also saw my first Warbling Vireo and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher of the year here at the edge of the swamp.

On May 5th, at the somewhat mysterious farm ponds in the other Meadows area near the airport (why is everything called The Meadows around here??) I saw my first Prairie and Yellow Warblers of the year. The roads were really muddy and the furthest pond had merged into the Connecticut River. I'd hoped to be able to walk around it, but no luck. Will bring a raft next time.

At Leeds Reservoir on the 6th I saw an Osprey flying overhead and making a racket. In the woods of Roberts Hill nearby I saw Black-throated Blue warblers and heard what was almost certainly a Cerulean Warbler! I had my iPod of Stokes bird songs with me and was able to listen to them simultaneously. Definitely sounded just like the Stokes song. I have never seen a Cerulean, and still haven't, even after waiting there for about 20 minutes. Ah well! I did see my first Blue-Headed Vireo (Solitary Vireo to you old folks out there) of the year just a little further on, near the summit, and a beautiful male Blackburnian Warbler.

On the 8th, in the Meadows area along Potash Road, I saw my first ever Wilson's Warbler (a cute bright yellow bird with a black patch on top of his head) in a small swamp. Also a weird Redstart that must have been an immature male because it was singing like a Redstart but was sort of olive green with yellow patches in its tail and wings. It had wide, bright white wing bars, though, rather than small yellow ones, and a sort of necklace of dark gray. Very strange. Maybe a hybrid?
I saw my first female Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the year here, too. They look like massive sparrows. Kind of frightening, like Godzilla.

On the 9th, in the dog park, I saw my first Blue-winged Warbler. I heard its buzzy call and started looking around. It was hopping in and out of some bushes but I finally got a good look at it after I offered it some of my Maple Nut Clif Bar. These are awesome, and have sustained me through many grueling days of birding. :)

On the 11th at Highland Park in Greenfield I saw a raven perched in a tree at about eye level, shaking his feathers around as if drying off after a bath. I know that they nest on the rocky cliffs above Highland Pond, but had never seen one so far down. He did not cooperate for a very good photo, but I got three before he flew away.
Also on the 11th I saw an immature Bald Eagle flying over the island at Barton Cove where the two adults are nesting. He called to them and they called back and then he flew on. Probably one of theirs from a couple of years ago?

On the 12th I saw two female Hooded Mergansers on the Mill River, which are the first I've seen at all for about a month. No idea where they'd been. I've been seeing Common Mergansers almost every day. I also saw my first Least Flycatchers of the year, chasing each other and making angry noises. That seems to be what flycatchers are all about. I've seen quite a few Kingbirds lately, too. They always look so sharp in their little black and white tuxedo outfits with that white tail tip. Handsome beasts, but bratty. I saw one chase off a Red-tailed Hawk once!
Oh, and I finally saw a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak! Hooray!

On the 13th (today) I saw a Harrier flying over the fields at the Meadows of Arcadia near Pynchon Meadows Road, and tons of Yellow Warblers and Yellowthroats in the hedgerows. I saw my first Northern Waterthrush of the year, too, in the swamp along Old Springfield Road. He was very yellow. They're hard to tell apart from the Louisiana Waterthrush, so sometimes you just have to ask them which one they are.

I saw this HUGE pawprint in the mud near the farm ponds. There were no claw marks. Any guesses?

Off to do some more birding tomorrow! Will bring back a (perhaps too) full report shortly!

Orioles, warblers galore, osprey, snakes and more!

2011-04-28T20:11:00.002-04:00

It's finally SPRING and all the birds seem to be pouring in. Since the middle of April I have been going out birding almost every day, especially on the Mill River trail in Northampton and the dog park across the river. I've been checking Fitzgerald Lake often and went to a few places in Amherst like the Mill River Recreation Area (near Puffers Pond) and the Lawrence Swamp rail trail.
I made a few forays to Great Pond in Hatfield and Barton Cove and the Turners Falls Power Canal for ducks and things.

I also saw my first turtle and first snake of the year, and got my first poison ivy and tick bites. Ah, the magic of springtime.

My first (migrants and breeding) birds of the year so far:

Field Sparrows on 4/6 at Great Pond in Hatfield
Eastern Phoebe on 4/6 at Great Pond in Hatfield
Pied-Billed Grebe on 4/6 at Great Pond in Hatfield
Palm Warblers on 4/11 at the Emily Dickinson Trail in Amherst
Golden-Crowned Kinglets on 4/14 at the Northampton Dog Park

Osprey on 4/15 at Fitzgerald Lake
Hermit Thrush on 4/15 at Fitzgerald Lake

Black-and-white Warbler on 4/18 at Fitzgerald Lake (I've since seen four total)

Ruby-Crowned Kinglets on 4/21 in Hadley near Skinner State Park
Rough-Winged Swallows on 4/22 at the Mill River (a "life bird" for me!)
Louisiana Waterthrush on 4/26 in the Meadows Conservation Area in Northampton
Chipping Sparrows on 4/26 in my backyard

Northern Parula on 4/27 in my backyard!

