The May-hem Begins!

Yes, there IS a bird in there somewhere, a very important bird!

What a great weekend at Magee! It's almost the start of the Biggest Week in American Birding and we were getting a head start...along with a lot of others! There are guides from Black Swamp and Tropical Birding helping out too! Look for their mustard yellow caps, even a color blind guy can see them. It's nice to have help when you're looking for new birds!

We went to the BirdMobile Friday evening and stayed through Sunday. The weathermorons said to expect heavy rain, high winds, thunder, lightning, volcanoes, typhoons, and glaciers. Well, we did see a little rain and it was a little windy...but, all in all, not a bad time!

Now, let's get to the first photo(one of too many posted I fear)...that tiny little bird in the middle, the one that's a little over four inches long...and a bit on the very active side? That's a Cerulean Warbler. That's also a life bird for me and the Doodles(insert silly dance here!) As you know, lifers are never easy to see and this was noooo exception! I only had a chance at two shots before he disappeared into the nether regions of the marsh.

And he was only the beginning! We nabbed 54 species this weekend, with 15 being warblers. Pretty good for a couple of silly people! We also totaled up FOUR LIFERS altogether! But, you'll have to wait to see them!

In the mean time...I hope you like at least one of these photos...if not...I have plenty more!

Any day you see a Blackburnian Warbler is a good day!
Believe it or not, I could not get a butt shot of this guy...one of these days...

This Black-throated Green Warbler was singing a happy tune...in between eating tiny little buggies...

I have no problem getting rump shots of Blue-headed Vireos!

This guy is one of my tormentors. He's a Cape May Warbler. They don't like me taking their photographs.
This is one of my better shots. Honest. Sucks, don't it.

The nice thing about Woodpeckers, including this Downy...
all of the shots are butt shots.

This Gray Catbird(one of my favorite birdies by the way!) was not happy when I asked him to turn around for a booty shot.

You gotta love a warbler with racing stripes on his head!
This is an Ovenbird by the way...

"What's that smell?!"
Palm Warblers get a little ripe after that long flight to Magee...

This is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak...you can tell because of the rosy breast...that you can't see...

It was definitely a "Birds From Behind" sort of weekend.
Even the Scarlet Tanager came down to pose for me!

This Swainson's Thrush wasn't quite sure about me...
"So...uh...watcha lookin' at there bub?"

Oh, speaking of worms...I'm starving!
Did you know that Veery's do not share their meals?

You know it's a good weekend when you find not one, but...

...TWO Whip-poor-wills!
The first one had people lining up to view him down a slender path in the woods.
The second was pointed out to me by a young Amish boy with the keenest eye sight!

The White-throated Sparrow was not impressed.
"We see them guys all the time down here."
The birds talk to me. Really.

Look at that buttery butt!
The Yellow-rumped Warbler said "Yeah baby, feast your eyes on this dollop of sunshine!"
Like I said, they talk to me...I can hear the voices...

By the way...has anyone seen Bob lately? Where is that rascal...