Christmas at Magee...

A Christmas gift for me! A Hermit Thrush in winter

While the Doodles was visiting her boys in Las Vegas( where it's NOT snowing!) I was supposed to be working on a frozen pipe and leak at the BirdMobile. I soon discovered that I am NOT a plumber...and gave in the the call of Magee Marsh.

Not a creature was stirring...well no human type creatures anyway. It was very peaceful and covered with a cozy blanket of snow. A good day for a quiet walk in the woods.

As you can see, this shot was taken at a lower angle than usual.
This is where I slipped and fell down. DOH!
The camera is fine, and I liked the way things looked from down here anyway...

What a surprise to find a Hermit Thrush on the boardwalk!
He popped up from underneath the walk and came quite close.
We talked for a little bit, actually I did all the talking.
Why do you think they call them "Hermit" Thrushes?

All through the marsh you could hear the sounds of squeaky toys. I thought Santa must be near!
Then I realized it was just the Downy Woodpeckers talking about their sore heads...

The Bald Eagle's nest grew a little...no luck on locating the Eagles though...

That little dark spot in the middle?
That's a Coyote on the frozen lake. He kept an eye on me as I walked along the beach.

A little clump of feathers...someone had lunch here!

You're never alone in the woods.

It was a little breezy..and a little chilly as well!
I don't remember seeing this much ice on Lake Erie in quite some time.

A Northern Cardinal will always brighten the darkest day.

This is not a photo of a Winter Wren.
I gave up on chasing him around these stumps and tangles.
Wrens make me dizzy...

Deer season is over.
You can tell because I got very close to this White-tailed Deer!

I'll leave you now with this Christmas wish for you all,
I hope you all get some fine booty today and in the New Year!

The Best of the Bounteous Bird Behinds of 2010...

My favorite Black-and-White Warbly-thing at Magee, where else?!

Well, not necessarily the best, butt these are a few of my favorites!

If you've followed this silly little blog, you know the problem I have with trying to get to the right side of the tree before our feathered friends sail aloft to be gone from the prying eye of my sometimes focused lens. If you're new here, my apologies in advance!

What started out as more of a joke among our friends..."Poor Loopy, all he ever gets is the back sides of birds!"..."Hey Dave! You're on the wrong side again!"..."Hey Butt-boy!( I don't like that one!) Here's another one for you!"...then it became an obsession. While other photographers are waiting for that magazine pose, I'm shooting away, just happy to see the birds and learn a little bit more about them and their world.

This past spring, I heard a couple of "professional" photographers talking about some guy that hangs around Magee taking shots of birds rear ends. They couldn't believe someone was wasting their time and energy doing that. They cracked themselves up. Then I introduced myself and an awkward silence came over them. A warbler flew in right above us with a lovely view of it's rump. I knew what it was right away, they were stumped...silly "pro's!"

Anyway...thanks for shopping at "Birds From Behind", I hope you've found ever thing you were looking for. Please stop back again!

The appropriately named Yellow-rumped Warbler, soon to be the Myrtle Warbler once again...

The "Cutest Butt" award goes to the Golden-crowned Kinglet!

Rusty Blackbirds are generally flighty and I never seem to get very close...until this time!
A little on the angry side about this shot I think...

A Northern Cardinal in our garden waiting for an opening at the feeder.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Birdy New Year!

Dave's Fav's of 2010...so far...

This is, by far, my all time favorite photo of a Black-and-White Warbler.
Taken at Magee Marsh of course!

Looking through my folder of best shots, I suddenly realized that I haven't been keeping up on editing and filing photos for a while. I go through my latest shots, look for blog worthy shots and move on. I think I will have a lot of work this winter...

In the meantime...these are a few of my favorites from this year...so far.

This was the sexiest White-breasted Nuthatch I had ever seen. Look at those haunting eyes!

I am not what I would consider a "Gull-ible" person...but I really like this shot of a Herring Gull.

Once again, Magee Marsh holds my favorite birds and the greatest place to capture them!
This Red-eyed Vireo came closer out of curiosity of the clicking camera and the flash.

Who doesn't like Ruby-crowned Kinglets?
Especially when they're singing a happy little song for you!

A big THANK YOU goes out to all of the folks that read(and waste their valuable time on) my silly blog.

REALLY big thanks to Kelly, Susan, Chris and Bob, my constant commentators that keep this blog alive when I think I'm ready to give it up.

REALLY-REALLY big thanks to Kimm and Kenn Kaufman for all that they do at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the help and kindness they've shown me( and all my other buddies at BSBO too!).

AND...If I want to keep on living...REALLY-REALLY-REALLY big thanks and huggies to the Doodles for putting up with me and my camera, but mostly me! Poor, poor Doodles...Love you!