Baltimore Orioles on 4/29 in the Northampton Dog Park

Common Yellowthroat on 4/29 in the Northampton Dog Park

Black-throated Green Warbler on 4/29 in the Northampton Dog Park

I also saw two Bald Eagles along the Mill River, which is the first time I've seen them there. The first was perched on a tall snag overlooking the river and I got some nice photos.

Several joggers stopped to look and it was a treat to see their reactions. Some had never seen an eagle before! The second eagle I saw today, soaring over the fields above the dog park. Two crows were chasing it away from their territory. Absurd creatures.

Speaking of absurd creatures, a female wild turkey was wandering through my (definitely not rural) neighborhood a few days ago. Poor thing. There's nothing more lost-looking than a lost female turkey.

Here's the third Black-and-white Warbler I've seen this year.
They're darn cute.

That's about all the bird news for now. Tune in next week! Or whenever I get to it!
Which probably won't be next week, now that I think of it.

P.S. I apologize for the weird spacing of this post. The new Blogger editing settings don't seem to work. What else is new?

Herons, Owls and Sharks, Oh My!

2011-03-28T19:46:00.009-04:00

Finally, there are LOTS of things going on this time of year, with both birds and books! I've spent time this last week at the Arcadia heron rookery, the Mill River in Northampton, the Turners Falls power canal and Barton Cove. I've seen woodcocks, Bald Eagles, Common and Hooded Mergansers, Ring Necked Ducks, Great Blue Herons, a female kestrel, all the usual suspects, and a ridiculous quantity of Red Winged Blackbirds.

My long-suffering nineteen-year-old Subaru, Beulah, endured snow, rain, hail, being stuck in the mud on a road that was not quite thawed, and getting buzzed by low-flying airplanes (see pic). But we persevered, had an excellent time, and saw many other interesting winged creatures that were a bit smaller.

I also had a fabulous find of a First American Edition of "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien! It was a third printing rather than a first, but still worth about $1,200. One of my best finds yet in the 11 years I've had a bookstore. I think my beautiful 1895 leatherbound set of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" is still my favorite find (and one I really wanted to keep but talked myself out of since it would pay for several month's rent). Every so often I find something valuable and have to have this talk with myself. Sometimes I lose the argument. This is why I now own five different editions of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy...

Oh, and I would be remiss in posting if I did not mention the ENORMOUS owl I saw on the Smith College campus. I'm not sure what kind it was, but I heard a professor say its Latin name was
something like "Leonardus baskinus", and that they eat mainly frozen pizza and Golden Retrievers.

To continue the unexpected wildlife encountered this week, take a look at the photo below and tell me what you think. To me it looks remarkably like a shark, but I am pretty sure they are not native to Hampshire County. I'm calling Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Ack! March already!

2011-03-03T09:29:00.007-05:00

It is with much embarassment that I see that my last post here was in June of 2010... Thank you all for being so kind as to not mention it.

Well, the news on both the birds and books fronts has started to trickle in again. I just got in a nice lot of book on education, Black History, women's studies and a few language and cookbooks. They should be online when I take a break from napping, eating snacks and playing with the cat.

I recently went out to the Norwottuck Rail Trail bridge in Northampton and saw two adult Bald Eagles flying overhead. One of them landed in a tree overlooking the river and the other flew further south. I watched the eagle in the tree for awhile, who just preened and looked majestic for several minutes. A flock of ducks suddenly flew overhead and the eagle took off from the tree. I have NEVER seen ducks fly so fast as when they spotted that eagle! They switched from light speed to ludicrous speed and were instantly somewhere over downtown Holyoke. The eagle ponderously flapped about, wondering what had just occurred, and decided to settle back down on the tree to think things over.

There were small groups of ducks on the river- Common Mergansers, Mallards, a lone male Goldeneye, and three female Hooded Mergansers and one male. I love to watch them dive down and bob back up for hours and hours! The freezing water and little icebergs floating past didn't faze them at all. Amazing birds.

Lots of feeder birds back at the house, too, like Downy Woodpeckers, White-throated Sparrows, Juncos, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Chickadees and the occasional Carolina Wren (my favorite). Nothing too out of the ordinary, though, but they are all welcome.

Ducklings!

