Sunday, September 28, 2014

Hummingbirds! Yay!

Any day is made better by hummingbirds.  At least, this has always been true for me.  Today we went up for a nice walk through the park, and ended up at the oven, sitting and hoping for hummingbirds.  A couple of other people were there with the same basic plan, and I'm really glad they were, because one of them found a perched hummingbird!  We moved to where this little one was, and watched it for ..... oh, probably about an hour.  Sitting, flying, eating, engaging in very small swordfights with other hummingbirds.  You know, the usual.  I didn't hear any chatter, possibly because there really weren't many of them.  A great afternoon!

ruby-throated hummingbird

ruby-throated hummingbird

ruby-throated hummingbird

ruby-throated hummingbird


Sunday, June 8, 2014

Hummingbird nest, still there

Today I took Jack to see the hummingbird nest!  We first tried to walk around the pond and see lots of herons, but that didn't work out because of a loud event happening, having to do with Puerto Rico.  We didn't see much until we finally got to the hummingbird nest, but this little beauty was worth the walk!  :-)




Monday, June 2, 2014

Hummingbird nest!

So last night after the algorithms lecture are the World Science Festival, Jack and I looped through the ramble before heading home.  There was a gathering on the bridge at the upper lobe where I gathered someone had found a hummingbird nest!  I didn't have binoculars with me, or my camera, but I paid close attention to the spot and the directions to find the nest.

I went back today with binoculars and a camera, and sure enough, there it was!  There was nothing else to be seen except a black-crowned night heron.  Well worth the trip!  :-)

hummingbird in nest

hummingbird in nest

hummingbird in nest


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Last AMNH Spring walk


Well today is the last of the spring lunchtime AMNH bird walks, so that's sad.  But it's a lovely day, so that's happy!  Dale led the walk today, it was great to see him.  Before meeting up with the group, I saw this gorgeous egret at the upper lobe.



Then a tanager, reminding me of Panama.
scarlet tanager

Hello Maggie!
magnolia warbler
 This Canada is going to need to work on its necklace.
Canada warbler
 Even birders are taken by the cuteness of a raccoon.
raccoon 
 This red-bellied woodpecker was having to defend its hole against starlings, who thought it looked pretty comfy-cozy.
red-bellied woodpecker
 There were plenty of ovenbirds, but they were mostly staying under cover.  This one popped up for a quick photo session though.  Thanks Buddy!
ovenbird



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Cuckoo for spring!

It was pretty glorious in the park today.  One of the best spring walks ever!  I'm so glad that this spring is not a repeat of last spring's sparse migration.

On the way up to meet the group, things were pretty loud at the lake - and by things, I mean spawning carp!  They were *very* splashy.  I saw at least 3 pairs of carp, swimming and thrashing together (one pair at a time) along the reeds at the edge of the lake.  It was pretty awesome!  Then I spotted some more splashy activity - mating snapper turtles!  The picture doesn't look like much, I know.

snapping turtles
 The walk itself started off with a little pocket of warblers at the beginning, and this common yellowthroat was one of plenty who were not into skulking.  They were out in the open, showing off their masks.
common yellowthroat
 This hawk was soaring above us for quite some time, and even got harassed by a grackle for a bit.
red-tailed hawk
 Hello Maggie!
magnolia warbler
 This female scarlet tanager was just minding her own business, and didn't really know what to make of all the attention.
scarlet tanager (female)
 There were several chestnut-sideds.  This one was not very vivid, but it was quite cooperative!
chestnut-sided warbler
 Cuckoo!!!!!!  There's not much to say about this, except for the general statement that cuckoos are awesome.  Obviously.
yellow-billed cuckoo
 What?  Who, me?  Just hanging around.
common yellowthroat (female)
 Blackburnian!  This gorgeous fellow did not stay long.  I love seeing them in the pink flowers.  It's like, Dude, you do ~not~ blend.  So why are you so hard to spot?
Blackburnian warbler
 Indigo bunting!  Well, mostly indigo.  He's going through some changes.
indigo bunting
 This blackpoll sang and sang and sang.
Blackpoll warbler
 This Canada did not sing.  It flitted.  Quickly.  And then paused briefly to show me its necklace before it was off again!
Canada warbler
 Lincoln's sparrow!  This got a great reaction from Paul, which was much more entertaining to watch than the bird was.  I'm sure someday I'll appreciate sparrows properly.
Lincoln's sparrow
 After leaving the group I saw this amazing oriole.  No, I did not photoshop-enhance-super-saturate that color.  He was so incredibly vivid!  Then a female flew off, and he chased her.  They were together in a tree, and then hopped to another tree.  The female left, and the male stayed, chattering at me and scolding me.  For..... being near his nest?  I can only hope so!  I didn't find one, but maybe they'll lead me to it next time.
Baltimore oriole


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Sunny and happy in the park

Quite a nice day in the park today, sunny and happy.  On the way to meet the group I saw two black-crowned night herons and that's about it - I left later than I planned and I had to hurry up to get there on time!  :-)
black-crowned night heron
 Quite quickly we found this oriole showing off for us.  Nice tail!
Baltimore oriole
 This parula was nearby but didn't really want to pose much.
northern parula
 There were several black-throated blues around, and I loved seeing this female come in right next to us.  Hello Gorgeous!
black-throated blue warbler
 It was pretty exciting to see this worm-eating warbler eating something that was probably not worms.  They are not the most gaudy of birds, but they do look sleek and stylish with their racing stripes.
worm-eating warbler
 This veery teased us for a while and then came out in the open, posing in the sun.
veery
 There were several ovenbirds too!  I love spring, all the birds get just a bit flirtier.
ovenbird
 This cormorant provided a nice contrast in scale.  After a zillion teeny little cuties, it was great to see this big guy sunning.
double-crested cormorant
 This was my best view of the rose-breasted grosbeak.  I was unsatisfied, but the bird was stubborn!
rose-breasted grosbeak
 Back to cooperative cuties - this black and white came right over.
black-and-white warbler
 After leaving the group, I found this towhee playing in the leaves.  Funny how I see more of them in the fall.  I wonder if they follow different paths in the spring vs. the fall, or if it's just been my luck so far.
eastern towhee
 And my good-bye bird was this kingbird, who started out nice and low but once he got his prize headed up to the top branches of a tree to devour it.
eastern kingbird




Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Spring at last!


Today was another AMNH walk, and it finally feels (and looks and sounds) like spring.  :-)  Warblers are here!

First I quickly visited the upper lobe before meeting the group, where this northern shoveler was posing for a dramatic picture.  They won't be around much longer.

northern shoveler
 And two palm warblers were flitting about in a tree near the bridge, with a kinglet across from them!
palm warbler
 Once the group got started, we headed back there and saw them again, along with this swamp sparrow.
swamp sparrow
 Then we started seeing the yellow rumps.  They were everywhere!  It seemed like if we just paused in a random location, and looked around, we would find one.  This one posed on the rocks along the streamlet.
yellow-rumped warbler
 There were flickers everywhere too, mostly flying away.  Here's a pair flirting, caught up in the magic of springtime.
northern flicker
 Don't worry, this blue-grey gnatcatcher does have a head.
blue-grey gnatcatcher
 Palm warbler at the point.
palm warbler
 This flicker has a fresh hole, and was working on it.
northern flicker
 As we left, we saw two blue-headed vireos!
blue-headed vireo
 And then some crazy kinglets.  You can see this one is displaying his quite impressive ruby crown.
ruby-crowned kinglet
 Kinglet is strong like bull.
ruby-crowned kinglet