Choir Practice

OK, it was a busy, busy day - I got in a few minutes of photography this morning, but have been on the go since. So, I decided to post this picture - it's a favorite in my store. I was up really late one night looking for something for a customer, and I kept coming across images of birds with their mouths open. The thought occurred that they looked like they were singing in a choir, so I just put them in a choir! (Thank you, Adobe.)...with the bluebird conducting! It's kind of hard to see at this size and resolution, but it's a lot of fun. I hope you get a smile from it.

"Life is a song; sing it!"
Sai Baba

Virginia is for Lovers

If you've ever been to Virginia, you've no doubt seen posters, shirts, license plates, and all sorts of things with our little slogan "Virginia is for Lovers." I thought this might be a fun post.

Hope you all enjoyed it!

Changes

April is almost over, and there have been some changes in my backyard during this month. Some of my winter friends left:

Juncos

Purple Finches

White-throated Sparrows

Some passed through:

Hermit Thrush

White-crowned Sparrow

And some are back:

Gray Catbirds

Brown Thrashers

Chipping Sparrows

And - Baby Bluebirds!!

2008 Brood 1, Day 2

Every day is different and exciting.

Every month has its own special beauty.

"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."

Henry David Thoreau

Have a Cigar!

Hallelulia! 3 babies survived and fledged from the "bottle." I have no idea whether there were more eggs than that - maybe not; my pair are 6 years old. Anyway, after the house sparrow harassing the bluebirds and trying to steal the nestbox (nestbottle?? lol) , yesterday we had 3 beautiful little ones fly out. (The bottle has come down!) We saw all three of them this morning, but two were hidden in the foliage.

Mama and baby.

Little fat thing!

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."
Carl Sandburg

I have turned off word verification on my blog because it seems the letters are getting too difficult to decipher (I thought it was supposed to foil robots!) I have enabled comment moderation instead, hoping it will have the same effect of blocking spam.

Saturday Off

I didn't have to work today. We went to watch our grandson play flag football, then went out for lunch. Then back here to see what visitors we might have out back.Mockingbird photos are usually pretty much alike, but I just liked this one. He looks sweet. (NOT)

Mr C. Looking beautiful.

NEW BIRD!

Then there was this nice surprise. I have never seen a white-crowned sparrow here before (Truthfully, I've never seen one at all!) He is on his way from somewhere to Canada...Very handsome, and very cooperative.

This is my best side.

Better get one of my back, for ID use.

Then late this afternoon - this!This is about 100 feet from my back door - maybe less.

He was having a feast - dove I guess.

Sorry about the gore, but he never let go - even when I got closer. The sky is blown out, but it was late afternoon, and we had to shoot directly into the sun.

Beautiful Bully

Good morning - In an attempt not to be boring, I have posted only one this morning - these guys don't sit still for their "portaits" very often - not up close any way.

Here We Go Again

Yesterday I spent some time photographing my backyard beauties - again! I never tire of it.Robins are hard for me for some reason - this one actually came out with some feather detail.

And this is my perfect little model - here in the "bird tree..."

And this one in the rododendron...

The little house finch sat for an unusually long time while I clicked away........

Then she turned the other way, and I saw why she was so still; she has a pretty severe-looking case of house finch eye disease in her left eye. She's a sick little bird - so sad.

We went out to Shenandoah Nat Park in the afternoon - still not much avian activity out there. We did get our obligatory towhees, and had a wonderful walk in the mountains and dinner at the lodge. A great trip, but will be even greater when the warblers get there!

NAME THAT BIRD!!

OK, here's a puzzle for you - this bird was in my famous "bird tree" this morning. It was stark black and white - no "light tricks" - it was as black and white as a woodpecker! It otherwise looked very much like a female red-winged BB, but there was NOTHING brown about it. Also I think it was maybe a bit larger than a RWBB. I sent the photo along to my expert, who sent it on to her experts. Nobody is sure. One guess is a bi-colored blackbird, but they are supposed to be only in CA - this is a long way from CA! Another guess is a RWBB with "color problems." Anybody game to guess?
UPDATE: The consensus is that it is an immature female red-winged blackbird, who just happens to be black and white instead of brown. It was beautiful.

Out the Window

Just a few minutes at the window yesterday yielded these..

.
Checking it out..

Backyard Bully

This was pretty amazing - The brown thrasher had an acorn and it kept rolling when he tried to crack it, so he dug a little hole, pushed it in, and then proceeded to peck away! "Bird-brain" is a misnomer.

I almost think the female cardinal is prettier than the male.

Posing -

Chipping sparrows have just gotten back.

A flash of sunshine.

Noisy..

Oh-boy...they dropped some!

Daily Dogwood.

FINALLY!

It was raining when we got up, but it stopped late in the morning, and we headed out to Occoquan NWR, on the Occoquan River. It was mid-day, but still mostly overcast, so the light wasn't too bad.

We went first down to the wetland area, which was pretty quiet. There were, of course, plenty of red-winged blackbirds, tree swallows, and Canada geese. We could hear lots of birds, but had a hard time seeing them. This glossy ibis was strutting down the path.

We were excited to see this least bittern hiding in the reeds.


The egret never came close enough to get a decent shot- have to do those in Florida!


I was really happy to see the little Virginia rail. It was little and very shy, but I was able to follow it along for a good while and get some shots...it never came out of the reeds, so it was a challenge to get a shot of the face.



Dogwoods are everywhere here - this is a pink one growing wild in the park.


The pair of osprey put on a good show for us. This is not usually "my thing" - I try to get the birds to sit nicely lol, but this was too good to pass up.




I hadn't seen barn swallows before at Occoquan. but there are plenty of sheds where they can nest. This one was either tired or just bored!


I had the good luck to spot the blue-gray gnatcatcher's nest, so we stayed there for some time, and got plenty of images of this cutie.




When we finally got to the river this pair of geese were walking down the path..As we approached, they rushed over to the grass, collected their brood (4 goslings), and jumped into the river.

It was fun - the whole trip was fun! There were lots more birds and photos, but this post is getting way too long.