Betsy's Bird Journal

Sketching at Famosa Slough

2011-02-27T12:00:00.001-05:00

I'm taking an online watercolor and sketching class. The idea is to go out on location and sketch and paint what you see. This week's lesson was to do animals. I decided the birds at Famosa Slough woild be perfect!

Though the Slough wasn't as birdy as other times, an American Avocet and a couple of American Coots cooperated by staying fairly close, though I still needed my binoculars, which added a degree of difficulty! The Marbled Godwit will be added at another time.

It was interesting to learn how many little details I wasn't aware of until I had to draw these birds. No wonder David Sibley is such a good birder--though I'm not in any way comparing myself to Sibley.

Betsy

-- Posted from my iPad!

Duck Hunting

2011-02-26T00:37:00.001-05:00

While I'm out in San Diego, I subscribe to and read SDBIRDS, the San Diego Birding List. People post the locations of interesting or rare birds that they see. For the last couple of weeks, people have been posting about a Long-tailed Duck in Mission Bay, right where we're staying.

I don't normally "chase" birds, as it's called, but this one was tantalizingly close. And so many were seeing it. And it would be a life bird (meaning I hadn't seen it yet). The long-tailed duck summers and breeds in northern Canada and in Alaska. It winters along both coasts, but I hadn't yet seen one in Virgina. For you old timers, until 2000, the long-tailed duck was called the "oldsquaw."

(I think I probably saw it earlier in the week, before I read the reports. I had seen something that generally looked like a pied-bill grebe, way off in the distance, but with a lot more white on the head, swimming with a flock of surf scoters in the bay. Couldn't get a picture and didn't have my binoculars, so at the time I chalked it up to one of those mystery birds I would never identify.)

Fred humored me in my quest by going out three times to look for it. The first two searches, in two different parts of Mission Bay, proved fruitless. Chasing one bird in an area the size of Mission Bay is a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. I pretty much didn't think that I would ever see it, and thought of giving up. But those reports of sightings kept coming!

So we went out a third time. I looked for specks of white in the Bay. Lots of loons, buffleheads, surf scoters...wait--what's that white thing? Get the scope! There it is--the long-tailed duck, swimming just a bit too far out for a good picture, but I did get this record shot of a female, winter plumage, long-tailed duck.

I was glad that my hunt was successful. Fred was glad that he didn't have to go out looking for the duck again. It was a good day for both of us!

Next: Sketching Birds at Famosa Slough....

-- Posted from my iPad!

Bewick's Wren at Marston House, Balboa Park, San Diego

2011-02-22T11:53:00.001-05:00

Fred and I went to the Marston House to look for the Hepatic Tanager that had been reported there. No luck, but I did get a couple of record shot of this Bewick's Wren. Not a great shot, but the wren is identifiable!

Also saw a whole mess of bushtits. Where there is one bushtit, there are a couple of dozen more.

-- Posted from my iPad!

Famosa Slough, San Diego (Friday, Feb 4, 2011)

2011-02-08T13:28:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to post about our trip to Famosa Slough. Here it is, better late than never! For more about our trip to the Slough, see my trip blog.

The Slough is one the San Diego's birding hotspots. I can't believe I hadn't been there before this. Here are pics of some of the birds we saw. (I didn't realize some of the settings on my camera were off, resulting in some over exposure, sorry!)

Snowy Egret:

Belted Kingfisher (female):

A scaup parade led by an American Coot. I think that the 3rd scaup from the left is a greater scaup, the rest definitely are lesser scaup.

Black Phoebe:

Little Blue Heron:

Lots of ducks: Coot, American Wigeon, two Gadwells.

(We also saw northern pintails, ruddy ducks, blue winged teal, northern shovelers and some mallards.)

Say's Phoebe:

Red-tailed hawk:

Great Egret:

Willet:

Greater Yellowlegs:

Pied-billed grebe and horned grebe:

Blacknecked stilts, american avocets, northern pintails among others. The stilts and the avocets have successfully bred in the Slough the last few years.

Aside from the birds already mentioned, we also saw:

Anna's Hummingbird
Marbled godwit
House finch
House sparrow
Song sparrow
Orange crowned warbler
Yellow rumped warbleer
Northern mockingbird
Mourning dove
Western gull

It was indeed birding heaven. If you are in San Diego, definitely worth a visit! See their website for more information.

-- Posted from my iPad!

Birding San Diego

2011-02-03T10:24:00.001-05:00

No photos to post yet of birds, but I have seen a few of the usual San Diego suspects. I haven't really done any birding yet, these are just in passing.

First bird in San Diego (woohoo) was a house sparrow. *rolls eyes*

Also:
black phoebe
double-crested cormorant
brown pelican
anna's hummingbird
brant
western gull

We've also had fun watching the pelicans dive in the channel outside the condo with a gull in hot pursuit, in case the pelicans surface with something!

And, not a bird, but I saw a seal swimming by in the channel this morning.

-- Posted from my iPad!

In San Diego and not a minute too soon!

2011-02-03T07:40:00.001-05:00

We had a pleasant flight out to San Diego from Baltimore on Southwest Airlines. Our rowmate was a young mother with a 13 month old boy named Adam. He really was quite good. By far not the worst rowmate we've had. (Did I ever tell you about the woman who was concerned that the change to daylight savings time would cause the earth to wobble on its axis?)

I won't say much about the weather we found when we arrived in San Diego, because I know you don't want to hear it. But a picture is worth a thousand words, they say...

Above, waiting for the rental car shuttle. Below, after picking up the car, we went off to lunch at the Prado in Balboa Park.

The Prado has wonderful fish tacos, I wish I'd taken a picture...but here's a picture of the flan we had for dessert.

-- Posted from my iPad!

More Winter Birding with Renee

2011-01-30T13:15:00.002-05:00

There had been reports of a Lapland Longspur (click on link to see a photo by Dave Boltz of the bird in question, at Occoquan) so Renee and I decided to put the long underwear on again to check it out. It was positively balmy by our standards, only 27 degrees when we got out ot the car at the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 minutes south of my house.

There were lots of birders, but no Longspur in sight while we were there. Renee did find a wild turkey roosting in a tree (digiscoped pic below)

It was beautiful and peaceful. We walked to one of the river overlooks and scanned the ice and mud packs. We saw several eagles. Two were roosting in a tree on a little island well out into the river. I digiscoped a picture:

One eagle is at the very top, another is on the right middle part of the trees. A gull is flying by on the left side. The river was incredibily beautiful, snow and ice and all the shades of silver.

It was a great birding morning. We stopped for a light breakfast in the town of Occoquan (I recommend the Blue Arbor) and did a last bit of birding on the river in town.

Here's our list for the day:

Northern Harrier
Turkey
Golden crowned kinglet
Bald eagles
Cooper's Hawk (I think)
Sharp shinned hawk (Certain)
Song sparrows (Renee says I should put this down twice, there were so many of them)
Savannah sparrow
Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Mockingbird
Red winged black bird
Canada geese (one with a almost entirely white head)
Gulls. I'm terrible at gulls.
Red bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker (Renee saw these)
Carolina wren (heard)
Great blue heron--several
Kildeer--several
Juncos

On the way to breakfast
Black vultures--about 30 of them roosting in light poles and a tree just next to Route 1)
Turkey vultures--flying with some BVs in the same area
White throated sparrows

Occoquan village
bald eagle
Black vulture
Great blue heron
Gulls--Greater Black Backed, Herring, Ring-billed

-- Posted from my iPad!

Omigawd it's cold--wait, was that a catbird?

2011-01-09T11:55:00.002-05:00

My friend Renee and I had arranged to go birding this morning so she could try out my old scope with an eye to buying it. This had seemed like a good idea earlier in the week when we had planned it. Last night, when it was heading to 20 degrees F, it seemed less so. But, given our history of birding together, somehow appropriate. (Renee and I always do a Christmas Bird Count together. Some years, it's the only birding we do together. Last year, it was in the 'teens for the CBC and there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground. This year's CBC seemed balmy, being just under 30. Fred thinks we're both loony.)

