Stokes Top Ten Bird Songs

John of A DC Birding Blog, who started the meme of the 10 Most Beautiful Birds, has now asked bloggers to come up with their list of the 10 Most Beautiful Bird Songs. Here's our list:

1. Prairie Chicken
We had the most wonderful experience this spring in a blind photographing Greater Prairie-Chickens on their lek, surrounded by their other-worldly, vibrating, flute-like, sounds. These sounds are interspersed with "whock" sounds when a female shows up. Here's an action shot of a male who was about to mate with a female and was interrupted by another male.

2. Bobolink
We have to include this, as we call our New Hampshire property "Bobolink Farm", named for the many nesting Bobolinks in our hayfield. We are treated all spring and summer to their bubbling, rolling, chords.

3. American Goldfinch
There's nothing like a sunshine flock of Goldfinches twittering in the garden in spring

4. Northern Cardinal
Sweet, clear, whistles, and oh, so, red. Who could resist?

5. Northern Mockingbird
Yes, we know they drive some people to ear plugs when they sing all night, but they're the disc jockeys of the avian world, singing the songs of other birds.

6. Veery
The thrushes would get our vote as top group, with Veery at it's top. It's beautiful, descending, spiraling, notes makes us feel like we're in a cathedral of nature and the Veery is the organist.

7. Hermit Thrush
Also a strong contender in the thrush group is the Hermit Thrush. Many live in the woods around Bobolink Farm so we hear them frequently, especially at dusk.

3. Common Loon in fog
Like avian wolves, its haunting wails rise and speak of ancientness.

9. White-thoated Sparrow
Some say their song sounds like "Poor, Sam, Peabody, Peabody, Peabody". If you're Canadian they're saying "Oh, Sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada".

10. Yellow Warbler
We must include a warbler, one of Lillian's favorite groups of birds. Yellow is as good a pick as any, singing "Sweet, sweet, sweet, I'm so sweet. Sweet bird!

All photos © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Mt. Desert Island, part 3, Asticou

Very close to Thuya Garden in Northeast Harbor, is Asticou Azalea Garden, done in the Japanese-style. Here, and in Thuya, we constantly heard Black-throated Green Warblers singing, a beautiful musical backdrop to the gardens.

Japanes gardens have the essential elements of water, garden plants, stones, waterfalls, trees and bridges and they are all part of this garden. We looked across the calm pond to the stone bridge. We felt such a sense of serenity gazing at the reflections in the surface. Paths lead through the gardens.

Lillian's favorite part of the path is these columnar stepping stones of different heights that are so fun to cross.

The sand garden is surrounded by azaleas that came from Beatrix Farrand's garden. The white surface is raked every day. The artfully placed rocks suggest islands in a sea, reminiscent of Mt. Desert Island and the nearby smaller islands rising out of Frenchman Bay.

The garden is less flower power and more about green textures and shapes. Each tree is carefully pruned in the Japanese manner into elegant forms. We have been visiting Mt. Desert Island for years. No wonder we love it. Very few other places combine two of our favorite things so closely, great gardens and great birds.

All photos © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Mt. Desert Island, part 2, Thuya Garden

After visiting Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island, we next visited Thuya Garden, one of our favorite American gardens. Thuya was designed by Charles Savage and much of the plant material came from Beatrix Farrand's (a famous landscape designer's) Bar Harbor garden when she disassembled it before her death. Thuya has beautiful design and architectural details.

We always stop and admire the opening gates that Savage carved with such care and detail. Being nature lovers, we look at each panel and our favorites are the carved birds.

The Yellow-belllied Sapsucker is accurate right down to the little holes in the tree that sapsuckers make to drink the sap.

One of our favorite panels is this little owl.

Thuya, named for the area's abundant white cedars (Thuya Occidentalis), has a long view of two perennial borders, a scenic garden urn and two viewing houses. The borders are not in full bloom as it is only early summer.

The Iris Germanica captivated us with its vibrant color and unusual swatches of white.

Peony, "Raspberry Sundae" glowed pink with diamond rain drops.

At the top end of the garden there is an asian-inspired viewing house that is peaceful and inviting. We felt as if we could have stayed there all day.

Here is the long view from the viewing house. The garden is surrounded by evergreens, which give a structured backdrop.

