Sunday, August 29, 2010

BwBTC Charlestown, RI

Howdee all,

How many photos do you take before you get it right?

I have a two second timer on my Canon camera…I forgot to bring my wireless remote.

I knew I would never be able to make it back and pose for the photo in 2 seconds.

So my hubby Jeff volunteered.

The one below is one of about four that he didn't quite make it back in time.BwBTC Charlestown RI_051

    Finally a group photo.BwBTC Charlestown RI_052

From top left to right

Cindy from Living in Brooklyn and Longing for Maine

Cindy @gemswinc on twitter

Larry from the Brownstone Birding blog

Jane (waiting for her blog name)

John(Tucker)  from The Birdman of Bridgewater

Bottom left to right

Yours truly

Cathleen Ellis from Birdingirl blog

Dan @Docforestal on twitter/ Nature Observances by Forestal

Hubby Jeff

…………………………………………

Missing from the photo were

Susan from The Nature of Framingham her husband Tom and her son Pete who met us later in the day.

…………………………….

I will do another blog post about our outing…until then

Read Dan’s account of the Day

Friday, August 27, 2010

Attention BwBTC attendees (UPDATE)

Howdee all,

Just a few quick adds to tomorrows meet up.

Jeff and I went to the Breachway today to check out the crossing and see what birdies are around.

charlestown breachway_019

First of all The Meeting place is still in the parking lot of Flip Flops

The address is not 1 Charlestown Breachway road it is 1 Charlestown Beach Road.

If you are using GPS you can put the intersection of Charlestown Beach Road and Matunuck Schoolhouse Road.

charlestown breachway_008

Jeff and I did the crossing with no issues today….we also left the breachway after 12pm with no issues.

We met other birders who do the crossing all the time..they never check tides as they feel it is not an issue.

If some of our group do not want to do the crossing you can also see many birds from the area right before the crossing.

We both were wet to about our waist in the afternoon crossing. So best not to have anything in pockets..I had a gear bag and Jeff had a back pack and scope. We lifted our gear above our waists and crossed.

No swift currents. The water was beautiful. Not too muddy..mostly sandy bottom.

Some mosquitoes in the AM…bring bug spray. We had no bug spray and we were fine..just a few bites.

We both wore long quick dry pants. The other birders we met had quick dry shorts or bathing shorts.

I suggest a change of shorts for later in the day..and of course don't forget your water shoes.

We saw Bairds, White rumped, Semi-palmated and Least Sandpipers.

Piping,Semi-palmated and Black Bellied plovers.

Willets, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Green, Great-blue Herons

Great and Snowy Egrets

Black Backed, Laughing and Herring Gulls

Common Terns

Peregrine falcon, Coopers Hawk, Osprey

and more..

The peeps let us get very close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Jeff and I will arrive around 7:30 for coffee and muffin at the Bakery across the street from Flip Flops.

----------------------------------

If anyone is joining us for dinner..Flip Flops is a BYOB establishment.

So don't forget your favorite bottle!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

BwBTC Birding Charlestown, RI

Howdee all,

There's still time to join us for a fun filled day of Birding…just comment below or send me an email to Nobbiecat@gmail.com

BWBTC Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp Charlestown, RI

Come Bird with us, let's bird, let's bird away
If you can use some exotic Birds
There's a bird in Charlestown Bay
Come Bird with us, let's bird, let's bird away

BwBTC Charlestown, Rhode Island~Saturday August 28th.

Click on the map below to see details of the meeting area.


View Charlestown Breachway BwBTC in a larger map

Meet at the Flip Flops restaurant parking lot, 1 Charlestown

Beach Rd.

I thought we should be ready to go at 8am sharp.

Let me know if the time doesn't work for you..or if you prefer to start earlier..majority rules here…If I don't hear from any of you we will be ready to rock and roll at 8am.

You can arrive a bit earlier and grab a coffee and breakfast treat at The Bakery across the street from Flip Flops…I checked it out.they open at 5:30 for early birds...they have nice Organic coffee and awesome looking pastries and muffins. Click on the link above to see a sample of what might be there.

We will start the morning by Birding the Breachway. We will carpool from Flip Flops parking lot. Parking at the Breachway is 14 dollars a car.

Expect to get wet knee deep..I spoke to a local birder/photographer..all gear can be carried safely above the waist. If you are worried about your gear bring waterproof bags.

Wear water shoes…and bring a change of clothes,just in case.

There are restrooms in the campsite area that we can use to change in.

Click the Map below to read about the Breachway and the Birds we may see there.

breachway

After the breachway, we can stop for lunch at The Corner Deli, which is next to The Bakery.

Then onto birding Trustom Pond NWR


View Trustom Pond in a larger map

 

After Trustom, if time, we can bird other places in the area.

We plan on having dinner at Flip Flops, around 7:30 or so….Check out the link to look at the menu.

If you want to join us for dinner,let me know. I need to make reservations, if we have a large group.

Also let me know what time you prefer for dinner.

The menu looks good…Jeff and I had dinner there a few weeks ago and had a nice meal…though, portions are on the small side.

 

That's all for now…If anyone has anything to add you can comment below or email me at

Nobbiecat@gmail.com

 

Some links

Birding on the net..area birds being seen.

Bird Checklist you might want to print this out.

RI Birding link

 

  Cast of Characters 

Jeff and Dawn @DawnFine on twitter/Dawns Bloggy Blog

Christopher @Picusblog on twitter/ Picus Blog

Dan @Docforestal on twitter/ Nature Observances by Forestal

Larry from the Brownstone Birding blog

Cindy Cage from Living in Brooklyn and Longing for Maine

Cathleen Ellis from Birdingirl blog

John(Tucker)  from The Birdman of Bridgewater

and his sister who knows the area well.