So, when Renee arrived this morning promptly at 8:30, we packed the gear in the boot of her Prius and duly headed off to the Jackson Abbott Wildlife Refuge, a little park about five minutes away on Ft. Belvoir's piece of the local wetlands. Despite it being 24 degrees.

It was a short walk through the woods from the parking past the small frozen pond to the wetlands Not surprisingly, no one else was at Jackson Abbott. None of the usual dogwalkers, fishermen or friendly winos were there. Can't imagine why.

There used to be a platform to allow one to study the wetlands, but at some point this summer it was burned rather completely by vandals. Renee and I set up next to the remains of the platform. Here's Renee trying out the scope with the wetlands in front of her and the platform's skeleton next to her. (Click on either pic for a full sized, higher resolution view.)

In between bouts of shivering, we had a pretty good hour of birding:

golden-crowned kinglet in some pine trees to our left
two red shouldered hawks across the wetlands, digiscoped below:

an obliging song sparrow
a downy woodpecker
several white throated sparrows
many juncos
a crow
the ubiquitous canada geese, titmice and chickadees
blue jays (heard but not seen)

and the bird of the day as we walked back around the pond--a catbird, which Renee first spied in a brush with a bunch of sparrows but which I saw too. We are on the far western edge of the catbird's winter range, so that's a pretty good sighting!

(Renee, did I leave anything out?)

Our fingers were numb so we called it a day! I was hoping for some bluebirds, we see them often around the pond, but I'll have to settle for yesterday's sightings in our neighborhood.

-- Posted from my iPad!

Bluebirds aren't just over the rainbow!

2011-01-08T15:42:00.001-05:00

Fred and I went out for a walk in the neighborhood today to enjoy the 1/2" of snow while it lasted, and saw three bluebirds hanging out in a yard a few blocks away!

We've not seen bluebirds in our neighborhood before, let alone in the winter, though we're not far from Huntley Meadows, where they are common. They were with a few house finches, which were what originally caught my eye.

So, I learned that they stay here year round (confirmed by the range maps in my birding app.)

A good winter's walk!

Betsy

Eastern Phoebe Nestlings, 3-5 days old...

2010-06-07T20:14:00.001-04:00

Pictures from today...the three nestlings are all sleeping with their heads lined up on the right side of the nest. I'm going to try to get some pictures in the morning of them, maybe they'll be awake!

I take these by putting my little video camera on my monopod and holding it up by the nest. The nest is under an overhang, so there's no way to lean out the window above it...

Betsy

Phoebe Nest -- all eggs have hatched!

2010-06-07T07:10:00.000-04:00

A picture of sleeping phoebe nestlings from a couple of days ago. This morning I got to see one of the adults feeding the babies, but I had no camera with me!

Phoebe Nest

2010-06-03T07:33:00.000-04:00

Not a great video, but I just put the camera up on a stick and took some quick video each day; we're trying NOT to disturb the Phoebes anymore than we have to. The Phoebes built the nest while we were out of town for five days. I'm sure they were surprised when we started bustling about! It's a beautiful nest, with moss and grasses.

I was fascinated to learn that the Eastern Phoebe was the first bird banded in North America. John James Audubon, in 1804, wrapped a silver wire around the leg of a Phoebe to tell if it was the same bird returning each year!

I understand it takes about 16 days for the phoebes to leave the nest, I'll keep you posted and try to get some better pictures!

Eastern Phoebe Nest

2010-05-22T07:54:00.000-04:00

We were gone to New Bern for five days. Apparently the Phoebe built the nest while we were gone, thinking she had found a nice quiet place. Cornell Lab of Ornithologyindicates they build the nest in 3-6 days, and that during daylight hours, the female spends about half the time on the nest. We're trying not to use the front door as much...

She'll fly away very quickly if she sees me, I was lucky to get this shot before she flew!

Spring is here

2010-05-11T08:14:00.002-04:00

Several pics from the last week or so. A new yard bird for me, an Eastern Phoebe. Poor pic, I know, but it was through the patio glass door, between the railings to the fence between our yard and the neighbors'. He/she was doing that flycatcher thing, and I didn't have much time to get the shot! I've seen the phoebe since, perhaps we'll have a nest near here!

It's always fun to have the hummingbirds back. I didn't have the feeder up yet, but fortunately, these little red flowers were attractive! The feeder is up now, and very busy!

We heard this little guy (no problem there!) and finally found him in my water garden on the deck. That rock and the flat water made quite an echo chamber for him. If I can figure out how to post an audio file here, I will! We had quite a froggy concert that night between our visitor and the frogs around the area!

He was back the next day, but we haven't seen or heard him since. All the other frogs have fallen silent, too, but it's been quite cool at night the last few nights. I believe this is a northern spring peeper.

Occoquan NWR part 2--Great Horned Owl nest

2010-03-21T12:49:00.001-04:00

So, this was our goal--a Great Horned Owl nest in a former osprey nest. In a totally open field at the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge, Occoquan, VA. My friend Renee discovered the nest this winter during one of the huge snowstorms we had. I was thrilled when she said she would take me down to see it!

Renee and another birder check out the nest.

Mama and an owlet. Another owlet is to the right, behind the sycamore branch.

We went on to see some wild turkeys (previous post). It was a great morning! Not a huge number of birds but some very cool ones. And the weather was great! Nothing better than to be out with a friend birding in good weather. (Much better weather than the last time I birded with Renee!)

Occoquant NWR--Wild Turkeys

2010-03-21T12:23:00.000-04:00

My friend Renee and I headed down to see the Great Horned Owl nest at the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge. More on that later. We were driving out of the park after seeing the owls and saw some wild turkeys near the road and had to get some pictures. They were just beautiful, and there were about a dozen of them strung out along a ridge.

It was a beautiful morning with some special birds.

San Diego Bird Festival 2010

2010-03-09T01:17:00.003-05:00

I went on three trips on the San Diego Bird Festival this year: Birding by Bike around Mission Bay, "Local Favorites" which went to Lindo Lake, Santee Lake and Old Mission Dam, with my sister-in-law Peg, and a trip to the Camp Pendleton marine base. Here are some pics from those trips and from a trip my husband Fred and I made to Lake Murray.

Cactus Wren. This was digiscoped through the leader's scope. The coastal Cactus Wren is a separate subspecies from say, the Cactus Wren found in Arizona.

Little Blue Heron at the San Diego River from the Birding by Bike trip.

Western Meadowlark, also from the Birding by Bike trip

Brown pelican. This was also a trip by my hubby and me to the Ocean Beach pier. This handsome fellow was waiting for scraps from a fisherman.

I've got a lot more pics, you can see them here:

or here, with captions

Birding Hyde Park, part 2

2009-08-06T03:34:00.001-04:00

This mother and duckling (just one!) were stars as people came and went along the Rond Pond.

OK, it's just a starling, but you have to admit it's beautiful. Check out those spots!

This lone shoveler amongst the nmallards did not get much attention from most people but I was delighted to see her.

This is the goose that fascinated me. Again, most ignored it. This is an Egyptian Goose, part of a feral population established now, mostly in the eastern part of England. Some have a bold patch around the eye; too, this one just had a hint. There are various morphs. The pink bill and legs, yellow eye, neck ring, fox-colored back, bold white stripe and black flight feathers all confimed the ID.

Birding Hyde Park

2009-08-06T03:26:00.000-04:00

Fred and I spent a quiet morning at Hyde Park. We walked over to Round Pond as there are usually some good birds there.
Female Tufted Duck, above, and male, below.

Mute Swan, there were tons of these!

