Adventures in Birding

#117-122

Saturday I headed to Landingville and I almost didn't get out of the car because it was so foggy! (I thought if I traveled farther South, maybe it wouldn't be so foggy but it was worse than at home!) Once I got out, though, I heard #117, Wood Thrush (my favorite song!) and #118, Ovenbird.



I made my way around and I didn't get many photos because of the fog (well, not photos of birds. There were lots of spiderwebs to photograph!) and I heard, #119, Black-throated Green Warbler and spotted #119, Grey Catbird sitting on a branch singing. Oh, and I also heard #120, American Bittern while I was there, though it took me a while to realize what I was hearing! They have a really strange sound.

At Locust Lake, I met up with a group of birders in the middle of a guided walk and we saw #121, Black-throated Blue Warbler! (One lucky birder also spotted a Northern Waterthrush, but most of us didn't see it. Those waterthrushes are really eluding me this year!)

On Sunday, I went on a guided bird walk at Nescopeck State Park, one of my favorite places. I didn't get any new species, but I think my sister got quite a few and we got a really good look at a Black-throated Green Warbler!

Today I had my first #122, Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my feeder! The warblers are a little later than usual this year, but within one week, I expect to see lots of them!

Meanwhile, I have lots of other birds and critters to see and photograph!

Western Conifer Seed Bug   (It crawled onto my camera today when I had it set up on a tripod to try to get a photo of the hummingbird)

Tree Swallow taking flight   It can be tough to take "interesting" photos of birds that you see all the time. I like this one!

Green Heron   I learned my lesson from the last time I spotted this guy! Last time, I stopped suddenly and he flew off! This time, I kept moving a little past him and tried to sort of hide behind some trees and bushes while I took the photo.

Eastern Hognose Snake   My first snake! Well, my first when I was out on my own. I saw the same kind of snake on a guided walk once. They're kind of adorable once you realize they're harmless! They puff themselves up and hiss like a cobra! But they'll also play dead as a defense tactic.

No Indigo Buntings yet, but the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (there are two males now!) are stopping by my feeder multiple times per day now!