I started my blog in February of this year so this will be my first “new year” with an audience. I am taking this opportunity to do what many others do this time of year – reflect on my year, with a focus on my best birds and experiences. Personally 2013 brought many changes to my life – I started the year in New York and am ending in Pennsylvania. As far as birds go, I got 36 life birds, a great oppurtunity to be a part of the birding community and unforgettable trips with friends.
I started out with a bang doing New Years birding with my friend; the first bird we spotted together was a life bird for me – the Northern Shrike. This bird eluded me any time I would look for it during the previous season. The scope views were great, but he was too far for good photos.
Documentation shot of the Northern Shrike
Halfway into the month, my friends and I went up to the Cayuga Lake region to search for a Townsend’s Solitaire that had been reliably seen. We searched for two hours and never found the bird. Of course, the bird was spotted about ten minutes after we left – go figure. As we were making our way back down the lake I received an email about a juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon that was spotted at Montezuma NWR. A Gyrfalcon?? We turned right around and chased this bird which would have been a lifer for all three of us. We had our sights on a bird that we thought was the Gyrfalcon, but it was too far even for scope views and concluded that it was a Rough-legged Hawk (shadows played tricks on us). We went to another area to get a better view and the bird we were looking at was, indeed, the Gyr. It was a great turn-around to our otherwise disappointing day!
I promise you that this is a Gyrfalcon
This month was the start of my interest in falconry. My friends caught and hunted with a handsome male Red-tailed Hawk who they named Rusty.
Rusty, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
I watched birds hunt for the first time at the New Jersey Falconry Club Annual Meet. I hope to have the time to hunt with birds one day in the future. For now, I will follow around my friends and photograph them with their birds.
Rogue, my friend’s Harris’s Hawk
January was also the start of my Redpoll invasion that ran well into February. I had over 100 birds at my feeders – they cleaned me out, but it was a great experience. Within the Common Redpoll flocks, I also spotted a couple of Hoary Redpolls.
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
The winter months bring tons of waterfowl to the finger lakes. This year was my first time seeing rafts of ducks swimming close together – this raft included great views at a life bird, the Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
In March, my friends and I did a winter big day where we found a flock of Red Crossbills at a residential feeder. My next lifer was seen on the very next day – a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Horned Larks.
Red Crossbills
Later in the month, after multiple attempts at finding Short-eared Owls both locally and further north, we finally had one fly over low as the sun was setting. I didn’t even lift my camera for it, because I did not want to lose this beautiful sight by playing with settings and focus.
My biggest highlight this month was not an actual bird – earlier in the season, I submitted a photo to Project Feederwatch that was recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on their Facebook page. An editor at National Wildlife Magazine saw this photo and asked me if she could use it in an article. The magazine arrived in my mail box on March 15th. I was published in a national magazine for the first time!
My photo in National Wildlife Magazine
April brought another really great life bird – the Bohemian Waxwing. A friend and I went up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to photograph birds. As soon as we parked the car, I received an email that the Waxwings were nearby. We packed back up and headed to the location. We ended up getting permission to go in private woods and were surrounded by these beautiful birds!
Bohemian Waxwings
May was highlighted by The Biggest Week in American Birding. Back in February, I volunteered to be on the events blogging team. I ended up getting a bit more involved than last year, met many new friends and walked away with a lot of great memories – and 12 life birds.
This Long-eared Owl was the most unexpected life bird at Magee Marsh
Cape May Warbler at Magee
Things slowed down in June and July. We did, however, get to see the return of a local family of Barred Owls. At about the same time, I also had a guest Great Horned Owl in my own woods. All of these birds proved to be great subjects and were fun to watch.
Young Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
In August, I added some more really good life birds – An American White Pelican who was out of range at Montezuma NWR and some Least Bitterns that I was able to self-identify in the field. A Black-billed Cuckoo also flew into my yard – this was a very unexpected visitor!
Black-billed Cuckoo
Then came September and our annual trip to Cape May. For me, this trip started last year and both visits were beyond my expectations. While the morning flight at Higbee was not as great as last year, we still went on a good day and saw many birds zip by.
Cedar Waxwings morning flight
I finally saw a Marsh Wren – a bird that I had previously only heard… many times… many many times.
Marsh Wren
We also found out where the Black Skimmer flock likes to hang out during the fall – a beach near the 2nd Avenue jetty. I was in Skimmer heaven!
