Boston Culture

Wednesday I came by bus from New Haven to New Hampshire to visit Mom and Dad.  Trees everywhere are popping out in spring green colors, Dogwood and Flowering Crab have mounds of brightly colored flowers.  Yesterday we traveled with a group to Boston for the day.   
       We attended a rehearsal for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.at their lovely old Symphony Hall. The first piece was a Debussy, 2 harps and 5 double basses were needed in the string section.  The principle flutist was wonderful.
       Stage hands were busy afterwards setting up for the Mozart Piano Concerto.  Many chairs were moved and a grand piano was rolled out to center stage.  The young man who played was an excellent pianist.  The last piece was Beethoven's 6th, the Pastorale.  Oh my, was that a magnificent performance !   Such beautiful music.

No photos from Boston, I will post photos of trees bursting out in Spring.  A Box Elder, and the neighbor's tree that attract birds.

Visiting in Connecticut

Last Wednesday I flew from Denver airport to LaGuardia, where my sister, Sue, picked me up.  I am so glad to see her.  We drove a few hours back to her house in northern CT.  After hugs all around we sat in the kitchen talking, and celebrating the birds we had seen.  Max made tacos for dinner using venison.  Yum yum, all very good.  My brother Ken shot the deer himself and gave venison to his siblings.
      The following afternoon Sue and I walked along the RR tracks to a spot in the forest where a small bog existed. Bogs are amazing places providing a special habitat for acid-loving plants. This little bog is a true quaking bog with Black Spruce, thick moss mats, Pitcher plants and highbush Blueberry thickets.  We watched a Song Sparrow walking on the bog's surface  ankle-deep in water.  Blue Jays and Chipping Sparrows called from Pine trees behind us.
     Later that evening I walked down to the cornfield and listened to American Woodcocks in courtship display.  Peeeent,   Peeeent.
      Today Sue and I drove to Bluff Point SP for a day of birding. Bluff Point is a lovely forested area along Long Island Sound with good habitat for migrating birds.  We had nearly 30 species when the rain started.  Hardy migrants were Eastern Towhees, and a Black and White Warbler.

Photos from the bog:  looking into a Pitcher plant the slippery hairs that trap insects inside the plant's tube are visible,  the Black Spruce - Blueberry thicket,  and a cluster of Pitcher plants.
    

Birds arriving

Yesterday I convinced my friend, Nina, to come out for the day. We drove north toward the Pawnee Grasslands and looked for Long-billed Curlews. No. Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks were singing on this beautiful Spring morning. Swainson's Hawks have just arrived from South America. Its so nice to see them again.
Drake's Lake is surrounded by farming operations, and is a daytime roosting place for Gulls who use the county landfill. We saw resident Ring-billed Gulls, a few Californias, and 4 or 5 Franklin's Gulls. That was very exciting. Canada Geese, Mallards, and Coot are engaged in courtship behaviors, and looking for nesting sites. 2 White-faced Ibis flew in and landed. Beautiful and iridescent in the sun.
In the afternoon we drove thru Pawnee Grasslands and found McCown's Longspurs in small flocks visiting the infrequent water holes. A special treat was a Burrowing Owl living in an active Prairie Dog colony. Apparently that Owl does not eat Prairie Dogs for dinner, as the little rodents were more worried about us than the owl.
Our last stop was Latham Marsh. Ponds on the south side of the road had a nice diversity of ducks. We saw all 3 Teal species in the same pond (Blue-winged, Green-winged, and Cinnamon) !! I don't remember ever seeing all 3 species in the same pond, quite amazing.
The "Blackbird Tree" was well populated with Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, all singing. The Yellow-headeds have recently arrived from the south.
Nina's camera is still unhappy, so we have no decent photos from the day. I will share some of our garden flowers, instead.

All 3 !!

Friday and Saturday I went for another short adventure to see some more of Colorado. In the morning I drove up Loveland Pass, simply spectacular alpine scenery at nearly 12,000 ft. I hoped to find Ptarmigan just down from the summit. On this beautiful blue sky day, I did not expect winds of 50 mph. I could not be outside the truck for more than 2 mins, I would be blown off the mountain and into the next county !! So much for searching small bushes for Ptarmigan.
I descended the mountain, continued west and north thru White River National Forest and on to Kremmling. Landscape here is high sagebrush plains, with a few trees. 2 Black-billed Magpies flew over. I followed Hwy 40 over Rabbit Ears Pass and stopped to hike in Routt National Forest. Dense firs and pines sheltered the trail from the strong gusty winds. This is a beautiful forest.
Saturday morning before dawn I drove on well-maintained dirt roads north of Hayden. Grasses and bushes were taller than the sparse sagebrush plains along Hwy 9. In the pre-dawn darkness I found the parking spot for the lek. Sharp-tailed Grouse were already dancing and jumping in the grass. Their bowing and wing displays were hidden by the tall grass, but I could see their tail wagging, courtship jumping, and the erect yellow combs on their heads.
As a bonus 2 Dusky Grouse were walking in the road near the 2nd cattle guard. I almost didn't see them in the dark.
The past several weeks have been successful for all 3 prairie-dancing birds I wanted to see, Grouse and Prairie-Chickens. Amazing birds.
Photos from Loveland Pass road, and the late winter landscape west of the Rockies.