The cygnet that the banders saved, see old post, is doing well. I'm always happy to see 3 of the young ones when the family swims by.
The flowers in my yard did so well this year, all that spring rain worked it's magic. Daylilies.
Daylilies and Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia)
Butterfly Bush and a beautiful flying insect.
Juvenile Cardinal taking a bath.
Stella D'Oro Daylily that Ting gave me 8 years ago, lovely.
A photo of Milo for Fran, who takes good care of him when we're not around.
Gold Finch.
One of the Blue Heron that is often at our dock fishing.
So sweet! Chipmunk.
Walking to the far area of Plymouth beach with the photo club. 6 miles round trip.
Julie came, too, a real trooper being 9 months pregnant.
Sunset the same day, Plymouth beach, harbor side.
Plymouth beach chamber of commerce photo :-)
Another view of that sunset.
Gulls.
Sunrise at Ellisville Harbor. Our photo club met at 4:30am and walked through the woods to the beach, crazy but lots of fun!
***
A rare bird landed in our yard on August 6th and we had a lot of visiting birders come to the cottage to see it. It was fun spending time with people I hadn't seen in a while and Ian was very excited to find this 7th MA sighting of the White-winged Dove in our yard! This bird is very common in the South West, but is an uncommon vagrant in our area. Here's the info Ian posted to his list serves so birders could come take a look.
From: goshawk227@earthlink.net
Subject: [MASSBIRD] Manomet White-winged Dove 8/6/09
Date: August 6, 2009 3:29:15 PM EDT
To: plymouthbirds@yahoogroups.com, massbird@world.std.com
I was looking out my feeders about 20 minutes ago as all the birds at the feeder flushed, and I was like "hey, there's a White-winged Dove..OH GOD there's a White-winged Dove!" It flushed into a tree next to my feeders and is sitting there as I type this.
Anyone who wants to is welcome to chase it, my address is ....., Manomet, MA. I'll be here for the rest of the day today, and some of tomorrow, however I'll be gone for the weekend, so I will not be able to keep tabs on it if it stays. If you do come, please park along the road and knock on the front door. During the time I've been typing this it's started preening, so it seems content.
A photo can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54107105@N00/3795353527/
Good birding,
Ian Davies
Manomet, MA
Birders using our house as a blind. No one was allowed in the yard close to the bird for fear of flushing it.
The scope was set up in the kitchen to get a better look. Jeff and Betty getting a good look.
A note to let people know where to go see the bird when we weren't home.
***
Taken from Massbird.org A good way for Coffee drinkers to help the birds.
Many of you attended talks by Scott Weidensaul and Kenn Kaufman this past
spring about Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) certified
Bird Friendly shade grown coffee. Their strong and very clear message:
if you want to do the best thing for the migratory songbirds
you love and you drink coffee, buy SMBC certified coffee. This is the
best choice by far for birders who want to make a real difference, and
is the ONLY way to be certain that you are getting the right type of
shade grown coffee, certified as grown on rustic, canopy shaded farms
full of diverse plant and animal species, including birds, and not the
"shade" of monoculture trees that are little different than sun-grown
plantations when it comes to supporting wildlife. Unfortunately, much of
the "shade" grown coffee on the market today fits the latter
category (see excellent article by Scott Weidensaul on the subject on
Bird Observer's web site, www.massbird.org).
To help make it easier to find SMBC coffee, Massachusetts-based
Birds&Beans LLC, a for-profit company, was formed to exclusively sell
SMBC certified Bird Friendly coffee. At a time when tropical forests are
under attack and coffee farming is becoming a sun or ersatz shade
chemical
laden monoculture, SMBC certified Bird Friendly coffee provides our best
hope for habitat protection for the neotropical migrants we care
about. To learn more about SMBC and its stringent certification
criteria, go to
Recently, the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS), a leader in bird
conservation since 1896, joined Birds&Beans in their efforts to
provide consumers with coffee that helps stop population declines in
songbirds that migrate to Latin America. By protecting increasingly
rare winter habitat, Bird Friendly coffee farms give shelter and
sustenance to our most beautiful migratory birds of spring and summer:
thrushes, warblers, orioles, tanagers, and more. MAS's Important Bird
Areas Program identifies and protects critical bird habitat in the
Commonwealth. .
You can most easily get Birds&Beans coffee online
(http.//www.birdsandbeans.com). Sample size packets are available at the
Audubon Shop at Drumlin Farm and 12 oz bags are now available at the
Whole Foods in Newtonville (647 Washington Street). Plans are for Whole
Foods in Fresh Pond and River Street, Cambridge, to offer Birds&Beans
coffee. Also it is available at Bird watcher's General Store in Orleans
and at Cambridge Naturals in Porter Sq.
So, PLEASE consider making this very important switch to SMBC coffees.
Join MAS and many others who are supporting Birds&Beans in their
efforts to convince those of us who love our birds of the critical
importance this simple choice can make for them. As we said at the
outset, Birds&Beans is a for-profit company, but they are an example of
an eco-friendly business trying to the right thing for the birds
and the environment and still be a viable business. But above all,
regardless of whether you choose Birds&Beans or some other coffee
brand, if you want to make the biggest difference for the birds, choose
SMBC Bird Friendly certified coffees. Thank you for reading
this and if you would like more information on shade grown coffee feel
free to contact Martha at marthajs@verizon.net
Bob Stymeist
Arlington
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