Greylag Goose. There were a lot of these. There were also a lot of Canada Geese. There was one that looked like a Cackling Goose (like a Canada but with a very short neck), but I suspect was a Canada x Graylag hybrid instead. My picture was not good.

Whooper Swan in Heinola

2009-07-25T00:53:00.000-04:00

Outi took us to visit the Bird Sanctuary, actually a bird rescue facility, in Heinola. At the pond just outside the sanctuary, these two whooper swans floated tranquilly. They apparently are there all the time. There used to be a black swan, too.

A line of black headed gulls, with one common gull amongst them. There was also a herring gull on the fence.

Birding, Heinola, Finland

2009-07-24T01:14:00.000-04:00

We're staying at the Hotel Kumpelli, along a river whose name I don't know yet. Here are an adult and juvenile Hooded or Carrion Crow, the juvie exhibiting classic "FEED ME" behavior.

Mergansers aren't listed in my book, at least I haven't found them yet!

White Wagtail.

Well, I know it's just a mallard, but she was posing very prettily and the baby was just behind her in the water, so I had to snap a pic!

Birding Great Marsh

2009-04-28T15:48:00.000-04:00

We birded the Great Marsh Trail on Thursday. This is on Mason Neck, but it is part of the federal wildlife refuge, not the State Park. We enjoy walking out to the overlook and enjoying a quite afternoon. There's usually something worth looking at.
Yellowlegs convention. I believe almost all Greater Yellowlegs with one Lesser on the far left, horning in!

Eagles' nest, Great Marsh Trail, one adult and two fledglings. The other adult was also nearby.

One of my birding companions.

To every season, tern, tern, tern

2009-02-05T12:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been birding much lately due to the knee injury I suffered in July (unloading the car), but I'm through surgery and therapy and in San Diego, so let the birding begin! Here's a digiscoped pic (scope, zoomed slightly, and my little Pentax) taken from the condo balcony in the early morning, so it's a bit grainy: a Caspian and some Forster's Terns on the seawall across the channel from us. The black band is the side of the seawall.

So far, in SD, I haven't really been birding, but we've still managed to see:
Common Loon
Heerman's Gull
Ringbilled Gull
Western Gull
Marbled Godwit
American Coot
Willet
Probably sharpshinned hawk
various unidentified hummingbirds--probably Anna's
American Crow
Red Masked Parakeet (part of a feral population, not countable on my bird list)
Eared grebe
Brown Pelican
Double-crested cormorant
Brandt's cormorant
Snowy Egret
California Towhee
Bushtit
Black Phoebe

Mississippi Kites, Annandale, VA

2008-08-30T20:29:00.000-04:00

There have been reports of breeding Mississippi Kites in the Annandale/West Springfield area, and I finally got to go over to look for them with my friend Renee, who had seen them earlier in the week. She directed me to the viewing area, in a quiet neighborhood, and after waiting about five minutes, we were rewarded with one adult and one juvenile kite flying about.

It was fascinating to see them hunt and consume their insect prey in mid air. Periodically the would swing their claws towards their head; we assumed they were eating the cicadas or whatever insect they were catching. According to what I've read, this is a typical behavior; however, if they catch lizards or other small prey, they perch to eaty.

Finally, the juvenile landed in a nearby tree and we were able to get our scopes on it and get some pictures. Great fun! Thanks to Renee and the VA-Bird list for helping me gain another new bird!

I guess soon they will be migrating to Central/South America!

New Species Found

2008-08-16T13:20:00.002-04:00

This story about a new species of bird found in Gabon was posted to the Virginia birdlist. Cool stuff! You can see pictures here.

Robins at Wisp

2008-06-16T07:45:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, we were standing at the portico to go into the restaurant at Wisp, a ski resort in Deep Creek Lake, MD, when a bird shot past us, right by our heads. We looked up, and on a cross beam right above us was this robins nest! I'd never seen a robin's nest in such a public place. The two young robins had both left the nest by the time the weekend was over.

I thought I'd get to see some really neat mountain birds while we were up there in the Alleghany Mountains. The first morning we saw:
American Crow
House Sparrow
Mallard
Robin.

Later we added:
Starling
Common Grackle
House Finch

We did eventually add:
Song sparrow
Chipping sparrow (they were everywhere!)
Green heron (it was fishing in the ponds every morning.

So the birding was not really exciting, but we had a great time with the family, white water rafting on the man-made course, very cool! and riding the mountain coaster.

Huntley Meadows--In Search of Rails, Part II

2008-05-29T11:37:00.000-04:00

I was determined to see the Virginia Rails, especially since they have chicks. Records for Huntley Meadows going back to the '80s show no known breeding Virginia Rails, so it's very exciting. I went yesterday (Wednesday) evening to see if I could catch them coming out to feed, but to no avail, so I was back again this morning at 7:30 am. Along with the rest of the Virginia Rail paparazzi. By the time I left, there were twice the number shown below. Most had lenses requiring a Sherpa to assist in carrying.

This time, we struck gold. I saw the gentleman in the above picture with the gi-normous white Canon lens taking some pics and hurried over. We saw an adult pair of rails engaging in, well, some adult activity behind some reeds. Afterwards, they moved like wraiths in and out of the reeds. I got a few quick shots with my camera, then set up the digiscoping rig. Eventually they moved to a more open area and we were able to get some great shots. The rails were quite active. The group saw two adults and three chicks in all. We had to be quick as they moved in and out of the reeds.

In the above picture, the rail is just getting ready to hop into a tunnel in the reeds.

Above, the parent rail looks for breakfast while a chick looks on. The adults are about 9" in length, about robin sized but not robin-shaped!

This chick was sitting just outside the tunnel in the reeds, possibly leading to the nesting area, as they all came and went from there frequently.

It was a very fun morning.... what could be better than a beautiful day in a beautiful place and not only seeing a new bird, but getting to watch it with its young?

Huntley Meadows--In Search of Rails, Part I

2008-05-29T11:12:00.000-04:00

The sighting of Virginia Rails with chicks at our local wetlands, Huntley Meadows, has the birding and nature photography community in a tizzy. I've gone several times this week myself. Tuesday morning, I was the only person there for about an hour, which was very peaceful and beautiful but not a successful trip as far as the rails went. I thought I saw them in amongst the reeds, but they were just shadows, not good enough to call. I did see an Eastern Phoebe, a Pileated Woodpecker (far away and I didn't have my scope that day--too bad!) some great views of a Common Yellowthroat pair and and Eastern Wood Peewee, all pictured below. Also, of course, Redwinged Blackbirds, Mallards and Canada Geese. A tree swallow played with a feather, dropping it and catching it. The water is quite high at Huntley Meadows right now, a combination of the active beaver community and big spring rains, so there aren't many shorebirds.

Huntley Meadows Part 1

2008-05-07T11:41:00.000-04:00

It was an incredibly gorgeous morning at Huntley Meadows. I woke up early, so decided to go try to find the rails (Virginia and King) that have been tantalizing people at Huntley. Below, a female redwinged blackbird nibbles at a cattail.

Lesser yellowlegs were all over the place.

Also least sandpipers (below) and solitary sandpipers, though I didn't get any good pics of the solitary.

Two American Bitterns flew in. I saw this one doing his stick impression. For better Bittern pics, go here.

Huntley Meadows, part 2

2008-05-07T11:34:00.000-04:00

A roughwinged swallow posed obligingly for me.

As did this common yellowthroat.

The female common yellowthroat was a bit more coy.

Despite not seeing any rails, it was a gorgeous morning at Huntley Meadows.

Redbellied Woodpecker at Huntley Meadows

2008-05-07T11:32:00.000-04:00

On my way out of Huntley, I heard redbellied woodpeckers just before the boardwalk goes into the woods. I looked up and a redbelly was having a fued with a starling(?) at the redbelly's nest. The top two pictures show the redbelly and the other bird fussing with each other. As far as I can tell, the redbelly was successful in driving the starling off. The pair of redbellys returned frequently to the nest, peering in. Hopefully all is well. I will monitor the nest to see if I see any feeding activity.

