Another challenging bird to photograph, Yellow Warblers are easy to spot, often at eye level, and have an easy to recognize song. (“sweet sweet sweet I’m so sweet”) If they’d only stop moving, never pausing to catch a breath. We are lucky to have some great habitat right around us to see them. Here is one feeding the other morning.
Here is a shot from our backyard last year.
It’s great to see and hear these bouncy birds in our neighborhood.
When I think about photographing warblers, the Common Yellowthroat pops up as an ongoing challenge. Everywhere with their “witchety-witchety-witchety” call they are usually buried in bushes and always on the move. This gives you the idea:
Yellowthroats stay low so you avoid “warbler neck” while watching them. Energy-filled and easy to spot, they are a wonderful part of our birding outings. Here’s a video that is sure to bring you a smile.
Usually I go out birding with no objective other than to get some exercise and see what’s happening avian-wise. This morning, after finding this Common Merganser perched on a log, I decided to see what else I could find — perching. Here’s the results from a productive hour just up the road from our home.
Every day, new birds are arriving – it’s a great time for birding. Yesterday, I drove into a parking spot at Ginger’s play group and rolled down the window to get this hummer.
This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and his mate are driving our neighbors crazy with their constant drilling on the sheet metal shed roof.
Canada Geese are raising youngsters all along the river.
One of the delightful new arrivals are the Warbling Vireos, like the one I saw early this morning.
I have gathered a few warbler shots and will post them next time. It’s definitely a work in progress.
Ginger and I took an early 3 mile walk along the river and ended up seeing/hearing nearly forty bird species. I was trying to get some exercise so we didn’t stop too often for photos.
There’s a lot of courting and chasing going on – and this couple needed to “get a room.”
My next objective is to tackle the warblers. It’s fun to hear and see them this time of year but they are always moving, often hidden by branches, and they test my patience. Stay tuned.
We are on a road trip to North Carolina for a week, visiting the Outer Banks. Here are a few shots from today:
While most of my outings involve birding – usually 1-3 miles on trails, roads, and city sidewalks, I also get out for the exercise, fresh air and nature, away from others.
The trails we walk have many trees with all sorts of growths and shapes, like these ones.
Last week, I spotted this different lump in a tree.
One of my favorite downed trees reminds me of a Green Heron hunting for food.
A backcountry beaver pond from which two shy Wood Ducks flushed.
And my birding buddy, muddy legs and all, is always ready for the next outing.
As we wait for the warblers to arrive, there’s always neat stuff to enjoy on our walks.
On a morning with new wet snow on the ground and a snow/rain mix falling, Ginger and I added a little in-the-car birding to our routine before we did some errands. It was a nice venture.
I’ve only seen Long-tailed Ducks a few times — they are relatively uncommon here – but we found this pair resting in the rain, probably after a long night flight.
It was a nice treat and I’m sure they’re already on their way.
Wrightsville Reservoir, just a few miles north, is a favorite spot for Ginger and I to hike and bird. We spent a couple of hours there early yesterday.
As we approached the beach area, we were surprised to find this Bald Eagle watching us.
I saw a juvenile here last April – this may be the same bird a year younger.
Of course, birding with a dog has its challenges and soon Ginger came trotting along and the bird launched.
Lazily, it soared away, slowly climbing on weak thermals. I watched it for a long time as we walked on, until it was just a speck in the April sky. It’s always a treat to see a Bald Eagle and a nice reminder that there are comeback stories in birding.
Another grey morning, just below freezing, and Ginger and I are on an exercise/birding outing. Just minutes into the walk, I heard a splash below me and then saw this wonderful Wood Duck easing down the river.
He hopped up on a limb, just about out of range of my camera, and posed.
It’s nice to get out and walk every day but even better when you have birds to lighten up your mood. This guy did the trick.