Adventures in Birding

#146-148

It's been an exciting week!

On Sunday afternoon, I thought I saw a flash of bright orange in a neighbor's tree. There's really only one bird we have that color, so I kept an eye on my yard. I put orange halves out and something had been eating them. I thought it was the Gray Catbird, as I had a few of those last year eating oranges. Then I spotted a Baltimore Oriole   in my yard eating oranges!

I went for a walk at Locust Lake on Tuesday and I heard #146, Wood Pewee, and spotted #147, a Bank Swallow. They're very similar to a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, but I got a good look at it through my binoculars. Thankfully, it landed on the ground and sat still for a little bit! Swallows don't typically do that!

This morning I took a long walk at Tuscarora State Park, one of my favorite parks. I saw a bunch of good birds (still no Louisiana Waterthrush):

Blue-headed Vireo  

Veery  

Pileated Woodpecker  

I almost went home, but I thought I'd check out another quick trail first. That's where I spotted #148, Scarlet Tanager  ! I usually see one every year, but this was by far my best photo! They're usually high up in the trees but this one flew a bit closer. Actually there were two males and a little later, I also saw female!

I can't believe I'm almost at 150 birds! Last year I saw 137 for the entire year! I'm having a good year!