Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Speaking of Warbly things...

An American Redstart singing the praises of the Biggest Week in American Birding!

This morning the weather is a little bit on the moist side. I'm looking out of the windows of the BirdMobile and the trees are bending at an unnatural angle and rain is blowing sideways. The poor Doodles is out there somewhere, shivering, dripping and hopefully getting a few biirds. Meanwhile, Chicken-Loopy is warm and cozy in front of his laptop. My camera dislikes the rain more than me!

I'm finally getting a good signal for the internet, during a storm, go figure. Here's a few of the highlights from the weekend...I'll have PLENTY more when I get home and can view them properly on a real computer. I'll also post highlights of the great speakers like Kenn Kaufman and Ruth Miller and Alan Davies of the "Biggest Twitch."

Blackpoll Booty! I find it odd that I'm the only one shooting photos at this moment...

We had a lucky visit of 4 American White Pelicans Sunday afternoon!

Those Blackburnian Warblers are real stunners...from any angle!

Eastern Kingbird, also known as "insect control."

This very shy House Wren tried to hide from all of the birders, but I found him!

The Magnolia Warblers are just arriving. I can't wait to get more shots of them!

Nashville Warblers sound like Elvis when they sing...listen very closely!
"Thank you, thank you very much..."

There are a good number of Prothonotary Warblers nesting along the boardwalk at Magee.
This one is screaming "Hey Baby! How about a date!"
He's a very smooth talker...like me.


This Red-eyed Vireo is one of the five species of Vireo we've seen so far!

If you're wondering what the black birds darting back and forth, non stop over your head on the boardwalk are...
yep, Red-winged Blackbirds, noisy too!

This guy had a waggly tail.

It's amazing how many Yellow Warblers are nesting in this area...and how hard it is to see them.
They always seem to be singing at the top of a tree, right over your head...and covered by leaves.


Everyone gets excited when a Yellow-billed Cuckoo is spotted!
He's looking for some one to poop on. Ha! He missed me!

By the way, there's more than just a bunch of birdies out here! This is an endangered Blanding's Turtle.
We also see many snakes, frogs, insects and wildflowers on our walk abouts.

That's all for now! If you haven't been to this area, you REALLY need to try it!

9 comments:

  1. So, how crowded has the boardwalk been during the Biggest Week? We visited last Thursday and it seemed manageable.

    I really like your blog and photographs!

    Cindi

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  2. Great photos..looks like a wonderful event..Its on my list of things to do!

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  3. Thanks Cindi! The boardwalk hasn't been very crowded, I think the weather has kept people away. This coming weekend will be a great one!

    Thanks Dawn, We'll see you there!

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  4. Excellent photography! It is like when Christmas when the warblers come back. All those beautiful colors .. and you've captured them perfectly. Love the Blanding's Turtle shot!

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  5. Great series Dave. So far I've seen one Butter Butt and today 2 Orioles.

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  6. Redstart has made my day! Such a character! You have so many lifers around! I'm jealous too!

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  7. I wish, wish, wish I were there. I keep trying to find room for the trip, but nothing is working out. I love the Nashville Warblers but haven't seen one yet this year! They usually are singing all over the Little Miami Trail...

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  8. Thank you all for the great comments! I'm really getting behind...too many photos!

    This is definitely the place to visit in May for outstanding views of our eastern Warblers and other migrants!

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