Shhhhh...still shushing...

 It's a Black-throated Blue Warbly...cause its got a black throat...and it's mostly blue...except for the white parts...

 Hello again. If you just guessed that I'm still at Magee Marsh and not at work you'd be half right...sort of. I'm not at work today(again), but I'm not at Magee. THese are still from last Fridays outing...with maybe one more post of pics sometime.

Today I went to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, more warblys! Butt, you'll have to wait to see what I saw, see? Fine. Until we meet again...

A Black-throated Green Warbler...same as above...except it's green. 

I should be a bird guide...I'm good.

Yep...still getting those birdie butts!

Still green too...

...with a black throat...

 This fuzzy feathery thing was only seen by myself and one other person.

She screamed(really) "GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER!" 

I thought Blue-winged Warbler, though there was a hybrid Brewster's in the same area.

We'll never know due to my excellent photographer skills...ha.

 A Chestnut-sided Warbly.

Yep, you guessed it...cause it has chestnut sides!

Oh, it's a laugh riot here today kids!

 Where'd that stick come from?

 I'm thinking...since he's all alone, he must be a Hermit Thrush.

What do you think? Hmmmm?

 This is a Lincoln's Sparrow.

He took his top hat off to prepare for a bath.

( Are you still there?)

A Mourning Dove...in the afternoon...mourning the loss of her freedom after those kids hatch.

 My blog wouldn't be complete without a few(HA? Few?!) crappy photos.

Silly Mourning Warblers(no relation to Mourning Doves by the way), always hiding in the dark creepy crevices.

 Oooh...a Nashville Warbly not in Tennessee. 

"Thank ya very mush..."

(Say it with an Elvis accent and you may laugh, or not.)

A Palm Warbly, NOT in a palm tree.

"KNOCK OFF THE STOOPID JOKES LOOP!"

Smart alec Prothonotary Warblys...

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are very humble.

They like to hide their crowns...

Swainson's Thrush.

Ran out of jokes.

Hmmmm...a White-throated Sparrow...called that because?

Yes! He has a white throat!

You catch on quickly.

A Wood Thrush after a rough flight in.

With a little rest and a brush, he'll be fine. 

 I'll bet you'll never guess why this is called a Yellow Warbly!

Hmph. You've heard this before haven't you?

Even this Yellow-rumped Warbly has had enough of me for today.

Sorry...butt I'll be back! Mwahaha!

Shhhhhh!!!

My good friend and excellent guide from Ecuador, Edison, found this American Woodcock hiding under a brush pile.

Don't tell anyone! I was feeling very under the weather Friday and couldn't make it to work...ack, ack... Amazingly enough, I was well enough to drive to Magee Marsh to catch the beginning of the spring spectacular...WARBLY MIGRATION! Shhhh...

What a gorgeous day to be out birding. Sun shining, nice breeze, 75 degrees, the birding life doesn't get any better...unless I was retired(not gonna happen.) In addition to all the great folks I haven't seen in a while, I saw 60 species of birdies, including 15 species of warbly things! AND I shot 637 photos, half of which I've already deleted so don't worry.

I think I'll spread these photos out over a few days...I wouldn't want to make you suffer through too many fuzzy butt shots!

 This Black-and-White Warbly couldn't figure out how my name was floating in mid air.

 

 First spring warbly booty!

 

 Isn't he precious?

That little bug killing machine...

 

 Blackburnian bootyliciousness...

 

 This lil warbly thing had me puzzled for a while.

The first person that spotted it said "Black-throated Green" and kept going.

It just didn't look right, that stripe on top of her head was a puzzlement.

When I looked in my copy of Chris Earley's Warbler guide, it turned out to be a female Blackburnian warbly! Cool, eh?

 

 Say bye-bye bug!

 

 "HEY! WHY AREN'T YOU AT WORK?!"

Cause I don't wanna.

 

 I don't think I've ever seen so many Blackburnian warblys at Magee!

Then again, I'm usually working...hmmmm...I think I'm feeling ill again...

 

 Getting sick of these guys yet?

I didn't think so...

 

 Even a color blind Loopy guy can appreciate the color of these warblys!

 

 I did photograph a couple of other birds in between those warbly things!

Like this snoozing Eastern Screech Owl.

 

That's Edison Buenano on the left. He helped us find well over 300 species on our short visit to the Mindo valley in Ecuador!

On the right is another friend and excellent photo and bird guide, Ian Campbell of Tropical Birding.

Stay tuned for more of my...

"EXCITING DAY OFF WITH THE BIRDS!"

Joyeux Anniversaire Jean-Jacques!

Audubon's Warbler

*Click on the name to get to the link!

Disappearing from a park near you...

If you guessed Ruby-crowned Kinglet, you're good.

We went birding today...Earth Day and all...or at least we tried. First stop, Wendy Park, they were closed. Second stop, the historic Erie Street Cemetery in downtown Cleveland, we didn't get out of the car due to what looked like a drug deal with three men hiding behind a tree. Third stop, Cleveland Lakefront State Park, though we knew it was closed, we birded around the fence line. Gotta have a high fence, thugs and wackos would destroy the place otherwise.

