It's not easy being green...

Now HE'S a handsome bird and you can tell, he knows it!

Unless you're a Black-throated Green Warbler, of course.

Once again, being color blind doesn't help finding these little guys among the greenery. Luckily they are a very fidgety warbler and their constant movement helps find them. The hyper-activity doesn't help when one wants to take their portrait, but that's what makes shooting warblies so much fun.

First he's in front of you, next he's behind you, then all of a sudden, he's on top of you!

I think I hit the Doodles with my monopod when I held my camera over my head for this shot. Oops, sorry, again!

I think she's getting used to it now...

Oooh, psych-o-delic dude!

This is what the world looks like when you have vertigo and you move around too much! After chasing warblies, my head spins like that too!

Remember what I said about them jumping around from limb to limb?

Look at those long leggies getting ready to launch!

Hmmm, here's a normal photo. Hahahahaha. Sorry, I couldn't think of a funny caption, so I just laughed to myself.

"Oooh, nice lens Loopy! But, I see a dust spot near the bottom."

Yes, Black-throated Green Warblies can be very helpful, too.

And last butt not least, a little booty profile for ya!

I want to thank all the folks that follow my blog for following my blog! I'm still amazed at the different countries you are all from. Australia, Iceland, India, Oman, Great Britain and so many more. That's the great thing about birding and birders, no matter what language or beliefs we can all get along and have a good time.

I think it's time we took over the world, what do you think?

I got the Black-throated Blues...

I knew this one would confuse you! It's a female BTB! Very subtle.

It's Wednesday morning and I should be on my way to work, hence the 'blues'. Butt, I thought I would do a little post of one of my favorite little warblies first!



This was a great spring for Black-throated Blue Warblers. I don't think I have ever seen quite so many on our visits to Crane Creek and Magee Marsh before this past May. They're still a hard one to get a good shot of, so much contrast, not to mention how flighty and fast they can be!



Well, enjoy the photos and think of me rushing to work and explaining to the boss why I'm late today...

How did I get such a close up view? Someone has him by his little leggies and had just banded him!




From behind AND below!!

A very curious bird. He's noticed that my shoe is untied.

I like this shot, even with the leaves in front. After all, that's how you normally see these little guys!

Bill Thompson III has a framed print of this in his office. It's one of his favorite warblers and the Ohio Ornithological Society presented this to him as a token of our appreciation.

I wonder what he's thinking about...

Mood Indigo

We spotted this Indigo at Sandy Ridge, part of Lorain Metroparks, very low in Queen Anne's Lace. He was busy feeding his kiddies, but he couldn't hide!

So, how corny was the blog title? Who's the clever boy, eh? Anyway, we've been seeing plenty of Indigo Buntings lately and I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos with you (yes, YOU!)

The female could be mistaken for a Sparrow, which I've done. This one came down to say howdy at Oak Openings near Toledo, Ohio.

I'm sure if you've seen them while out birding, you've noticed that they don't like to be watched or photographed. They will do whatever is necessary to avoid being spotted, listed, photographed or watched!

"Ooo, this'll tick them birders off! Let's fly waaaay up to the top, wait for them to spot us, them fly back inside the tree, then pop back out for a sec, then back to the top again, then down low and wait for him to focus, then fly away!"

Well, go ahead, see if I care! There's plenty o' birds out there to photograph! If you guys don't want to be famous and seen all over the world, fine, just fine. Don't worry about me, I'll get over it. I don't need you silly Buntings. Isn't a Bunting a type of flag? Haha, flag birds! So there.

Oh, yeah! We outsmarted this little birdie! We went to the top of the Hawk Watch tower at Magee Marsh so we were at eye level...for a little bit anyway. He eventually went to the top and out of sight.

Poor, poor daddy. Kids are always asking for more bugs and seeds. The little brat on top was screaming the loudest for MORE!!!

Here's the shy one. He wasn't making a fuss like his sibling was.

"Yeah, I'm bad! Give it your best shot Loop!"

Here's a female that was banded by Mark Shieldcastle of Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

I've been told that the blue coloring that humans see when viewing a Bunting isn't truly blue. The feathers are somewhat hollow and the light refracting through them gives the appearance of the color blue. *Mark Shieldcastle, King of the Bird Banders, if you read this, please comment and explain this more betterer for me.

And here's Mark holding a male, a not so happy to be held male. Look at that cranky face!

"Ooo, you just wait until I get away, I'm gonna peck your eyes out...or just fly away and sulk...you wait and see!"