Birdin' by the Beach...

 Not the ideal weather for laying on the beach...but birdin'? Yep!

It's so nice to be only an hour or so from Cleveland's lakefront...especially when it's time for my lil warblies to migrate through! A nice wind from the lake felt great and gave those migrators a little boost. It was one of those cloudy...sunny...cloudy...sunny days that Lake Erie is famous for. Still nice enough for lots of boaters to be out and one skinny guy with his camera! 

Wendy Park has a very nice woodlot surrounded by meadows with wildflowers galore. It gets better every year. If you don't care about birds, they have sand volleyball courts and a marina for your yacht. Ha...yacht...I just have a little dingy...

 This American Redstart was feeling very jumpy up in the tree tops.

I held my kit up over my head and caught him!

Ha! Try to get away from me...amateurs...

 There were dozens of American Robins coming through as well.

This ratty fellow seemed to stand out from the crowd.

I think the others were afraid of him...

 I love digital!

The ISO went up to 6400 for this shot of a Black-throated Blue Warbly!

I couldn't do that with my old film cameras.

 If you listen closely, you can hear the crowd at the Cleveland Browns Stadium across the Cuyahoga!

Well, maybe they weren't making any noise...just heavy sighs...

This is the old Coast Guard station that was built in the late 30's.

It's FINALLY getting rebuilt by our wonderful Metroparks!

 Uh...remember my last post?

Them lil warblies are still zooming away too fast!

In case you're wondering, that really is a Blackpoll Warbly.

Honest...I asked him.

 The ever present Cabbage White butterflies were everywhere!

That's why I said "ever present."

Because they were present everywhere.

 See?

Here's another!

 I think he was shy.

Downy's usually aren't shy, but he was having a bad feather day...

 After he saw my feathers, or lack there of, he didn't feel so bad.

 Oh those wacky flycatchers!

I do believe this one was an Eastern Wood-Pewee.

Yep.

Maybe.

 Another flycatcher hiding in the woods.

I'm still puzzled, so he doesn't get a name.

Any suggestions?

 Stoopid gray and white birds...

Oh, I'm sorry! I was supposed to say that to myself...

This is a lovely Herring Gull.

Yeah, I don't like herring.

 Now warblies I love!

This Magnolia caught a nice juicy, squishy, wriggly spider for breakfast.

Are you eating?

I hope that didn't spoil your appetite.

Juicy, squishy, wriggly, squirmy...yum.

 I was telling this guy that I love that black and white stripe under their tail.

It makes it so easy to spot them.

He had to check.

He never noticed it before.

He was young...he'll learn.

 He told his friends and they all had to look.

It was funny watching them all check out their tails.

Silly warblies.

 Uh-oh!

Mallard!

DUCK!!

Ha...bird humor. 

Gets them every time.

 There were hundreds of Monarch butterflies fluttering about.

Very distracting!

Every time I saw one move I zipped around with my camera thinking it was a warbly.

I think I hurt my neck.

 Playing peek-a-boo with Northern Flickers is fun...and kills a lot of time.

What I do to entertain these birds...

 Finally, a Northern Mockingbird that didn't mock me!

(That's because I snuck up on him and he didn't see me!)

*Did you know that "snuck" isn't really a word?

 Nope, not here.

 I saw this Osprey carrying a fish out of the corner of my eye and managed a shot as he sailed off into the city.

*More fun facts!: You only see out of the center of your eye where the pupil is.

No one see's out of the corner.

Aren't you glad you're here?

No?

 I spent way too much time tripping over rocks and branches trying to get a photo of this Red-breasted Nuthatch.

I felt like I belonged in the nut hatch.

 Why, looky there!

It's another of those fabulous gray and white birds that are loved the world over!

Ring-billed Gulls really hate sarcasm.

He gave me the evil eye as I was talking to him...and laughing.

 This Song Sparrow was from a different time zone.

