Gilligan's Island?...not really...

Hi. These are from Kelley's Island. There's more birds outside. Gotta go. You figure 'em out. Bye.

Special 'K'!

"I see you!"

Oh, it's definitely a Special K...but not the Kellogg's cereal....THIS Special K was spotted this morning by our other Special K, Kenn Kaufman on the beach at Magee Marsh!

There's a lot more to Magee than the boardwalk, not to mention the outstanding Ottawa NWR! Make sure you get around to all of the sites during the Biggest Week in American Birding because you never know what may be out there!

Here's another view of our stealthy buddy...got him yet?

You know, when every camera is silent...mine is still shooting!
What is this elusive and very rare booty?

Is this enough for you to figure it out?

You won't find these field marks in any of your field guides!

There he is! A rare and wonderful Kirtland's Warbler!

Look for him and more at BSBO this weekend! The weather is good for a great number of new warbly things this weekend!

Just an average day on the boardwalk...

A Black-and-White Warbler searching for unsuspecting prey.
I shot close to 100 photos of this one warbly guy, I may do a post just on him!

Yep, just a typical day in may at Magee...not much to see, a few dozen camera geeks like me, many mouths agape, and many eyes unsure of which way to look next. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the 30 or so species of warbly things bouncing through the tree tops? Well, they're there also!

The weather hasn't been very kind to the Biggest Week in American Birding, but the hard core birders don't mind getting soaking wet, freezing cold or blown around by tornadoes...all in a days birding...

This was one puzzling bird. Everyone had their guides out trying to decide what it was.
I met up with Nick from Tropical Birding as they had seen it earlier in the day.
Female Pine Warbler, a very pale lady indeed.

American Redstarts are always a crowd pleaser!

This Bay-breasted Warbler demonstrates the reason warblies drop in on Magee in May...FOOD!

I was confused for a moment on this one(actually quite a few moments)...it's a female Blackburnian Warbler.

This poor scruffy Black-capped Chickadee was jealous of all the attention the warblies were getting. I tried to make him feel better...
Speaking of which,we have a nest box in our front garden with 3 nestlings inside!

I gotta put a butt shot in!
This one belongs to a Black-throated Green Warbler.

This is one of those birds that just doesn't want me to get a good shot!
Golden-winged Warblers don't like me.

And then there's the Gray Catbird. They like me!

This Northern Parula just can't quite figure out what I'm up to...

And here we have an Ovenbird...running away from me...smart little bird.

A Thrush in a rush, that's the definition of a Veery!

If you see a very plain bird, up above you with a blank stare on his simple face, it's a Warbling Vireo.
He makes up for it with a great voice.

This Yellow Warbler is building a nest right along the boardwalk...with about a dozen photographers watching!

A female Yellow-rumped(soon to be Myrtle) Warbler...waiting patiently for a man...

I thought this little bunnie was so cute...until I looked at his eye.
I wonder if Bob slipped him something? Anyone seen Bob around?

I had to leave the boardwalk and go back to work for a couple of days...nutz. I'll be back Thursday to get some of the new warblers that are just coming through Magee! It's going to be another good weekend!

Speaking of Warbly things...

An American Redstart singing the praises of the Biggest Week in American Birding!

This morning the weather is a little bit on the moist side. I'm looking out of the windows of the BirdMobile and the trees are bending at an unnatural angle and rain is blowing sideways. The poor Doodles is out there somewhere, shivering, dripping and hopefully getting a few biirds. Meanwhile, Chicken-Loopy is warm and cozy in front of his laptop. My camera dislikes the rain more than me!

I'm finally getting a good signal for the internet, during a storm, go figure. Here's a few of the highlights from the weekend...I'll have PLENTY more when I get home and can view them properly on a real computer. I'll also post highlights of the great speakers like Kenn Kaufman and Ruth Miller and Alan Davies of the "Biggest Twitch."

Blackpoll Booty! I find it odd that I'm the only one shooting photos at this moment...

We had a lucky visit of 4 American White Pelicans Sunday afternoon!

Those Blackburnian Warblers are real stunners...from any angle!

Eastern Kingbird, also known as "insect control."

This very shy House Wren tried to hide from all of the birders, but I found him!

The Magnolia Warblers are just arriving. I can't wait to get more shots of them!

Nashville Warblers sound like Elvis when they sing...listen very closely!
"Thank you, thank you very much..."

There are a good number of Prothonotary Warblers nesting along the boardwalk at Magee.
This one is screaming "Hey Baby! How about a date!"
He's a very smooth talker...like me.

This Red-eyed Vireo is one of the five species of Vireo we've seen so far!

If you're wondering what the black birds darting back and forth, non stop over your head on the boardwalk are...
yep, Red-winged Blackbirds, noisy too!
This guy had a waggly tail.

It's amazing how many Yellow Warblers are nesting in this area...and how hard it is to see them.
They always seem to be singing at the top of a tree, right over your head...and covered by leaves.

Everyone gets excited when a Yellow-billed Cuckoo is spotted!
He's looking for some one to poop on. Ha! He missed me!

By the way, there's more than just a bunch of birdies out here! This is an endangered Blanding's Turtle.
We also see many snakes, frogs, insects and wildflowers on our walk abouts.

That's all for now! If you haven't been to this area, you REALLY need to try it!