Long-tails, Palms, and Swallows

A trip this week to Brunswick, Maine, provided my first opportunity to photograph Long-tailed Ducks. A pair was close to the rocky shore and we could see the "purpose" of the drake's long tail feathers. As the hen followed him, he wagged his long tail ...

Long-tailed Duck

It was an impressive display, and one that enabled the hen to assess his qualities as a mate.

Long-tailed Duck - drake displaying his long tail

 She must have been impressed. When he flew, she followed ...

Long-tailed Duck - hen takes flight

A morning of birding at Florida Lake in Freeport yielded many early migrant songbirds, highlighted by Palm Warblers ...

Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler

Migration is concluded for Tree Swallows; they were consumed with courtship and the swallow equivalent of foreplay ...

Tree Swallows

Tree Swallows

Good birding!!

Heinz NWR Today - Swallows, et alia

The snow this past weekend was Winter's last gasp - or so folks in Philadelphia hope. Remains to be seen what winter may still have in mind in Vermont, but in Philly the snow is gone, the sun in beginning to warm the world, and it feels like Spring.

At Heinz NWR it was the first true Spring day this year. Or at least, the Tree Swallows certainly think it is Spring and time to be about the business of renting accommodations and getting hooked up for the season ...

Tree Swallows

In the process, they provided this pent-up photographer several good photo ops ...

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Spring and Fall, Heinz has been a dependable place for the Rusty Blackbird, a bird whose numbers are in serious decline and one that has most often eluded me in New England ...

Rusty Blackbird

Great Egrets are arriving in greater numbers and in full plumage splendor, although this individual is a bit drawn in on him/herself ...

Great Egret

Additional images from the day, just because ...

Great Blue Heron

And finally, along the Wissahickon Creek, apparently not all Wood Ducks are paired up. These four bachelors were harassing one hen, although it is difficult to know whether she was annoyed by the attention, or relishing in it ...

Wood Ducks - 4 drakes & 1 hen (and one Mallard)

Good Birding!!

More Spring !!

I continue to be delighted that Evening Grosbeaks have returned to the vicinity after disappearing in the aftermath of last year's hurricane and flooding. At least two pair seem to be courting and hopefully will nest nearby.

Evening Grosbeak - male

Evening Grosbeak - female (background: Red-winged Blackbird female)

This has been an abundant year for American Goldfinches. Their cousins, the Pine Siskins, have also been common at the feeders, sometimes as many as a dozen or more ...

American Goldfinch

Pine Siskin

Chipping Sparrows returned two weeks ago. A few morning I have heard their vocal dueling through the bedroom window as early as 5 am.

Chipping Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow in the bird bath is one of those "just because I like it" photos ...

White-throated Sparrow - white morph

With the females returning, the Red-winged Blackbirds are no longer hiding their epaulets, but are "singing," displaying, and chasing rivals with vigor ...

Red-winged Blackbird

... and finally, for the last month I have been trying to get photos of the Tree Swallow in flight, with several hundred failures. Then a few days ago, I had several credible successes. Here is one ...

Tree Swallow

Good Birding!!

Ducklings, Swallows, and more ...

The last two mornings I have visited Heinz NWR in Philadelphia. The early signs of Spring were everywhere.

One surprise was the family of very young Mallard ducklings. Mom got a very early start on the nesting season ...

Mallard ducklings - Mom is close behind

Tree Swallows were abundant over the water and fully engaged in courtship and in staking claim to nesting boxes ...

Tree Swallows

Tree Swallow

A few early Spring migrants were present. Photos ops were provided by a Pine Warbler and Eastern Phoebe ...

Pine Warbler

Eastern Phoebe

Carolina Wrens were all along the trails and in full-throated splendor ...

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

When the two mornings finally warmed up, Cabbage Whites flitted over the many wildflowers, and this morning I met a Box Turtle out for a leisurely stroll ...

Cabbage White

Box Turtle

The best thing about this early Spring birding in Philadelphia is that when I go home to Vermont in a couple of days, I will have early Spring birding all over again!

Sun and Love

There has been little sunshine, but in the bushes nearby, pieces of the sun are flashing and singing ...

Yellow Warbler

Nearby a young man serenaded a young lady in the next bush, though it must be said that our kind would not be much impressed with the weak peeps that he offered as song, but what do we know? ...

Tree Swallow

He tried his best to get her attention ...

Tree Swallow

Good birding!

Luck and Patience

I am learning that luck and patience are key ingredients to bird photography. Here are one instance of luck, and two of patience.

Veerys sing along our river but I rarely see one. On a gray day in mid-June, I was with a group on Hogback Mountain and had excellent looks at a Veery, but due to the distance of the bird, my photos were indifferent. A couple of days later, I returned to the spot in hopes that I could improve on the photos. I heard the Veery in many spots, but never had a glimpse of one. At one point, I wandered from the trail to a forest opening near where I thought I had heard one singing. I pished quietly a few times. Almost immediately, this Hermit Thrush appeared, stayed still, and sang for me ...

That same afternoon, I went to a neighbor's field where a pair Great-crested Flycatchers had claimed one of his nest boxes. I put my camera on a tripod, attached the remote button, then sat for an hour in the grass in the hot sun as the birds went to and from the nest box ...

When I had enough of the sun, I moved to a shady spot and focused on a nest box where Tree Swallows were feeding young, and waited for the arrival of the parents ...

Good birding!