Redwinged blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There are many redwinged blackbirds in Huntley Meadows. This one was singing his heart out.

Common snipe, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This snipe is watching the pair of yellowlegs...

Yellowlegs, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I couldn't decide whether greater or lesser.

Yellowlegs, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. I couldn't decide whether greater or lesser. In some views, the beak appeared slightly upturned...

Rusty blackbirds, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. Note the black beak and pale eye. (At least we could see them when I took this picture.)

Eastern Bluebird, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. The dark band is the shadow of a tree across this bluebird.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There were two or three of these in this tree. While not my first blue-gray gnatcatcher, this was the best look at one I've had, and my first good picture.

Dyke Marsh Bird Walk, April 10, 2005

Went for my 2nd bird walk at Dyke Marsh. Saw the bald eagle nest with bald eagle in residence, double crested cormorant, great blue heron, red shouldered hawk, red bellied woodpecker, tree swallows, gulls, brown headed cowbird, carolina wren, sea gulls, spotted sandpiper (picture didn't turn out too well, but it was definitely the sandpiper),osprey, european starlings and yellow-rumped warbler.

Osprey, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This osprey put on quite an aerial display, attracting several other osprey in either a courtship ritual or a territorial display.

Osprey, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. This osprey was one of the three or four spectators to the aerial display going on in the previous pictures. They answered the question as to whether advertising worked...

Brown-headed cowbird. Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Tree Swallow pair, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

Tree Swallow pair, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. After "billing" for a bit, one flew off for a little feeding.

Yellow-rumped warbler, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. There were lots of these flitting about.

Mourning Doves, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005.

European Starling, Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. In breeding plumage.

Wood Duck, Alexandria, Va. April 2005. Today we saw a duck fly into the woods. Sure enough, it was a male wood duck! He obligingly sat in a tree in our backyard neighboor's yard for about fifteen minutes while we watched him through the scope, the binoculars and the camera. There is a tree trunk with a large hole about 10 yards away, but we didn't see a female around.

We'll be keeping our eye open for more wood duck adventures. We also saw the usual cardinals, white throated sparrow, carolina wren and tufted titmice today.

Backyard Birding April 7

Finally got my feeder up and running yesterday; woke up this morning to titmice, cardinals and a carolina wren active at the feeder.  Also in the backyard: a white-throated sparrow, an eastern phoebe, some other sparrows I couldn't ID and a female red-bellied woodpecker working through the treetops.  I'm sure there was lots more there that I'm not experienced enough to ID.  Can't wait to find them.

White throated sparrow, my backyard, Alexandria, VA. April 2005. We have a brush pile in the side yard that the little birds love. A frenzy of sparrows caught my eye and I took this from our bedroom window. It only took about 10 shots, most of them horrible, to get this one acceptable shot.