A Winter Wonderland

Connetquot River State Park

An Icy Puddle

  
Late last night or early morning, I don't know exactly when, it snowed. I must still be in the holiday spirit because  the snowy paths reminded me of Christmas stollen that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Also, I felt like I had received a present  when I saw that I was the first hiker laying footprints on the frosty trails.  It  truly looked like a magical winter wonderland with the frozen puddles looking as  though Mother Nature had etched patterns upon them.

Oriole Nest

An oriole nest photographed near Deep Water Pond Bridge.

Kriss Kringle

by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Just as the moon was fading amid her misty rings,

And every stocking was stuffed with childhood's precious things,

Old Kriss Kringle looked around, and saw on the elm-tree bough,

High-hung, an oriole's nest, silent and empty now.

“Quite like a stocking,” he laughed, “pinned up there on the tree!

Little I thought the birds expected a present from me!”

Then old Kriss Kringle, who loves a joke as well as the best,

Dropped a handful of flakes in the oriole's empty nest.

The Little Swan That Could

Yesterday I was reminded of the story of The Little Engine That Could. When I was at the Deep Water Pond Bridge at Connetquot River State Park, I watched a family of swans crossing under the bridge. There were a seasonally appropriate seven swans a-swimming, and each of them lowered its neck before swimming under the bridge except for one. When he came to the bridge he stopped and seemed slightly rattled by what he probably thought of as an impossible obstruction to get past.  Even when his entire family was swimming away on the other side of the pond, the lone swan seemed unable to muster up the courage to go forward. He honked to them but to no avail. It was frustrating to watch him, but I was rooting for him. It seemed as if he finally got the “I think I can” thought, and he lowered his head and went under the bridge. He swam away looking for his family members who had moved off quite a distance, but I did see that he managed to join them. That’s the power of positive thinking.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Last weekend I took pictures of a white-breasted nuthatch at the Connetquot River State Park bird feeders. This weekend at the same feeders, I saw a red-breasted one. The red-breasted nuthatch is less common than its white-breasted relative. I read in birding books to look for them among spruce and pine trees. Well, now I know I can also see them at the Connetquot park bird feeders which makes finding them easier. These birds are fun to watch because, like woodpeckers, they are climbing birds that creep up and down trees looking for insects. However, unlike the woodpeckers, they do not use their tails as supports. In my eyes nuthatches resemble wrens but act like woodpeckers, which is an interesting mix.

Neighborhood Foxes

Fox in Oakdale

Fox trotting along Montauk Highway

Early yesterday morning when I was drinking my coffee, the phone rang. The caller ID showed that the call was from my son. I expected him to tell me he missed his school bus, but that was not the case.  He informed me that there was a dead deer lying at the side of Montauk Highway, and a fox was hanging out by it. Later in the morning when I was looking out my kitchen window, I spotted it in my neighbor’s backyard. When I saw my neighbor, I mentioned seeing a fox in his yard, he responded, “Oh, he was there again?” He informed me that he sees a fox in his backyard about once a month. Now that I know this, I’ll be looking out my kitchen window a lot more.

Downy Woodpecker and Bufflehead Duck

A male downy woodpecker at the Connetquot River State Park

A downy woodpecker people-watching in Connetquot

A downy woodpecker (in my backyard) with suet on his beak.

Today’s weather was gloomy, but the temperature was mild at least.  I started off my walk at the Connetquot River State Park thinking I’d see nothing of interest, but I was wrong about that.  After walking for about a mile, I went over to the bird feeders to do some birdwatching. While there, I got some decent photos of a downy woodpecker. Downies are fairly common birds that I see almost on a daily basis at my backyard feeders. They are the smallest of the all the North American woodpeckers, but are both cute and striking in appearance, especially the males. They have a small bright red patch on the back of their heads. While I was snapping away with my camera, a sharp-shinned hawk flew into a pine tree next to the feeders. Undoubtedly, he was looking for a meal. My presence seemed to startle him and he flew away. Before leaving, I checked out the pond near the main house and saw a bufflehead duck in the distance. When seen from far away, male bufflehead ducks look as if they are black and white in coloring, but that is not the case. They actually have deep purple and green coloring on their heads. Too bad I don't have a better zoom lens, I might have gotten a picture of the duck's true coloring. The cherry on my sundae (or rather Sunday) was seeing a fox running into the woods when I was pulling out of the parking area. It was good to see that there are still foxes in the Connetquot River State Park. I had not seen one in many months.

White-breasted nuthatch

From The Realist
The busy nuthatch climbs his tree,

Around the great bole spirally,

Under ruffled lichens gay,

Lazily piping one sharp note

From his silver mailed throat
Maurice Thompson

Above are photos of a white-breasted nuthatch that I saw today at the Connetquot River State Park bird feeders. Nuthatches are energetic little birds that often can be seen crawling along the sides of tree trunks in search of insects. Being that we are approaching winter, these birds are dining more at bird feeders. I have read that the male white-breasted nuthatch is very attentive to his mate. During their courtship, he will feed her by collecting a morsel of food, flying to her, and placing it in her bill. A very sweet ritual reminiscent of giving chocolates to your sweetheart.

Black Squirrels

Sometimes I don’t have to go further than my backyard to see an interesting creature. This cute little fellow visited my backyard suet feeder. Although he is black, he is really an Eastern gray squirrel. Apparently some Eastern gray squirrels can be (although somewhat rare) black in color, like this one. I read that black and gray squirrels can even be born in the same litter. So, this guy might have siblings that are gray.