Great Marsh Trail

2008-05-06T23:25:00.000-04:00

Fred and I went down to the Great Marsh Trail on Mason Neck on Tuesday to check out the eagle's nest we saw last month. Unfortunately, the trees had leafed out far enough that we could barely see the nest, let alone what was in it. We didn't see any adults sitting around the tree, nor did we see any other raptors. No osprey, no red-tailed hawk, no harriers. It was pretty dead. We did see this rough greensnake hanging out around the deck area. I've seen them before in trees at Huntley Meadows. It was very docile, and according to the field guides, do not bite. It didn't move at all when I touched its back. In addition to the snake, we saw many male and female orioles, the ubiquitous great blue heron, a brilliant scarlet tanager and a common yellowthroat, however none photographable!

Gravelly Point I -- Bobolinks

2008-05-05T20:14:00.002-04:00

There have been reports on the Virginia Birding email list about Bobolinks at Gravelly Point, a little parking lot and park just north of Washington National Airport. People like to go there and watch the planes take off and land. It was a beautiful day. So, Fred and I packed up the scope, the binoculars and the cameras, threw the top down on the Miata, and headed up the George Washington Parkway to see what we could see. Within about 30 seconds of arriving, we saw our first bobolinks. They are flocking birds, so we saw little groups of them. This one has three males and one female (the topmost bobolink).

I just liked this picture.

A good one showing the distinctive back view of the Bobolink. Black breast, distinctive back. Interesting!

The reports on the VA Bird list said that everytime a plane took off, the bobolinks would fly up, and they were right. Because of the wind, the planes were taking off right over our heads, and every time, a flock of bobolinks would fly. It was great fun. We would wait until a plane started coming down the runway, then watch for the bobolinks.

Gravelly Point II -- Other Birds

2008-05-05T20:06:00.002-04:00

This redwinged blackbird flew up to within about 10 feet from me in the little copse of pine trees we were sitting in, red epaulets ablazing. He picked at some trash he found, then posed obligingly for me, though his red was withdrawn by this time.

We also got a picture of a duck. Hey, we take what comes. Apparently Gravelly Point is a landing spot for the amphibian tour boat. Just a few minutes later, it went by on the George Washington Parkway behind us.

The first bird I saw at Gravelly Point (ok, some pigeons were first--I should say the first interesting bird) was this Eastern Kingbird. It was perched on the top of some pine trees when I first saw it. We later perched below the same pine trees to watch the bobolinks.

Bikers, walkers, joggers all were busily travelling on the Mt Vernon Bike trail behind us. It was a beautiful day!

Monticello, VA

2008-05-04T08:33:00.001-04:00

Fred and I visited Monticello, near Charlottesville, VA. This was the home of Thomas Jefferson, 1st Secretary of State, 2d Vice President of the US and 3rd President, as the guide informed us.
While the guide talked to us about the "nickle view", above, the view of Monticello that used to be on the nickle (what will they say now?) and the dependencies that were built with underground passages so that the slaves and others could go about their work without going outside, I was easily distracted by the Baltimore Oriole singing away in the tree next to us.

No other birds of note, but this was the first Baltimore Oriole of the year for me! It was a gray and gloomy afternoon and quite windy, so I'm happy with the photo. Amazed it's this near to being in focus!

Hairy Woodpecker Nest, Alexandria, VA

2008-04-26T13:18:00.000-04:00

So, my birding buddy Renee and I, early in April at Loftridge Park, saw a Hairy Woodpecker and saw this hole nearby, which we thought might be a nest hole. (Click here for the earlier report.) She's been keeping an eye on it, and reported possible action at the hole. This morning I finally got to go back with her to the location.

Sure enough, a hairy woodpecker was active near the hole, make that high chipping call they make. We watched for awhile (her husband Matt joined us) and there was just a lot of calling but the hairy never went to the hole. So we went about 10 yards farther away and settled in. (Note: bring chairs next time. And beer.) Before too much longer, the male hairy started getting closer and closer to the hole, and finally, the female came out and the male went in! Carrying lunch. You can just barely see the caterpillar or bug in his bill. The top three pictures are of the male at the hole and then going into the nest.

Thrilled, we waited a bit longer, and eventually the female returned, came up to the nest and the male exited. Here she is waiting for him to leave. A great day! We'll keep you posted.

We started at Huntley Meadows, hoping to see the reported King Rail (nope!) but did see an American Bittern fly in.
It was a great morning for birding. Other birds seen today were (Renee, let me know what I've left out):

Huntley Meadows:
Great Blue Heron
American Bittern
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Tree Swallow
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird

Loftridge Park:
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Gray Catbird
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue Jay
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal

Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge

2008-04-24T17:13:00.000-04:00

We got excellent looks at this Prothonotary Warbler during our visit to the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge today. By the time we got to the Refuge, the bird banding was done for the day, but the birds we saw on a walk around part of the refuge made up for it! The warbler came very close to check us out.

Another nice sighting was this group of Red-Breasted Mergansers that were close to shore and swam up as we approached. We later saw either part of the same group or a differnet group of five birds.

Including the pictured birds, we saw:
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Red-breasted Merganser
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Wild Turkey
Belted Kingfisher
Tree Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Goldfinch
Prothonotary Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle

Kingfisher at Occoquan NWR

2008-04-24T17:12:00.002-04:00

While looking for Rails at Occoquan, we heard and then saw this Kingfisher in the wetlands. Took this picture by holding up my little Pentax to the eyepiece of the scope.

Heronry, Mason Neck State Park

2008-04-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

As part of the Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park, they took by van into a closed part of the park to see the heronry. There are more than 30 or 40 nests, some of which are shown in these pictures. In the first picture, the heronry is visible as specks in the top of the treeline in the center of the picture. The next two pics zoom in on the herons.

It's amazing to see the nests in the very top of the trees. The Fish and Wildlife Service ranger said they get hit pretty hard in bad weather. Next fall/winter, the FWS people will go out into the marsh to count the nests.

Eagle Festival I

2008-04-20T22:44:00.001-04:00

My sister-in-law Peg and I attended the annual Eagle Festival at nearby Mason Neck State Park. We had a pleasant time, checking out various booths and doing a little birding while we waited for the announced release of a wild eagle that had been rehabilitated at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. After the release, we got to go to see a heronry site; I'll post pictures of that later.

Ed Clark, president of the center, removes the eagle from the carrier. It was a mature bald eagle that had been found by some people picking mushrooms. It had been shot. Ed said it was rare these days finding an eagle that had been shot; more likely they are sick or injured in some other way.

Ed hold the eagle while the gentleman in the blue hat (can't remember who he was) removes the bumpers from the eagle's wings. The bumpers are the things that look like bandages. They are to protect the eagle during transport in the cage. Note the heavily padded glove Ed is wearing.

The eagle is ready to be free. Ed: "Feathers are harder than they look!"

Ed did the rounds of the crowd so we could get a close look at a wild bald eagle.

Eagle Festival II - The Launch!

2008-04-20T22:32:00.000-04:00

With the crowd gathered in a horseshoe around Ed and the eagle, Ed made the pitch toward the open end of the horseshoe.

Eagle Fest III

2008-04-20T22:30:00.000-04:00

And the eagle flies free.

It circled, landed in a tree by the water briefly, then flew on....

Bald Eagle Nest, Great Marsh, Mason Neck NWR

2008-04-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Fred and I went for our usual walk at the Great Marsh Trail, Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. This is a great place, there's about a mile walk in through a hardwood forest where we've seen pileated woodpeckers. At the end is a large observation deck overlooking the park with comfortable benches. We've spent many a lazy hour sitting on the deck, letting the birds come to us.

