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!!

 

 

Meandering in the Meadow...

 The saddest American Goldfinch ever.

He knows everything is going to be snow covered soon...

Holy Cowbird! This is an actual true to life almost up to date bloggity post! And no, I'm not even close to being caught up, butt what the heck, we're going to skip around and sing tra-la- tra-la. Whee.

So...this short extravaganza of avian photo journalism was made at the Tallmadge Meadows in Munroe Falls Park just a mere week ago. The weather has been very unusual, in case you haven't noticed in your neck of the woods. It was a Sunday that was very warm with even a little sun peeking in and out! I had a great walk for a few hours, spoke with a few other walkers and annoyed no one that I can recall.

So here ya go...some burdz...

 I noticed a man with a camera wandering off trail into the meadow(bad, very bad!) and looked up to see this American Kestrel parked at the top of a tree.

Of course, when said wanderer got to close the burd sped away.

 Don't you hate when you don't notice a stick in the middle of the frame because you can't see it in your tele lens?!

Anyway, this was a lone American Tree Sparrow...that flew after this one crappy shot.

My neck still hurts from bending far enough backwards to get a shot of this Blue Jay at the top of the tree...owie... 

AAAHHH!!!

I never saw a faceless Cooper's Hawk before! 

 Oh, nevermind...he was turned around looking at something...

 He was getting buzzed from above by a number of yakky burbs trying to chase him away.

He was deciding which one would taste better...

 I was surprised...and delighted to see a half dozens Eastern Bluebirds flying in and out of the berry bushes chowing down.

 The berries furthest away always taste better!

 I wonder if any of those were fermented yet?

 This is a Mourning Dove.

They are also known as Cooper's Hawks main course.

Bye-bye Mourning Dove.

A good day for burd buttz! 

Even a Northern Cardinal posed politely for a second.

Well, that's it for now, see you soon!

A Summer Southerly Migration...

 Beautiful Biltmore Lake in the early morning mist...

Once again, I made the ramble through the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina. I made my first visit last fall to visit this guy that thinks he's my boss(Brian) and his wife Caron(she's really the boss!) and wander the woodlands of their beautiful area. I had such a great time...and I didn't seem to annoy them...too much...I needed to go back when the breeding birds could be found. One thing led to another and I postponed the trip for a few weeks, but the birding was still great!

Brian is even giving in to the brainwashing I've been performing on him! One of the next posts I'll show you the amazing find he had one evening! I was stunned! In the meantime, here's a few photos from the first couple of days down south...y'all.

(I just have to get him to invest in binoculars a little newer than the 50's...)

 They had Chickadees, Nuthatches, Wrens and more nesting behind their home.

There were LOTS of Eastern Bluebirds looking for Pops to fill their gullets!

 There's always one kid that's a little odd...not that there's anything wrong with that...look at me!

Well, on second thought...

 Poor Dad...just a little frazzled....

 I found him a little later hiding behind this tree...smart guy.

 There were Eastern (South Eastern?) Towhees hiding and singing all along the lake trail.

This one actually came out to say hello!

 ...well, out for a second anyway...

 Lots of good eating down there!...and for me as well...but not bugs...BBQ!!

 The butterflies up here in Ohio have been far and few between...I think they're all living it up in North Carolina!

This is a Gulf Fritillary.

 This is a Painted Lady...that's not what my dad told me a painted lady was...but that's for a different blog...

 No otters, no bears, no deer, one squirrel and one chipmunk...the only mammals.

One day...

 We also hiked on Mt. Pisgah...a name that makes me giggle because I'm so immature...if you haven't noticed by now... Anyway, this is the view of Looking Glass Rock. When it rains the rock becomes very glossy and reflective. No rain. Much better for me!

Oh look! There's people over there!

 

 Yoiks! There's crazy people hanging from ropes up there!

No thanks...too hard to take pics of birds like that!

 

 Caron and Brian leading the way!

We hiked along the Mountain to Sea Trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway. What gorgeous woodlands! They told me the trail led to "Skinny Dip Falls!" I saw lots of folks heading that way and back...and I thought, "Wow, there's a lot of folks that like skinny dipping down here!" This will be fun since it was so hot.

 Imagine my dismay when I discovered "Skinny Dip Falls" was just a name...

No skinny dipping allowed...no sense of adventure!

Oh well, back to hiking and looking for a bird. It was the awkward time of day when the smart birds are chilling out...skinny dipping in puddles and creeks staying cool...

 Back to reality and butterflies...almost like the sky on this day...a Cloudless Sulphur.

 A bird at last!

I could barely hear their calls in the woods...this one was close enough to really get my attention!
A Dark-eyed Junco! We don't see those often this time of year in my neighborhood.

 I'm lichen this tree!

That joke never gets old...maybe.

Lots of lichens and mosses covered these trees.

 

 We even saw a few, very few, Monarch butterflies while hiking in a few different places.

PLEASE! If you have a garden, don't use pesticides or chemicals. Those chemicals don't know the difference between helpful and harmful insects. They will kill them all. Bee and butterfly populations have dropped dramatically in the past few years and our overuse of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals are not helping things.

No pollinators means no food...

 

 Imagine life without beautiful flowers like this Rhododendron growing wild in the mountains...

 We'll see you soon with more memories from North Carolina soon!