A Few Fine Feathered Fannies...for fun...

My, my, my...what a wonderful time of the year to be at Magee Marsh! Or should I say "May, May, May! As I've mentioned in the past few posts, I played hooky from work to visit Magee and see the amazing warbly migration and visit my buddies at The Black Swamp Bird Observatory. They understand my issues there... Oh, the hundreds of photos I've taken this year...I  fear I may be stuck behind this computer for quite some time viewing all of those photos...butt I don't mind!

Speaking of butts...ya know I haven't posted a bird booty bloggity in a bit...so here ya go!

 Look at that tail! Only an American Redstart has one like it!

 Here's a harder one to ID. It took me a bit to figure out...

Bay-breasted Warbly.

 An easy one for us color challenged birders!

Black-and-White Warbly.

 

 Black-throated Blue Warblys are hard to get a profile shot, let alone a behinder!

 

 Black-throated Greenies, on the other hand, are more than willing to spin in every direction to give you the proper pose!

 

 "I'm gonna eat that name!"

 

 Blackburnians try to hide way up in the trees, that makes it very difficult to hold a camera over your head to get a butt shot...boy are my arms tired...

 

 Chestnut-sided Warblys always seem to be facing the other way!

 

"One day my pretty...aah-ha-ha-ha!"

(Use your best wicked witch of the west voice here!)

 

 Not a warbly, butt what a fancy butt this Great Egret has!

 

 Magnolia Warbly things like to photographed from behind!

 Over...

 

 ...and over again!

 

 Nashville Warblys are shy...

 Northern Flickers are anything butt shy!

This one was making quite a racket!

 

 This Northern Parula is laughing at me.

I must have shot 50 pics of this guy...every one was fuzzy...or he was at the edge of the frame...or behind a leaf...or jumping behind a branch...argh....

 

 Ovenbirds are another one of those warblys that are very shy and try to run away.

He doesn't realize he has wings I think...

 This Prothonotary Warbly nests in the area and is always easy to find.

 See? Here's another...

 This Red-eyed Vireo liked to hang upside down and hop in and out of the vegetation to taunt birders.

 Figures, the only Wilson's Warbly I saw and the only shot close to being in focus is this.

I am a happy boy!

 Another local nester, Yellow Warbly.

I took my brother, Jeff, out to Magee and he saw them building their nest.

Lucky stuff for a new birder!

 

 You can just barely see the yellow rump on this Yellow-rumped Warbly.

Appropriate name, eh?

 Oh look! He has a butter brain as well as a butter butt!

Bye-bye for now!

Gotta fly...

And We're Not Even In Baltimore!

 We Call him "The Singer."

Over the past two years we starting getting a pair of Baltimore Orioles visiting our little garden of delights. After the first sighting, The Doodles went immediately  to Wild Birds Unlimited and bought a feeder. It only took an hour or so before it was discovered...and emptied!

This year we have at least 4 males and three females visiting daily. The one we call "The Singer" goes non stop everyday in one of our many trees. He's young, but impressive. It's amazing how all of their songs differ from area to area, and bird to bird. We have one nest under construction in on of our large trees and a pair are working in a tree two doors down from us as well.

We had been wondering about the lack of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in our gardens this year. I posted a question on the Ohio List Serve regarding this. It's seems to be a common mystery throughout north eastern Ohio this year. Maybe they traded places with the amazing number of orioles here...

 He's a little shy...

 "Nest Building From Behind!"

A new blog?

 

The craftsmanship of their nests is amazing...especially when you think about making it with your mouth!

 

 We have three feeders up and they still fight over them!

Just out of view is another male waiting his turn.

They don't even mind going to the "ugly" feeder!

The Doodles said I got carried away with the orange paint.

I told that's what you get for letting the color blind guy do it!

 This has got to be the fattest hummingbird ever!

 Oops...sorry about the fat thing...

Not a hummingbird after all...

She's still mad at me though...

Stay Tuned (as usual!)

I still haven't finished showing you more of those warbly things from Magee Marsh!

I think I may have taken too many photos...nah...no such thing as too many warbly shots!

Little Miss EightySeven...

