Wildlife Sightings (Image heavy)

[crazyfingers]

Combination of crappy weather and real life I have not posted in a while. Here are some from the last few weeks.

The Cottontail still visits the yard.


There were a pack of goldfinches at the town lake. I'd guess 6-8. Here are a few.


Mr. Toad. Not sure if it's the same who no longer visits the hole in the wall. The umbrella handle provides some scale.


Possibly a different Mr. Toad has a divot under the rhododendrons that it sits in.


Blue Jay. Lots of blue jays around. They rarely sit out in the open or sit too long. Difficult birds to photograph.




Turkey Vulture at the soccer field today.


I have never seen so many wood ducks. At the pond by the soccer field there were at least 30, maybe 40. Over twenty in these two photos.




A couple of Canada Geese. Eyeing me while wishing for a snooze.

[crazyfingers]

I made it to the state park today. Not a bad day out. The wildlife is picking up.

A great blue and some mallards at a great distance away.


A Killdeer on some mud




There were several Eastern Phoebe's swooping down on bugs over the mud. Here's one that landed on a small bush in the mud.


Turtles


Birds in Flight are hard but this Blue Jay was going back and forth across a field so I gave it a try.


Not up on my fish. No idea what it is except that it's not a sunfush. It was probably 4-5 inches long.


Chipmunk


More turtles


I think that this is lesser yellowlegs.

[crazyfingers]

I believe this is a Solitary Sandpiper.


Lifer today. Male and Female Rusty Blackbird

Male Rusty Blackbird



Female

[crazyfingers]

I made it out again today to the bud flat. Same birds as yesterday except for one new lifer for me. An American Pipit. On migration. I'll need to get to the mud flats as much as I can this fall. Two new lifers in two days at that spot.

[crazyfingers]

From a few days ago, house finches enjoying my cedar tree.



American Robins also enjoying my cedar tree. There have been great numbers of robins about.


Today the rock pigeons were flocking and flying about back and forth by a pond.


After watching them for around 10 minutes just going back and forth a hawk showed up. The pigeons flew higher and closed into a tight flock and eventually left. Here is a photo up higher and tighter formation. The hawk is the bird flying out of sync.


Two turtles on a rock even though it was quite chilly today. I think that they are red-eared sliders.


At the state park this appears to be a river otter. There were two. I was not able to get much of a good shot. This was the best.


Just missed..


At the swan pond the news is that a new male has moved in and taken over the female from the older male. I can't tell one from the other but the old lady who has been watching for years says the new male has chased the old male away.


Here is the old male. He's afraid to go near the pond. It says in the old lady's yard where she feeds him.

[Arctish]

of Northern Red-backed vole (my cat understands plating).

[Mediancat]

From Irvine Nature Center: a mockingbird.



A common buckeye.



Bunny!



Red-backed salamander.



Eastern phoebe.



Chipping sparrow.



Bluebird.



Tufted titmouse.



Pair of Carolina chickadees.



And finally, a second bluebird.



Rob

[Mediancat]

From Sandy Point State Park, a white-tailed deer with antlers newly forming.



A clouded sulphur.



A greater black-backed gull -- a lifer.



Another greater black-backed gull, and a great blue heron, in the waters of the Chesapeake. First time I've seen a heron in an area with significant waves.



A monarch butterfly.



A pair of painted turtles:



And a pair of mallards.



At Lake Roland Park today, a crow:



And a yellow-rumped warbler.



I was happy to see so many insects, reptiles and amphibians; I'm going by the assumption that I'm about to lose them for the next five months or so, discounting the occasional bee or water strider.

Rob

[crazyfingers]

I only got out for a short bit today. A hike to the other side of the Swan Pond. I don't go here often because there are no real trails to get to the water and views of the water are few. There is really only one spot.



Lots of critters out there.
Not worth posting were all the Canada Geese. There was a cormorant. Tons of mallards.

Of more interest were the wood ducks. It was hard getting even this shot.


I accidentally spooked them and off they flew.


One went by for a pretty good shot.


I saw only one American Coot


A Bufflehead


There were at least 100 ring neck ducks. All so far from shore.


Back on the other side, the old male Mute swan is still living in the old woman's yard, afraid to go to the pond.

[crazyfingers]

Nice series Rob. I think my season is farther along. Migration is on. There were snow flurries today and it's supposed to get down to 24F tonight. Already below freezing as I type this.

[Mediancat]

By the way, I never congratulated you on the two lifers. I've never seen either a rusty blackbird or a pipit.

These critters are from over the weekend. From the Gwynnbrook pond, here's a ruby-crowned kinglet.



And here's a cardinal.



From Lake Roland (formerly Robert E. Lee) park, here's a water strider.



Here's a great blue heron, perched a good 75 feet above the water.



Here's a yellow-rumped warbler.



And here's a red-bellied woodpecker.



And from Irvine nature center, here's a tufted titmouse.



A white-throated sparrow -- my first sighting of the year. I also saw my first dark-eyed juncos of the season, but they darted out of sight before I could take a shot.



A slightly late-leaving eastern phoebe.



And a bluebird.



Rob

[Arctish]

A couple of visitors to my feeders:

A Pine Grosbeak



and a Hairy Woodpecker



.

[Mediancat]

Awesome woodpecker and grosbeak, Arctish.