Here is a view from behind the urn, across a little reflecting pond. We love the balanced scale of the pond, shrubs, garden urn, and stones that gives a feeling of harmony and peace. Visiting gardens like this is inspiration for our own gardens, as we attempt to create some of the feelings we have in Thuya in our own space.

Mt. Desert Island, part 1, Acadia

After the ABA convention, we went to one of our favorite places in Maine, Mt. Desert Island, renowned for its scenic beauty, especially when its sunny! Trouble was, it was foggy and rainy. We didn't mind, as there's a kind of mystical beauty when the landscape is viewed through the fog.

Acadia National Park, the green area on the map, covers much of the island. We took the loop road (outlined in red on the map) through Acadia and stopped at the scenic overlooks and other pull-out areas to listen and look for birds. Given the bad weather, I set a goal to photograph at least one bird.



This Herring Gull sat on a "scenic overlook" ("overlook" is right, it was so foggy you couldn't look at the scenery). It undoubtedly hung out there trying to score munchies from the tourists. It seemed unusually interested when I reached in my pocket (for a kleenex), but sidled away when it saw the camera. Gulls have an uncanny sense of when you are trying to photograph them and can become uneasy.

Lupines were everywhere, their vibrant blue enhanced in the soft light.

The next overlook we stopped at had beautiful crashing waves that sprayed the surf into the air. We inhaled the salty, pungent, smell of the sea air. Two dots beyond the rocks are Common Eiders who never seem to get swept into the rocks.

I had hoped to photograph Peregrine Falcons. Peregrines have nested in the park on Champlain Mt. since 1991 and had just fledged young from their nest which usually can be seen from the Precipice Trailhead parking lot. My heart sank when I saw everything was fogged in, diminishing my chances. We stood by the roadside and enjoyed the songs of the Yellow and Chestnut-sided Warblers and Common Yellowthroats, which carried beautifully in the acoustics of the cool, still air. All of a sudden, I heard a loud noise that sounded like a scratchy car alarm going off — Peregrines coming in low, under the cloud ceiling! I looked and saw a fledgling fly near an adult then veer off. Then the adult came closer. Photographing a dark flying bird against a white sky is a bad idea, so I grabbed my camera and shot. I just can't help myself.

The interesting thing about this photo is that it shows a silhouette of a Peregrine Falcon in fog. The falcon shape, of pointed wings, really stands out. For us, it's a great ID clue, for birds its the warning shape of a predator.

After all that activity, we headed to one of our favorite places in the park, Jordan Pond Restaurant.

We warmed up with hot tea, savory bowls of lobster stew and their famous popovers, yum!

The view from the lawn of the restaurant is of Jordan Pond and "The Bubbles", two distinct mountains rounded by the glaciers that covered this area 10,000 years ago. More on Mt. Desert tomorrow.

Photos © Lillian Stokes, 2006

ABA Convention

A lot of people attending the convention got to see Atlantic Puffins, who always seem to look a little improbable, flying with those short wings.

We're having a good time at the convention and enjoyed the author's booksigning today. It's always so nice to meet the people who have our books and we're happy to put our signatures in their copies. It's one of the more fun parts of being an author. There were so many bird authors at the signing including, Pete Dunne, Bill Thompson III, John Kricher, Rick Taylor, Wayne Petersen, Donald Kroodsma, Steven Kress, Doug Pratt, Paul Lehman and others.

Michael O'Brien, along with Richard Crossley and our friend, Kevin Karlson, have come out with a innovative new Shorebird Guide that features a large number of excellent photos.



Author Robert Ridgeley, famous ornithologist who has discovered seven new species of birds and written many books, including a field guide to the Birds of Ecuador, received a much deserved award.

Here's Don at our booth showing some birders our Stokes Birding Series of Binoculars, designed by us because we really wanted people to be able to have quality optics at good prices and thus, to increase people's enjoyment of birds.

Our friend, Betty Petersen, does a wonderful job running the excellent Birder's Exchange program. Birders Exchange takes new and used birding equipment and educational material and matches it with educators, conservationists, and scientists in Latin American and the Caribbean, plus much more.

We visited artists booths, such as Kim Diment, who painted the elegant Bald Eagle picture and many other works that she had for sale.

