Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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...


4 comments:

  1. Hi Dave and The Doodles! I had so much fun. I can't believe you took your entire Saturday and traipsed all over Cleveland in the cold, cold, cold. I like that photo of The Doodles and myself. I'm sending it to Rick. I think we look pretty hot in our cold-weather gear, especially in that hood I'm wearing. It totally gives me that cone-shaped head Rick finds so appealing! Love your little bluebird shot, and Bob the Good Luck Birding Chipmunk rules!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm new to your delightful blog, so don't know the "Bob" story, but that photo's great.

    I agree with the "evil" diagnosis; ounce for ounce, they're the most belligerent quadrupeds this side of Cape Buffaloes.

    I think Bob has his eye on your eye piece.

    ReplyDelete
  3. O-Boy! New kids on the blog!
    "Bob" is the name I give to anything that lives in our yard...or anyone I can't remember the name of...
    Loopy

    ReplyDelete