2010-06-15T18:46:00.007-04:00

I HAVE been birding this summer, just haven't written about it here! Oh well. I do MEAN to write.
Anyway, I saw a female Common Merganser today with 14 ducklings! They were the most adorable things. They had pretty brown heads and white stripes on their sides. They kept diving down to eat and then bobbing back up again like corks.
Fourteen is the most I've ever seen, though I've read that they can have up to 17! Can you imagine keeping track of 17 babies?

I also saw a kingfisher hovering for the first time out over Paradise Pond. I have seen them so many times before, flying just above the water and making their absurdly loud, rackety call, but never hovering over the water looking for fish. It was very cool.

Here is a picture of a very silly-looking grackle who was foraging in the middle of the river for what looked like grass. His mouth is full and he's got this funny sideways stance in this picture. Ha!
I think you can click on this to get a closer view. I love grackles. They really are beautiful birds, when they aren't looking ridiculous.

I saw this mockingbird in a beautiful rose garden near my house. He kept flying up to the rose arbor, singing loudly and watching me, then quietly flying over to another arch and stuffing twigs under the vines that grew over it. I could just see him using my camera zoom.
Mr. Sneaky.

Palm Warblers

2010-04-13T19:02:00.006-04:00

I had a nice time on Sunday birding along the Fort River in Amherst. It was a hot, sunny day and I actually got sunburned- which might be a record for mid-April!

I saw a female kestrel hunting (hovering and diving down) in the bluebird nest box field. These boxes have mostly been taken over by Tree Swallows, but it was fun to see them swooping and twittering overhead for hours. A pair of bluebirds did manage to hold onto one of the nest boxes by installing a high-tech security system and one of those motion-detector water spray guns people use in gardens to get rid of deer. The Tree Swallows were utterly confounded and put up no resistance.

Two Red-Tailed Hawks were soaring overhead for about an hour. Near the playground, a pair of very noisy Red-Bellied Woodpeckers were trying to drive off the local kids near their partially-excavated nest hole.

I also saw chickadees popping in and out of an old stump, taking out wood a beakful at a time. At this rate, they might have everything done in there by Christmas.

I also saw two pairs of Downy Woodpeckers on the same tree. The males were bobbing and weaving their heads at each other while making angry-sounding noises. Obviously, they'd been having a few drinks together earlier and things just got out of hand. The females were wisely staying out of the fray and seemed to be commenting on the absurdity of males.

Here's a picture of a Palm Warbler, who wouldn't sit still for more than two seconds. You can just see his head markings in this one.

There was a small flock of 7 or 8, all tail-bobbing and foraging near the ground, which looks so odd for warblers! Fun to see them- I missed them last year because I was moving then and didn't do much birding. They're on their way to Canada for the breeding season. One of them was on his cell phone making reservations for the honeymoon cottage at Niagara Falls.

Gravestones

2010-04-04T18:35:00.018-04:00

Today I went to the cemetery nearby and looked at the gravestones and took some pictures. There were some beautiful mini daffodils and a blue star-shaped flower growing in masses over the graves. I saw my first honeybee of the year!

This squirrel poked his head up for a second and then went back to nosing around in the crocuses. I think he was digging up and eating the bulbs.

I was reading the somewhat morbid tombstone epitaphs and poems. One of my favorites was this one... I especially like the part about "worms shall but purify this flesh". That's the spirit!

Also it seemed that everyone who lived in the early 1800s was named either Keturah or Abner, though, honestly, my favorite was Quartus. I want to be named Quartus in my next life.

All in all, a lovely Easter day with incredible weather in the high 70s! A pair of phoebes are nesting in the eaves of our house and the spring peepers are calling from every pond and swamp around. I love spring!

Eagle Walk

2010-03-30T17:52:00.009-04:00

Well, the Bald Eagle walk was a (qualified) success!

This is NOT what we saw. This is a lovely Bald Eagle photo taken by Michael Melford for the National Geographic website.

This eagle sat still and looked majestic while a professional photographer with equipment that cost more than I make all year took dozens of shots and pared them down to the one perfect photo.

Our view was slightly less majestic, captured best by the photograph below:

It was pouring rain most of the time as we hiked out on the peninsula and by the time I got my scope set up the lens was so wet we couldn't see much anyway.
Fortunately, as we arrived, one of the eagles left the nest and flew around the island and landed at the top of a tall dead tree on a nearby island. He fanned out his tail and gave some high-pitched calls as his mate replied from the nest.

I wanted to get some pictures but didn't dare to take out my (very unwaterproof) camera! At least we heard and saw both birds, if briefly. One of them flew off and the other hunkered down on the nest and was not visible after the first few minutes.

