Milford Forest

It was such a nice day I had to get outside. I thought I’d try some bird watching at Milford State Forest. It seemed best to go there now before turkey hunting season begins and the woods are full of hunters. On the way I decided to make a quick stop at college camp to see if any birds were in the bushes by the entrance. Nothing. Then I stopped to take a quick look for birds on the reservoir. Still nothing. So far I’d had no luck locating any birds at any of my stops.

When I arrived at the forest four crows flew out from the bushes and soared across the road. I was hoping this was a good sign that there were birds around, but it was quiet when I got out of the car. Perhaps two o’clock in the afternoon wasn’t the best time to be out bird watching. Oh well, it was a lovely day for a hike.

The only bird I could hear was the occasional sound of a chickadee in a pine tree. The pine trees along the pathway are now much bigger and denser than when I first came here so that the character of that part of the forest is starting to change.  Maybe it will eventually change the types of birds found there also.

I stopped and looked around when I heard a little “chip” up in the trees. It was coming from a small bird on a branch. I thought it was probably just a song sparrow alerting the world to my presence. When I got my binoculars on him I saw yellow on his underside and greenish brown on his topside. He had a white eye ring. I think I was looking at a Nashville warbler. I only got a glimpse and then he flew into the thick pine trees.

When I go walking in a forest I carry bear spray with me. I just recently purchased a new can. They say you should just lightly tap the trigger of a new can to be sure that it works. This was as good a place as any to try it out. I’m always surprised at the amount of force that the spray shoots out of the can with when just a little tap is applied. It produced a cloud of red spray. If I had been thinking maybe I would have realized that you shouldn’t be down wind when you spray the pepper spray. You could say I got a small taste of how pepper spray works.

Moving on, and moving on fast to get the heck away from the pepper spray, I next saw two chickadees flitting about in the trees. It’s always a good idea to check for other birds that might be hanging out with chickadees, but this time there were only chickadees. Then I heard it, the mystery bird. It was loud and sang a garbled medley of clear notes, but try as I might to locate it I couldn’t find it. I don’t have a trained ear to be able to recognize bird songs so for now it would remain a mystery.

There weren’t any birds as I walked along the trail, but there were butterflies. I saw a few mourning cloaks and a spotted orange/copper colored butterfly. Two flickers standing around beside the trail flew off ahead of me. A very loud raven soared overhead sounding more like a chicken than a raven. As I walked along I heard the sound of some large animals moving around in the trees off to my right. I think they were probably deer, but if not, I had my bear spray if I needed it. Whatever they were they could be heard running away through the woods.

As I headed out of the woods toward my car I again heard the sound of the mystery bird. They were teasing me with their singing. I came around the corner of the trail and was suddenly alerted to something standing just off to my right. It was a turkey. I never seem to be able to see the birds before they see me. In a burst of wing beats the turkey flew up into the air leaving me with a view of its tail end as it flew out of sight. That’s often my angle of sight. I don’t know how I can be so oblivious. I’ll be standing right next to a bird and never see it until it explodes up into the air and flies off into the bushes. Sigh.

I didn’t see many birds at Milford State Forest, but it was a lovely day for a hike. Hope we get more of these nice days.