Birding Bonanza

The past few days I've been seeing more "new" birds at the feeders, or under them…! Friday I dropped hubby at the park and went here and there in the general area of Flagler and Ormond Beaches, my first real birding outing since moving to NE Florida, away from the Atlantic shoreline. Not far away, but…

First, let's see what I've found close to home…starting with the most exciting visitor(s)! 

Imagine my shock and excitement to see an indigo bunting, a lifer!!

It puttered around the ground below the feeders for quite awhile…I saw the lone bunting two days in a row, then nothing for a few days, and then...

A trio of indigo buntings! After this sighting, a few days ago, there's been nothing since, but they are a summer resident of Florida…

At least one No. mockingbird has become brave enough to check out the feeders…this is a first…I think he really wants suet but seems awkward at the suet feeder...

I took photos of this small dove because it was clearly so much smaller than the mourning dove…turns out it's the common ground-dove, a lifer! It isn't so common in the US actually (see your bird guide)...

Here's a comparison shot of a mourning dove (top) and the ground-dove (bottom)…

I spent some time outside hoping I could catch a brave bird or two w/o the glass window between us…and got two iffy shots of what turns out to be the palm warbler…the birds and squirrels love the bottle brush flowers (boo-boo)! The palm warbler only winters in FL so I'm no doubt only getting a fleeting look at them…they summer much further north in Canada...

I was lucky to catch a brown thrasher at a feeder a few days ago! This is my 2nd sighting of them...

A Carolina wren was bold enough to climb up the screening on our back porch, perching briefly on the light under the awning...

A couple pale Amer. goldfinches visited recently…they've been pretty scarce this year...

Here's a squirrel caught in the act of ravaging my lovely bottle brush tree…they like to snap the entire blossom off; there's dozens on the ground, grrrr!

So, Friday about 8:00 am I began my birding outing…this is a view of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Gamble Rogers State Park…as lovely as this is….

The only bird I saw was this No. cardinal….humph!

So, I moved on south to No. Peninsula Salt Marsh...

Since I wasn't supposed to walk out towards the marsh, I had to take distant photos, starting with this one of a killdeer...

…And an immature bald eagle…

…And a great blue heron…

….A lesser yellowlegs…(or greater? both winter here)…

…Hmm, a black-bellied plover? Feel free to correct me...

After the salt marsh, I headed back north a bit…while passing the N Peninsula, on the W side of A1A, I spotted a Florida scrub jay (!!!) way up on the power line! A lifer! They are known to inhabit that area so I will have to make an effort to find one closer up...

I proceeded to a really nice boardwalk that leads over the Intracoastal marshes and oyster beds towards the open waterway…

And found this tri-colored heron (1st for 2014) fishing….

…and another one…

…As well as this snowy egret, that kept flapping its wings but didn't take off...

Walking back towards the parking lot, I scared a pileated woodpecker from a dead tree by the boardwalk…scared myself too! Had to take a long-distance shot once it landed again…

While walking on a dirt path under the hammock, I looked up through the foliage in time to see an osprey flying over, with a fish in its talons…I grumbled about missing that shot…a bit later I looked up as I walked under a dead tree... 

Directly above me, 30 feet max., I discovered the same osprey having its brunch...

Ah yea, sushi! Mmmm….

…For some reason, the fish needed to be given the stink eye…

The light was too harsh to get a great shot but it was a pretty cool experience…except for when a mature gentleman came along walking his dog and I pointed the osprey out to him…and he replied, "But isn't that a bald eagle?" Uh….no. It's not the first time someone tried to tell me that maybe an osprey was an eagle. Wishful thinking!

I then moved on to a town park with a nice foot path, partly along the west side of the Intracoastal...

I took a short walk to see what was about…a great egret was perched on a bare tree on the opposite side….

On my way back, an osprey flew over….

And joined the egret, giving it a visual lesson about hierarchy...

Despite the poor or lack of photos, it has been a pretty nice birding week!

A Cat and a Chick

I've added four new birds to my list…the common nighthawk, the brown thrasher, the palm warbler, and the gray catbird! I was expecting to see the thrashers; they visit front yards around the 'hood. The Stokes guide says they're here year-round, but I only have seen them in the spring. Anyway, the other day I looked out at the feeders and -- !! -- immediately realized there was a gray catbird trying to get suet. I did get a few crummy shots thru the glass…

Also, about a week ago, I drove hubby to work in the early AM…as we were creeping down a gravel road in the park (did I mention he's a state park ranger?), the headlights caught a familiar, unique shape nestled down on the road…the bird promptly flew off. The shape was unmistakeable, it was a common nighthawk. The nighthawk is a permanent resident of the park. There's a slight chance it was a Chuck-will's-widow, but most likely a nighthawk. This, from the park's bird check-list I found on-line. Hubby's got strict orders to acquire a hard copy for me…many birds I haven't seen! Yes, yes, I need to get seriously serious! The #1 to-find has been, all along, the FL scrub jay…but there's also buntings, L. shrike, WE vireo, BG gnatcatcher, RC kinglet….!!

Ok I just looked outside at the feeders and the gray catbird was back…took more photos, still crummy! Stokes guide says they do not come to feeders (no feeder symbol) but this guy seems interested in the suet…they winter in FL so maybe he needs fuel before heading north...

Finally, a thank you to Laurence B. for the info re: my "chipping sparrow" that you believe is actually a  morphing palm warbler! Woo-hoo! I thought it was "off" for a chipping…looked up many images on Google and it does match the morph male palm warbler, which winters in FL.

This shot's blurry, obviously…but you can see the reddish-brown patch under the gray catbird's tail...

