I'm Behind Again...and so are my photos!

 Howard Marsh at sunset...

Howard Marsh is an amazing place! Open for the past three years , it was farm land for the last hundred years or so. Donated to the Toledo Metropark system, they've done an astounding job of transforming the land back to it's original marsh habitat.

There's plenty of trails wrapping around and going through the area. You'll have the opportunity year round to see a number of species that migrate through, ducks in fall and winter, shorebirds in early spring and late summer and all of the wonderful migrants that make the Biggest Week in American Birding so great!

The high point for me was seeing the breeding black-necked stilts! It's been nearly sixty years since they bred in northern Ohio...and now we have TWO pair nesting here! And on top of that they're easy to see with one pair nesting near the benches near the boardwalk.

Next time Magee Marsh...and WARBLIES!!!!

The boardwalk is fantastic for seeing the stilts, grebes and coots...even old ones like me!

A juvenile bald eagle was eating his dinner atop a muskrats home...yummee!

A pair of American wigeons, a couple of gray and white things(ho-hum) and a peep gang!

Black-necked stilt booty!!

A stilt trying to get away from me...I can't understand why...

One of the two pairs nesting and breeding here!

I think I was discovered staring...

Them leggies is long!

Blue-winged teal waaaaaay back in the marsh...

this is cropped quite a bit!

Just a lowly brown-headed cowbird...

Lots of great egrets were fishing in the marsh...

A lonely horned grebe just floating through life...

This killdeer was leading me away from it's nest...

Oopsie...adult supervision required for this Osprey photo!

Baby making time!

Taking a break after his little soiree...

Even the red-winged blackbird was shocked!

Hmmm...a semipalmated sandpiper, a dunlin and a lesser yellowlegs(which is hard to tell from that angle!)

Another semipalmated sandpiper and a lesser yellowlegs...maybe... not the best with shore birds butt I'm trying!

And my little song sparrow buddy!

Stay tuned for the warbly migration at Magee Marsh and the Biggest Week in American Birding!

 

A Weekend in Asheville...

  Caron and Brian...and me!

I had the opportunity to visit my friends Brian and Caron in Asheville, North Carolina last week for a few days. I've worked with Brian for the past 18 years...and he hasn't killed me yet...he hasn't tried hard enough!

We did a little birding around the gorgeous Biltmore Lake in the mornings and toured the area looking at art and some crazy graffiti later in the day. We also saw some spectacular sunsets and best of all...the Buddy Guy 25th anniversary tour! The man turned 85 this past July and he's still kicking a$$ and taking names. What a great show!

Here's a few photos of the things I saw...I really get to kick this writers block and get back to posting...maybe...yep...hopefully...probably...

 

...just one little shove and I can own the company!

  (don't tell him I said that!)

     The amazing Buddy Guy...he told some great stories...

     Buddy Guy with his opener Ally Venable.

  Biltmore Lake...beee-yoo-tiful!

  I figure since it's Carolina, this is a Carolina Chickadee...

Hmmm...maybe a Fence Lizard...or not...

The local neighborhood Great Blue Heron.

   The look when he caught spying on him...

   Mallards...they're everywhere...

A pair of Pied-billed Grebes were hanging with the Mallards. 

 

  All alone...so sad...

  This guy sure looks like a Red-shouldered Hawk to me...

 

         You'll have to trust me, Ruby-crowned Kinglet...

 

          Sarge was my best buddy during my visit!

 

If you visit Asheville, hit the arts area and check out the graffiti!

    A Tufted Titmouse...from below...

 

At last a White-breasted Nuthatch from behind!

 

The last warbly of the year, appropriately Yellow-rumped!

 

 The moon over Tennessee on my drive back north to Ohio.

 

Special thanks to my wonderful hosts...and Sarge the puppy for putting me up and putting up with me!

Meanwhile, Back at the "Other" Marsh...

 American Coots are so rude!

This butt flashing is a precursor to a rumble...

This area of north western Ohio by the great Lake Erie is an amazing place to explore in May...or any other time of year. So many parks and wildlife areas! On this day I left Magee Marsh, not an easy thing to do, and headed out to Howard Marsh Metropark. This park has only been open for a year and it's already garnered a lot of attention. In the past few weeks, in addition to the regular marsh birds, black-necked stilts have been spotted nesting, yellow-headed blackbirds have been seen regularly and a pair of red-necked phalaropes are out there somewhere!

If you're anywhere near the area, you must visit! And if you're not afraid of water...like me...you can kayak all through the wetlands...cameras can't swim...

 This is what happens after a coot flashes his bum...rumble!

 This went on for quite a while...they must have got a hold of some bad duck weed...

 This one was laughing at them the whole time...

 A lone Barn Swallow fluffed up cause it was cold and windy!

I tried that, but it didn't work for me...

 Apparently Dunlin run in gangs.

 The only gull I'll take a photo of is the Bonaparte's Gull.

I have yet to see one tuck his wing into his breast pocket...

 The only duck close enough to me was this lone Blue-winged Teal.

I also saw Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Bufflehead and American Wigeon.

 I was so excited when I saw the Black-necked Stilts as I thought they were life birds in the U.S.

I saw them in Panama years ago...and then I discovered I had photos of them at the San Diego Bird Fest. Still new in Ohio and a great bird we don't see often.

 Though they wern't near by, I shot close to 100 photos of them...I can't help myself sometimes...

 Killdeer are the only shorebird I can identify.

I think I need more practice...

 Lesser Yellowbooty...uh...Yellowlegs.

 Once in a while I can get a shot of the other side too!

 A Northern Rough-winged Swallow looking majestic.

 This Pied-billed Grebe spotted me and was zooming quickly into the reeds.

Ya know, I never noticed their black throat before.

 Short-billed Dowitchers should be called Long-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed Dowitchers should be called "Really-long-billed Dowitchers."

What do ya think?

 Gotta love those Song Sparrows!

 Among all of the Spotted Sandpipers out there, this one really "stood" out...he only had one leg.

It sure didn't appear to be a problem.

 We gotta fly now! I'll be back soon with more from Magee!

Stay tuned...