Yesterday, an osprey caught a fish near us, with a big splash. He or she lifted with the fish, flew in a big circle then changed direction and flew right over our heads! Only as it passed did we notice the bald eagle in hot pursuit! We figured it must have been in one of the trees and launched when it saw the osprey with the fish.

A little later I decided to scan the treeline with my binoculars to see if there were any other eagles. I was thrilled to see one perched, so I set up my scope. As I studied the eagle, I realized that there was a nest below and to the right! Later, a second eagle (perhaps the one chasing the osprey?) flew in and perched a little to the left.

Below, a picture of the two eagles and the nest, followed by a picture of the nest itself (note the eagle guano on the branches). One chick can be seen above the nest between the fork.

A view of Great Marsh from the observation platform. The eagle nest is located along the treeline near the middle of the picture. The small branch pointing straight down is aimed almost directly at the nest location.

We'll keep you posted on the eagle's nest.

Northern Harrier at Great Marsh, Mason Neck NWR

2008-04-17T10:01:00.000-04:00

It was great to see this female Northern Harrier flying over the Marsh. She didn't fly low or hover, just some soaring circles. My reference works say this is typical migration flight. You can see the owl-like facial disks. Some think the harrier uses sound to help find their prey.

Birding with Renee

2008-04-03T09:30:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went birding for about an hour with my friend Renee in Loftridge Park. Small park but good birding. We had a five woodpecker day:
Red-bellied, yellow-bellied sapsucker, downy, hairy and flicker.
We were in search of pileated, often seen there, but they wouldn't come out and play.
The sapsuckers put on a good show, though!

Below is the best of my hairy pictures. Once you've actually seen a hairy, you wonder why there was ever any doubt compared to a downy? The head is massive compared to a downy and the beak is so looong! We also checked out a possible nest hole.

We also saw brown creepers (pictured below).

We also saw:
hermit thrush
chickadees
titmice
cardinals
goldfinch
blue jays
swamp sparrow
song sparrow

(It was definitely a swamp sparrow, but not in a particularly swampy part of the woods. We think the wind, which was pretty strong, forced it down between swamps.)

Wetlands Birding

2008-03-26T00:34:00.001-04:00

Fred and I went birding at a local wetlands refuge. We saw some nice birds, mostly the usual suspects, but I was pleased that this kingfisher posed long enough to get some decent digiscoped shots. I've never gotten any good kingfisher shots. It's good but not great; he was at the far limits of my scope and I was having difficulty telling if it was in focus. Otherwise, we saw red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, several great blue heron, I think a wood thrush, some turkey vultures and a hawk.

San Diego Bird Festival--North County trip

2008-02-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

My second trip of the San Diego Bird Festival was the North County tour with my sister-in-law Peg. This was the highlight of the trip for me--an Allen's Hummingbird (lifer!). Terrible picture, but the best I could do at the time. The orangy color was quite striking. This was at Todd Buddy Park in north San Diego County. We also saw red crossbills there, another life bird.

From Todd Buddy, we went to Guajome Park. A nice park with a big lake. I think they told us this was the only natural lake in San Diego County. We saw a lot of birds there, but I just have decent pictures of a few:

Ross's Goose

Snow Goose

Common Moorhen

San Diego Bird Festival trip to Anza-Borrego, Part II

2008-02-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Costa's Hummingbird nest near the Visitor's Center at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We saw the female picking spider webs off the front of the Visitor's Center. The Park is over 600,000 acres.

Cactus Wren

More Point Loma on Feb 4th

2008-02-28T11:02:00.000-05:00

This orange-crowned warbler, also shown below, actually showed a bit of the orange crown!

This female Norther Harrier was harrying a red-tailed hawk on the west side of Pt Loma.

Still catching up on my pre Bird Festival and Bird Festival sightings!

Pt Loma, February 4th

2008-02-28T10:57:00.000-05:00

This Western Scrub Jay posed obligingly for us!

All the birds were very cooperative for us on this day. I've never gotten such a clear picture of a Spotted Towhee.

Even the Wrentits, usually very secretive, came out for short periods. I did have to be quick, however! (You should see all the blurred pictures of the wrentit in flight!)

The California Thrasher that we see regularly at Pt Loma finally made an appearance towards the end of our lunch!

Whimbrel, Mission Bay, San Diego on Feb 4

2008-02-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

(Catching up on some of the birds I saw in the early part of February.) In anticipation of the Bird Festival the coming weekend, Fred and I spotted this Whimbrel greeting the morning sun along the bay just behind our condo. It turned out to be the only whimbrel I've spotted on this trip.

Tricolored Heron, San Diego River, CA

2008-02-27T00:15:00.001-05:00

Our first view of the Tricolored was in the reeds next to a Great Egret. He was preening and eventually did a big stretch, caught below.

Later, he moved out into the channel and began feeding, and I got some better pictures....

A beautiful bird, and a lifer!

(All pictures in the post and the next digiscoped with my Canon 10D and 800mm adapter on my Swarovski 65HD, except for the rufous-crowned sparrow.)

More Birding in San Diego

2008-02-27T00:11:00.000-05:00

In addition to the tricolored heron in the above post, we saw this American Avocet

this Little Blue Heron,

and, at Torrey Pines State Reserve, this Rufous-Crowned Sparrow, another lifer!

I love finding new sparrows, especially after Kenn Kaufman's talk at the Bird Festival about sparrows...I was just reading in my CA birding book that rufous-crowned sparrows are in the lower parking area of Torrey Pines when this little guy popped out. Cool!

Birding at Pt Loma

2008-02-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

Enjoying our first good sunny day in a week, Fred and I went out in search of sun and birds. We stopped by a Pt Loma neighborhood in search of an American Redstart that had been sighted there; no luck. After a nice hike on Sunset Cliffs, where we saw a few birds but a lot of surfers and dogwalkers, as well as the Point Loma Nazarene University girls' softball team, we went to the Cabrillo National Monument, one of my favorite birding locations.

It turned out to be a great day. We saw three red-tailed hawks (someone later saw four) soaring in close proximity. It was a windy day, and one by one, the hawks would soar to a point almost directly overhead, face into the wind and just float in place. When we got there, one stayed in almost the same place long enough for me to watch it as we parked and then get out of the car and walk nearer to get some pictures. Later, one soared directly overhead and not very high above us, a you can see from this picture!

Looking down at one of the hawks. That's San Diego Bay and the Naval Base in the background.

Another view of the hawk.

Periodically, one of the hawks would flare at another.

We also saw many of the usual suspects: scrub jay, many white crowned sparrows, orange crowned warbler, california towhee, ground squirrels and we heard wrentits.

Jackson Abbot Wildlife Refuge

2008-01-28T17:34:00.000-05:00

I had a great dusk visit to Jackson Abbott. It was just ducky! (I know you're groaning!)
We had a seven duck day! (7 kinds of ducks, not just 7 ducks, LOL!)
1. Two male hooded mergansers and a female. One of the males is shown here with the ubiquitous Canada geese.

2. A wood duck pair.

3. The Northern Shoveler swam right by this pair of gadwall.

4. A better view of the gadwall male.

In addition to the ducks pictured, there were also Mallards (of course), a couple Pintail and many green-winged teal (ducks #5, 6, 7).

And of course, a great blue heron and a few ring billed gulls. The Tundra swan is pictured below.

Jackson Abbot Wildlife Refuge

2008-01-28T17:28:00.000-05:00

Renee Grebe, her mom Carol and I saw this juvenile Tundra swan at Jackson Abbott on Saturday and I went back to see if I could get some pics of my own; sure enough, the swan was still there, and close, so I got some pretty good shots!

No, it isn't that rare 2-headed goose swan hybrid, but the Canada was hanging close to take advantage of whatever the swan kicked up. The swan chased the goose every now and then.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

2008-01-26T18:36:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the best birds are just down the street...after a morning bushwacking in the parklands near my house, we were returning home having had our fill of flickers, morning doves and sparrows when we saw this yellowbellied sapsucker (thanks Renee!). I set up my scope and got this pic with my little Pentax through the scope.

