Birding while not busy…

We are in the thick of the intensive summer sessions at school, but we still find time now and then to go see what’s flying about. Here are a few recent pics.

First, a “twofer”:

Gray Catbird and Yellow Warbler

A couple of vireos:

Red Eyed Vireo

White Eyed Vireo

 

The very colorful Chestnut Sided Warbler:

Chestnut Sided Warbler

Everybody’s favorite, the Carolina Wren (in full throat):

Carolina Wren

And, keeping the mosquito population down, a couple of bug-eating birds:

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Phoebe

A Red Winged Blackbird cutting loose:

Red Winged Blackbird

And lastly our old friend the Barred Owl, which continues to be seen on the Bridle Trail, Ridley Creek State Park (PA):

Barred Owl

Spring Sing

It was a beautiful morning in Okehocking Nature Preserve.  It is always fun when you can see birds singing their little heads off…even better if you can snare a picture of them caught in the act.  Here are a few:

Gray Catbird singing (or whatever you want to call that crazy thing they do)

Song Sparrow singing (but of course they are ALWAYS singing)

Carolina Wren singing (as usual)

Warbling Vireo warbling

Yellow Warbler singing sweet, sweet, so sweetly

The complete list of our sightings today is as follows:

Canada Goose – Branta canadensis

Wood Duck – Aix sponsa

Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos

Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias

Turkey Vulture – Cathartes aura

Red-tailed Hawk – Buteo jamaicensis

Solitary Sandpiper – Tringa solitaria

Rock Pigeon – Columba livia

Mourning Dove – Zenaida macroura

Chimney Swift – Chaetura pelagica

Red-bellied Woodpecker – Melanerpes carolinus

Downy Woodpecker – Picoides pubescens

Northern Flicker – Colaptes auratus

White-eyed Vireo – Vireo griseus

Warbling Vireo – Vireo gilvus

Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata

Tree Swallow – Tachycineta bicolor

Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica

Carolina Chickadee – Poecile carolinensis

Tufted Titmouse – Baeolophus bicolor

White-breasted Nuthatch – Sitta carolinensis

Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianus

House Wren – Troglodytes aedon

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – Polioptila caerulea

American Robin – Turdus migratorius

Gray Catbird – Dumetella carolinensis

Northern Mockingbird – Mimus polyglottos

European Starling – Sturnus vulgaris

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

Yellow Warbler – Setophaga petechia

Yellow-rumped Warbler – Setophaga coronata

Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia

White-throated Sparrow – Zonotrichia albicollis

Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis

Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus

Common Grackle – Quiscalus quiscula

Baltimore Oriole – Icterus galbula

American Goldfinch – Spinus tristis

>>>>>>

A couple more pics (just ’cause I like ’em).

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Common Yellowthroat (or some kind of bird bank robber...)

White Eyed Vireo (note the YELLOW around the eyes)

Yellow Warbler again

New Bird Pics

Some from around here, and some from our recent trip to Florida.

First up, the Carolina Wren:

Belted Kingfishers in flight:

A Red-Tailed Hawk overhead:

A Wood Duck on the pond at Okehocking:

And, for you non-birders, a chipmunk, just for fun:

And from Florida, a Common Moorhen (or Common Gallinule):

A Black-Crowned Night Heron:

And a Palm Warbler:

Some Recent Birding Pics

First up, from the Ridley Creek Bridle Trail, a female Downy Woodpecker posing for the camera:

Next up, a beautiful Eastern Bluebird:

How about a Fox Sparrow?

Or a Red Tailed Hawk, perched?

A Carolina Wren…perhaps looking you right in the eye?

Not impressed yet?  How about a Gray Catbird? Sure, dime a dozen…but not in February! (We’ve been seeing them in various places over the last few weeks, one at a time except for today, when we saw three together.)

[GRCA Okehocking, 2/21/12 4:30 pm]

If that weren’t enough, last week we saw a Northern Parula! Sorry, no pic. I was too busy trying to i.d a bird that shouldn’t’ve been there, so you will have to take our word for it. But whether you do or don’t, spring is coming, and these seasonal rarities will be beautifully abundant and abundantly beautiful!

Birding on a Beautiful Morning

It was indeed a beautiful morning for a walk around Okehocking Preserve.  Here are a couple photos:

a Great Blue Heron perched

a GBHE in flight

a Carolina Wren in full-throated song

[click on the pics for a larger view]