Thursday, May 27, 2010

A Study in Black and White...


The Black-and-White Warbler is my favorite warbly thing...and not just because I'm color blind! Such a simple pattern compared to other warblers, black, white, that's it. Not to mention their wacky way of crawling up AND down every branch in sight, in search of a tasty little morsel of bug.

I shot all of these photos of the same crazy little bird that was within 20 feet of me and the Doodles and keeping one eye on us the whole time. I'm glad I'm no longer using film! I wouldn't have been able to change rolls fast enough to keep up with him...close to 60 shots in all!

You can't miss a single crack or crevice in the branch!
Just like the Black Swamp logo...

Pausing to make sure we haven't moved...

I think he was eye balling that little hole.
You never know what goodies may be hidden in there!


Did I mention their speed and hard to predict movements?

There's always time to play a game of Peek-A-Boo!

And he even sang a little song for us!

Striking a majestic pose.

That's it for now!



The following is an email I just received from Bird Life International...I thought it was very important to share.

Dear Bird Blogger,

Today we announced that Alaotra Grebe is officially extinct on the Red List.

The Dodo is the undoubted ‘celebrity’ among extinct species with its depiction in books, cartoons and the well-used expression ‘Dead as a Dodo’. Less well known about the Dodo is that it heads up a group of single island flightless birds that became extinct either at the hands of man, or by the introduction of predators that came along with the arrival of people to their islands. More than 130 species of birds have become extinct since AD 1500, mostly because of human actions...

When BirdLife publicises news of threat or extinction the first question posed by the media will be: “Why should we care?”

We're asking you to tell us why species matter. Do you care?

Please encourage your website visitors to leave comments on this page:

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2010/05/alaotra-grebe-extinction-do-you-care/

To read the full story, click here:http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/05/red-list-for-birds-2010.html

Thank you for your support.

Nick Askew



Monday, May 24, 2010

Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head...

The Great Blue Heron.
Stately.
Proud.
Majestic.
Intelligent.
Wha? Intelligent? I'm not sure anymore.I've always thought that Great Blues lived on frogs, tadpoles, fish sticks, crusty crustaceans, skrimps(yes, SKRIMPS) and other fine denizens of the dank and murky marshes.

But not this guy. He didn't listen when mom said "Don't eat anything bigger than your head!"

Slightly embarrassed of the size of his meal, he tried to hide from Loopy and the Doodles.
You can fly, but you can't hide!


Yep, that's Musky Muskrat smiling in those choppers.
A meal fit for a king, but will it fit his beak?


First, try forcing it back...

Almost got it!

A little further!

The muskrat says "Does this make my butt look big?"

Let's try beating it a few more times to tenderize it...

Nope, that's not gonna work...

"PTUII!"
"Hmmm, a puzzlement here. If only I could dislocate my jaw, yeah, that's the ticket..."

We watched for close to forty five minutes. What's worse, this Heron trying to down a meal TOO big, or me and the Doodles WATCHING for forty five minutes. We don't have television at the BirdMobile, that may explain it...

*Palate Cleanser*
After that sight, I thought a nice, pretty Yellow Warbler would settle your stomach.
Thanks for watching too!