Monday, April 24, 2023

Oops I did it again.

 Just like yesterday I had the morning planned, I was in the middle of vacuuming the living/dining room floor when I looked out the window. I'm glad I did. Damn, but in a good way. So how many Red-headed Woodpecker shots do you need? A couple of thousand plus the odd Chickadee and Red-bellied Woodpecker. So after Woody came back a few times I've still got a 1/3 of the floor to vacuum and steam clean. It was worth it.

I knew he was around because I've been hearing his distinctive call a few times but today was the first time I've seen him. They used to breed in the yard for several years then stopped when I think it got too overgrown. As I've been removing invasive Honeysuckle shrubs and the Emerald Ash Borer got loads of Ash trees I hope they're back.

Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Sunday morning all planned out.

All it took to totally screw up my plans was a Gray Catbird. There I was drinking my cup of English Breakfast and I happened to look out the window. Big mistake. There was a Catbird looking for food on the birdtable. So I had to go out and put some dried Mealworms and Sunflower seed out for it. The light was pretty nice so I thought screw it (polite alternative to what I was really thinking). So I got set up and there was quite a variety of birds visiting. I ended up with 2050 images before 9am. I narrowed it down a lot and ended up with just these few or I'd be here all day.

Blue Jay
Blue Jay
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Common Grackle
Gray Catbird
Gray Catbird
Gray Catbird
Gray Squirrel

I'm guessing this is a male Squirrel.
Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Last Couple of Days in the Yard

 I've been a little preoccupied in the yard the last few days. I've been tidying up the deck, removing the grime of a years worth of pollen, leaves and tree debris, planting Tomatoes and Strawberries and best of all restacking a head height stack of firewood between two trees after a deer failed to hurdle over it. I've been planting a bit of this and that, rearranging perches around the waterfall and then refining the position by a few millimeters here and there. There's been a few migrants I've seen such as Hermit Thrush, Wood Thrush, Brown Thrasher and best of all a Louisiana Waterthrush and an American Redstart. I usually have Merlin listening while I'm out there and it's hearing a variety of migrants I've not seen such as Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Towhee, Blue-headed, Warbling, White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos. According to Birdcast there's nearly a million birds flew over the county last night so maybe more will turn up today.

As it's been in the 80's the couple of days I've not spent much time in the sauna err blind except in the mid to late afternoon. I've only managed to photograph the regulars but on different perches and I'm getting practise in for when the flood gates of migrants open up. I doubt I'll be able to beat the 19 species of Warbler in a day last May, we'll see.

Here's a few from the last couple of days in alphabetical order not chronological so the lights all over the place.


American Robin

Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee bathing on the edge of the precipice.
Carolina Chickadee a different one 
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
a.k.a.
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Turning Green

A few shots of the backyard which is turning green very quickly. The daffodis are going over but the Narcissus are taking their place.

Daffodils and Narcissus
Narcissus 
Virginia Bluebells

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

New favorite perch.

 I found this old chunk of wood down in the jungle at the top end of the yard. It's a favorite for the birds as well.


American Robin
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Damn it was hot!

 Friday was rather sticky in the 87F (30.5C) afternoon, the temperature sitting in the blind was about 50 degrees hotter! I'm sure I've been in sauna's that were cooler than the inside of that blind. Still, when it's hot like that the birds come down to drink and bathe much more often. Not only that, there were several first of year Myrtle Warblers, a Chipping Sparrow, at least 2 Hermit Thrush and the Flickers were regular visitors to have a drink.

I've never been interested in keeping a diary but one aspect of this blog is that I can go back and look when I saw the first warbler in the yard for instance. Last year it was April 25th so 10 days earlier this year. April 13th in 2021 got me a new warbler for the yard in the shape of a Yellow-throated Warbler. I'll be on the look out for another one of those!

http://mikes-photographs.blogspot.com/2021/04/decide-to-change-title.html

It's certainly never that warm in the blind so early in the year, I hope it does cool down a little bit.



Brown-headed Cowbird

Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Myrtle Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker

so close I barely got him in the frame.
Northern Flicker
Song Sparrow