Afterwards, we went to another little park and then to the Jackson Abbott wildlife reserve. All told, we saw the following:

Two red shouldered hawks near the park where we watched the nest last spring, yay!
A great look at an eastern towhee with a possible nest, just in the neighborhood.
And, at Jackson Abbott:
a flock of cedar waxwings
yellow rumped warbler
redwinged blackbirds
great blue heron
green winged teal
swamp sparrow
song sparrows
canada geese (of course)
a swan, juvenile, probable tundra?
black vulture flying overhead

Black Vultures

2008-01-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

I looked out my window and there were seven black vultures roosting in a tree for about an hour, just behind my neighbor's house! I set up the scope and digiscoped the pictures above and below. Eventually three crows joined them. When I checked a couple of hours later, they were gone.

We frequently see black vultures roosting in the area, but this was the first time I had noticed them so close to our house!

To Kill a Mockingbird

2008-01-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not planning on it, but this bully does make me want to get out my squirt gun! The last two days, this mockingbird has taken on all comers at my feeders. He has a three point surveillance routine, chasing competitors away. In this picture, a cardinal waits hopefully in the background as Mr. Big stands guard over one of the three feeders.

CBC Northern Virginia

2007-12-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday there was an area wide Christmas Bird Count. I took part with my friend Renee who is a much better birder than I am. No pics, too cold, but we had a great day, including one new life bird for me--the redbreasted nuthatch! Renee is incredibly good at spotting birds. Here's the list:

redbreasted nuthatch
hermit thrush
2 pileated woodpeckers and a possible nesting site
red bellied woodpecker
downy
yellowbellied sapsucker
northern flicker
bald eagle
golden crowned kinglet
song sparrow
white throated sparrow
red tailed hawk
blue jay
morning dove
titmouse
chickadee
cardinal
American crow
mallards
Canada geese

Hawk Walk

2007-06-04T23:41:00.000-04:00

Driving home a day or so ago, I noticed an osprey flying over a nearby ball field. We'd seen osprey there many times, and had never thought much of it as there is a wetlands nearby. This time, however, the osprey caught my eye as it flew to the top of one of the light posts over the ball field. As I tracked it, I realized there was a nest there!This morning, my husband and I combined our walk to check on the red-shouldered hawk with a walk down to the ball field, about 1/4 mile farther down the road. (It was hot and sunny, so we were glad it wasn't any farther!) We got to see an amazing show just as we got there. Two osprey were on the nest, and two others were trying to land on it but were being fended off by the two on the nest. About the time I got the scope and camera set up, the air show ended. All I got was this one picture of three osprey on the nest.
Our questions--were two pair trying to claim the same nest? Or was this the age old drama of the parents kicking the kids out of the nest? It seems quite late for nest building, and as a follow up, we haven't seen osprey actually on the nest since then, not that we've been hanging around the ball field full time.

While we were sitting on the bleachers watching, a guy pulled in and asked what kind of birds they were; he said that the birds had had nests there for about five years (shows how observant we are) and the kids playing ball enjoyed watching them. He thought the young had already fledged, so perhaps they were indeed the youngsters that we saw.

As for the red-shouldered hawk, we didn't see much, just a little fuzzy crown of the head and a stubby wing flap. But at least the hatchling is still around.

Northern Cardinal on Nest

2007-06-04T22:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture from today--the female sat on the nest for several minutes at a time and would leave for several minutes at a time. I was able to get a few good pictures of the nest as the leafy branches were wet from yesterday's day-long rain. As they dried, they rose and blocked our view of the nest by the end of the day.

Northern Cardinal Building Nest

2007-06-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

This is definitely the year of the nest. We saw a cardinal building a nest in the crepe myrtle in our front yard, where we've had nests before. I spent a day, off and on, watching her build the nest. She would bring a new piece in, weave it in, then scootch down in the nest and wiggle, I guess to make sure it fit her right. She spent about a day or two doing this (it was well on its way when I saw her). The next day or two, she didn't spend much time on the nest. Then, today, she would come and sit in the nest for several minutes at a time, and then disappear for several minutes at a time. We can't see into the nest, so not sure if there are eggs yet. Here's a video of her building the nest.

Red Shouldered Hawk Nestlng

2007-05-28T11:44:00.000-04:00

For the first time, we saw two nestlings at the red shouldered hawk nest (we think there were two). As I describe under the video (previous post), it didn't look like we were going to see much and we couldn't linger. But baby #1 soon popped its head up. It looked like the other one was visible on the left side of the tree trunk you can see in the pictures, but I never got a decent picture. I was lucky to get these. The way the nestlings were moving around, I hope they stay in the nest! The nestling facing the camera directly with its classic hawk beak right by that stick.

Red Shouldered Hawk Nestlings

2007-05-28T10:50:00.000-04:00

We stopped by the hawk nest on our way to the family picnic on Sunday. At first it looked like nothing was happening--no adults were there, when suddenly this little ET head popped up. Seriously, it reminded me of ET! Long neck, big head with eyes on the outside. The only thing that didn't look like ET was the impressive hawk beak. No doubt that this was a raptor! Hopefully we'll be able to get some better pictures soon.

Robin's Nest Update

2007-05-26T08:26:00.001-04:00

Apparently the morning I took the robin's nest picture was the last day there was a robin on the nest--lucky shot! I haven't seen a robin on the nest since, but I have been enjoying watching young robins follow a parent around our back yard and noting the differences between parent and offspring, as noted in an earlier post. I love the time of year when the fledglings follow their parents around, acting universally babylike, at least for awhile--standing awkwardly near their parents, twitching their wings and squeeking loudly "feed me feed me".

Food for thought

2007-05-25T08:38:00.000-04:00

Larry at the Brownstone Bird blog posted an interesting essay about common vs. rare birds. You can read it here. It got me thinking. I've found that birds I take for granted, like cardinals, are not common for people from other areas, and it always makes me look at them with new eyes. I think there is a difference between being a lister and a birder, and I want to be a birder--not just to have a bunch of checks on the checklist, but to KNOW the birds I see. This morning, not much was going on in my yard, although I did see the house wren again, so I took the time to watch an adult and a young robin "grazing" together and looking at the differences--the speckled breast, the dark cheek spot, the dark beak vs yellow beak on the robin. It gave me as much pleasure to note those differences as a new life bird would have done.

Of course, the competitive side of me wants to see more birds than anyone! Fortunately, I'm too lazy to be a chaser and go all over the world chasing birds like Phoebe Snetsinger (Birding on Borrowed Time) or the father in To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel. Both great books, by the way. I highly recommend the Snetsinger book. Another great book on chasing is The Big Year by Pete Dunne. Pete is a natural storyteller. The book is as much a travelog as a birding story and I learned a lot about bird ids reading the book.

Yard Birds This Morning

2007-05-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

I've decided to work a little harder birding my yard. If a robin could build a nest in plain sight and I never noticed, I need to look around more! So, this morning, before going out on my walk, I birded for a few minutes. It did give me warbler neck, as the trees are very tall and very close. I saw a red-eyed vireo. Even better, when I got home, I caught a glimpse of the red fox running through the yard and, just before I went in the house, I saw a house wren! Can you say lifer? Life is good.

Huntley Meadows Bird Walk - Nests

2007-05-21T12:17:00.001-04:00

White-eyed vireo in the nest. Very near the board walk at Huntley Meadows. Canon 10D with 300mm lens. Hand focused due to all the branches in the foreground. Another white-eyed vireo was in a nearby tree singing loudly. We got good looks, but no good pictures of the other one.

Blue gray gnatcatcher nest at Huntley Meadows. I took about 20 pictures of her hoping she would look at the camera, and left thinking she hadn't cooperated. I didn't know I'd gotten one until I got home! These pictures were with the Canon 10D, Swarovski 65HD scope and 800mm adaptor.