And there's the black skull cap...

…Does it just figure my clearest shot is of the back side...

Along came a Carolina chickadee while I was trying to capture the catbird…you can see the mealworm feeder above it…all crumbs…someone's eating them but not the bluebird, ARG! At least, not as far as I know…I've seen other birds checking it out.

Who Let the Birds Out?!

Spring has definitely sprung in the kingdom of feathered frolickers…I barely posted about my long over-due ID of an Eastern bluebird, (seen on a power line, during a walk) when lo and behold, I looked out the window at the feeder pole and there sat a bluebird! I was even able to dash for the camera, which sits at the ready on the guest bed near the window…and get one shot before it zipped away. 

The following pictures were taken on two different days during a very short period of time...

I would think this is a female...

Not to be overlooked, finally a goldfinch sighting…I was beginning to wonder if I'd missed them this year...

I'm a bit thrilled to say, the Carolina wrens have become braver and less scarce at the feeders…this one didn't mind sharing with a pine warbler (r), even...

I saw four blue jays coming and going from the feeders at the same time…

The Carolina chickadees are appearing…no mistaking their distinct call…

But they're hard to capture…and fairly scarce...

I couldn't resist this shot through the lattice-top fence...

My guess is that this is a chipping sparrow, morphing from winter to summer coloring…

Update: A fellow birder, Laurence, feels this is a morphing palm warbler, pointing out the narrow bill…I would have to agree, the bill's too narrow for a sparrow. I've compared it to images online and it does match a palm warbler. Thank you Laurence!

…A female yellow-rumped warbler...

…And a male, hiding in a leaf-sprouting tree near the feeders...

…Up in the newly-leafed maple tree, a male No. cardinal waits for a turn at the feed…

At the front of the house, in the next-door neighbor's driveway, some serious drama unfolded…

One No. mockingbird gives the stink-eye to another…

…followed by strutting and posturing...

…Moments later, a kerfuffle!

…A blurry kerfuffle….

Until someone squawks, "I give!" and plays dead...

…Followed by more kerfuffling…

Now was this males being territorial,

Or a mating ritual?!

I hope the former, yeesh!

…Yet another new visitor…not very welcomed, either! An American crow checking out the base of the feeder pole…it didn't eat or even peck at a thing...

…While up above in a neighbor's pine tree, another crow looked on. The Stokes guide says they come to feeders. Please tell me this is NOT going to happen! N-o-o-o-o! It's bad enough I have to put up with the hoggish, couch potato mourning doves. Ack!

This, That, and A Positive ID!

I thought I'd try to post about every 2 weeks, but HELLO! It's been a month since my last post. My bad?! Anyway, some new birds for the year's count have been sighted -- no photos dang it! -- and one, just this morning during my stroll around the 'hood, is also my first positive ID of….drum roll please… the Eastern bluebird! Oh yay! I've seen this "mystery" bird a few times over the past year-ish, but every time I saw it, it was an overcast day and I could not, no matter how hard I squinted, actually make out the color blue. ARG! Today, I saw BLUE! What other bird has the russet "bib" and white belly? I was like 99.9% sure it was the bluebird but me being me, I HAD to see that pretty blue top-side before claiming I'd sighted one.

Also, a couple days ago, also during my morning walk, I spotted not one but two pileated woodpeckers! I spotted one in a neighbor's pine tree last year, and one at the WA Oaks Gardens State Park as well. Gotta love that 'do! These two were near each other, about 2-3 houses apart, so am wondering if they were a pair. They were both hammering, or I'd never have seen them...

I just have to mention that I received a book in the mail the other day, from my 90 year old, dear dad. He sent me his copy of A Field Guide to Western Birds by Peterson. The point of my mentioning this is that this particular edition is copyrighted 1941; the newest edition is 2010. The book arrived the day after I'd spotted the two pileated woodpeckers…there was a small note tucked into the book like a bookmark…the page it was tucked into happens to be page 104, under the Pileated Woodpecker…!

Oh, also seen recently…the first batch of wild turkeys!

A thank you goes to Bob P. for helping me with the correct ID on my previous post…the small tern is a Forster's not the common tern, which isn't so common it turns out…at least not in FL...

Ok, on to some photos…mostly blurry due to taking them through a window…

The birds are eating us out of house and home…and, we now have a male downy woodpecker visiting the suet feeder! I saw him 1-2x last year, but he has been showing up occasionally this early spring on a fairly regular basis.  :-D

The pine warblers had been scarce lately, but seem to be making a come-back…they're here year-round technically at least…

I ran out of suet Wed., the day before I went grocery shopping, and after watching several birds at the empty feeder, I felt guilty enough to make my own suet, ha! The Carolina wrens sure seemed to like it…I even had two at once at the feeder. They are definitely becoming more brave at the feeders this year vs. last year when they were very skittish and scarce.

You know it's spring when the squirrels start pigging out on the maple tree seeds! And I mean PIG OUT…they don't quit until the seeds are all gone, just like the robins and the red berries. Last year, we worried whether the tree would still grow leaves…this front yard tree is still leafless but the back yard, larger maple has it's new leaves.


We have been to the beach since my last post…

Is it me or does this hunkered down pelican look like a feathered football?!

There was a large cluster of sea birds, including a few immature brown pelicans…this one has a leg band…

…Lots of laughing gulls, which are getting their solid black "helmets" back for summer…in case you're wondering why they're called laughing gulls, well just try hanging out for a few minutes with a flock of them…they don't shut up, and they sound kind of like they're laughing when they squawk at each other. Which is constantly. OY! Just another fun day at the beach!