Last Weekends of September

Fall is upon us and the last weekends of September on the Ausable are the best. The last weekends of September basicly bring out fly fishermen wading near the shore or in the middle of the narrowest sections of the River. Canoers are few so the roudies are gone. I saw an Osprey for the first time on the Ausable, he flew low, and close to the water then landed on a tree across from us. He didn't stay long but he was a sight to see. Further down the river we'll interupt a Hawk fishing for dinner and watch a Blue Heron standing on a branch watching his swim back and forth before he decides to fly off somewhere else that will put him just a little lower to the catch. As we go further down another Osprey will be spotted sitting high up on a tree top when he flies off you can see that this one definitely had his dinner.

The next morning I packed up my camera and grabbed my tripod and headed out to the back of our property and sit in my blind. All of the suet cages are filled, the suet plugs are in the dead tree where I have drilled holes to accomodate the plugs and the single bird feeder is filled. The squirrels test to see how close they can get before I let my presence known and the little chipmunk (whose home is just outside of my blind) also sits and waits.

Slowly the birds start to come around, a single White-breasted Nuthatch is the first on the scene and then a Black-capped Chickadee follows. At first you think these are the only kinds of birds you're going to see and then suddenly a surprise will happen. My very last weekend not only brought me the usual: White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadees, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, oh yes and the Blue Jay - but this weekend I also had Tufted Titmouses and a Yellow Rumped Warbler. Always good to see something new in the area.

I did hear the Pileated Woodpecker but never saw him or her, so there's always something to look forward to. We had eight Turkeys under the bird feeder behind the house on Sunday and later that afternoon there was a mom and baby walking through the woods. So until my next outing and posting - bye for now.