Black Skimmers
Endless Black Skimmers
I moved to my new house in Pennsylvania – this was a big change for me. Leaving New York was difficult, but it had to be done. Before I left, however, I was given the opportunity to hold my favorite bird, the American Kestrel, for the first time thanks to my friends.
Me with an American Kestrel
Birding slowed down for me in October. I spent a lot of time settling into my new house and only went birding once with a new friend. Other than that, I watched as migrants passed through my yard. In November, this same friend also brought me to Barnegat on the coast of New Jersey – a first for me. The trip yielded five life birds including the Harlequin Duck – our target bird.
Harlequin Ducks
We stopped by Sandy Hook Gateway National Park to check in on some Snowy Owl sightings. Just as we were about to give up, a fisherman told us where to find the one of the birds on the north beach. The photo op was unbeatable. This was one of the earlier Owls from this years irruption.
Snowy Owl
Last week, my best Christmas present was in the form of votes – I won week 7 of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Contest. This was completely unexpected since I never asked anyone for votes – it just happened!
My winning House Finch photo
We visited Barnegat again in December with another friend to show her the Harlequins. Once again, the trip did not disappoint us. Not only were we rewarded with great views at Harlequins, we also had up-close looks at Northern Gannets and an unexpected visit from two Razorbills off shore.
Northern Gannet
I look forward to seeing new birds in new places for 2014. Every year keeps getting better as I add more places to visit. More trips to Cape May are already planned, the Biggest Week is already in discussion and we are even considering going to the Rio grande Birding Festival this year. Perhaps my post a year from now will be even better than this one!
This weekend, I went to Barnegat, New Jersey with a friend to photograph waterfowl, specifically the Harlequin Duck. Not only did I get to see my gorgeous life bird Harlequins, I also saw four more unexpected life birds.
My Harlequin Duck life bird
After finding this beautiful male, we came across some Sandpipers on the rocks. My face apparently lit up when my friend told me they were Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
Further down the jetty, a flock of waterfowl was floating not far from the beach. This flock contained three more life birds: Common and King Eiders along with Black Scoters.
Common Eiders with Scoters
First year male King Eiders
One of my Black Scoter life birds, there were also adult males further away
The King Eiders were a rare find and we got great looks! They are beautiful even though we did not see any adult males.
King Eider female (front) and juvenile male (back)
Another huge highlight was finally getting close to Long-tailed Ducks and Surf Scoter.
Long-tailed Ducks
Surf Scoter
The Sandpipers along the rocks also allowed us to get very close. There were a lot of Dunlin.
Dunlin on the Jetty
Lots and lots of Dunlin.
Flock of Dunlin
Along with Ruddy Turnstones…
Ruddy Turnstone
And even more Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
This turned out to be one of my best photo trips! The New Jersey coast has been very good to me!
I went out to my creek today and saw into a lot of activity on the opposite side of the water. The lighting was poor and the birds were very distant to really see. The creek was too high to cross on foot, so I drove over to the field on the other side. I did not even have to leave the parking area to see tons of birds moving through the brush on either side of me.
Migrants were all over these trees and brush
Some of the residents would move over to this side to forage
The trees were full of Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, Sparrows and Buntings. I managed to get some photos of the birds for documentation and ID purposes. It’s a good thing I did because what I thought was a Magnolia Warbler in the field was actually a Canada Warbler!
Black-and-White Warbler
Canada Warbler
Prairie Warbler
American Redstart
Least Flycatcher (still confirming ID)
This young Indigo Bunting was begging at a [different] Flycatcher
It started to quiet down so I got back into my car to leave. As I was making my way out, I saw a larger bird with a long tail fly into the tree – not a Dove, not a Blue Jay. Perhaps a Cuckoo? I stopped the car again and hopped back out.
Black-billed Cuckoo
I was right! It was a young Black-billed Cuckoo! It was a life bird for me the other week – this time I got killer views of it.
Black-billed Cuckoo
It’s only the beginning of September – I can’t wait to see what else shows up locally!
The weather has been beautiful all week in my area and I have been taking full advantage of it by setting up my office outside on my covered deck. This gives me a fantastic view of my backyard and feeders.
My set up from this past week. Complete with a Chickadee.
The biggest action have been the Hummingbirds. I currently only have one feeder, but this should change soon because the little fellas are constantly battling over it. I have at least two adult males, two females and one young male.
