Friday, September 24, 2010

Definitely NOT a 'Bored'walk!

This is one of those confusing fall warblys!
When I first spotted it, I thought it must be a Vireo, big eye brow, dark eye.
But, wait...it has wing bars, it's my first fall Blackburnian Warbly!

I'm not getting caught up on my photos! Argh! Actually, having the opportunity to shoot this many birds is a good thing. Going out on the Magee Marsh boardwalk this month has been outstanding! Lots of great warblys, butterflies, dragonflies and all of my favorite bird buddies too!

The boardwalk isn't all that long, but when you keep bumping into birders you haven't seen since spring, you can add an extra two or three hours to your walk. Friends always update me on their latest sightings and where the hot spots are..."Ernie Limes bench!"

So, enough blathering, let's look at some birdies!

American Redstart, master of moth mastication.

It was one of those days...butts and booty over and over again.
Butt at least I was seeing birds like this Blackpoll Warbly!


Can you tell that this is a Black-throated Blue Warbly?
Look at the tail markings...ignore his throat...you can't see it anyway!

Chestnut-sided Warblys like to peek at you first...

...then if you talk nicely to them, out they'll pop!
I like to pish on the boardwalk... Doodles gets embarrassed.

This is a beautiful adult Magnolia Warbler.

Mmmm, spiders for lunch. Some Magnolias have a curious appetite...

Amazingly enough, this American Robin seems to always be on this same branch every weekend!
I saw him move, so I know it's real...

Downy Woodpeckers are everywhere along the boardwalk.
They don't like their picture taken...


I was getting ready to leave and talking to the Doodles on the phone,
when I turned my head and saw this Great Blue Heron standing along the water about fifteen feet from me!

This Dragonfly was chowing down on some poor slow little buggie.
"Om-nom-nom!"


Funny, I can't stand to be close to spiders, but Honey Bees don't bother me.
I even like to pet big fuzzy Bumble Bees.


I saw these another week also.
I think they are a species of Flower Fly, still trying to figure it out...


Speaking of spiders! This actually isn't one.
It's an arachnid called a Harvestman.
I didn't know that either...


Philadelphia Vireo, the south side...

This is the north side of Philly...

Speaking of Vireos, here's the Red-eyed version...he really should get to bed earlier...

*Why it's important to look through the shrubbery!

You may see a flasher!
Like this Black-and-White Warbly...

...or you might spot this little booty zooming and chattering...

It's a Carolina Wren singing "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina!"

...or...Heads, it's a Fox Snake...

A big Fox Snake!...

At last, there goes the tail!

Like I said, you never know what you'll see down there!
Lucky me! A Mourning Warbly!
Woo-hoo!


Up a little higher...an Ovenbird popped out!

Then back down in the scrub, a Prothonotary Warbly.
I believed they had all left for the season, so I thought this was 'just' a Common Yellowthroat.
What a surprise when I looked at my pics!


A sure sign of a cold winter, the early arrival of White-throated Sparrows.
I like them anyway...


Willy the Wilson's Warbly sez:

The Ohio Young Birders are having a "Big Sit" on October 10th at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. They are going to be raising lots of money for the preservation of habitat on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie.

We really need to support our young bird buddies when they are so keen on saving the world!

Show your love and help them out!

Thanks!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

BLACK SWAMP BLING!!...and more!

The Wilson's Warbly sez:
PLEASE SAVE MY HABITAT!

I'll bet there's a bunch of folks looking at this post and trying to figure out how they got here! I hope they aren't too disappointed...

If you came here on purpose, I thank you for visiting.

We had a lovely morning with our buddies from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and a morning bird banding demonstration with Mark Shieldcastle and friends. We had a nice selection of warblys, Wilson's, Blackpoll, Tennessee, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Blackpoll...oh and Gray Catbirds galore! Catbirds like to fly into nets. Cardinals like to eat people.

If you get the opportunity to visit, you will have a great time and maybe, just maybe, you'll learn something!

This is an American Redstart trying to be big and intimidating.
Scary huh...

"I'm a raptor and I'm going to peck your eyes out!"


Check out the mighty rictal bristles!
It makes it easier to go om-nom on the buggies!

Here's one of my Blackpoll Warbly buddies.
I think he wanted to get a little closer to my lens...very curious little fellow!


Here's a Gray Catbird having a bad hair day.

Mark is amazing!
He can hold a bird, measure it, write down the info and put on the band ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
I can barely walk and talk at once...


Please note the look in Mark's eyes.
He knows Bobb all too well...


It's that time of year when Northern Cardinals all seem to have that same punk hair do.

This Gray-cheeked Thrush was tuckered out after getting some new bling.
Actually, when a bird is gently turned on his back, they feel the pressure on their wings and believe they are still being held.


'How to weigh a Thrush'
Step one: Catch a Thrush.
Step two: Shove them head first into a paper cone.
Step three: Stop giggling and let them out.


When you see a Thrush this close, it seems so easy to tell them apart!
On the left, a Swainson's Thrush, on the right, a Gray-cheeked Thrush.


Thrush Butts!!!
From the left, Veery, Swainson's and Gray-cheeked.
See it's easy. Until you get them in the forest, in the shade...


And now from the side that normal people like...
Gray-cheeked, Swainson's and Veery.

This one puzzled me when I got home...until I looked at his booty. It's white.
That means it's a Tennessee Warbly!


Many of the warblys can be identified by their derrieres.
And you think I'm silly.
Magnolia Warblys have that distinct white band across their tails.


Members of the "ButterButt" family of warblys.
On the left is a (messy)juvenile and on the right a much larger adult Magnolia Warbly.
Cape May and Yellow-rumped also have that yellow marking.


...And More section!!
...from the annual Black Swamp Banquet...

This is our buddy Greg Miller, an outstanding Ohio birder.
If you look closely at his cell phone you'll see Greg and Jack Black together.
Greg was an adviser for all things birdy on a forthcoming film based on the book "The Big Year" by Mark Obmascik, starring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson!

Great food all locally grown and great company too!
This is The Doodles with Bianca, aka Herongirl and her son Darrick.
Darrick laughs at my jokes. We will find help for him soon...


...and the other side of the table had Greg Miller, Cheryl Harner(hiding in the weeds as usual!),
and our neighbors and best buds, Judy and Hugh.

There was glorious speechification, awards presented and the keynote speaker, Robert Michael Pyle reading highlights from his big butterfly year "Mariposa Road."
Oh...and the most CHOCOLICIOUS chocolate cake on the planet!