Bird Friday!

 Chaos! Just like the mall!

Can you tell it was a gray day in Cleveland?

Since I am the King Booty, I declare that all birders will now observe "Bird Friday" in protest of Black Friday and all of it's profiteering nonsense. 

All in favor? 

It doesn't matter 'cause I'm the King and I said so.
I'll remind you next year...

So, (ha! I did it again!) SO...if you look at the top photo you'll see Ring-billed Gulls and Bonaparte's Gulls, you know, those silly gray and white things. And, Red-breasted Mergansers are in there. There were so many birds flying back and forth I started to get dizzy, or should I say dizzier. I spent the morning and afternoon at Cleveland's lakefront looking for a few birds we don't see often up here...

 

"Look out below!"
Bonaparte's Gulls are winter visitors on Lake Erie.

They're the only gull I will tolerate.

 Who's got cute little flappy wings?

 So, (ha!)...there's been a Brown Pelican, yes, the Cleveland Browns Pelican, visiting our fair city for months now. Me and The Doodles have tried to spot it on numerous occasions to no avail.

Now that The Doodles is visiting her little boys, I have finally spotted it!!

Oh...wait...that's plastic.

Never mind.

 Oh...my...

THERE HE IS!

Success at last...too bad The Doodles isn't here to share in the joy and wonder of it all.

Nah.

 

 And this is why he's hard to find.

If he isn't on the far side of the breakwall...he's hiding under the boat docks.

I don't know how much longer he will last in this freezing weather.

He should be in Florida.

 Every direction has something to see!

Gadwall, Red-breasted Merganser, American Coot, Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls and more!

 There have been sightings of Eared Grebes lately, but not for me.

It's still great to see a Horned Grebe!

 This Northern Shoveler was bored with it all.

 

 This is a very rare Hot-rod Merganser.

Very fast...really.

 No, this is not the arctic tundra.

It's Burke Lakefront Airport and there's a Snowy Owl there.

Right in front of you.

See it?

 There he is!

I'm still waiting for Canon to send me that 800mm lens.

Maybe for Christmas.

Maybe a 500mm?

Hellooooo?

Anyone out there?

 Speaking of air traffic...

We had a flyover of Tundra Swans!

 Okay.

Don't tell The Doodles!

I got a lifer today!

A Red Phalarope!

Woo-hoo!!

And he was even kind enough to give me a lifer butt shot.

See kids, isn't Bird Friday much better 

than Black Friday?

Remember next year!

2010 Lifers!

Somewhere in the middle of those tangles along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, resides a preening Cerulean Warbler.
Birdy #325...not that I'm counting...

I didn't actually have 2010 life birds for the year...but it got your attention didn't it? Not as good as 2009(a long weekend near West Palm Beach, Florida helped), but considering we stayed close to home and the BirdMobile we had a very good year. Plus I'm starting to catch up to the Doodles! LOOK OUT BABY!

If you doubt that the Magee Marsh area is a good place to bird in the spring time, all seven of these birds were seen there! Now that I'm looking over the list, we had seven new birds in that area in 2009 also. That must be the magic number.

I wonder what 2011 will have in store for us?

Gotta love getting a new warbly thing!
This Worm-eating Warbler, shown not eating a worm in this photo, was #38 on my warbly list!

This may be my favorite "Crappy Photo of the Week" shot.
Not only is it crappy, but it's a White-eyed Vireo and a lifer baby!

We saw this Black Tern strafing a Great Blue Heron at Metzger Marsh...
right next to Ottawa NWR...which is right next to Magee Marsh!

This was a two for one shot!
Red-necked Phalarope AND Wilson's Phalarope at Winous Point, down the road from Magee.
Now that's a good day of birding!

Oh boy, a lifer booty shot!
A female Summer Tanager!
You don't know how hard it is for a color blind guy to find one of these things in a green tree...

So, these feathery friends bring my total for the U.S. to 331. Not a gigantic number of species, but for a part time, color blind, booty shooting bird nerd, not bad...