Young male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I always hear them chattering back and forth and at other birds, but they are so fast that I hardly have any good photos to show for it.
A dual between Hummingbirds
My earliest migrants are the same as last year – the American Redstarts. I also had a Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warbler visit early on, along with many Red-eyed Vireos.
American Redstart
Chestnut-sided Warbler from last year
My biggest surprise migrant was a new bird for me – a Black-billed Cuckoo! After seeing nothing out of the ordinary during my usual walk along my creek and around through my woods, I noticed a “different” bird fly into the trees as I was nearing my yard. I put my binoculars up and had an initial thought of what it could be. I took a couple of [bad] photos to confirm that it was indeed a young Black-billed Cuckoo. Life bird!!
Yesterday, while photographing Hummingbirds, a couple of House Finches flew onto my nearest branches with a yellow bird. At first, I dismissed it for a Goldfinch but should have known better! I realized that it was a Warbler when it flew into my tree. Thankfully, I was able to see it again in the open – a Prairie Warbler! My first “visual” of one this year. Before this, I’ve only heard them in the spring.
Prairie Warbler
In the previous years, I had some great visitors and I am hoping for the same good turn out – or maybe even some new yard birds?
I have not been out birding much lately and have been very busy with some big changes in my life – I apologize for slacking with my posting! To make up for it, I will share photos of all of the nesting birds that I found locally this year. Most of the photos are not that great – this is because I observe them from a safe distance and do not want to disturb the nests!!
The only nest I found near my yard, so far, is a Red-bellied Woodpecker cavity. They made it easy to find by constantly calling from the tree. I am still waiting to see the fledglings come to my feeders.
Red-bellied Woodpecker in cavity
I found some nests while out in the field just by seeing birds fly into them.
American Goldfinch on nest
Red-eyed Vireo on nest
Blue Jay on nest
And others were pointed out to me by friends who already knew the location.
Canada Goose on nest
Wood Thrush in nest on my friends property
There is an abandoned building nearby that Cliff Swallows like to nest on every year. Unfortunately, right after we saw them this year the property owners knocked down all of their work.
Cliff Swallows building nest
While out on a trip with my local birding club, we found a female Baltimore Oriole building a nest right above the road. I re-found this nest over the weekend, but did not scout it out to see if it was active.
Baltimore Oriole building her nest
I’ve also found various birds carrying nesting materials – of course, they are very cautious when someone is watching them.
Common Yellowthroat with nesting material
Dark-eyed Junco with nesting material
American Crow with moss
To end this off on a cute note, I will share a non-avian nest – I found this Groundhog den at a local park. The young would crowd around the opening, forage and play.
I went up to Michigan State Forest in the Pharsalia New York with two of my friends. It turned out to be a great trip! This small gem of a forest is very similar to the habitat in the Adirondacks and is only an hour away from me.
New Michigan State Forest, taken with my iPhone
As soon as we turned onto the road into the forest, we heard a Mourning Warbler singing right off the road. All we had to do was look up to see him out in the open. This was a life bird for me in Ohio the other week, but I did not get this good of a look at one!
Mourning Warbler singing in the open
I did manage to get a quick video of him singing. It’s tough to keep the camera from shaking at 400mm with no tripod, so I kept it short.
We saw or heard ten more individual Mourning Warblers. For me, they stole the show, but had great competition. Blackburnian Warblers were everywhere and did not make us strain to see them. We saw or heard almost forty of them!
One of many Blackburnian Warblers we had great views of
We also had many Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and heard over 60 Ovenbirds. Other great Warblers were Black-throated Green and Blue as well as some Canada Warblers. One of the Canadas surprised us with great looks on a small, bare tree that had a Mourning, Blackburnian and Canada Warbler on it within five minutes.
This Canada Warbler hid from the camera, not our binoculars!
The Mourning Warbler tripped off of a branch after sitting in this tree for a couple of minutes
These Warblers were hanging out in an area that was torn apart by a tornado a couple of years ago. It ended up making great habitat for the birds
That little tree to the right is the Warbler tree
Early on, we had the pleasure of instantly finding a Brown Creeper’s nest. Mom and dad were busily going in and out of the bark, most likely feeding their young.
Brown Creeper near its nest
This forest is full of Thrushes, but we actually did not see or hear many of them. We heard the call notes of a Swainson’s Thrush and two Veery’s, heard some Wood Thrushes sing and saw this Hermit Thrush gathering grub for her nestlings.
