Thursday, September 2, 2010

Winous Point Marsh Conservancy

See those little fuzzy dots out there?
Those are Wilson's Phalaropes and Red-necked Phalaropes.
Ya know what else they are? LIFERS!!!


We were lucky enough to go birding at the property owned by the Winous Point Shooting Club, the oldest duck hunting club in America. They were established in 1856 by some of the great people of Cleveland's past. Even at that early time in our history, they realized the importance of this area and the wetlands it contained. As we were told, they have 10 months of conservation and maybe, if they're lucky, 2 months of duck hunting.

The Conservancy now manages close to 5,000 acres in Ottawa and Sandusky counties. Since the 1940's they have had wildlife biologists working on the property including graduate-level interns from The Ohio State University.

On top of all of that great history, it's a really cool place to go birding!

This is a view of Muddy Bay...or is it Sandusky Bay?
We drove all around the dikes and I got a little confused...


No, no, no...that's not a homeless man in the marsh!
That's our buddy Tom "The BandMaster" Bartlett, with a few bags of shorebirds.


Tom is checking to see if this Short-billed Dowitcher measures up to his high standards.
It did.

I got this shot by crawling on my belly through the swamp and leaches!
(Not really, Tom was holding him for me...)

This is the dormitory and research facility.

They still go by the old rules of the club and use a number of 'punts' made in the 1800's.

"If I act casual, no one will notice..."
This Willet is taking a stroll through the Terns.

Does anyone remember Euclid Beach Park?
The "Flying Terns!"

Two for one butt special! Semi-palmated Sandpipers...

A lonely Pectoral Sandpiper.
The shorebird migration was just starting.

WOW! A Triple Booty!
That's a Marbled Godwit in the center.


There are birds other than shorebirds to see!
Such as this cute Warbling Vireo.


...and a Purple Finch...from behind!

How about a nice teneral Common Green Darner?

The boat house was FULL of swallows!
That's a Barn Swallow on the left and a Bank Swallow on the right.
You can tell a Bank Swallow because of the cash box he flies around with...now ask me about the Barn Swallow...

Sorry, the only King Rail I could get was this one stuffed in 1881...

This Green-winged Teal was from 1877.
I think that's the only way I'm gonna hold up that long...


Remember Bobb?
He's still around...and getting into mischief.
He found the perfect set of binoculars...too bad he couldn't lift them up...


For a little more info and more photos, go to the Western Cuyahoga Audubon site, the sponsor of this fun outing!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Return of the Warbly Things...

Our first Black-and-White Warbler of the fall!
A good sign as this is the mascot of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory(cheap plug!)...


Since I haven't been in the mood to post much lately, I thought I'd make you all suffer greatly by putting too many photos for you to look at in one sitting. Ha!

When we heard from Julie at BSBO's Navarre banding station that they had a great number of migrant warbly things flying through with a few stopping by to visit the nets, we knew we had to make a visit to Magee Marsh. So here ya go, a few a the many things we saw at Magee this weekend.

This female American Redstart was playing hard to get, like most women...and warbly's...

There's nothing confusing about a fall male Black-throated Blue Warbly!

A female Black-throated Blue Warbly will make you pause for a moment at any time of year.

There's nothing like seeing a Maggie at Magee!...a Magnolia Warbly that is!

Another Magnolia Warbler, this is a young male. Watch out next spring!

The Doodles is giving her toe a rest.
She managed to break both of her little toes this summer! That slowed down her bird outings...

Yep, this is a bug. It's a young bug. A nymph. Yep.

Our friend, Edna, a Magee volunteer, pointed this out for us.
It's an Owlet Moth...now I have to buy a Moth guide to figure out which one...great...


And there's his beady little eye!

It's summer so there's a lot more than birds to watch.
This is an Eastern Comma butterfly.
Not much to look at in this pose...


...but wait until he opens his wings!
If you click on the closed wing photo you will see the whitish 'comma' on it's wing.

Good luck getting a photo of a Summer Azure with it's wings open!
He is way too fast for me...


Since it was only 90 in the shade we thought we would walk the beach at Magee...in the sun.
The birds were smarter than us and hid in the shade.
This is our friend Judy standing in the shade of my camera.
It didn't work...

The Belted Kingfisher is one of those birds I am having a heck of a time trying to shoot.
They're very skittish, and just plain dislike me(not unusual.)

This juvenile Carolina Wren begging was a real unexpected sight for us.
We didn't realize they bred in this area.


Very stoic.
Eastern Wood-Pewee.
Sit still. Be invisible.

The skinny guy will go away.

We saw these flashes of shorebirds zooming around.
What a pain in the a** trying to get a shot of them!
I think they were all a bunch of nervous Lesser Yellowlegs...white butt...too much time in Canada, eh...


I haven't forgotten the 'behind' shot!
This is a Philadelphia Vireo showing its good side.


There were a gang of Red-bellied Woodpeckers along the boardwalk.
This one didn't like heights...or banging on the trees.
He preferred the easy pickings from the leaves down low...and safe...and quiet...


What would the Lake Erie shoreline be if it didn't have the Ring-billed gang chillin in the sun?

Peeky-boo!
A juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoo waiting for mom to fly in with a big juicy caterpillar!

***SNAKE WARNING***
This is a warning, especially for my friend Chris in Iceland...he doesn't appreciate scaly things.

I'm not a herpetologist, but I do believe this is an Eastern Fox Snake.
And I'm sure someone will let me know if it isn't...thank you.


Okay, here's a quiz:
Who's head is shinier?
I heard that? Wrong!

He was out sunning himself...in the middle of the road.
He wanted to be a speed bump, but we didn't think that was such a good idea.

He moved. Smart snake.

Wow, you actually went through all of the photos!
You must be really bored. Butt thanks for taking the time!