Lovely to see them, but even nicer to head home, put on some warm jammies and get a cup of hot tea! (No comments about the jammies, thank you.)

The Bald Eagles are Nesting!

2010-03-07T19:34:00.007-05:00

Well, it appears that the Bald Eagles on Barton Island in Gill are nesting this year! This pair has been in this area since 1989, successfully raising many chicks from their pine tree nest on a small island in the middle of Barton Cove. In the summer of 2008, their old nest tree fell over in a storm. They did not nest in 2009.

I took my scope out on the peninsula this morning and got some great views of both eagles on the new nest in the red oak tree. When I first arrived, both adults were on the nest (see photo below), but one of them soon launched itself out and away to soar over the cove. Pretty soon it was out of sight far overhead.

The other stayed in the nest for the next 3 1/2 hours. I was able to see this one's white head peering out over the nest edge for most of the time I was there. I took several photos, but they are a bit fuzzy since I had to use a 16x zoom. Of course, I completely forgot to use my new scope to "digiscope" them instead! Maybe next time! I hope to check on the eagles every few weeks and will report back here on the latest news.

For more information about these eagles, the Eagle Cam, and great photos from previous years, take a look at this site:
http://www.firstlightpower.com/eagles/default.asp

The Great Backyard Bird Count!

2010-02-12T19:21:00.005-05:00

Once again, boys and girls, it's time for the Great Backyard Bird Count! The birds don't actually have to be in your backyard. They could be in a park, or on a river, or in someone else's backyard. Just don't get arrested while climbing over their fence in pursuit of a flock of Snow Buntings.

Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time, every day from now through the 15th (Monday). Even if you can only count for a few minutes on one day, your numbers will still help us to get a better picture of which birds are where right now, and how many are around! And it's more fun than a barrel of pickled Puffins!

Here is a link with much more information, as well as the place to enter your bird counts: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

Swans, Gulls and Geese

2010-02-04T17:38:00.007-05:00

Well, it's definitely winter. I've been lazing around at home on my days off, watching movies and reading books, rather than going out looking for birds! Today, though, I walked all around Turners Falls and got some nice photos of the old factories and brick houses downtown as well as some shots of the Mute Swans, Canada Geese, and assorted gulls in Barton Cove.

It was pretty chilly and windy out there, with ice just under the snow along the bike path. Fortunately, I didn't wipe out while getting some nice videos of the swans and gulls.

I also saw a group of crows chasing a Red-Tailed Hawk near the power canal. The hawks will be nesting fairly soon, so I'm sure I'll be seeing more clashes between them in the next few weeks!

I also checked on the birdfeeders I maintain at the Great Falls Discovery Center and refilled them with thistle, sunflower seed mix, and suet. We've been getting lots of juncos, cardinals, blue jays, house sparrows, downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, purple finches, house finches, and an occasional pigeon eating spilled seed on the ground. Nothing really exotic so far, but this is the first winter we've set up feeders at the center. I hope to have a running list of all the species seen there, the way they do it at Arcadia in Easthampton. It would be fun for the kids to see as they walk in!

A Visiting Red-Tailed Hawk

2010-01-14T18:59:00.003-05:00

This handsome Red-Tailed Hawk visited our yard today, probably with an eye on the 10 or 12 squirrels in residence, constantly raiding the compost pile.

I was alerted by the hysterical behavior of Felix, my cockatiel. He was on top of his cage with his crest up, shrieking uncontrollably, with a couple of short breaks to fly wildly around the room. I couldn't see anything wrong with him or his mate, Daisy, so I told him to be quiet. Okay, I KNOW this never works, but after so many years, it's the routine.

Finally, I got up from my desk and looked around. I saw the hawk right outside the window in a tree in the yard! What a treat.

I guess that bird is good for something after all. Maybe I'll keep him around.

Pickled Puffin

2009-12-02T09:51:00.005-05:00

This one may be hard to believe, but apparently has been a special treat in Wales for centuries!

"The young ones...are pickled for sale by the renters of the island of Anglesey and form an article of traffic peculiar to this neighborhood. The oil is extracted from them by a peculiar process and the bones are taken out after which the skin is closed round the flesh and they are immersed in vinegar impregnated with spices." -"North Wales Excursions", 1798, Reverend William Bingley

Aren't you curious as to what that "peculiar process" is? No, I'm not, either.

For those who haven't yet had enough of Pickled Puffin lore, here is another quote:
"The young puffins...are opened and strew'd with pepper and salt and Broiled and Eat pleasant enough. But the nice way of managing them is to Pickle them, and these are sent as rarities for ye Tables of the Great. 'Puffins which pickled bring profit'." -Lewis Morris (1701-1765)

I think that this last line might be used to great effect in everyone's Facebook posts today!

