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Here and There…Now and Then |
Baltimore Oriole
As an illustrative photo this isn’t much but seeing an oriole (Icterus galbula) is rare enough that any photo that catches the color is pretty cool, in my book. I got two others of it on a branch but it’s mostly hidden by the branch. I could hear it singing after it flew to a different tree so I have hopes of seeing it again.
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
I took a little walk at lunch time today, around my building and then into the woods. There is a tree that fell across the stream a year and a half ago and I’m still able to get across on that. One of these days it’s going to collapse under me, but so far, it’s been alright. There are a few drainage ponds on the upper part of the property and they have water in them now, even though our April was dryer than normal. I saw a bird across the pond and as if flew off I was able to get two pictures of it. Judging by its size and shape and with only a very brief glance at it, I had thought it was a killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). Once I saw the picture, though, I knew that was wrong. After a little searching, I decided it was a solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), migrating to its summer breeding grounds in the far north (entirely north of the USA/Canada border). As usual when it comes to identifying birds, I checked with George to see if he thought I was right. He did.
Robin Chicks
About a month ago a pair of American robins (Turdus migratorius) built a next under our front porch. I tried to discourage them, but they kept at it. I realized it was pointless to resist and they are almost done with it now, in any case. They flew off whenever we went in or out of the house, of course, but now the chicks are about two weeks old and ready to fledge. In fact, I took this picture in the morning with all three chicks in the nest. When I came home later today there was one standing on the edge of the nest and the other two had flown. Later in the evening the third was gone, as well, and the next has been abandoned, having served its purpose.
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
After church Cathy and I went to Stadler Nursury in Laytonsville. On the way we happened to pass the Montgomery County Agricultural Farm Park. There were three large birds walking across the grass a little way in from the entrance and it was three female turkeys. I pulled in but they had moved into the deep grass before I was able to get my camera out and get a picture of them. They would have been small in the picture, anyway. When we went to turn around a little further in this male tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) was sitting on the sign just outside Cathy’s window. I got the camera ready and was able to get two pictures before he flew off. What a pretty little bird.
Molothrus ater (Brown-headed Cowbird)
This isn’t as sharp a picture as I’d like but it’s what I was able to get today. Actually, I got pictures of three different birds today. This one, of a brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) in the birdbath, a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and a House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). The wren picture is sharper but I thought I had a better chance of re-photographing the wren, so I went with this one. The lack of sharpness is partially due to the low light and the fact that I had to crop the image to get this close, but a small part is due to the movement of the bird. As you can see by the water droplets in the air all around the bird, it is shaking water off of itself, taking a bath.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
The American robins (Turdus migratorius) nesting outside our front door are back to raise a second clutch. There were three in the first batch and another three now, although this photo only shows one. I don’t stay out to take pictures for very long, as that tends to keep the parents away. On the other hand, they built a next in a high traffic area and we’re not going to stop using our front door for them. They grow quite quickly and we watched the last set fledge and these three will be out before you know it. I’m thinking about doing putting something on this ledge to keep them from building another nest here next year, though. There are plenty of other nesting sites for them to use.