Which brought me to my thought of the day. If we don't do something about our government and corporations being hell bent on using our parks for profits, all we're going to see is the tail end of our favorite birds and mammals as they disappear.

Write a letter to one of these morons...It's not like they're doing anything right now...

You can find your Senator here:

 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

You can find your state Representative here:

 http://www.house.gov/representatives/

 

The Nature Conservancy:

 http://www.nature.org/

The National Audubon Society:

http://www.audubon.org

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds:

http://www.rspb.org.uk

The World's Rarest Birds...

 

 I just received a new and gorgeous book from Princeton University Press, "The World's Rarest Birds" by Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash and Robert Still. This book started with an international photo competition to assemble a directory of critically endangered and endangered birds of the world. After two competitions were held, this book was ready for the press. Since many of these threatened birds have never been photographed and may indeed be extinct, Polish artist Tomasz Cofta has illustrated them. Some of the photos are the only known photos of these birds and the shots are amazing to see.

These lists were compiled by BirdLife International  and the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2012. Of the over 10,000 known species, 130 have gone extinct since 1500 and 14 species are listed as possibly extinct or possibly extinct in the wild. Including in this book are 197 Critically Endangered and 389 Endangered species.

The details and facts listed are astounding, from the regional directories and maps to the appendix of extinct species and the globally threatened bird families. Every page is covered with wonderful photos of these rare birds thanks to all of the dedicated photographers and there love of nature.

 White-bellied Cinclodes from Peru by Dubi Shapiro, the 1st prize winner for Critically Endangered species.

 The information is very detailed and easy to read.

 Marquesan Imperial Pigeon from the island of Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia by Tim Laman, 

1st prize winner for Endangered species.

The threats birds face are mostly due to humans and their need for more of everything not matter the cost. Number 1 is agriculture, number 2 is logging and number 3 is invasive species such as dogs and cats. Hawaii once had over 100 endemic species, now over one half are extinct.

 Silverey Wood Pigeon near the west coast of Sumatra by James Eaton, Commended Critically Endangered Category.

 

Contained within the regional directories section are these lists of species broken down by country, with range maps and life details. 

The QR codes can be read with free programs such as "Neoreader" on your your smartphone. That will bring up even more information from BirdLife International.

 

White-tipped Monarch by Denzil Morgan, Commended Endangered Category.

This bird occupies an area less than 200 square km on the island of Tanahjampea in the Flores Sea.

Not everything in this book is doom and gloom, there are a few bright facts, 7 species were removed from the lists last year. But this book really shows that we all need to do more to save these feathers miracles and to share the wonder of birding with more people.

Yes, I know. It's Spring...finally.

 "Who am I?"

Spring...I shouldn't say that too loudly...you never know what Mother Nature will bring tomorrow! For the mean time, nature has sproinged its spring and we are back out into the fresh air amongst the birds and buds.

To celebrate this warmish day, we went to one of our favorite birdy places, Sandy Ridge Reservation. This area was originally a wetland drained to become fertile farm land, then changed back to a wetland in 1999. There are an amazing amount of ducks to be found during migration, a Bald Eagle and a Great Horned Owl nest here and one this is one of the easiest spots to see Sand Hill Cranes in our area.

Now all I need are a few of those warbly things...

 

 This is the pond that is used for geothermal heating and cooling as well as waste water treatment for the 

Johnson Wetland Center. 

Plus it's a nice place to see ducks...

 ...and Midland Painted Turtles.

 Hey look everybody! It's The Doodles!

Hi Doodles, I see you!

"Be vewy vewy quiet...we have sweeping Malwards...eheheh... "

 If you had the new "Crossley Guide to Raptors" you would know that this is a Red-tailed Hawk.

Plus it has a red tail...

 Yep, that's a Bald Eagle sitting on the nest!

Unfortunately, there is an encroaching housing development about fifty feet behind this tree.

Empty and unsold home everywhere and they have to build more right here..duh.

 

 Okay...no ranting today.

Listen to the Song Sparrow and think happy thoughts...

 One day I'll get an in focus shot of a Tree Swallow in flight.

Actually, one of these days I'll get an in focus shot...period.

 Very soggy woodlands!

The sounds of frogs can be deafening in the spring.

 Oh! Look at the cute fuzzy baby...that will soon grow up to terrorize all the little furry creatures in the woods!

 This is looking towards the woodland area from a viewing mound in the middle of the wetlands.

This is where The Doodles saw a Pectoral Sandpiper.

I looked and looked and couldn't find it until it took off and then disappeared...

Next time...

 Did you guess who was in the first photo?

Yep, it was a Pileated Woodpecker.

He looks familiar...

 

 Check closely around these trees! 

In the water many ducks and Green Herons hide and you can sometimes find Red-headed Woodpeckers in the trees.

 

 Speaking of ducks...It's a Blue-winged Teal.

 While watching the Teals work through the muck and mire...I spotted someone else preening in the grass.

 

 When I looked closer...there were TWO!

 

 Yipes! Snipes! Wilson's Snipes are regular nesters in the area towards the back of the wetlands.

We've also seen Sora and Virginia Rails in the past.

 So at last, I can say "Happy Spring!"