Prep trip blossoms into bird bonanza

I led the small group of people into the Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden in preparation for heading out on the property’s trails. The excursion was to be a fun outing to learn bird identification, as well as a way to raise money for the Nature Center and Maine Audubon. For this mini “bird-a-thon” some people solicited pledges, or volunteered to pledge, a certain amount of money for each bird identified.

A few of the people had never been to the Nature Center and were eager to see what the building was like. The meeting room, with its large windows and views of the surrounding fields and forest, gave us our first surprise of the day.

An American bittern came flying up the field from the frog pond to the left of the building. This bird is normally secretive, with habits that camouflage it against the tall vegetation of a pond’s edge. It was a rare treat to see it out in the open.

Soon after, a Baltimore oriole visited the feeders located near the building. His fiery orange plumage blazed in the bright sunlight – he was a glorious sight! We had ringside seats as he first sipped the sugar-water in the hummingbird feeder, then sampled the orange halves put out for him and his kind before finally partaking of the suet.

A diminutive, but no less striking subject appeared on the other side of the building-a male, ruby-throated hummingbird. He zoomed over the small butterfly and hummingbird garden, which would soon be abloom with various delectable nectar-producing plants, and lapped up the sugar-water substitute in a small feeder. The specialized feathers at the base of his throat flashed like a beacon whenever the sunlight caught them at just the right angle.

Thrilling as these sights were, it was time to head outside, to prowl the fields and woodland edges for other birds.

And there were many other birds. One of the most rewarding was a pair of tree swallows perched on the property’s rain gauge. Surprisingly, they allowed us to approach within four feet of them; we admired their streamlined forms and the amazing metallic-blue sheen of their back feathers. If only we had thought to bring cameras!

Blue of another kind greeted us in the next field over. Although this bird was far away, there was no mistaking the wonderful hue of an eastern bluebird. The deep azure color rivaled a sun-splashed Caribbean ocean – it was simply sublime.

A description of each bird seen that day – 43 in all -would fill much more than the space allowed for this column. Below is a list of all birds identified, either by sight, sound, or both:

Tree swallow, song sparrow, American goldfinch, blue jay, Baltimore oriole, American bittern, ruby-throated hummingbird, American crow, red-winged blackbird, black-capped chickadee, mourning dove, European starling, yellow-bellied sapsucker, common yellowthroat, northern parula warbler, Nashville warbler, white-throated sparrow, snipe, eastern bluebird, magnolia warbler, black-throated green warbler, common grackle, brown creeper, ruffed grouse, American robin, ovenbird, white-breasted nuthatch, broad-winged hawk, hermit thrush, northern harrier, yellow warbler, black and white warbler, catbird, chimney swift, barred owl, swamp sparrow, common loon, least flycatcher, black-throated blue warbler, kingfisher, rose-breasted grosbeak, cliff swallow, turkey vulture, and hairy woodpecker.

Chris Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com