Friday, May 24, 2013

Cotoneaster

There's a certain rightness when the pink blossoms appear. I need to see this. It warms my soul.  I even saw a hummer sipping the buds way in the back of the patch.  The only bird I didn't see this time was the rosebreasted grosbeak. It also likes the cotoneaster.  I suspect I missed its visit.
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Thursday, May 23, 2013

End of May approaching

Pretty soon the migration will end.   I've never seen warblers in June.  It's always fun to watch the ovenbird plod along.
                                                The ballet of the black-and-white warbler
One blue headed vireo
                                     The male black-throated blue warbler,  singing for a bit.
If ever there was a DON'T TAKE MY PICTURE expression this is it.
Worm eater warbler.
Great crested flycatcher,.. not exactly cooperative.
"Bandito",  the common yellow throat
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Brats

Of course I was looking for warblers along with everyone else, but when I heard the familiar ROAR of the young starlings I had to go investigate.  The babies are a fun subject, - yell, yell, yell. And the parents feed in a nanosecond. They don't even really shove the food down the gullet.  These babies are tracking movement.  They watch bugs crawling outside the nest hole, but don't yet nibble those bugs. If the parent doesn't get the food down the chute that food sits in the "mouth".  They don't know what to do with it. Chances are the food will fall.   I watched for over an hour. The transfer of food is a hard photo subject. It's blitz fast.  I would have watched longer, but it was warm and horribly humid. I know the starlings are brats, but I enjoy them.
The food is sitting in baby's mouth.   It doesn't know what to do with it.
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