Lost and Found...

I remember taking this photo at Sandy Ridge, butt I could never find it..until now!

This is the beginning of the "Lost and Found" photos. I guess the crashing hard drive has its good points. It has forced me to go through all of my files and photos. It brought back some good memories of birding with the Doodles and our buddies. And also the nightmare of trying to identify all of the shorebirds...argh! I may post the shorebird photos unlabeled, because they all look alike and I can't remember anything more than an hour or so ago...

This is the beginning of the "Lost and Found" phot....wait a second...I just typed that...I guess my hard drive has a few bugs too...

We saw this Black Phoebe on our San Diego, California trip two years ago.

I found a whole days worth of pics that I never titled, it's just like Christmas!

Blue Gray Gnatcatchers (pronounced 'GA-natcatcher!) are one of those little birds that hate to be photographed, at least in focus.

Too much sugar or something...

Oh yeah, another good butt shot! This Hooded Merganser was in the San Diego,CA area also.

That's my brother Phil on the left, choking in the smoke of the fire at the BirdMobile.
The Doodles actually built that fire all by herself! (with a little help from the Loop! Shhh!)


This is my first view of a Limpkin. The wrong end of course...
There where a few shots from Florida last January that I somehow overlooked.


I have two folders from Sandy Ridge that I missed somehow.
There are an amazing number of Red-headed Woodpeckers residing there.
We had a visit from Kelly the Peanut a couple of weeks ago and made a trip out there to show her these gorgeous birds.

You would be as cranky looking as this Song Sparrow if you were out in a snow storm.
I remember this walk because the snow was up to the Doodles knees and she couldn't go any farther down the trail! Poor, poor Doodles...


Huh, a Western Gull, in focus and from the front. How did this picture get in here?

This shot of two Wilson's Snipes was taken on an evening while we were searching for a Ruff.
We were at Sandy Ridge five nights in a row looking for that rare bird and never found him.
Butt, we did see more than half a dozen Snipes and Soras and one crazy looking Virginia Rail zooming through the marsh!

I still have a number of files to go through and hopefully I'll find a few fantastic fannies to show!

And Now...the Final installment of "Life Butts This Year!"

This is my "Butt of the Year" photo.

The first chance we get to see a Whimbrel, and it flies away from me. The story of my life...sheesh...

Oh, lucky you! You won't have to look at any more of my crappy photos! At least until my next post...then who knows what evil images I shall assault you with...mwah-ha-ha!

Okay, so here's ONE nice one. Even the Loop gets lucky once in a while!

By the way, it's a Philadelphia Vireo...

I get so excited when I see a new bird! You can tell by the camera shake in all of these photos.
You may only have one chance to see and shoot (photographically speaking) these, so I tend to hurry.
I forgot again...it's a Dickcissel, or as the Doodles calls it, a "Dicksickle"...silly girl.

August was a good month at Ottawa NWR!

The Whimbrel, Dickcissel and this White-faced Ibis where all there, waiting to be seen!

This little Warbly thing was the high point of the year as any new Warbly thing would be!

This Kirtland's Warbler appeared during the great Midwest Birding Symposium.

It cleared out the meetings and the vendor hall faster than a dirty diaper!

That's what we found this year. All in all a good year for us, twelve new birds found in our patch here in Ohio. And we can't forget the five on our Florida expedition. I'm sure something will pop up close to home this winter...stay tuned!

Life Butts...part deux...

Now there's a butt to be proud of ...somewhere in there...

I'm still going through all my photo files...it's amazing how many were backed up, butt without any names to the birds. Now I have to get out the guides and stare at hundreds of photos of bird behinds and try to figure out who's rump is whose! After a while they all look the same. The shorebirds are giving me migraines...At the time I knew who was who, butt after so long, I forget. So, if anybody out there has no life (like me) feel free to stop by and name a few booty's.

Until then, here's a few more of the lifers we were lucky enough to spot this year!

Here's the other end, or at LEAST part of it.

So clever, eh? It's a Least Bittern at Magee Marsh in May.

Speaking of birds in May! That was a very good month as always. This is an Alder Flycatcher.

It helps to have someone with you that knows the calls! I wish I could remember who that was though...

Oh yeah, Golden-winged Warbler! A new warbler is the high light of the season. Chalk up another one for Magee Marsh.

If you haven't been there in May, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!
Check out the "Biggest Week In American Birding"!

That was a shameless plug to get myself a free t-shirt(hint-hint Kimmay!)

This Mountain Bluebird was spotted near Toledo Airport.

Henry, from Kirtland Bird Club, told me exactly what tree he would be in, jokingly I thought, but lo and behold, he was in that tree!

Go figure...

Only birders would cruise cemeteries looking for something out of place...like this White-winged Crossbill.

The mourners and other visitors must have thought we were looking to the heavens for answers...

This White-winged Scoter was pointed out to us by some great Amish birders at the Shreve Migration Sensation.

I have five more to share with you, so stay tuned...I'll get to it...honest...and maybe I'll post a few of the new photos I found hidden away in the deep dark nether regions of my hard drive from hell...can I say that?

Second take by the lake..

Did ya ever notice that Red-breasted Mergansers get the zoomies?

They don't seem to sit very long before they're up and out of the water flying in circles, only to land back where they started.

Must be bored...

In my last post I mentioned our good bird buddy, Kelly the Peanut and her visit up to the great gray north of Bay Village, Ohio. Besides going out to the Avon Power Plant of the last post, we stopped by Rocky River Park in, duh, Rocky River, Ohio. This is a nice, small city park right along the lake with great views of the comings and goings of our feathered friends.