 Hello Little Miss EightySeven! Welcome to our garden...

While standing somewhat numb and making breakfast, I saw something odd flashing around in our gardens. A little warbly thing is always guaranteed to wake me up!And this was a new one for our little oasis in the city. A female Bay-breasted Warbly! Luckily my camera was taking up too much space on the kitchen counter(use your Doodle voice here!) I managed quite a few slightly fuzzy shots through the window.

While tracking her through the bushes and over the rocks to our small pond, what did I spy with my cameras eye? A Blackburnian Warbly splish splashing! Shelter, food and water are the keys to getting good birdies in your yard. What a great day to not be doing what I'm supposed to be doing and staring out the window instead! I need to do this more often...

 The tell tale booty of a Bay-breasted Warbly...and you thought taking butt shots was silliness.

 She's working her way to the water for a little bath.

 She paused when she saw the bath was occupied.

 By far, one of the worst Blackburnian Warbly photos ever taken in the United States.

I got skills....

 Whoa! Wait a second...who's that running across the back of the pond?

It's a female Common Yellowthroat!

And in the front garden, lurking through the shrubs and evergreens was her main man!

We don't often see this many warblies in our gardens on the same day.

 I found it to be a good excuse to stay home and bird watch from home...
We're now up to 87 species at our home!

Stay tuned for more of...

Yard Birdin'!

Not Magee Marsh...

 Who's my favorite lil warbly thing?

Nope, not Magee this week. Too much of a good thing and all that...So, I went to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve...on the lakefront...in Cleveland. Just on the edge of downtown, this is part of the Lake Erie Birding Trail and it is a reclaimed area created by the dredging of Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.   This place is amazing, considering where it's located and what it's made of. LOTS of birds, butterflies, mammals and reptiles have made it their home. An oasis amidst a pile of cement.

The trails are easy to walk, and improvements are being made in a large wildflower meadow. Be careful though...the bathrooms aren't always open! That just made me walk a little faster near the end...

 Black-and-White Warblies are goofier than me. Hard to believe.

An American Redstart nested here last year...maybe again this year!

I also spotted a Chestnut-sided Warbly in this same area as well as an Ovenbird.

You don't want to see those photos...ugh.

 This female Baltimore Oriole was trying to hide from all of the obnoxious males.

Hmmmm...just like humans...

 

              "Oh Yeah?!"                                                                                     "Yeah!!"                     

  These guys were having a "whistle off." I got bored and didn't see who won.

 I think this was a Brown-headed Cowbird doing his imitation of a plane landing at the airport next door...or not.

 

 "No, no, no. It was more like this! Look and learn!"

 

 Oh my! It's the "marsh bandit!"

Wait...no...it's a Common Yellowthroat.

My mistake...

 

 Go meow.

 

 I think this is a Least Flycatcher.

That's why the photo is so small.

 

 This is a test.

Who's doing the scrub-a-dub here?

 

 Peek-a-boo!

Four score and twenty blackbirds ago, our Lincoln's Sparrow washed behind his beak.

I think I need a nap now...

 

 This is an amazingly poor photo of an Osprey with a fresh wiggly fish lunch.

Something you don't see in downtown Cleveland everyday!

 This Ruby-crowned Kinglet has lost his crown in the weeds.

Not funny, but I'm tired...

 

 This is a Song Sparrow making up a song.

It was a nice song that he sang.

 

 This is a Warbling Vireo doing nothing.

 This is a Wild Turkey hiding while checking his calendar.

"Ahuh-huh...nope. It ain't November yet...ahuh..."

 You guessed it...a Yellow Warbly warbling.

 This is a Yellow Warbly looking at me in disdain.

"Get a new joke book Loop!"

 

 WOWIE! Look at those crazy legs! Woo-hoo!

 Another rare one for the Cleveland lakefront, a Red-throated Loon.

At first glance, and at a far distance, it was thought to be a Western Grebe...oops.

 It slept as we rudely stared in hopes that it may float closer and turn around...

What a rude little bird!

Coming soon!!! 

More from Magee Marsh! More Warblies! More bad jokes! 

Stay tuned!