DYST

We're now into the Did-You-See-That period, lots of enthusiastic birders trying to spot the special migrating bird and then sharing information. This is wonderful scientifically, ad hoc ornothology. Who's here?, when? where?....... but it can get seriously intense. I want to watch behavior. It's nice when something special is seen, but I really like to watch what a bird or animal is doing. And I love the bird songs. The photo challenge is something else. The tiny birds don't stay still. They flit around. They hide in the leaves, behind branches. I won't use flash on general principle, so wait and watch. Some of the best moments don't make good pictures, but those images get implanted in my heart.

The black-and-white warbler, always hard to photograph as it scurries around trees, up, down, around. It's easy to identify for obvious reasons.
I had only ever seen the Louisiana water thrush working along the edge of the upper Gill in the mud. I'd never seen it out in the open. I'd never seen the sunlight show its nice pink legs. In my mind the water thrush was a plodder. I'd never seen it fly.

Then it flew towards Bow Bridge. I was startled that it flew. Of course it flew! It didn't walk here from wherever it wintered. Pretty bird.

One of the ultimate hard-to-photograph birds, the twitchy kinglet, tiny, busy, no time to stop or rest. I love kinglets. They'll work the ground in September, but for now they're flitting in the bushes, bush babies.

I love this bird, the yellow rump warbler, easy to ID, it's self-"tagged".

The palm wabler works the ground, tail twitching, also easy to ID.

This was too funny. The robin challenged me, faced off, bent down, flaired tail, gave me the evil eye. Why?? Maybe I was standing on his worm. Maybe I looked like competition. Maybe he didn't like my red shoes. There was no question about his behavior. Get out of my way!!! This was a good 10 second face-off.

There's other news and lots more images to post. Northern parula high in the tree tops singing. Towhees, winter wren. There are 4 baby squirrels, not 3. I suspect that tree is a squirrel condo, because there were about 8 squirrels of various ages working the outside of the tree and immediate ground , none fully mature. More to follow.

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