Hermit Thrush
Other great highlights included a Red Crossbill flyover (yeah… they breed here too!), Ravens calling and flying overhead, A Red-Shouldered Hawk and tons of singing Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos. Over all, it was a perfect morning of looking for Warblers. Click here to see our checklist on eBird.
Count this forest on my to-do list for every future summer to come!
I do not even know where to begin with my favorite parts from Biggest Week in American Birding. The week was so perfect, even if the Kirtland’s Warbler did not show up. As always, I will share my experience through photos, both good and bad quality.
The first Warbler I saw was a life bird
When we arrived on the boardwalk, we ran into a decent sized crowd. We asked them what they were waiting for and they directed us to a little bird shadow on a log and said it was a Mourning Warbler. We stopped, we waited and we got some good views of the bird – even though I did not get good photos. A life bird for both of us!
Mourning Warbler foraging down low
We saw 150 species of birds, 28 were Warblers
My friend, Renee, and I collectively saw 150 species of birds. We could have done better if we also concentrated on waterfowl and shorebirds which we failed to do! We did, however, chase down a Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage near the Maumee Bay Lodge in very high winds and rain. The fact that we saw 28 species of Warblers was mind blowing! FIVE of those Warblers were life birds for me.
Golden-winged Warbler foraging down low
I stopped watching a Golden-winged Warbler to see a Canada Warbler
I still cannot believe that I went from photographing the Golden-winged Warbler above, a recent life bird, to the Canada Warbler below, another life bird. Guides were actually using these birds to let people know where other birds in the area were: Chestnut-sided Warbler to the left of the Canada Warbler.
The Canada Warbler is one who I heard singing before but never saw
Brightly colored birds were everywhere!
Some birds were so bright that I have to tone down their saturation in Photoshop. BIRDS RULE!
This Scarlet Tanager was just too bright
We went to Oak Openings this year
Renee and I headed to Oak Openings with our friend Chris who showed us some awesome birds. We would have never known where to go if it was not for him. He found both of us two life birds that day! For me, it was the Yellow-breasted Chat and Lark Sparrow.
We ended up picking many ticks off of ourselves for this Yellow-breasted Chat
An American Bittern hunted out in the open
I never had such a good look at an American Bittern before. Previously, I’ve only seen them flying (and caught a bad photo of it flying too). This bird was reported on the Biggest Week Twitter right off of the causeway leading to the boardwalk. Cars and birders were lined up to see this elusive bird. He appeared two days in a row.
This American Bittern hunted out in the open for two evenings in a row
Being a blogger has its benefits
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my name tag had an extra ribbon on it that said “volunteer” – what a way to make us feel special! I also received a Biggest Week shirt with this year’s beautiful logo on it. The perks did not stop there. The bloggers were invited to a private cottage for authentic New Mexican food. This was certainly the best tasting food that I have had recently – I never tasted anything like it!
Authentic New Mexican food
Everyone at the dinner were people who I just met [in person] that day except for Chris who is also on the field trip and blogging team. They are all wonderful people who will be friends for as long as I am a birder – aka life! The night ended with a beautiful sunset over Lake Erie. Great food, great people, great setting – who can ask for more??
Lake Erie Sunset
The most unexpected life bird made an appearance at the Boardwalk
As Renee and I were slowly making our way through the Ottawa Auto Tour, looking at three young Bald Eagles in a tree, this tweet came through on our phones: Boardwalk, 13, Long-eared owl. PIB. We were both speechless. We drove through the rest of the drive without stopping unless others were stopped ahead of us (oh yeah, we had to wait for a family of geese too); drove back to the boardwalk, passed the crowd looking at the Bittern who was out in the open again, parked the car and made our way to the boardwalk where the Owl was reported.
Long-eared Owl seen by many off the boardwalk
I was so excited that I was shaking. Earlier in the year, both of us had our life Short-eared Owl. We never thought we would have been looking at a Long-eared Owl a couple of months later.
I looked at a few birds through the Traveling Trinovid
If you have not heard of this, I suggest you check out Leica’s Traveling Trinovid blog. This pair of binoculars will be passed from birder to birder where they will see birds from different cities in many countries. So far, it has seen 313 species of birds only five months into it’s adventures. I only used it at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory feeders and also ID-ed a Northern Waterthrush with them at the banding station – what a difference these binoculars made compared to my regular pair! Maybe one day they will be in my hands for a real birding trip.
