First Warbly of the Year!

First Warbly of the year, guess who?!

 

After one crazy year I finally made it out to find some of my birdy buddies!

I decided to stay somewhat close to home and went into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park near Station road. I've always had a great time finding something to photograph there and this day was no exception.

I haven't done much other than dust my camera since last May...and it was still a bit dusty. The batteries were dead...first thing, charge them up. All of my settings seemed to have disappeared as well...so, go in and reset date, time, name and my personal preferences. Next I did an inventory of what to take out with me...I went very light, being my first time out. Camera, extra batteries, polarizer for shooting in the water and a monopod.

Jeepers! After a year of only working and idle laziness, going out chasing birbs really hurts!  My out of shape body needs a lot of work, but, boy did I have a great time! Four hours and a few miles and even a few birds along the way!

With a little more practice, I hope to get back into burd butt mode!

 

A White-crowned Sparrow trying to hide amongst the new growth.

This Tufted Titmouse found something delightful to tear to shreds! 

Nom-nom-nom!

 Another Titmouse doing a few pull ups to keep in shape and impress the ladies.

 

I was surprised at the number of tadpoles swimming in the old canal and puddles.

 

There had been a dam running across this section of the Cuyahoga River for years and years. They finally removed it and the river is running much faster. It will add to the health of the river.

Another surprise was watching this crazy squirrel balancing on branches...

 The first peep of the year too! This Solitary Sandpiper was wandering up and down the canal probing for tasty morsels...

Woo-hoo! At long last, a burd from behind!

Believe it or not, there's a tiny lil fuzzy headed burb in that nest. He stuck his head up for a millisecond then disappeared....it may have been a raptor of some sort...hmmmm.

 All of the regulars were around today also...like this Northern Cardinal striking a dramatic pose....maybe Hollywood is looking!

 With all of the bright sunshine and warmth, the Midland Painted Turtles were out in force. This trio was having some sort of union meeting.

Mallard.....awake...

Mallard...asleep...

And I thought I was tall and skinny! This Great Blue Heron has me beat!

I seemed to have gained a little weight lounging about instead of birding...ruh-roh!

A very rare and elusive Treemunk! Cavity nesters, they are rarely see in the open...

Yea! A Choo-choo train!

CVNP has a rail line going through the park for sight seers and bicyclists that discovered they aren't in as good a shape as they thought...

Ribit.

I'm not sure what that means, but that's what the Bullfrog said to me.

I had a hard time finding a Black-capped Chickadee that would sit still for more than a second! I am wayyyy out of practice!

 I kept getting asked if I've seen the Bald Eagles...yep, I saw one...a juvenal too.

They also have a nest close by.

Yes, you guessed right! The first warbly of the year was a Yellow-rumped Warbly! 

How appropriate for me! 

 

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Birds From Behind!

A Nice Walk...and a few crappy pics...

One of those days...

The weather has been unusual to say the least around here. It was a warm afternoon and I was done cleaning and all that fun stuff, Soooo I decided to go for a little birding jaunt around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Beaver Marsh (where I've never seen a beaver.) This was before the shut down...and don't get me started on that morons idiotic game...

I thought it would be nice to find a few nuthatches (other than myself) and get some nice photos of whatever else may be around. What luck, just as I entered the trail, nuthatches were all around me...in the tree tops...and behind branches...or flying away.

Except for one that came down low just for me. Butt would he stay still long enough for a photo? Well, yes and no.

 I had him for a second, then he jumped up a little higher...fine I'll try again...

 Missed again...almost a butt shot.

Try one more time!

 Um, what the heck is that?!

I quit.

 Well, at least I got a slightly blurry pic of a Belted Kingfisher spitting.

Something you don't see everyday...

 I don't know what it was, but it was sitting still so I took a shot.

 I'm so glad that Mallards are large and slow moving or I wouldn't have had a thing for the day!

 He was very polite and came out of the water and posed for me.

Nice ducky.