He was splish splashing on a Saturday day...not night.

 

"Ya gotta splash when ya can bub!"

And so ends another exciting adventure in Birding with Loopy!

Until we meet again... 

Uh...It's a...Uh...Um...Fall Warbly?...maybe...

 See that blur in the center?

Yep, that was my day with the warblyz.

AARGH!

A few weeks ago lots of folks were posting sightings of fall migrating warblyz at Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve. It was very cloudy with impending storms, but what the heck, what else is there to do? I saw lots of warblyz...in the trees...behind the leaves...in the dark. I figured out what a few of them were and I even managed a few quite unsatisfactory photos...even crappier than usual!

It never rained while I was there...sunny...cloudy...sunny...cloudy...typical Cleveland weather. It was warm and a great day to be out looking for migrators that may sit still for a moment. And that's why thee are so many insect photos today...

By the way, that blur at the top? That was a Magnolia Warbly...honest.

 I did see lots of Scarlet Tanagers that day.

Everyone was heading over the lake from Canada, eh.

 

 See that little tiny spider on the left?

That Tanager studied him for the longest time, then finally decided it wasn't worth the effort.

 

 The last of the Summer Azures.

 Having a staring contest with a Viceroy butterfly.

He won...

 

 A lovely Monarch butterfly on Goldenrod.

Look closely at the wings of the Viceroy and you'll see a bar going across them.

Monarchs don't have that bar on the hind wing.

An easy way to tell them apart!

 Uh...lets see...

I do believe this to be a Bay-breasted Warbly.

Yep, them lil fall warblyz sure can be confusing!

 

 My buddy Harry the Gray Catbird was confused too.

 "MEOW! I think it's an eagle...meow!"

Catbirds are such kidders...

 I love it when a bee...or anything!...sits still!

That's an Eastern Carpenter Bee.

He left his tool belt at home.

 And this is how I knew the warbly in the first photo was a Magnolia.

That tail is unmistakable.

 This Great BLue Heron was trying to figure out how to reach the fish WAY down below in the lake.

He figured it out after a long while...he flew to a different area.

 A nice jogger was staring at me as I struggled with my big lens on the ground to get a photo of this Eastern Comma butterfly.

I'm sure it looked odd, I was twenty feet away, aiming at the base of a sign post.

"Weirdo's with cameras..."

 You can tell it's a Comma by the comma...clever.

 Ya know, I'm getting too old to crawl on the ground trying to find a Grasshopper that will sit still long enough for a portrait.

Ouch.

Getting back up is worse.

 There were THOUSANDS of these little one half inch leapers!

 The Double-crested Coromorant gang up to no good as usual.

 When I saw this, I thought it was a very unusual skipper butterfly. The eyes were so light!

Then I emailed my good buddy Jim McCormac  of the ODNR.

He corrected me right away...it's actually a moth.

Corn Earworm Moth.

If I would have slowed down and looked at the antennae, I would have noticed they were straight and not clubbed like a butterflies would have been.

Thanks Jim!

 I'm convinced that this is a Blackburnian Warbly.

I thought at first it was a Blackpoll as there were many about, but the face pattern is too dark and there's too much color on the breast.

What do you think?

 This is the only shot you'll see today of a Black-swallowtail Butterfly.

I gave up chasing him...

Stay tuned for more fall warbly adventures coming soon!

Hard to believe, but I didn't give up and went to Wendy Park to try my luck again...

By the way...still no Otters...

Blahblahblahburdz buttz blahblahblah...

 A little Black-capped Chickadee busy pounding the brains out of a cute lil bug...aw.

 Yep. Blahblahblahblah...sometimes I have nothing nice to say, SO, I say blahblahblahblahblah. I could be a politician! Butt, we'll avoid that subject for now... Well guess what? I was at a park looking at burdz! Go figure. It's nice to get away from all of the crap in the news and wrap ones head around what's really important in the world. Let's just hope that those morons don't bulldoze it all in the name of progress and seven jobs for somebodies cousin.

