Cape Cod Canal

Enjoying a beautiful March day

We had visited down to Cape Cod Canal.  Hopefully to get out to Scuesset Beach, however, the road, pass the headquarters building was closed because of the snow.  The path that ran from the Sagamore Bridge down to Scuesset Beach was plowed, and there were a number of people walking and jogging on it.  For all the winters I have been coming down to the canal, this day was the first one that I saw the canal with a large amount ice flowing from Buzzards Bay out to the ocean.  There was more ice on the Scuesset side than on the Sagamore side.  There was a large ice flow stranded up on the rock side of the canal.  There were waterfowl coming and going, including greater scaup, common goldeneye and of course, common eiders.  There were a number of gulls flying overhead.  I am sure as the weather warms up the ice will clear from the canal and we will see more waterfowl in the canal.

Great black-backed gull

greatest scaup flying from the ice on the canal

large ice flow

common eiders flying in

common goldeneye

Video of the ice flowing in the Cape Cod Canal

Thursday Morning Birding and a King Eider

King Eider

Although my friend and colleague Doug and I did the new year beach ramble, this is the first day and a long time that we went out birding.  We started off at Jenney Pond in Plymouth where the usual's species were there and I decided to try some flight shots.  The mallets are acclimatized to people feeding them, but they usually fed only bread which is not the best food for them.  I utilized a technique that Artie Morris showed me of using crack corn, which is a lot more nutritious for the ducks, dug through some out on the ice where the ducks all evil walk swam or flew to to eat the corn.  I utilized my Nikon 70-200 with a telly converter and station myself on the bridge.  Doug came up to the bridge and we dropped the corner to the water and many of the mallards flew from the ice to the water, giving me a chance for flight shots.

Mallards Flying

Our next stop was Plymouth Harbor where I photographed red breasted merganser preening and flapping its wings.  I also was able to photograph a white-wing scoter close to the shore.  Normally these scoters are further out and if they see you, the scoters usually will swim away.  The scoter was very nice by staying in close to shore.

Red-breasted Merganser Flapping

White-winged Scoter

We made a couple more stops on the way to the Cape Cod Canal, because I had heard that a king eider was present among a large flock of common eiders around the Herring Run on the canal.  Arriving at the Herring Run information area.  We saw a large flock of eiders located near the opening of the Herring run.  We walked over there and search and searched which at first without seeing the king eider.  The common eiders was splashing and preening and after I photographed a drake common eider, I looked up as a group of eiders was swimming by and in the middle was the king eider.  I got a few pictures and then called to Doug so he could identify the bird also.  Then we follow the bird as it swam around and was able to get more pictures of this beautiful bird.

Drake Common Eider Flapping Its Wings

Hen Common Eider Taking off

King Eider in the Flock of Common Eiders

Swimming, along with the flock of eiders was a common loon who allowed a very decent portrait.  So ended a good morning, with a total of 39 different species of birds identified.

Common Loon

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Thursdays Ducks

Male Common Eider swimming in the Cape Cod Canal

Thursday, besides obtaining the photographs of the screech owl and the canvasback's, I did obtained photographs of some more of our common species. After we've saw the screech owl we traveled down to the Cape Cod Canal, which at high tide was higher than I have ever seen it due to astronomical conditions and looking toward what will occurred during the upcoming blizzard and continuing astronomical high tides and Gail Ted hurricane force winds, I worry about beach erosion and the people who live along the coast. All that aside,

Including the canal and Jenney Pond, I obtained some nice photographs of common eiders, red-breasted mergansers, gadwalls, hooded mergansers, common goldeneye and ring-neck ducks.

Female Common Goldeneye, has been present at Jenney Pond for a number of weeks

Pair of Hooded Mergansers and a pair of Gadwalls illustrating size differences in the ducks

Male Gadwall walking on the ice at Jenney Pond

Male Red-Breasted Merganser which has been hanging out on Jenney Pond also for a number weeks. The reason it's breast seem so large is its crop is filled with a very large perch.

