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!

The Biggest Week in American Birding...part too...

 All the leaders, drivers and volunteers that help The Biggest week be a success! I'm in the back row, far right...obviously not my political views...

What a great event it was! Everyone had a great time, at least no one complained to me...yet. I had the privilege to drive some wonderful folks and guides all around northwestern Ohio in search of birds. I was even lucky enough to find a couple lifers for some lucky birders! You can't ask for more than that. I am so looking forward to next year...starting a little later on May 9th! Mark it down and I'll see you there!

In the meantime, here's a few photos from my first weekend...or was it the second...anyway...birds!

It's always good to find nesting birds like this Orange-breasted Ground Thrush.

(uh, American Robin...)

As you can see, I'm a pretty crappy photographer some days. But I try to capture every bird I see...such as this Baltimore Oriole.

This Blue-winged Warbler was a rare bird and a lifer for many! This photo was highly enlarged, and that's not my finger at the top...

This Canada Goose had one lone fuzzy beebee following along.

This was the first time I got more than one decent shot of a Clay-colored Sparrow! I had to trust everyone that this bird is clay colored because I'm red/green color blind...ha...

I know that this is a dragonfly...with very fresh wings...I still have to find out which one...

I like Eastern Bluebirds. Blue is one of the colors I can see best!

Eastern Bluebird from behind because that's what I do.

I also love Gray Catbirds because of the simplicity of their outfit and the goofy nature of their singing!

Purple Martins don't appear to be purple in this photo, but I guess they are.

Another of my favorites is this relatively common Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly. fairly tiny, they are often overlooked or mistaken for a moth.

Another great find was this Spotted Sandpiper next to a farmers field. It's always good when you spot a sandpiper...

I was trying so hard to get a nice photo of a wonderful Song Sparrow and he turned to be a creep and dove for cover as I clicked the shutter. Burds...sheesh...

Anyone for a bowl of spider?

A curious Tree Swallow checking out his new crib...from behind...

 Once again, I thank you for visiting my bloggity! I forgot how much fun it is to share my photos and some occasional silliness! Until next time...happy birding!!