Me holding the Traveling Trinovid (photo by Jeff Bouton)
I saw a few baby turtles
Baby turtles were out in full force on Friday. Many people were helping them cross the road so they would not get crushed. The previous morning, I helped an adult Blandings Turtle across the road on our way in. I should have taken a photo of this endangered turtle – he was beautiful!
Baby turtle being helped across the road
I met authors to great field guides
Our Owl chase made us very late for the evening social, but we arrived at the tail end of it to see our friends and meet more new people. I noticed that Ken Kaufman and Don and Lillian Stokes were set up for a book signing so I went to the room and grabbed my field guides. Since it was already ten minutes until closing, there was no line and I was able to properly introduce myself. It was a pleasure meeting such great names in birding. BIRDERS RULE!
An upside down Black-and-white Warbler
I am OK with not seeing a Kirtland’s Warbler
I had high hopes for seeing a Kirtland’s Warbler this year, but even though multiple birds were found last year, they eluded us this year. I figure that it is OK to save that one for next year though so that there is a chance to top off this year! Kirtland’s or no Kirtland’s – it was a GREAT birding week!
What a way to start off the Biggest Week! After a long seven hour drive my friend and I headed straight to Magee Marsh to stretch our legs and get some initial birding in. As soon as arrived on the boardwalk we noticed a crowd huddling in one spot. A Mourning Warbler just flew into the brush and they were waiting for it to pop back up. They didn’t have to convince us to stay! This bird was on our most-wanted list last year and we dipped on it – we had to get it this year! We were all staring at a shadow of a bird who was not moving – then he started to flit around.
Mourning Warbler foraging down low
Our first warbler at the boardwalk was a lifer! I did not manage to get a good photo yet but he has been pretty reliable so I will try again later in the week.
Nearby, another bird with a similar name was sitting on her nest with two chicks poking their heads up. This is the first Mourning Dove nest I’ve seen – and it is right off the boardwalk.
Mourning Dove Nest
We walked around and slowly gathered more birds to our lists with great looks at Blackburnian, Magnolia, Nashville, Palm, Black-throated Green and Yellow Warblers. We stumbled upon an area where a White-eyed Vireo had been seen. It did not take long for the bird to pop back up and give me great life bird views!
White-eyed Vireo
A little further down, another crowd was gathered looking in a wet area of the marsh. A Northern Waterthrush has been seen. This is a bird that I often heard, but never had a visual on. He wasn’t hard to find as he foraged near the water for food. Three life birds in such a small amount of time – all right on the boardwalk!
Northern Waterthrush
We eventually met up with another friend in search of life bird number four – the Worm-eating Warbler. We didn’t find it yet, but hope to later in the week. After dipping on that bird, we headed to the estuary trail to look for the Prothonotary Warbler who has been building a nest. There is a Great-horned Owl nest in good view here, but the birds were hidden when we passed by. On our way in, however, we were greeted with a Gray-cheeked Thrush who gave me my best look and my first real photo of this species.
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Further in, we stopped to look at all the Terns, Gulls, Ducks and Shorebirds having dinner. They were backlit, so the photo op was not good. I only took a general view here.
Terns, Gulls and Dunlin
The path was full of Yellow, Pine and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Warbling Vireos (who were taking over the boardwalk!) and others scattered around. The bird that caught our attention though was an Orange-crowned Warbler – another life bird for the both of us! We did eventually get good looks at this bird, but he made photography difficult. It was still very satisfying! We gave up on the Prothonotary Warbler and started to head back to the parking lot. On our way we heard the bird singing and spotted a small group of people gathered around the brush. He made it difficult to get really good looks of since he was on the other side near the water, but we finally found him! Again, no photos – but who can beat the ones I got last year of the bird practically singing in our faces.
It was getting late, but we did stop at the Owls nest once again to find one of the babies poking its head out of the snag.
Great Horned Owlet
We birded until 8PM and finally made it to Maumee Bay Lodge to finalize our registration and check in. It turns out that we arrived too late to register – oops! We also had to rush to the Lodge’s restaurant because it was going to close in twenty minutes. Time flies by when you are having a great time! The day ended with a beautiful sunset.