Yep, I stayed a long time trying butt it was getting dark.

No butt shots today BUTT I did get a Moon that day!

Hopefully next time we'll do better...

Until we meet again...

Looking for the Beaver at the Beaver Marsh...

 A day without a Song Sparrow is a day without sunshine...

...And this past Sunday starting out looking stormy, had some bright sunny patches, started looking gloomy, had some bright sunny patches...and so on. In other words typical weather for north east Ohio. To play it safe and ensure the weather would be great for the other Cuyahoga Valley National Park visitors, I brought the rain cover for my camera. Works every time.

So...anyway...the beavers at the beaver marsh. Remember how I was searching for northern river otters for so long? Well this is the place where I finally saw an otter...for a couple of seconds. The beavers dam has been pointed out to me numerous times, after which a scowl appears on my face. Then someone points out a "beaver" right in front of us...it's a muskrat. "Are you sure? looks like a beaver..." Nope, it's a muskrat. "Well, I don't know..." I do, it's a muskrat. The beavers are hiding with the otters. "my, my...you're kinda cranky..." Shut up and leave me alone to sulk...

I don't understand why folks don't want to be my friend...

 WOW! It's an Orange-breasted Ground Thrush in a tree!

(I can call them anything I want! It's my blog!)

 A pair of very nice ladies walked past and asked if there had been any Bald Eagles sighted recently.

Uh...as soon as you leave I'm sure one will arrive.

And presto...

 Excuse me, Mr. Snek...there's a bug on your beak.

 For some reason folks flip out when I point out the Black Racer that's basking a few feet from them.

Snakes are good!

I'll admit I like watching people jump and run.

 This is a Blue Dasher dragonfly I'm posting for my brother Phil cause he hates bugs.

You're welcome! When's dinner?

 Besides, it's an insect not a bug. There's a difference.

 This Common Grackle picked an appropriate spot to chill out on.

It adds to his spookiness.

 Eastern Kingbird booty!

 A Gray Catbird singing his happy little ditty.

 A Gray Catbird displeased with me singing along.

 A Pterodactyl landing in the marsh.

 I think he may have landed on the Bittern I was trying to find.

 I like when big birds like Great Blue Herons are so close I have to back up to get a shot!

No cropping needed...

 You know your scratched the right itch when your hair stands up.

 The fearsome Green Heron in full stalking mode...

 And a mighty lunge and strike at an unaware little innocent fishy.

 And no fish, just a mouth full of water and duck weed.

Better luck next time...

 Okay, everybody say "Awwww!"

Little fuzzy Mallard!

 Poor Midland Painted Turtle...his front feet don't touch.

I think he got high centered on this log...call AAA for a tow...

 He later got off and didn't think my joke was funny.

You probably didn't either...

 This Mourning Dove looks innocent...until he poops on your car.

 I love hearing the Northern Cardinals singing back and forth.

 Once again, my whistling along was not appreciated.

 Oh dear, this Red-bellied Woodpecker is going to have a very sore neck!

I hope that snack was worth the effort.

 This poor Red-tailed Hawk was just chillin' out minding his own business...

A gang of Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds were dive bombing him...

 He finally gave in.

 There were quite a few Silver-spotted Skippers working along the wildflowers.

 If you would have stayed in the nest, you'd be eating a juicy dragonfly right now.

But, nooo...you have to be a big bird and leave the nest early...

 And there's a few of his siblings now...still one hiding in the nest waiting for a free meal.

 Getting ready for a hot date...gotta check for a nice fresh smell...

 Tree Swallows are just amazing to watch in the sunshine!

 The water lilies are starting to bloom!

 Mrs. Wood Duck and two of the kids relaxing by the pool.

 Mrs- Wood Duck has a bad temper and wants me to leave...fine, I'll leave...

 Another one wonders why I keep staring at them...

It was a great day even if I didn't see that non-existent beaver.

Maybe next time...

Stay tuned!