There had been sightings of all three Scoters, both Scaup and a Bald Eagle. But you know if Loopy is going to be there, they are going to be hiding. Not a butt in sight. Oh well. We did see plenty of others to keep us happy!

The number of Mergansers flying past was awesome. Not to mention the gulls zooming to and fro trying to steal fish from the ducks and each other. Here's a few more photos of our second take by the lake...

It's always cool to see Common Goldeneye.

Actually it's always freezing when we see them...

This may give you some idea of the hordes of Mergansers flying past us!

We saw a few Great Black-backed Gulls also.

That was great, wasn't it? What a great bird to see...yep, great...

The Ring-billed and Herring Gulls were just chillin'...

(Sometimes I just crack myself up!)

Stoopid Chipmunk...GET OFF! It's hard to focus with him there!

Thanks again to Kelly for the photo and to Doodles for being the Doodles when needed...

Birding with a Peanut...

Yeppers, that's a lot of Red-breasted Mergansers!

It's always fun when you go birding with someone from a different area. Kelly, of "Red and the Peanut" fame came up north for a hockey tourney with her hubby and son, and of course, ditched them to come birding with me and the Doodles.

We live very close to the shores of Lake Erie and often take the lake for granted. When 'Peanut' said she was coming up and wanted to do a little birding, we were befuddled with the many choices of great birding areas that we have in northern Ohio. She read about the flocks of Mergansers that fly along the lake front this time of year, so we made that the priority...after giving a tour of our gardens and home...sans chipmunks (they're hibernating luckily!)

Kelly has done two posts with great pics of the lake and the Mergs and Gulls. As usual, I have to put my two cents worth in also! Well, maybe a penny and a half...the economy isn't all that great up here...

I'm a mean man! I only had my 300mm lens, so they had to walk to the end of a pier in the driving wind and freezing cold to be able to fit into the frame. Brrrr....much colder than Cincinnati, huh Kelly?

Be careful if a Merganser tells you to "Put it on my bill!" That thing goes on forever!

Look carefully, this will be the Doodles next hairdo...she told me...really...very trendy...

Did I mention the two or three Ring-billed Gulls we saw?

While walking back to the PeanutMobile, we spotted an Eastern Bluebird.

He sure brightened an otherwise drab and frigid day.

Since Bob the chipmunk has taken control of my life, I have to take him birding too!

He wants his own spotting scope, but I told him he has to share.
Thanks to Kelly for this photo of Bob!
Silly girl, she thinks he's cute, she doesn't realize how evil he is...

Life butts...part one...

Of course, the ONLY shot in focus is a rump shot...go figure...It's a Purple Gallinule by the way...

Maybe you've noticed I haven't posted much lately. Maybe you're happy because of that fact. Well, tough, I'm back in business again! The computer is back together, and yes, the wires are sorted out. Wise guys...I have lost a few files of photos somewhere in cyberspace, oh well. I've also come across a number that I never labeled, so over the winter I may post some "Lost and Founds."

In the meantime, I am going to share, whether you like it or not, our life birds of 2009...and maybe even a few from the front...

The only shot that came out of the White-winged Dove is this one on a feeder.

I made the others go away...DELETE,DELETE,DELETE!

This Painted Bunting was the reason we went to Florida in January...besides no snow there.
I'm not sure whether he was flashing me or trying to sell me a Rolex in this shot.

Yep, Mottled Ducks, very motley.

This may be my favorite butt of 2009.

Even this Limpkin is trying to bend around to see his own fantastic fanny!

As you can tell, we started off the year with a bang in Florida. What a place to visit in the winter to see birds, so many, so big and so patient!

I have to give special thanks to our birdin' buddies, Norma and Lloyd for spending some time with us on our visit and showing us the choice birding spots!

Just another walk in the park...

So, I asked this Downy if he was a boy or a girl, and he bowed his head and said "What do you think!"

Smart Alec woodpeckers...

You know that old saying, "When life gives you lemons, go birding?" At least I think it goes something like that...After an exciting morning of the Doodles Landie breaking down on the highway, I thought I would go for a walk at Rocky River Reservation to escape from reality. I do that a lot, escape from reality I mean...ask anybody.

A nice sunny day, about 45 degrees and everyone is out walking in the park. They were the smart folks that didn't go to the mall! I just did a quick walk through the back, less travelled trails to see what I could see. Of course I brought my camera just in case! All of the regulars were there taking advantage of the unseasonably warm and quiet weather.

This White-throated Sparrow was keeping an eye on the toddler screaming and running his way.

When I pointed the birds out to him, he became real quiet and just stared. Maybe a future birder?

I'm still trying to get an in focus pic of a White-breasted Nuthatch. In the meantime, I liked the look this one was giving me.

"Dude, what are you lookin at?!"

This is what happens to bad Tufted Titmice, he's a "jail bird!"

Sorry, I couldn't resist that joke...

He's telling all of his buddies to watch out for the guy with the camera.

"Don't sit still, it makes him crazy!"

Walking along, I heard a crack above me. When I looked up, this guy was staring back.

Red-tails don't eat people do they?

I don't think that band is tight enough...

That looks like a seed he's eating doesn't it? Remember me warning you about the evil Chickadees?
That's all that's left of a jogger. I saw it with my own eyes...scary...really...

I'll leave you with this parting shot...I said PARTING!

*no chipmunks were harmed in the production of this post. Thank you.