(quotes taken from "Wales: An Anthology" by Alice Thomas Ellis, 1989)

Beast Bath

2009-11-30T09:30:00.003-05:00

This is what Felix and Daisy look like after a bath. They are very silly beasts.

Felix also loves to take an "invisible bath", where he perches at the edge of an empty coffee mug, flips his wings and tail up and rolls his head around wildly and basically acts like he's taking a bath- only there's no water in sight...

I think I may have purchased a defective bird. However, after twelve years, I think the warranty has expired.

Crows

2009-11-29T08:21:00.004-05:00

A few days ago I woke up to an incredible racket just outside my bedroom window. There were hundreds of crows in the trees in my back yard, cawing and flying from tree to tree.
Then I realized that I'd been having dreams about crows that morning before I woke up! I had been walking through a circus in my dream where the cages were filled with crows and ravens. I went outside and got a short video of them before they all flew away around 7 am. At the point I took the video, unfortunately, most of them were already gone.

I had been reading about ravens a few days before in an excellent book- "The American Crow and the Common Raven" by Lawrence Kilham. There was one paragraph that was particularly funny. When the author was studying corvids in the mid 80s, he rescued a raven nestling who had fallen out of its cliffside nest and injured a leg. The raven was provided with food in an outdoor cage.

The author writes, "His cage soon became a place where he had a considerable hoard of treasures cached in odd places. He gave his most convincing appearance of thinking when, with a piece of roadkill in his bill, he went about here and there as if trying to decide where his latest treasure should go. If every place was loaded, he would fly to me with an appraising look. Alighting on my shoulder, he would touch his bill to my skin, and then, if I wasn't careful, a piece of roadkill would be tucked between my neck and shirt collar."

Recent Reading

2009-10-06T16:41:00.004-04:00

I promise I will mention books in this post. You can't have a "Birds and Books Blog" with just birds in it! So, for all of you who are dying to know what I'm currently reading, here it is...

I just finished "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which I hadn't read since I was about 17 or so. I really liked the first half but the second half was so depressing, with everyone either dead, betrayed, or doomed, that it was hard to keep going! Still, I'll read anything to do with the Arthurian legends. My favorite is still the "Crystal Cave" series by Mary Stewart.

I also just finished "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson, which was excellent. First published in 1954, it had a depth and authenticity about its setting and characters that I usually find lacking in modern fantasies. It read more like "Beowulf" than your average elves-and-trolls saga, with ancient words like leman, thrall, garth, and may (maiden), and its characters continually composed "staves", or short verses, about the action happening around them. I enjoyed it very much.

I'm currently reading "Sharpe's Rifles" by Bernard Cornwell for the first time. I love anything about the Napoleonic Wars, and it will be a nice change to read about what was happening on land at the time! Fear not, Hornblower and Aubrey, I will always love you best...

A Very Short Hawkwatch

2009-10-05T16:52:00.007-04:00

My friend and I decided to hike up Mount Tom in Holyoke a couple of weeks ago. We had beautiful weather and a few trees were just starting to turn color. I hadn't been up there since I was a kid, so we just picked a trail and started up. We reached a nice overlook above Easthampton where I could almost see the house I used to live in. There was an interesting carving in the rock at our feet that just said "TOM". I wonder how old it is?

We then kept going up until we saw the intimidating Goat Peak tower. For someone afraid of heights, it was hard to keep climbing past the first and second levels, but I felt positively heroic once I got to the top!
We then had a nice lunch and took some more pics of the view out over the Connecticut looking toward UMASS, and of Mount Tom itself.
By now you're saying, "But what about all those hawks you must have seen up there?". Well, truth be told, we were too busy eating and talking and taking pictures to really set our minds to it.
Hawkwatching, I've read, is all about the way the bird flies and what its silhouette is like and how fast and often it flaps its wings.
I've also discovered that I'm no good at all at it.

I did see a Bald Eagle, two Red-Tails, and a nice little Kestrel that flew right over the tower. Also what was probably a Sharp-Shinned but possibly a Cooper's Hawk. Quite a few Turkey Vultures, of course, some buteos of one kind or another, and quite a few dark, circling shapes over by the Summit House across the river that were almost certainly birds of some kind. Ah well! I'll just have to wear my raptor-attracting perfume next time and put some enormous sticky traps all over the sides of the tower. I've heard there's a sale on them at the online Audubon gift shop. Better hurry while supplies last!

