Um...a while ago...

I ran out of words...sorry.

 

 

  

 

Biggest Week in American Birding...part...uh...again.

Whose butt is this?

Yep, the Biggest Week was pretty long...10 days actually. And I drove all over northwest Ohio in search of birdies! This was the best festival I've been involved with. I never drove fine feathered folks around this much before, and what a great group of people they were! I hope I didn't scare anyone, I tried to curb the pun and sarcastic asides as best I could.

The first group of slightly focused photos are from a small park on Catawba Island a little east of Magee Marsh. This was the first visit for all of us and it turned quite well! Even a few lifers for some lucky birders!

This Baltimore Oriole must have been very happy, he was wagging his tail like crazy!

Ever time I see a Double-crested Cormorant, I think of Goofy from the Disney cartoons..."huh, huh, eyup."

Catching flies from behind...

Did you guess right? Yep, it's an Eastern Phoebe. Flycatchers always confuse me...until you see his waggy tail!

 

This was at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Everyone was talking about owls that were easy to see...that's a rarity! Low and behold, there's a lovely Eastern Screech Owl hiding in that hole!

 

I had better shots of this Great Blue Heron, butt this one cracked me up.

Birds don't sweat, so leave breathe with their beaks open when they are hot.

 

Here ya go...a nice normal shot of a Great Egret...almost from behind!

 

This was the other east to find owl...a Great Horned Owlet...all floofy!

 

I was going to go out on limb and say this was a Green Heron...butt he left the limb...

Trying to shoot a Thrush through all of the scrub and leaves is always exciting! I believe this was a Swainson's Thrush.

Yep...it's one of those wildflower things...Tommy will let me know what it is!

In the bush right next to this tree was a Blue-winged Warbly. While I was trying to get everyone on it, it flew before I got a shot. By the way, this is a Yellow-billed Cuckoo...cuckoo like me!

 

There weren't a lot of warblies to see this year...a good number of species but the quantities seemed to be low. Could have been caused by the Canadian wild fires in their breeding range. This is a butter butt! Also known as a Yellow-rumped Warbly. Also know as a Myrtle Warbly...just to confuse you more...

Okay! Did you guess the birdie at the start of the bloggity post?

Yep, a beautiful Blackburnian Warbly!

Until next week..get out and find some birds!

I'm Behind Again...and so are my photos!

 Howard Marsh at sunset...

Howard Marsh is an amazing place! Open for the past three years , it was farm land for the last hundred years or so. Donated to the Toledo Metropark system, they've done an astounding job of transforming the land back to it's original marsh habitat.

There's plenty of trails wrapping around and going through the area. You'll have the opportunity year round to see a number of species that migrate through, ducks in fall and winter, shorebirds in early spring and late summer and all of the wonderful migrants that make the Biggest Week in American Birding so great!

The high point for me was seeing the breeding black-necked stilts! It's been nearly sixty years since they bred in northern Ohio...and now we have TWO pair nesting here! And on top of that they're easy to see with one pair nesting near the benches near the boardwalk.

Next time Magee Marsh...and WARBLIES!!!!

The boardwalk is fantastic for seeing the stilts, grebes and coots...even old ones like me!

A juvenile bald eagle was eating his dinner atop a muskrats home...yummee!

A pair of American wigeons, a couple of gray and white things(ho-hum) and a peep gang!

Black-necked stilt booty!!

A stilt trying to get away from me...I can't understand why...

One of the two pairs nesting and breeding here!

I think I was discovered staring...

Them leggies is long!

Blue-winged teal waaaaaay back in the marsh...

this is cropped quite a bit!

Just a lowly brown-headed cowbird...

Lots of great egrets were fishing in the marsh...

A lonely horned grebe just floating through life...

This killdeer was leading me away from it's nest...

Oopsie...adult supervision required for this Osprey photo!

Baby making time!

Taking a break after his little soiree...

Even the red-winged blackbird was shocked!

Hmmm...a semipalmated sandpiper, a dunlin and a lesser yellowlegs(which is hard to tell from that angle!)

Another semipalmated sandpiper and a lesser yellowlegs...maybe... not the best with shore birds butt I'm trying!

And my little song sparrow buddy!

Stay tuned for the warbly migration at Magee Marsh and the Biggest Week in American Birding!