Male Ring-necked Duck at Jenney Pond

Juvenile Common Eider swimming in the Cape Cod Canal

Female Red-breasted Merganser swimming in the Cape Cod Canal

A Visit to Jenney Pond, Plymouth Massachusetts

Front portion of Jenney Pond with open water

Female Ring-necked Duck

Male Ringed Neck Duck

I visited Jenney Pond in Plymouth Massachusetts today because it has been freezing over the past few days and I know when that happens the pond starts to freeze and concentrates the ducks and gulls into a smaller area.

Back portion of Jenney pond with ice

The weather today was overcast with the temperature around 32°F but no wind and the birds were plentiful on the pond. The mallards and swans spent most of their time resting on the ice. Otherwise, the other species were swimming and feeding. I was able to photograph male and female ring-neck ducks, male and female hooded mergansers, male and female gadwalls, a female goldeneye, a male red-breasted merganser and the yearly ever present lesser black-backed gull.

Female Common Goldeneye

Male Gadwall

Male Hooded Merganser

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Female Hooded Merganser and Male Ring-necked Duck

Red-breasted Merganser

Female Gadwall

Additional Photographs from Thursday's Birding Trip

Common Goldeneye - female

Here are some photographs of some of the birds that that we saw during our Thursday birding. On a Thursday birding trip we stopped and birded Jenney pond in Plymouth, Plymouth harbor, Ellisville State Park, Cape Cod Canal both on the Sandwich side and the Scuesset beach side.

Horned Lark - male  I was down low on the sand to take this picture

Horned  Lark - female

"I am resting but keep in my eye on you"  Female Red-Breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser Flapping Wings

Red-breasted Merganser - male sitting on a seaweed covered rock

Female Common Eider

Common Loons

Razorbills, there were at least a dozen razorbills feeding in the canal, when we were on the Sandwich side, they were across the way on the Scuesset side and when we went to the Scuesset side they were on the Sandwich side.

Lesser Black-backed Gull feeding

Initially when we visited Plymouth harbor, the tide was extremely far out and there were no birds in the parking lot, not even rock doves. However, as we made our way back home we re-stopped at the harbor and were able to add the Iceland go to our list (no picture however).

One Morning’s Photography

Today's blog is a collection of my photography that I obtained on an early Sunday morning.  I had been told by friends about the possibility of white-tailed deer and wild turkeys on the road and around The Old Stone Barn..  The Old Stone Barn is being restored to be a educational and visitors center for Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary.
I arrived around 6:15 AM in the morning and slowly drove down the road and up to the barn, looking closely over the fields for signs of deer or turkeys.  None could be seen, so I decided I would try to call in a screech owl.  Earlier in the season at an owl prowl, we were able to call in a screech owl at the Old Stone Barn.  I set up my camera and lens on the tripod and attach the flash and focused on the old tree where I hoped the owl would land.  I played my owl call, and lo and behold, I did not get an owl, but I got Eastern Bluebirds, which came out of a nearby cedar tree.  I was able to capture some interesting photographs of the bluebirds.

On the eastern horizon the sky was turning a light ruby red color and so I switched from bird photography to landscape and created a picture of the sky and trees, plus a photograph of the Old Stone Barn.
Since I had time, I immediately traveled To the Allens Pond Field Station, and captured a sunrise over the front meadow.  To create the sunrise image, I bracketed 5 different exposures and combined them in NIK HDR Efex Pro.










I then decided I would take a short trip out to Gooseberry to see what birds were swimming around the causeway. Photographing from my car window, utilizing The Puffin Pad to support my long lens and by photographing from in the car, i did not scare the birds. The ducks, and a red-throated loon were very obliging and were swimming closer to the causeway, allowing almost full frame pictures. The ducks were even coming in closer, until another car pulled up and the person got out to photograph the ducks. Now, instead of coming closer, they swam away as fast as the could  and became smaller in the frame of the picture, which ment a larger crop, which would add more noise tothe photograph.  Unless you are photographing at a location where the ducks and other birds are used to humans, so a careful approach and try to make yourself as inconspicuous as possible so you can obtain your photographs.

Red-throated Loon

Bufflehead Pair



Common Goldeneye - 1st winter male



Common Goldeneye - female

Common Goldeneye - male

The last subject that I obtained was a back lit, sanderling, since the Sun was almost directly behind it.