Oops...there I go again! Sorry. Idiot moron politiciansssssorry...I just can't help it. ANYWAY...Cuyahoga Valley National Park...Ira Road...you know, where the beavers and the otters live? Wink, wink, nod, nod. Yeah, I've never seen them either. Vile rumors, that's all they are. Speaking of vile rumors, have you seen the TV ads for that idiot running for...oops...nevermind.

Yeah, the park, I was walking in the park one day, in the very scary month of...no, not May, September silly! I was lookin' at birdies! Yea! Burdz! A great day to be out and enjoying the sun and the birdz. It's been a record year for Green Herons in the valley...as you will soon see. The counts I've seen posted all have new record highs for those cute little green guys. A good sign of a healthy habitat.

So...shut up Dave...and let's look at some pictures of my day away from morons...

 LOTS of juvenile Cedar Waxwings were out clumsily trying to catch a meal.

 A Cedar Waxwing giving me a "sky five!"

"Yo, sup dawg?"

He was more of a "City" Waxwing...

 Out on a limb...just like some idiot moron politicians...oops again...

 Oooo...a hard bird from behind!

 Those flycatchers can be confusing!

He's a juvenile Eastern Phoebe.

 And another Eastern Phoebe.

I hadn't spotted one all summer until this day!

 Usually Great Blue Herons are too far away.

Not today!

This isn't cropped, he was really too close for my lens.

 If I go across the trail and off into the poison ivy(Oh sh**!) and the brambles, I can get a full shot!

Hmmm...why am I itching so much?

(Just kidding, poison ivy doesn't seem to bother me...lucky boy!)

 

 And another younger appearing GBH.

 I did warn you about the dearth of Green Herons, did I not? 

Here's the first one I spotted that day...

 ...and number two, slowly stalking it's prey...or doing a silly walk.

It's hard to tell with them...

 ...number three...

"Do my feet look too big?"

 ...number four...

Striking a pose...

 "WOW! Look at the size of that frog!"

So big, it's made his hair stand on end!

 ...and number five!...

He was the most well fed and the best hunter of the group...

 ...number six...

Hey, you got a little something stuck to your beak buddy!

 There ya go...much better.

 Nope, still no otters...

 

  Okay, back to being the mighty hunter...

 I have a number of crappy shots of him getting that fish, butt(ha!) I'll spare you...

 ...number seven!...wow!

There were a lot of youngsters out hunting fishies and froggies today!

Sushi...yum yum.

And people wonder why I don't want sushi...seen too many birds eating raw meals...ick.

 AND...number eight!

One survey had nine that morning.

 Yes, there were a few other birds that almost stood still for me...

Like this Hairy Woodpecker that kept flying back and forth over my head.

I got him anyway!

 I have the hardest time trying to get a photo of a Northern Cardinal.

They love to hide whenever I spot them!

 

 A cute Red Squirrel destroying an Ohio buckeye...

(That's a sports joke for my brother Phil.)

 And a pretty flower.

Awww...

 Oboy!

A Midland Painted Turtle FROM BEHIND!

You won't see that on any other blogs!

 This is what a Wood Duck looks like when he's doing the old soft shoe dance on a log.

They've been known to do that in the fall for thousands of years.

It's very well documented.

More true facts that I learned from my politician friends...

"If you don't the facts, make them up as you go along."

Yep, he smells BS too.

No, don't worry. It's not coming from you!

 This was a very young Wood Duck.

Most of the ones spotted were a bit older...just like my brothers!

Hahahahah! They're old! Hahahaha!

(This is a test to see if they really read all of the gibberish I write...)

Oh, that reminds me. time to clean up and get outta here!

Butt first...a public service message!...

 Don't text and drive...or swim!

This could happen to you and will your insurance cover a bent beak?

I'll bet not...

Until we meet again...