Lowie @lakras on twitter/ A Worn Field Guide

Susan from The Nature of Framingham and Cathleen's cousin

Cindy @gemswinc on twitter

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Sunday Sunflowers

Howdee all,

This past week we celebrated Jeff's Moms 90th birthday. She wanted to go to Heritage gardens in Sandwich, Ma.

While there I took these sunflower photos.

Bees love sunflowers…

Heritage gardens_056

 Heritage gardens_058      Beautiful sunflower just opening..Heritage gardens_067Heritage gardens_066This sunflower below reminded me of a hat..so I decided to try it on..

I checked first for bees..Heritage gardens_064 Does anyone know if these are Sunflower bees? I didn't think the wings were narrow enough to be sunflower bees.  Heritage gardens_053

Copy (1) of Heritage gardens_068 - Copy

Happy Sunny Sunflower Sunday to you all!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Face Plates and Esther's 90th Birthday dinner

Howdee all,

For the past few years when on the cape we go out to dinner at Pisces to celebrate Jeff's moms birthday.

This year we celebrated her 90th birthday.

After dinner it is our tradition to play with our food…and create…

Face Plates

Please Help choose a winner….

Plate 1Esthers bday dinner_018

Plate 2Esthers bday dinner_016

Plate 3

Esthers bday dinner_031 Plate 4Esthers bday dinner_028Plate 5Esthers bday dinner_043Plate 6Esthers bday dinner_055 Plate 7Esthers bday dinner_045 Plate 8 Esthers bday dinner_039 Plate 9Esthers bday dinner_021Another diner got in on the act..

plate 10Esthers bday dinner_056Jeff brought along his cheating plate…Esthers bday dinner_035 Esther 90 years youngEsthers bday dinner_054The artists Esthers bday dinner_005

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Friday, August 13, 2010

Checking out the area for the BwBTC ..JOIN US

Howdee all,

Just a quick hello..been busy getting a garden ready for Nephews wedding celebration tomorrow.

I have been squeezing in my blog reading with my Byline app on the Itouch..It downloads the blogs while onlinw. When offline, I can read all my fav blogs, in between the busy times of the day. The only issue is that I cant comment…Oh well..hopefully someday they can link it to the comment section of blogs.

Anyway…

I wanted to confirm the location for the BwBTC outing..

We decided to still bird the Charleston Breachway.

Birders do the breachway everyday. The water could be waist deep…Bring a change of clothes. I was told by a local birder/photgrapher that he holds his gear above his waist. He says we must do the breachway. Put your gear in Waterproof bags if you are concerned.

Unless I get alot of objections to doing it..we will go..If the majority wishes not to do the Breachway to the flats we will concentrate on other places in the area.

I will have more info as far as meeting time and place, what to bring etc…Stay tuned.

…………………………………………………………………..

Jeff and I checked out Trustom Pond NWR we think this will be a great place to bird before or after the Breachway.

Freshwater pondsCharlestown ri_001

Charlestown ri_008

   Grassy areas..Charlestown ri_003

Charlestown ri_004

           And a few Birds..

we really enjoyed birding there.

Charlestown ri_015

     If we have time we will go to

Ninigret NWR/East Beach 

Ninigret can be very buggy in places ..bring lots of bug spray.Charlestown ri_018

Cast of Characters thus far

Jeff and Dawn @DawnFine on twitter/Dawns Bloggy Blog

Christopher @Picusblog on twitter/ Picus Blog

Dan @Docforestal on twitter/ Nature Observances by Forestal

Larry from the Brownstone Birding blog

Cindy Cage from Living in Brooklyn and Longing for Maine

Cathleen Ellis from Birdingirl blog

John(Tucker) from The Birdman of Bridgewater

Lowie @lakras on twitter/ A Worn Field Guide

Susan from The Nature of Framingham

Cindy @gemswinc on twitter

Possibly

Chris from Tails of Birding

Catherine @birdspot / Birdspot blog

Andrew @birdingdude / Birding Dude blog

John @Mainebirder/ Birding in Maine

Luke from Under Clear Skies

Janet @hammerchick on twitter and Plover Warden Diaries

 

If you want to join us ..just comment in the area below of shoot me an email

Nobbiecat@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Bluff Point sunset

Howdee all,

Jeff and I like taking walks at a nearby park on the ocean.

This day we went with my Sicksta and her husband.

bluff point_003 We take a four mile loop around the park bluff point_005This particular evening we caught a nice sunset. bluff point_006  sunset on still watersbluff point_008 We are still in Connecticut.bluff point_009  We were supposed to leave on Friday, plans changed and we leave Mondaybluff point_011 To MA for two weeks or so then back here…
for a few more evening walks..bluff point_012  Enjoy what's left of your summer.

………

Attention BwBTC event goers

Might be changes being made to the event on August 28th..

Jeff and I visited the area yesterday…blog post to come

Dan @Docforestal of Natures Observances by Forestal was also in the the area a few days ago and checked it out…sadly his iphone drowned in the water crossing to the flats.

We need to know who is interested in crossing the water…best done early am..but the particular day the tide might be a bit higher and could be over our waist.

If this is out of the question for some..lets brainstorm and come up with another area that will make everyone happy….and/or another date to catch low tide.

Open to any and all suggestions..

….still great places in the area to see birds..Jeff and I have not made the crossing so we don't know what it is like..…Birding groups do it all the time..