Friday, January 29, 2010

I think we saw a Tree Sparrow...I think...

"I don't see any Tree Sparrows!"


During our visit to the icy cold BirdMobile, we made a stop to Maumee State Park. On the shores of Lake Erie, with great trails for hiking and birding, swimming in the lake or a natural pool and more. They have a wonderful nature center ( Hi Dana!) with plenty of activities to keep everyone busy plus a boardwalk.

Once again, we listened to the weatherman (MORON!) and expected the temps to be above freezing...and once again they were...by about a half a degree! As you can tell, we weren't dressed quite warm enough! At least we had boots on and could trudge through the snow on our search for birdies!

Can you say "Brrr!"?

A sleepy eyed American Goldfinch.
I think I woke him up...sorry!

Oh look, it's an American Tree Sparrow!...on the ground.

We were out with our birding buddy, Judy.
She took somewhere close to four thousand photos of this icicle trying to get a shot of the water drop falling.
I took one. Ha.
Oh look, it's an American Tree Sparrow!

...and an American Goldfinch.

Oh look, it's an American Tree Sparrow!...on the ground again.

Oh, that's a different one, a Northern Cardinal!

And another American Goldfinch.
This one is starting to get his dark head feathers in!

One of my goals, one of a million or so, is to get a photo of a Red-breasted Nuthatch, in a tree, in the frame and in focus.
Maybe someday. You have to have goals you know!

A Red-breasted Nuthatch cleaning up the seeds under the feeder.
Wait, is that a Tree Spa...nope, just a House Sparrow

There's a good little birdy, hold still!
These White-breasted Nuthatches make the cutest sound!
If you ever talk to the Doodles, listen carefully and you'll hear her making that same sound!
Don't tell her I said that...shhhh....
I think we missed them...

Oh look, an American Tree Sparrow!

10 comments:

  1. welll that is indeed a fantastic shot! And now that I've seen a picture of what appears to be a mighty big camera (!!!) I understand how come you have all these amazing shots...Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Susan! Now you know...size doesn't matter!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loopy-

    We wish you were down here- so we would have some decent photos to document our birds!

    Let's plan for next year!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cheryl, We'll cross our fingers and see what happens!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent post Dave... I definitively love your way of taking pictures!! The story is also very nice and the last picture is a beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's really a shame that you didn't see any American tree sparrows. Maybe next time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Chris: Thanks!

    Gabrielle, thanks for the good wishes, maybe I'll get the Tree Sparrows one of these days!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed seeing your birds. Last year we had 50 or more tree sparrows stay with us all winter. We were feeding millet on the ground and had a wonderful variety of native sparrows.

    Never been lucky enough to attract a red breasted nuthatch to my feeders. I know there are a few in the area, saw one at Severson Dells at their feeders. We do have the white breasted vareity.
    Marnie

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Marnie,Thanks for visiting! FIFTY Tree Sparrows, now that would be cool!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Dave,
    Love your posts as always!! I especially like the last shot. Very nice!

    ReplyDelete