Sunset from Maumee Bay Lodge
… And now we are ready for day two. We are heading to Oak Openings in search of four key birds – the Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Yellow-breasted Chat and Lark Sparrow. Three of those would be life birds for me. Wish us luck!
Birds are on my mind! There is no better way to start the day then taking a walk in the woods or at a park where it is just me, the birds and my camera. Last week was was pretty quiet. All of the fallout birds we had previously have moved on while no new birds were showing up! High winds toward the end of the week made for very slow birding. Things are starting to pick up as I am finding more first-of-year birds.
I hit my first Warbler wave of the year which included Yellow-rumped, Pine and Black-and-white Warblers; along with high numbers of Blue-headed Vireos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and one lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
Black-and-white Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Silhouette
I hear the songs of Ruby-crowned Kinglets everywhere I go. This is a song that I just learned this year and I’ve fallen in love with it – so much that I get their song stuck in my head instead of music…
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
I found my first Eastern Towhees, Thrashers and Hermit Thrushes. The low foragers are making some noise in the leaves. This Hermit Thrush, however, stayed out in the open.
Hermit Thrush
I still have some Fox Sparrows hanging around.
Fox Sparrow
And the Song Sparrows continue to contribute their tunes.
Song Sparrow
This afternoon, I heard a House Wren singing so I went to look for him. He hid only for a moment, then popped back up to sing and look around. I think he found a nice spot to settle into.
House Wren
House Wren
Another interesting recent sighting were three Northern Flickers on one tree. Two of them were doing a small dance to each other. I did catch a little bit of it on video, but it may be too shaky.
Three Northern Flickers
I also had my first Broad-winged Hawk of the year – he flew over my yard! This was yard bird number 96. I am almost at 100!
Broad-winged Hawk
I am hoping that this week brings in more new arrivals. I really love finding birds before work to start my day off right!
It took a while, but spring is finally here — though it still seems to be fighting with winter. I knew that the nice weekend we had in early March was just a folly, but I did not think that it would be this tough! After some nice weather the birds started to move, only to be stopped by more bad weather. Migration is slow, but the birds are slowly trickling in. Earlier this week, I wrote about my birding trips that involved migrating birds and fallout. Today I want to share some of my local year-round residents and new arrivals.
Sparrows
The Song Sparrows are filling the air with the variety of their tunes!
Song Sparrow
Juncos have been hanging around in full force. I get over 20 at a time under my feeders. I am glad they they do not eat from the feeders otherwise they would clean me out! I had multiple incidents where over 30 Juncos would fly from one single area. They are everywhere!
Dark-eyed Juncos
I enjoyed the songs of Fox Sparrows for the first time. They hung around for over two weeks and I had up to six at a time near my creek when they flew right at.
One of many Fox Sparrows who passed through
Finches
I still have some Pine Siskins hanging around at the feeders with the Goldfinches (who, by the way are starting to look very gold!).
Pine Siskin
The lingering Redpolls wish they moved on sooner. I suppose they learned the hard way that staying south did not mean sunshine and warm weather.
Common Redpoll in a rain storm
My newest feeder-bird arrival is the Purple Finch. I started with just one for about a week and yesterday I had three pairs.
Purple Finch
Waterfowl
Every walk at the creek produces at least one Common Merganser. I was able to get pretty close to them at times just by staying still near the edge of the woods.
Male Common Merganser
Female Common Merganser
For the first time, I had Geese across the street from me. I think the creek was too high and rough for them so they wandered a little bit in search for food.
Canada Geese across the street
Woodpeckers
The Pileated Woodpeckers seem to be a bit less shy then usual when they are looking for insects.
Pileated Woodpecker
Since I had no tripod I layed down on the ground across from him and used a stump and my knees to keep the camera steady so that I could shoot this video
I’m pretty sure that I found the nesting cavity for my local Red-bellied Woodpeckers. They are hanging around this tree and especially this cavity an awful lot!
Red-bellied Woodpecker at possible Nest
Other local birds
The air is also full of the loud songs of my Carolina Wrens.
Singing Carolina Wren
Brown Creepers are everywhere.
Brown Creeper
And last week marked the return of my favorite flycatcher, the Phoebe.
Eastern Phoebe
This past weekend I also had a long-awaited yard bird: while standing in my driveway talking to a friend an adult Bald Eagle flew low following along the creek. This happened not ten minutes after my friend and I were talking about having Eagles as yard birds. Talking about being at the right place at the right time!