The Great Chatham Death March....er....Bird Trip

2009-08-16T20:57:00.006-04:00

Just got back from a great day birding with the local bird club members down on Monomoy Island, at the "elbow" of the cape.
We took a couple of boats over the channel from Chatham and were dropped off at the tip of the island. We set up our tripods and saw many terns, gulls, and sandpipers on the mudflats and on a nearby island. Just as I was getting used to my newly borrowed scope and brand new tripod, we set off again to another point on the island.
When I got there, our excellent guide, Wayne Petersen, had just finished telling everyone about the difference between Common and Roseate Terns or some other vital bit of birding information. I did see a good-sized flock of both kinds and took some pictures. However, I hope I will never need to save my life by telling the two apart in nonbreeding plumage.

Then we all set off again to yet another point on the horizon. I found some lovely bits of sea glass and some nice rocks and miniature horseshoe crab shell to bring home along the way.
Soon finding myself alone, like Hansel and Gretel, I followed the trail of Doritos bags and empty beer cans of the birders in my group and soon found them lying on the sand dunes, giggling, singing songs and passing around a funny-looking cigarette.
Oh, wait- that was another beach trip. Sorry.

The next few hours are a blur of trudging along wet sand and funky-smelling tidal flats with very brief stops to adjust the packs on the camels and to hold memorial services for the birders who had expired along the way. Almost as soon as I had caught up with the group they took off again. This was my view for most of the trip:

I saw lots of life birds, including the fabulous-looking American Oystercatcher, the Saltmarsh Sparrow, and an amazing Cory's Shearwater that came very close to the beach on the east side of the island. We also saw several gray seals and a Surf Scoter who was not feeling well. "Get well" cards sent to the Chatham post office will be forwarded to his stretch of beach if you care to send one. Please, no flowers, but he would appreciate tins of sardines.

Then we had some excellent fried seafood and ice cream and headed home. Got a little sunburned and had some serious welts on my legs from the greenhead flies, but all in all had a great time!
I learned so much obscure birding lore. Things you could never find in a field guide. Like the fact that some birders can do a wicked Monty Python imitation, or that many birders know all the words to Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville". Or that, next time I visit Monomoy Island, I should even out the weight of the scope and tripod with a frosty six-pack in the other hand, for balance.

Lazy Summer!

2009-08-14T10:50:00.006-04:00

Well, it has been a very lazy summer for both birding and bookselling. After a nice haul at a few local library sales, I have not expended much effort at getting new books in.

However, I did find a few excellent vintage paperbacks like this one:

As for birding, I saw the Henslow's Sparrow in Montague with all the other local birders. He was singing up a storm and perched right where we could all see him.

I could imagine him calling to attract a mate and wondering where all his friends were. Probably in Ohio. Better luck next year, friend.

I've also spent some time in Franklin County birding at Highland Park, Mt. Toby, Sugarloaf, and the Green River. Also along the Fort River in Hampshire County. Nothing too exciting to be seen this time of year, but enjoyable all the same.

I saw this exotic specimen on top of Rocky Mountain near Poet's Seat Tower in Greenfield. Definitely a migrant. Probably blown off course in that last big storm.

Arcadia

2009-05-28T14:46:00.009-04:00

I spent a nice day exploring the Arcadia Sanctuary last week.   It is a large site in Easthampton, MA next to the Connecticut River oxbow.   This creates great habitat for lots of birds, including Great Blue Herons, ducks, geese, and migrating warblers, as well as many others.

I walked about 4 or 5 miles total that day and climbed the observation tower next to the swamp.   Could only see three herons, but I did see two Canada Geese with 14 goslings lined up in a row swimming behind them.

The best thing I saw, though, were Bobolinks!   They are funny birds that look a bit like a Red-Winged Blackbird with a yellowish patch on their heads and white on their backs.   They fly up into the air singing a lovely burbling song, and land back down on a high spot like the top of a cattail or fence post, then bounce back up again and fly out over the field.   They're charming birds.

One particularly funny thing happened as I watched a male Bobolink.   A pair of butterflies kept hovering and circling over his head, trying to land on his yellow patch because they thought it was a flower!   Then a Kingbird flew over and tried to snap up one of the butterflies, but the Bobolink hopped straight up into the air and scared off the Kingbird and the butterflies!   Ha!  You could tell he was thinking, "Enough is enough!"