Huntley Meadows Bird Walk

2007-05-21T12:09:00.000-04:00

This pileated woodpecker worked in one spot for several minutes, but when I put my Canon 10D on the scope, he left. Murphy's Law, birder edition. This pic was taken with the Canon 10D and 300mm lens. It was a bit dark as it was early.

Least Sandpiper at Huntley Meadows. This and the Semi-palmated Plover in the next picture were taken at the end of the walk with the Canon 10D attached to the scope; Swarovski 65HD, 800mm adaptor.

Bird Nests

2007-05-20T14:23:00.000-04:00

I birded my yard this morning, something I don't do often enough. (It's sort of like "No one is a prophet in his own village." Why are other places always more attractive? I did see a blue-gray gnatcatcher in our front yard the other day.) I found this robin's nest in plain sight in the tree closest to our garage. What fun! I'll keep you posted on the progress of the kids!

Around noon, we walked down to the hawk's nest. For about twenty minutes, all we could see was her tail.
She seemed to shift around a lot, as if something under her was making her uncomfortable. We finally decided that was all we were going to see. So we took the camera off the scope, took the scope down, and started to walk away. We were 20 yards away when we heard the call of an incoming hawk and rushed back. From what we saw, we think it was a food drop off. For awhile, the hawk left in the nest kept looking down, as if watching the kids eat. Then she clearly began eating, tearing pieces off. Periodically she would give us the "hawk eye". I managed to get this pretty good picture of her before she settled down and all we could see was her tail again.

All pictures with my Canon 10D mounted on my Swarovski 65HD, 800mm adaptor

Hopefully more later!

Hawk Nest Report

2007-05-18T11:37:00.001-04:00

We checked on the Red Shouldered Hawk Nest that we've been watching and even though we can't see any nestlings, the behavior of the adults is entirely consistent with brooding nestlings--the adults come and go fairly often right now. We've read that towards the end, it goes down to ten minutes a day spent at the nest. Nothing worth taking a picture of yet, but we're going to keep trying. If we get some good weather, we might picnic down there so we can watch for awhile.

As an aside, there was a recent post on the VA Bird List that I subscribe to talking about the decline of American Kestrel numbers in Loudoun County, VA. I guess I was very lucky to see the kestrel that we saw on Monday. The survey taken over the weekend only revealed two in the county (although of course there could be more that didn't reveal themselves during the survey period).

Birding Topless

2007-05-15T20:29:00.000-04:00

I know, another provocative title. My husband pointed out that I failed to mention the reason I was able to do so much birding yesterday while we drove is that we were in my Miata and the top was down. Great for birding! I highly recommend convertibles for all birders!

Naked Birding in the Car

2007-05-15T07:54:00.000-04:00

Hah! Bet that got your attention. It should really read "Naked Eye Birding from the Car" but that wouldn't be as much fun. For those who get email subscriptions, I wonder if the word naked will get it filtered?

Anyway, we were on a road trip yesterday in Loudoun and Fauquier counties in Virginia, and I was birding on the go with no binocs (forgot 'em!!!!). Still, I had a pretty good day for car birds. Best was an American Kestrel, hovering over a field. It was a first for me in Virginia; we see them often in San Diego. Also: Canada geese, killdeer, great blue heron, red winged blackbird, mallards, mockingbird, American crow, common grackle, black vulture and turkey vulture soaring together, cardinal, barn swallow, house sparrow and two very bold catbirds at our starting point. My last best car bird, also in Loudoun County, was an Eastern Meadowlark last year. No pics today.

What's your best car bird?

Osprey at Dyke Marsh, VA

2007-05-13T13:54:00.000-04:00

This osprey perches in this area quite often, probably the male associated with a nearby nest. He got into quite a little duel with a crow that was pestering him, then returned to the perch. Digiscoped with my Pentax W20 handheld to the scope, as was the video immediately following these two shots. Be sure to watch the video!

Osprey at Dyke Marsh, VA

2007-05-13T13:36:00.001-04:00


Video (no audio) of adult osprey, presumably male, at Dyke Marsh, VA. Click to play. Taken during the Sunday morning 8AM bird walk, using my Pentax W20 through the scope. More information about Dyke Marsh can be found at at the link at right and information about the weekly bird walk can be found http://www.fodm.org. I never tried to post a video before; great fun!

Kingfisher

2007-05-13T13:24:00.000-04:00

I think I forgot to mention the belted kingfisher we saw at Dyke Marsh today. Far away and backlit, but it's my best kingfisher picture yet. Pentax W20, handheld through the scope.

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk Report

2007-05-13T12:17:00.000-04:00

A cool and breezy day at Dyke Marsh. Kurt Gaskill led us on a very productive walk, though we had to work on it. We didn't spend too much time on the river--too windy and not much happening. Here's a picture of an osprey nest on a tug anchored near the Wilson Bridge (see Welcome to Maryland sign above the tug).

This great crested was neatly posed, but in the nature of birds, took off just as I snapped the pic.

In addition to the birds above, (both photos digiscoped with my Pentax W20 through my scope) we saw:
osprey (pictures to be posted later)
spotted sandpiper
kingbird
starling
flicker
downy woodpecker
orchard oriole
baltimore oriole
great blue heron
catbird (heard)
double-crested cormorant
goldfinch
cardinal
barn swallow
chimney swift
yellow billed cuckoo (pictures below taken with my Canon 10D with 300mm lens)
yellow rumped warbler
black throated blue warbler
black throated green warbler (thanks to the fellow birder who pointed this out to our group!)
blue gray gnatcatcher
carolina wren (heard--really loudly!)

Yellow Billed Cuckoo Dyke Marsh, VA

2007-05-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

We saw or heard several yellow billed cuckoos on this morning's walk. This one cooperated enough that I got a few pictures. It was quite breezy, so there was a lot of movement. I was lucky to get this good a set.

Great Falls, VA on Saturday, May 12

2007-05-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

We were over at our friend Peter's house in Great Falls, VA for a car club event, and I managed to squeeze a few good birds out of the afternoon, which was also great from the car club point of view. A pair of great crested flycatchers were hanging out behind Peter's Garage Mahal. Here's one I digiscoped waaay up in a tree. The pair flew down and Fred and I watched as one sat on the top of a holly bush while the other scooped up as much fine mulch from beneath the tree as it could. Then they both flew off, but we couldn't see where they might be nesting. Digiscoped with my Pentax W20 against my Swarovski 65HD scope.

In addition to the fine flycatcher show, I got a nice look at a pileated woodpecker and an immature bald eagle flying overhead. Three really good birds.

Red Shouldered Hawk Nest--Hatched?

2007-05-12T08:20:00.000-04:00

Fred and I went to check on the hawk's nest yesterday. When we got there, we could hear and see a hawk at the nest, but by the time we had the scope set up, the hawk had flown the coop, er, nest. When we scoped the nest, we couldn't see any sign of a hawk remaining on the nest (picture below). This was the first time we hadn't been able to see at least a bit of an adult's head or tail sticking out. We were there about a half an hour, and neither hawk returned to the nest, but we did hear one or both come to the general area, call several times as if checking in, and then fly off. Could the eggs have hatched? And now both parents are hunting? We're going to go back today and check. Will keep you posted!

Weird day in blogtown

2007-05-11T11:07:00.001-04:00

Day before yesterday, I did a Internet search on a birding friend to see if she had any of her digiscoping information online. I clicked on a likely post, which turned out to be one of my own blog entries! Very funny, except that the entry wasn't on my blog. It was on another blog. And, worse yet, a lot of my blog entries, 151 of them, were on this other blog, which had NO ORIGINAL CONTENT other than my posts. I wasn't planning on identifying the cretin because I didn't want to give him or her publicity, but to their credit, Blogger has taken the site down after my complaint. Of course, my compliant was a faxed 20 page document because Blogger said I couldn't just say that the site copied mine, I had to cite the links to the copied (purloined) material. I'm stubborn enough that I provided them all 151 links. You can do this stuff when you're retired.