The Sue Shane Gallery had lovely bird pictures and we couldn't resist buying her refrigerator magnets for our collection. We really like magnets with birds on them and use them to decorate our refrigerator with our bird and other photos.

After the convention we will visit Mt. Desert Island and, hopefully, get some photos to show you.

Maine Birds: Greater Shearwater

If you go out on a boat from the coast of Maine, you will see "pelagic species" of birds, such as this Greater Shearwater.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Maine Birds: Common Eider

At the ABA convention people are seeing interesting birds on the rocky coastline. This is a female Common Eider. Eiders can dive in the sea as far as 60 ft. underwater to get welks, crustaceans and mussels.

Billable Hours

A new, male House Wren has moved into our yard and is taking advantage of the fact that the Great Blue Heron weathervane on our barn makes a perfect singing perch, especially its bill. Since he does not yet have a mate, he spends a lot of “billable hours” singing to attract one.

We have several bird houses placed around the barn, which is a good thing, since male House Wrens, as part of their courtship, stuff several as many nesting holes as they can find with twigs. When a female shows up she selects one of these “dummy nests”, adds a lining and lays the eggs.

To make matters more interesting, there is already a pair of wrens nesting on one side of the barn. The male from that pair frequently sings to defend his territory from this newcomer. So basically they egg one another on. Bottom line is that we have stereo wrens. Hope Mr. Newcomer gets a mate soon.

Hummingbird Gazebo

The new Hummingbird Gazebo is finally done! We are growing Trumpet Honeysuckle vines (Lonicera "Dropmore Scarlet", and "Goldflame") up it, have planters of red impatiens and Salvia "Hummingbird Forest Fire", and have hung hummingbird feeders off the beams. Thank you Don for building the new hummingbird gazebo. Thanks for all your skill and hard work, I'm so proud of you.
Happy Father's Day to you and all the other father's out there.

Mainely Birds; ABA June 19-25

Atlantic Puffin

We are going to the American Birding Association National Convention on June 19-25, at Bangor, Maine where "Acadia National Park, breeding warblers, boreal birds, both satlmarsh sparrows, loons, seabirds and incredible coastal scenery awaits you in Maine". We will be doing a book signing there on Friday, June 23 at 4:30 pm. The conference has lots of field trips as well as lectures. You will get to see many of Maine's spectacular birds such as this Atlantic Puffin, our candidate for the "world's cutest birds" list. Hope to see you there!

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Wild Turkey

So is this a two-headed four-legged Wild Turkey? Disco Turkeys? Waltzing Turkeys? They-went-that-away Turkeys? You think up a caption and email us.

Turkeys are just funny and a source of constant entertainment. One or more show up just about every day and eat cracked corn, or the sunflower seed dropped from our feeders. They walk across the meadows, heads popping up out of the tall grasses, or single file down our woodland paths. Turkeys may look a little slow and clueless, but they are surprisingly wary. If there is any slight movement from inside the house, or a door opening, they flee swiftly into the woods.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Daisy

Daisy, our Pembroke Weisl Corgi, with her new toy today.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch at the feeder today. It's a treat to see these diminuitive nuthatches. They are less common here than their relative, the White-breasted Nuthatch.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This morning, in soft light, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird male came to the feeder. Just enough light to illuminate his incredible ruby throat.
ISO 250, 1/250 sec., f 5.6, 420 mm, Canon Mark II

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

American Goldfinch

A nor'easter has been blowing all day with soaking rain and high winds, so I did not take any photos. This is what an American Goldfinch looks like who is not in a nor'easter. Nice to remember.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Easy Street, #2

Yesterday, Mrs. Hairy Woodpecker got hulled sunflower seed from the bird feeder and fed it to her fledgling. Her mate, Mr. Hairy Woodpecker did the same thing the day before. It's not unusual for Hairys to divide up the chore of feeding the fledglings. Some go with the female, and others are cared for by the male. You can tell she's feeding a different fledgling than her mate did the day before, because this fledgling has more red on its forehead, making it, undoubtedly, a male. It's fun for us to see them care for their young. For them, it's a lot of work, at least until the young become independent.