(photo by S. Maslowski)

Montague Sandplains

2009-05-23T10:11:00.004-04:00

This was my first visit to the Montague Sandplains. In driving around the county, passing the usual deciduous woods and agricultural fields, you would never suspect that a good portion of Montague is covered in sandy soil with scrubby bushes and tall pines. I drove up Plains Rd., negotiating the huge puddles and dips in the road (thank God for 4WD!) and came to this strange landscape. It looked a lot like the coast, especially on such a hot, dry day with the sweet smell of the pines in the air. I saw and heard lots of Prairie Warblers. They have a sweet, buzzy song that rises after each trill. It has an almost ethereal quality that always reminds me of hot summer days. I also saw and heard Ovenbirds, Robins, Catbirds, a ridiculous amount of Towhees, and a soaring Red-Tailed Hawk. A great birding day all around! I'll have to come back armed with a lot more water,though. I had to leave early because I ran out and was starting to feel like a dried-out lizard on the highway.

Bald Eagles

2009-05-08T09:11:00.006-04:00

I hiked out to Barton Cove on the Connecticut River and saw the pair of nesting Bald Eagles on Barton Island last week. One sat in a tree the whole time and the other flew down to the water's edge and ate a fish, then hopped up onto a stump and preened for about 15 minutes. It was great to see them!

They were sharing island space with four Great Blue Herons, assorted mallards, and a pair of nesting Mute Swans.
One of the swans was on the island sitting down and tucking bits of nesting material around her the whole time we watched. The other was patrolling around the island- at one point chasing off a Canada Goose that got too close! Here is a photo of the Mute Swan nesting. The next is of the Bald Eagle on the stump.

Ravens on Buffalo Mountain

2009-05-06T21:01:00.011-04:00

This is an older post I meant to put up here last fall. I hiked up Buffalo Mountain (about 4,000 ft.) in Floyd, VA on November 5th, 2008 and saw at least 16 ravens soaring, diving, doing barrel-rolls and generally goofing off up there for the next 2 hours.

It was a wonderful sight! This is what the top of the mountain looks like. It was a cold, windy day but very sunny.

Here are some links to a couple of videos I made of the ravens themselves and their vocalizations. The vocalizations video is of the ground because I had to point the microphone (on top of the camera) toward the birds themselves! Enjoy!

Finally Moved!

2009-05-05T20:58:00.008-04:00

Well, I've finally moved to my new place in Massachusetts! It's great to be back home again!

Everything is pretty much unpacked, the online books are in their numbered plastic bins, and all is well in the universe. I've even already gotten about 4 boxes of new books from a friend which will get sorted out in the next few days.

I've been out looking for birds at least 10 times so far, of course! Highlights were a pair of nesting Bald Eagles at Barton Cove and Orioles and many warblers on the Green River. I've also seen Black-and-White Warblers and an early Wood Thrush at a park downtown as well as Bank Swallows near the local dam. Mostly nothing but Starlings, Crows, House Sparrows and a few Blue Jays near the house so far. I will miss living right next to the woods like I did in Virginia, but it's only a short drive to so many pretty places that I'm sure I'll find many interesting birds in.
It's fun to be exploring new territory!

What About the Books?

2009-03-08T13:53:00.011-04:00

You may have noticed that this "Birds and Books" blog has been heavy on the "birds" and a tad light on the "books". Okay, the books aspect has been completely nonexistent. Mea culpa.
I've been seeing some interesting birds lately and just couldn't help myself from writing about them!

However, moving on to the "books" part of this blog...

I'm going to be moving the store up to Massachusetts next month and have been busy packing personal things and going through my own books to see which ones I should sell before I move (always a painful process, but strangely satisfying). I started a half-off sale on my $3 and under books, which has drawn in an enormous quantity of last-minute shoppers. I had customers come in the first hour of the first day of the sale and say, "I hope there's still some good stuff left!". Ha.

I will be having a big yard sale on the weekend of the 14th & 15th and also the 21st & 22nd to sell some chairs, tables, household items, and maybe some bookcases. It will be great to move some stuff out and have room to pile up my things to be moved. So come on down and find some great deals!

Backyard Bird Count Coming Up!

2009-02-12T15:45:00.002-05:00

The annual Great Backyard Bird Count is almost upon us! What? You've forgotten to shop for presents? Well, it's too late for that.
But at least you can help count some birds in your area! If you can't tell a grosbeak from a mallard, get yourself a decent bird field guide from the library. I recommend the "Stokes Field Guide to Birds"- it's one of the easiest to use and has very good photos. Then just sit in a window near to your birdfeeder or outside in a nice sunny spot and start counting the birds you see! Have fun, but don't overdo it. We don't want to have to send a search team after you when you wander off into a swamp at night chasing what you were sure was a Bachman's Warbler (one of the rarest birds on earth) but in fact turns out to be a goldfinch...