Hawk Walk, Tuesday, May 8th

2007-05-11T11:07:00.000-04:00

Fred and I were just taking a little walk and this likely juvenile Cooper's Hawk began soaring overhead just a bit west of our house near the woods. Very cool. We got good looks at it and I finally remembered to lift the camera and get a pic.

Brown-headed cowbird in a yard on the way to the red-shouldered hawk nest.

This is the nest. Notice how leafed out it is since we saw it in April. The eggs should hatch any time now. We must have found it almost immediately after they built the nest.

These violets found an interesting place to grow.

Huntley Meadows Bird Walk

2007-05-08T20:24:00.001-04:00

As someone said, you can't have too many green heron pictures. Here are some I digiscoped at Huntley on Monday. Canon 10D, 800mm adaptor, Swarovsky scope

Huntley Meadows Monday Bird Walk Part II

2007-05-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

We had seen this Common Moorhen on the way out on the walk, but I didn't have my digiscoping setup (I was using the scope as a scope, imagine that). He was way on the far side of the main marsh and wouldn't cooperate and come out from behind the grass. I didn't get the focus quite right, but you can see the dark body and the red beak behind the grass.

I was a little luckier digiscoping this red eyed vireo in full song. "Here I am, over here, see me, where are you?"

Monday Morning Bird Walk at Huntley Meadows

2007-05-08T17:34:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm a day late posting. Deal with it. It was a brisk morning (44 degrees when I left the house) but sunny and the weekend long winds seemed to have died down for the most part. I got up bright and early for the Huntley Meadows Bird Walk. Well, I was a little late because I waited for the temp to get over 40. But it was a nice morning. One of the first birds we saw was this common yellowthroat who posed for awhile off on the edge of the marsh.

Next we had an indigo bunting who really posed for us. I had seen an indigo bunting at Huntley the day before, on my way home from the Dyke Marsh walk.

It looked like the eastern phoebes were building a nest under the boardwalk. This one kept flying under and then coming back out to perch on one of the tree stumps in the marsh.

The above three shots were taken with my Canon 10D with 300mm lens.

Featherstone NWR

2007-05-08T14:29:00.000-04:00

Fred and I joined a group walk at the Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge. It isn't normally open to the public, but the Friends of the Potomac River Refuges arranged a special trip. It was a pleasant walk through the woods, mostly on the old 19th century railroad bed that ran through that part of Prince William County.
There were tons of jacks-in-the pulpit.

The view from the beach.

Charlie gave a talk about the history of the area.

We saw and heard a lot of birds. A partial list includes great crested flycatcher, bald eagle, double crested cormorant, chickadee, cardinal, prothonatory warbler, great blue heron, rough winged swallows, tree swallows. It was a very pleasant walk, although there was a LOT of poison ivy!

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk

2007-05-06T14:04:00.000-04:00

It was an incredibly windy morning, and the birds were few and far between. The first bird of the morning, though, was a bald eagle (on a nest) and the Baltimore Oriole (or is it Northern Oriole now?) above was the last bird of the morning. I guess any day that starts with an eagle and ends with an oriole can't be all bad. This was digiscoped with my Canon 10D, 800mm adaptor and Swarovski scope. By miles the best pic I've ever gotten of an oriole.

Deck Birds today

2007-04-30T18:48:00.000-04:00

I still had my digiscoping setup set up. Got a couple of pictures at the feeder. The first-of-year catbird sighting. Note the goldfinch landing on the closeline in the background of the first catbird picture. Is the catbird on the catbird seat?

Clicked the shutter just as the downie turned to fly away with his prize.

Huntley Meadows is the best!

2007-04-30T17:57:00.000-04:00

I didn't feel like getting up in time for the 7AM bird walk this morning. There! I said it! So, after I got up and had some coffee, I wandered over to Huntley Meadows to see what might be over there. It was spectacular.I missed the blackburnian warbler that others saw, but I did see a sora, two snipe, a red-eyed vireo, many solitary sandpipers, a least sandpiper, a semi-palmated plover, a little blue heron, a pileated woodpecker; many of which are pictured below. All pictures digiscoped with my Canon 10D, 800mm adapter and Swarovski 65HD.

Huntley Meadows Part II

2007-04-30T17:48:00.000-04:00

A song sparrow was busy in the mud.

Leaving the wooded area, some fellow birders spotted this pileated woodpecker on the ground. My camera was still set for the brightness of the pond, not the deep woods, so the pictures are a little dark (they were VERY dark) and grainy.

Huntley Meadows this morning

2007-04-30T17:45:00.000-04:00

A little blue heron was on the back part of the great marsh.

Nearby, a large number of solitary sandpipers kept busy.

A fellow birder spotted this nearby snipe who was leisurely probing the mud almost in front of us.

Leaving the boardwalk, I found this frog when a family pointed it out to their small child. Here he is in full "ribbit," throad swelled out to make a big sound.

Hawks and Clean Up

2007-04-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

Fred and I went to check on the hawk's nest (no pics today). It was a successful trip; the hawk was still on the nest, and while we were there, the other hawk flew in, calling loudly and then perched briefly in a nearby tree before flying back out again. It never actually went to the nest, and wasn't carrying anything. We speculated that it was checking in, like any good spouse. The leaves are coming in, but there still seems to be some good gaps for looking at the nest. We'll see how it goes.

While we were waiting to see what happened next, we started policing the area a bit. It's a local park, and even though there are trash cans everywhere, people tend to litter, so we picked up some trash and then walked over to the little creek (crick as my PA grandma would say) that runs through it to remove the bicycle and the shopping cart we had spotted there on a previous trip. The bicycle needed some work so Fred propped it up next to a trash can. The cart was in great shape, so we decided to wheel it over to the store (a Safeway), about a half mile away. Since we had the cart, we cleaned up as we went. We ended up with an automobile tire, a complete bag of trash, 30-40 bottles and cans and other assorted trash, all dumped along the little path and stream through the park. Sheesh! We snuck the trash into several dumpsters behind the shopping center, despite the "no public dumping" signs (What else were we going to do with it?) and returned the cart to the Safeway. So we did our Earth day bit.

Swans at Great Marsh

2007-04-23T12:18:00.000-04:00

There was a huge flock of trumpeter swans at Great Marsh in March.

White Breasted Nuthatch

2007-04-23T09:10:00.000-04:00

I never seem to be able to get a good picture of a white-breated nuthatch. This is one of my best shots, using my digiscoping setup.

A late Junco

2007-04-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

The VA blue book (out of date now, a new one is coming out) lists April 20th as the late day for Juncos. Here's a junco outside in our yard onthe 20th that doesn't seem to know how late it is! I was playing with my digiscope when I spotted it; didn't have time to take a better picture before it flew off.

Love is in the air!

2007-04-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

These two cardinals were doing some courting on our deck. Get a room! Sorry it's not sharper--I was shooting through the patio door from a distance.

Woodpeckers on deck

2007-04-17T14:45:00.000-04:00

We've had red-bellies and downies on the suet feeder so far this spring, but no haires yet. Note the goldfinch queueing up for the nearby suet feeders.

Red Shouldered Hawk in the wind

2007-04-16T19:47:00.000-04:00

I went by the nest today to check on it after the big winds last night. I didn't get any usable pictures due to the wind--the nest was still swaying back and forth in about a 5-6 foot arc--but the hawk was still on the nest!

Red-shouldered hawk on nest

2007-04-14T17:08:00.000-04:00

Fred and I went back to see how the hawks were doing. The 2nd hawk flew in and out briefly when we first arrived but we never saw it again during the 45 minutes we were in the area. The female(?) never left the nest while we were there, so we assume there are eggs already laid.