Cape May Things with Wings

We did a day trip to Cape May yesterday. This premier birding destination is on the transition edge between summer and fall. There were only a hand full of shorebirds about. Mockingbirds were still feeding young. Several Osprey nests still had young calling for food and being watched over by parents, but the hawk migration count began its first day on Sep 1 with 145 migrating Osprey.

Many songbirds were calling quietly. Most young birds were on their own, but clearly not quite sure how to fend for themselves. Waterfowl numbers lie in the future.

In the hot, steamy shore weather, butterflies and dragonflies were in the air.

Here's a sample of the day ...

A few Monarch Butterflies were about, plus the occasional Viceroy which disguises itself as the foul-tasting Monarch ...

Viceroy

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (somewhat the worse for wear judging by the left hind wing)

Eastern Pondhawk

Black Saddlebags (female)

Green Heron (probably juvenile)

Common Whitetail

House Wren (juvenile)

Blue Dasher

Tricolored Heron (juvenile)

Chestnut-sided Warbler (juvenile)

Delaware Skipper

Good flying to all!

Wetland Portraits

This is the final post from my Florida trip - a few "portraits."

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Purple Swamphen

White Ibis

... and my two favorites - one with "attitude," and one with "beauty."

Double-crested Cormorant

Tricolored Heron

Good Birding ! !

Green Heron

The Green Heron is the smallest of the true herons, and to my eye, the most beautiful.

Green Heron

Folk names for the patient stalker include Poke, Fly-up-the-Creek, and Crab-catcher.

Green Heron

Edward Forbush describes a Green Heron "stretched out flat on a slanting log at a point where it projected from the water. Beneath this log minnows found shelter. The bird rested motionless ...

Green Heron - patiently waiting to strike

... when suddenly it darted its head under water and brought up a wriggling minnow in its bill, and having swallowed it, ...

... remained motionless and ready as before."

Green Heron - ready to strike again

Now that's good birding !!

Wetland and the Shore

I am in the midst of a short stay in Philly and have squeezed in some walks at Heinz NWR and at Cape May. Here are a few images.

The waders at Heinz were stand-out, including as many Great Egrets as I have seen in one place in a long time ...

Great Egrets

Great Egrets

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Green Heron

Along the shore, terns were the stand-out (alas, :( no Whiskered Tern)

Common Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Royal tern

Good Birding!!

Litlle Blue, Green, Snowy

The past week in Pennsylvania and south New Jersey was delightful. Just a few highlights of the waders we encountered.

At Cape May State Park, and elsewhere, young immature Little Blue Herons were common sights ...

Little Blue Heron (immature)

Little Blue Heron (immature)

In the salt marsh behind the Wetlands Institute, this immature Green Heron posed in the open in a manner not often seen ...

Green Heron (immature)

Nearby, a Snowy Egret was resting a weary leg ...

Snowy Egret

The young robin is obviously not a wader, but it has gotten the idea about how it needs to make it own way in the world ...

American Robin (immature)

Good Birding!!

Favorite Photos of 2011

Happy New Year!!

A new year has begun, but I am still looking back on the old year. While it often seemed that birding and photography got swamped by other things -such as a hurricane :( - when I look back I realize that I had many good trips and good opportunities for both. Here is a first sampling of a few of my personal favorite photos from 2011.

Green Heron - late February, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida

Olive-throated Parakeet - March, Tikal, Guatemala

Golden-crowned Kinglet - November, Heinz NWR, Philadelphia, PA

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - July, my backyard, South Newfane, VT

Yellow Warbler - June, wetlands along Connecticut River, Hinsdale, NH

Bohemian Waxwing - mid-February, Putney School, Putney, VT

Tricolored Heron - late February, Green Cay Wetlands, Florida

Roadside Hawk - March, Hopkins, Belize

 
More soon. Hope you have good birding in 2012.

Waders 2 - Green Heron

Second in the series on wading birds at Green Cay and Wakodahatchee wetlands, Florida, 2/25-27.

Green Heron ...