Owls

2009-01-31T14:06:00.009-05:00

I almost never see or hear owls, and I wish I did!
I used to hear them a lot when I was a kid in central Massachusetts. There was a grove of old hollow oak trees where you were just about guaranteed to see and hear a Great Horned Owl at any time of the year. We also had Barred Owls, Barn Owls, and Screech Owls.
Here in Floyd, VA, I've seen one Barn Owl and heard two Screech Owls in the entire 6 1/2 years I've lived in town.

(photo by Steve Brace)

However, not going out for walks much at night is probably the reason I've had so little luck! Here is a link to a page with tips on finding owls.

Strangely enough, I've had much better luck seeing owls in downtown Floyd itself. This fine pair was spotted on a busy Friday night a few months ago at Cafe del Sol.

They don't even seem to mind the milling crowds, noisy espresso machine, or the high-volume live bluegrass music.
Let's hope they stick around! I'll contact the cafe owner to see if she'll let me put up an owl cam so we can all keep track of their movements and nesting activities.

The Little River

2009-01-28T12:50:00.010-05:00

One of my favorite birdwatching spots is the Little River in Floyd, VA. If you turn down Thunderstruck Rd. (great name, eh?) you can park and walk a 4 mile round-trip along the river.

I went down there a few weeks ago and saw a beautiful Hooded Merganser and his mate (a lifer for me- the first time I've seen them!). The males have a big white patch on the side of their heads that they can erect in a crest.
(photo taken by Gary Kramer)
Very impressive, if a teensy bit silly-looking. Still, it obviously works for his girlfriend.

I usually see lots of Indigo Buntings, bluebirds, goldfinches, and herons in the summer down by the river. In the winter I mostly see woodpeckers, cardinals, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, crows, and juncos. Sometimes fairly large flocks of bluebirds, too.

I've recently seen a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks who may be building a nest in a tall pine tree across the road from the river. I saw a nesting pair of Pileated Woodpeckers two years ago in a huge old sycamore.
These are big, impressive-looking birds. A friend of mine calls them "Those pterodactyl things".
When I saw them, the male was crouched motionless against the tree just below the nest hole and the female flew in for a landing while I stood there about 20 feet away. Then she saw me and they both flew off, with loud alarm calls that sound like "kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk"! I don't think they've nested in that tree this year. It's right on the road and the hole isn't very high up.
But maybe they were just starting out that year.

Young couple, plans for a family, couldn't afford anything but a shack in a bad part of town...
I hope that now they've f0und a nice place on the other side of the river, for a reasonable rent, with heat included.

(photo by Bates Littlehales)

The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

2009-01-23T15:37:00.003-05:00

Like you, I had long wanted to make the acquaintance of this unfortunately-named bird.
Finally that exciting day came! I looked up at the row of trees at the edge of the cow field I was walking through and saw a small woodpecker clinging to the side of a tree. His golden belly was facing the sun and caught the light just right so that identification was unmistakable.

I looked at him through the binoculars and saw that, unlike the neat black-and-white patterns of the Downy or Hairy woodpeckers, he had a sort of washed-out, indistinct look to his feathers.
Poor thing. Since that first day, I've seen Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers many times and I always think of them as those birds that look like Hairy Woodpeckers who've been dragged through the mud and then stuck back up on the tree.

2009-01-23T11:41:00.003-05:00

Well, this is my first blog post to "Birds and Books"!
Welcome friends, family, bookstore customers, and fellow birders!
I hope to be able to write here at least once a week with anything new and interesting going on in my small bookselling and birdwatching world.

First off, a short introduction: I was born in Massachusetts and lived in central Massachusetts near the Quabbin Reservoir for many years and also on Nantucket Island. I've always liked birds of every kind, both wild and domestic (one of my first pets was a chicken named Peeper).
I owned chickens, finches and cockatiels for years and currently have two 11-year-old cockatiels named Felix and Daisy. I did some volunteer work in Oregon at a raptor rehabilitation center, which gave me a close-up look at some beautiful eagles, owls and hawks.

While I've always loved walking in the woods and looking at the birds that came to our feeders, I've only recently started keeping track of the birds I see. Since last year I've been posting my bird sightings on eBird and seeking out unusual birds to add to my list (currently at 90 species).

I've always been an avid reader and started working in bookstores in 1992. I opened my own bookstore, LaPointe's Books, in 2000 in Radford, VA and moved to Floyd, VA in 2002.
Bookselling is a lot of fun and very rewarding (though not necessarily in a financial sense!). I sell books on all topics and have roughly 6,000 books in the store right now. My customers come from all over southwest Virginia and I also see many tourists come in off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the summer and fall.

My favorite types of books to read are science fiction and fantasy as well as nonfiction books on homesteading, gardening, and living a self-sufficient life. I also like myths and legends as well as nautical stories and well-researched historical novels.

More posts to come at a later time!