Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Memorial Weekend - Sunday 5/26/13

With the sun coming up early I decided to travel down to Ohio and head on to Magee Marsh.  I figured one more trip in the month of May couldn't hurt.  When I got there - there weren't very many cars but as the morning progressed the people started heading in.  As usual everyone had their "hot spots".  There were a lot of American Redstarts (female) and someone had mentioned they hoped to see a male, but I was there 4 hours and never saw one.  But I did see these and a few others:
 
American Redstart (female)

 
House Wren

 
Common Yellowthroat

 
Canada Warbler

 
Warbling Vireo

 
Wilson Warbler

 
Magnolia Warbler

 
Northern Water-thrush
 
This was pretty much my trip, even if I hadn't seen a bird, walking this boardwalk is really something.  Til my next post.

Memorial Weekend - Saturday 5/25

Since the weather didn't look all that great on Saturday I decided to just stay in the area. So I stopped off at Lake Erie Metro Park to see what might be on the outside rim of the trail before heading over to Robert's Road.  The only bird out there was a Yellow Warbler.

When I drove down Reaume to reach Roberts Road I happened upon this little beauty, an Indigo Bunting.
 
This was about all that was out there that day.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Magee Marsh - 5/19/2013

I had planned on going to Magee Marsh on Saturday but when I got up (even though the weather was suppose to be nice) it smelled like rain.  So I decided to make the trip this morning. The trip was worth taking. There was a lot of activity with a few that were a little cooperative.


American Red-start (female)


Black-throat Green Warbler


Canada Warbler


Magnolia Warbler


Prothonotary Warbler


Wilson Warbler
 
It was a good day.  Til my next post.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

A Quiet Weekend - 5/4/13

With the Big Week down in Ohio I decided to just go to my usual spots.  A stop at LEMP, down to Haggerman Road to see if I can catch a Savannah Sparrow, a Horned Lark and whatever else might be in the field.  On my way down Jefferson - as I drive past the quarry I see a nest resting on a power line.  As I get closer I can see a head popping up from the nest, an Osprey. On the other side of the road her mate eating a fish.


I continue on to Haggerman  and the off to Reaume and Roberts Road.  No activity in the little driveway on Reaume so I headed down to the gate at the end of Roberts Road.  There I parked the car and walked down the little road and watched what ducks that were out there and the Forster Terns flying and diving into the water to grab a catch.  There was a Song Sparrow that sits in the tree right there at the gate.  Poking through the yellow foliage you can spot something yellow moving.  He's camouflaged really well but eventually you can see the red stripes of the Yellow Warbler.  In a tree, very high up sits a bird singing, the bird isn't clear for me from the ground so I try to grab a couple of shots.  They weren't very good shots but they were good enough to identify it as a second year male Baltimore Oriole.  With nothing else happening I decide to head over to LEMP.

There was a lot of chatter on the trail by the Museum.  A couple of Downy Woodpeckers building a nest trying to keep a House Wren out of the tree.  A couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers diligently putting their nest together.  At first when I saw this bird land in the tree it just looked like a knot in the fork of the branch but as I walked around the tree I could see it clearly was a nest.


After walking around the trail I took the short path back to where I saw the Downy Woodpeckers.  I watched both of them fit into a hole that looked like it was only the size of a quarter.





That was it for my weekend.  Until my next post.

Monday, April 29, 2013

A Morning At Magee - 4/26

I haven't liked driving a great distance for a couple of years now, but Saturday I bit the bullet.  With the BIG Weekend coming up I thought that Saturday would be a good day to drive down to Magee Marsh. The weather was perfect and although the sun was shining there were times when a beamer would have been great to have.  There was a lot of activity and of course a few missed shots.  But the ones that I did get - well I can't really complain.  As long as there is a photo of one bird that you've never photographed before - the day is a good one.  Here's just a few of my shots of the day.
 
This Black-throated Green Warbler was a first for me

 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

 
Palm Warbler

 
Ovenbird

 
White-eyed Vireo was a first for me as well


These are just a few of the birds that I was able to photograph on Saturday.  It was a good day. 
Until my next post.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

First Quarter In Review 2013

It's been a while since I decided to go out to do some birding.  I hadn't looked at my blog in months.  But over the past couple of months I have been out , no place special just the usual places that I would frequent.  So I've decided to get back into it again. Because I actually have missed photographing what's out there.

In January I decided to go down to Hagerman Road and then to the Quarry.  On Hagerman I was able to get photos of the Horned Lark and a surprisingly shot of a Lap-land Longspur.  On Reaume there have been three Red-tail Hawks sitting in the trees tot he right, one usually by itself and the other two side-by-side.  As you reach Roberts Road  there is a what looks like a little driveway.  Here you will find Song Sparrows, a White-throat Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, and abundance of Black-capped Chickadees and Cardinals, and one little Tuft Titmouse.  Throw out seed, they will come.



February surprised me with a Pheasant  (hen) that I spotted walking along side the fragmites on Reaume near Roberts Road.  As quick as she appeared that's how fast she disappeared back in the reeds.  With nothing else happening I went off to Lake Erie Metro Park to walk the trail along the river near the boat launch.  There I found a Bald Eagle who didn't seem to be bothered buy anyone, not even the couple that decided to gedown to the shore and get photos of him from under him. I had been told that the Great Horned Owl was spotted in that area so I continued my walk down to the boardwalk where I did see him and managed to catch the Great Horned Owl sitting about four trees out. 

In March after hitting the usual spots I decided to take Roberts Road down to the gate.  Since there was nothing there I headed back.  I wasn't sure why I went down that way there's hasn't been anything down there all winter but the trip back up the road made me glad I did it.  A Ring-necked Pheasant came out of the woods just taking his sweet old time crossing the road.  I approached him with as much caution as you can get while in a car.  At one point he looked like he was going to bolt on me so I stopped moving and so did he.  Before stopping I turned my vehicle on an angle just in case. When he stopped I was able to stick my head out the window and get a dozen good shots of him.  Unfortunately as he headed to the other side of the street he stopped and I decided to try and get out of the vehicle but like his mate (I hope) he disappeared. I couldn't believe the colors on this guy.

 
With it getting close to lunch time I decided to head on home so I could take a look at my photos  Until my next post, have a good day.