All photos © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Easy Street

"Feed me, feed me"

"Again"

"And again"

Today we looked out and saw two Hairy Woodpeckers on the feeder that was filled with hulled sunflower seed. The bird on the left, was a fledgling begging from its father, on the right. All Daddy had to do was reach into the feeder and transfer the seed to begging baby right next to him. How easy was that!
Well it was easy, at least for a moment. We don't mean to imply life is that easy for these woodpeckers, or any other birds. They have to avoid predators, find a mate, find or create a suitable nesting hole, defend it against competitors, find enough food for themselves, and then, feed the hungry mouths of their babies. But at least for today, the feeder was a welcome source of food for the Hairy Woodpeckers.

Some observations on this scene:

* Hulled sunflower attracts many species of birds. It attracts all the species who can remove the shell, as well as birds who would have a hard time removing the shell, such as Carolina Wrens, Bluebirds, Catbirds, etc. In this case, the fledgling could not crack the shell and it would have been laborious for the adult to crack the shells one at a time and feed them to the fledgling. So, having the food already shelled, allowed the adult to just shovel it into the baby's mouth.

* Note that the fledgling looks a lot like the adult but differs in certain ways. (Note: a fledgling is a baby who has left the nest, but is still dependent on the parent for food, for up to several weeks.) The fledgling is smaller than the adult, has a fluffier appearance, and has a less developed tail. Look at the adult's tail. It is long and the central feathers are strong and pointed, helping it brace itself. The fledgling's tail is still growing in. The central tail feathers are still in the sheaths that envelop growing feathers, a characteristic of most woodpecker fledglings.

* In the third photo, the head of the fledgling has a few pinkish to reddish feathers on the front of the crown. This is usually true of fledgling Hairy Woodpecker males, but on rare occassions, a fledgling female can have a few reddish feathers on her forehead. Over time this fledgling will molt into the plumage pattern of the adult. If it is a male, it will have the head pattern of its father with red at the back of the crown. Some male Hairy Woodpeckers, east of the Rocky Mountains, have the red patch divided by a black, vertical bar, as in this photo. Birds in other areas of the country, usually have a continuous, unbroken, red bar. If the fledgling becomes an adult female, she will not have red on the head.

* The sunflower was used only as a supplement. They only stayed at the feeder for about 5 minutes, then flew off and went around the woods, the adult feeding the fledgling insects.

* It did not occur to the fledgling to reach into the feeder and get its own food. Eventually, it will learn to get food by itself, and we will probably see it back at the feeder, minus Dad.

All photos © Lillian Stokes, 2006

Rain

Rain, rain go away. Enough with the rain. The northeast, where we are, is again getting deluged with rain. Welcome to global climate change. This extent of rain is hard on birds, especially our Tree Swallows, many of whom have eggs in the nest and are incubating. Swallows eat flying insects and in this cold, rainy, and windy weather insect activity diminishes, making it hard for them to get food. They have to spend more time flying, less time incubating. If it is too less time incubating, their eggs can die. Sometimes they have to choose between finding enough food to survive themselves, or incubating to keep the eggs alive, but starving. We hope that is not the case this time. Tomorrow's forcast is for less rain, so we shall see. Keep your fingers crossed.

Bird-friendly Lawn

Mr. and Mrs. Robin are feeding their babies and spend hours each day looking for food on our lawn. Therefore, we are glad we do not use pesticides. The safety of birds is always upmost in our minds. So many birds feed on the ground, such as American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, etc. If you want to attract birds and care about their well being, make your lawn bird-friendly. Do not use pesticides or insecticides on your lawn.

According To Fine Gardening magazine, the best way to have a healthy lawn is to start with good topsoil and the right pH of 6.4 to 6.8. Use the type of grass seed that is adapted to your region and disease resistent. Use slow-release, organic fertilizers. Mow your lawn high and leave the grass clippings as a source of nitrogen. Hand pull weeds.

We do these things and do not mind if our lawn does not look "perfect". Perfection is in the eyes of the beholder. Having happy birds feeding safely is perfect for us.

Veery Beautiful

Today a Veery was singing in the woods. The Veery is a member of the thrush family and it has one of the most beautiful songs, a descending, flutelike, ethereal sound. We feel so fortunate that we have Veerys in our woods.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2006