Monday, June 15, 2009

Birding with Bloggers, Tweeters, and Chirpers on Plum Island


On Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity of hanging out with some great birders, bloggers and tweeters I've met online. Mother nature must have been on our side because the skies cleared for one day and then we we're back into the rain.

Right there in the Plum Island parking lot are Purple Martin houses. Love the PMs! This particular house appeared to be the busiest of them all but the duct tape was less than appealing to photograph so just pretend it's not there, okay?



Chris from Picus blog is giving us the lowdown on the days activities. He and Dawn/Dawns Bloggy Blog organized our birding get together. Great job to both of you! Over on the right you can see the No Entry signs which are there to protect nesting birds, especially Piping Plovers.



Here we are hogging the whole road! That's John over there, the tall one with the hat and enormous camera on his shoulder. John and his wife Sharon are from Birding of Maine. They were kind enough to cart Steve B/Shooting Our Universe and I around for the morning in their car. All very nice people.









Heading down the boardwalk in hopes of seeing something spectacular




Okay, so he wasn't spectacular, but boy was he mad! He and his lady had a nest right near the boardwalk so he squawked at us all until we were out of sight.










After 4 hours, and much more scenery than I've shown, this is where our journey ended 0n Plum Island, looking out over the preserve. It was a great morning which hopefully will be repeated sometime in the future. Maybe this fall?



Can't say I've met a nicer bunch of people in a long time. Wish I could have stayed longer but my daughter had to photograph a wedding that afternoon and it was my job to get her there. Dawn, I look forward to seeing you again sometime! Thank you everyone for the wonderful memories!

Besides those I've already mentioned (John, Christopher, Dawn, and Steve), here is a list of the other bloggers/twitterers/birders that participated:

Bev from Behind the Bins

Lauren from Worn Field Guide

Cattie from Birding Girl

Janet from Plover Warden Diaries

Amanda from Fledgling Birder

Dan from Nature Observances - by Forestal

Mark and Laura from Strack 16

20 comments:

Hula Girl at Heart said...

What fun!! There's just something so soothing about watching birds.

Dawn Fine said...

Hee hee ...you really captured the red winged blackbirds anger..
Nice photos!
I will most definitely try to get a group of us together again next summer or fall.
It was a pleasure to meet you, Sharon!

Cindy said...

Sounds like a good time. I'd love to do something like that. Beautiful photos. I really like that yellow bird.

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Nice looking group of people! Great bird pictures. That one does look a little upset.

Sandy@American Way Farm said...

I used to take my kids to Plum Island a lot when they were little. Of course I lived a lot closer then. I have very fond memories of those times. Great pictures, especial of the Red Wing.

Unknown said...

Cool Sharon - it looks like you guys had a wonderful time!

Bernie said...

What a wonderful day you all had and now you have the pictures to prove it. I love how you shared your day with us.....:-) Hugs

Mary said...

What fun! I would have loved to meet ALL of the bloggers - esp. Dawn, Steve, and YOU. Great weather and bird shots!

Cedar ... said...

What a great day you had. I would have enjoyed it too.

Allison said...

What a fabulous way to meet "offline"! Looks like a great time was had by all!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a lovely day it looks like you all had. I'd love to meet up and adventure with fellow Tweeters and bird watching sometime!

Dan Huber said...

Was a pleasure meeting you - you got some very nice shots.

dan

Laura said...

Wow, Sharon, what a fun time! And I'm sure it was nice to meet the people behind the blogs you visit. I think your pics are always great. I see some monster cameras in the group!

Becky said...

What a nice way to spend the day! Beautiful birds!

The Retired One said...

What an awesome idea to meet up with each other and enjoy what you all love the most..I am so happy for you.

Jayne said...

How fun!! I think I see a button or two in that photo that Dawn created. :c) Glad you all had such a good time together.

MaineBirder said...

Wonderful post and photos Sharon!

It was great to have you ride along with us. I hope we can get together this fall for some shorebird migration.

A New England Life said...

We had a grand time! And your right Laura, there were some BIG camera's there. Some were scopes though.

When you start blogging you just never know what direction it will take you in. Simple choices can bring wonderful people into your life.

Sharon

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Great shots.

I especially enjoyed your photo and caption of the red winged blackbird. We have dozens that come to our yard to feed from our feeders. They bring their friends and family and hosts fly in for snacks. The males always announce their arrival with a squack.

Cindy said...

I love the red wing blackbird pic!! This looked like you all had a lot of fun.