Some pics from last week. from the Gwynnbrook pond, a red-bellied woodpecker.



A bluebird.



And a downy woodpecker.



from Irvine, a spotted cucumber beetle:



A tufted titmouse:



And a carolina chickadee.



And fro, Lake Roland, a trio of mallards.



A white-throated sparrow.



A boxelder bug.



And, to my surprise, a pair of red-eared sliders.



Rob

[crazyfingers]

It's been a while for me. Combo of not getting out much and not a lot of interesting critters.

From several weeks ago a Chipmunk.


Wood frog


Downy woodpecker loves to pound on this dead flower stock. I don't know if there are bugs or he just likes to make the seed pods rattle. He has no interest in the seeds that fall.


Yesterday at the state park, some mallards.


Mallards an some American Black Ducks


American Black Ducks


Ring neck ducks


Dragonflies are still out


Ring Bill Gull


And the Junkos have returned for the season.

[Mediancat]

never seen a wood frog. Cool.

From trips to Lake Roland, Irvine, and the National Wildlife Visitors Center.

From Lake Roland, a song sparrow.



And a gray catbird enjoying a bath.



From irvine, my first dark-eyed junco of the year.



A single monarch butterfly. There was a cabbage white there as well, but it was elusive.



A lead morph of a red-backed salamander.



A mockingbird. This one practically posed.



And a pair of mockingbirds, silhouetted against the sky.



From the National Wildlife Visitors Center, a bluebird.



And I think these are the same dragonflies you have above: They're a late-flying species called the autumn meadowhawk.





Rob

[crazyfingers]

Ya I think they are the same dragonflies. There were lots around. Both the state park and the old soccer field.

[crazyfingers]

While I've been out in the woods and at the park several time that activity has been really low. I've not had a lot of good photos so far this fall.

Nov 13 a regular old crow at the swan pond.


Nov 21, A northern cardinal at the old soccer field.


Nov 21, some Buffleheads at the swan pond.


A chickadee looking for seeds in a gone to seed plant fluff


Today at the state park I heard a ruckis of crows so zoomed in across the field. At 650 feet away a crow and a red-tail hawk. There was a second crow out of of view.

They flew off.


They were in the tree in the center across the field.


Back home the feeder is back in action.
A goldfinch


Female House sparrow.


Nuthatch

[Mediancat]

From Irvine Nature center:

A bluebird.



A mockingbird.



And a downy woodpecker.



From the Gwynnbrook pond, a chipping sparrow:



Another downy woodpecker:



And a Carolina wren. The wren was part of a mated pair. They were calling back and forth to each other with different songs, one musical, one more like a ratatat. It was cool to watch. When I got home read up and found out the male and female have different songs.



From a small pond in PA, a ring-necked duck. There was a small flock.



And from Sandy Point State Park, a greater black-backed gull.



A Canada goose with angel wing.



And a yellow-rumped warbler.



Rob
And from Sandy Point State Park.

[crazyfingers]

Haven't seen a mockingbird for a long time. Odd.

[crazyfingers]

I've been out a lot but haven't taken many photos that were worth posting. There has not been much around except for geese and mallards.

But today at the swan pond I got a lifer.

American Wigeon.

[crazyfingers]

Finishing of 2015 animals. Besides the American Widgen above not a lot interesting has been happening. I've been out a lot but the large volumes of migrating birds seem not to arrived. A few here and there not not many.

Dec 12 a Turkey Vulture. They largely leave for the winder. Probably my last signing until spring.


December 25 a Ring Neck Duck. They are still very scarce. Haven't seen one since.


Canada Goose on Dec 26.


Dec 26 a juvenile mute swan with a Canada goose in the background.


Here is that American Wigeon


Dec 27, this mute swan was flying out of the swan pond and the two pair were watching it go. I think it's the older male that the younger make chased away and took his mate. Mute swans are so large they make a lot of wing noise when they fly.


Dec 30, of all the common winter visitors I've seen Buffleheads the most. They are very small and usually stay well out away from people. This is a pretty close shot for these little guys.


Yesterday, January 1, I went to a place by the ocean. These look like Common Eiders.


A surf Scoter. For me it's very rare to see these.


This looks like a female surf scoter.


I hope that as the season gets colder that more interesting critters show up. Sure has been slow so far.

[crazyfingers]

I finally got an interesting set of photos this weekend. The red-bellied woodpecker is preparing his nest hole for the spring. The hole is actually a few feet below the hole from last year which is normal behavior for these birds.

[Mediancat]

From a trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. I got three lifers, including these snow geese.



and these tundra swans.



A flock of tundra swans and snow geese.



And the final life bird: American white pelican. There were a few dozen present.



A bald eagle.



To my shock, a snapping turtle.



A great blue heron.



A bluebird, monarch of all he surveys.



An American kestrel -- first time I've ever gotten a shot ofo ne.



And a red-tailed hawk.



Rob

[crazyfingers]

Very nice! I don't have any of the three lifers you got. Nor do I have an American kestrel. It looks almost spring there. Today here it's been snowing all day but not so fast that I can't keep up.

Kids had Friday and today (Monday) off school.

[Mediancat]

Another trip to Blackwater. Three lifers.

The day before, I saw this kingfisher at Lake roland.



At Blackwater, my first lifer: these two northern shovelers.



A pair of bluebirds.



There were literally thousands of Canada geese flying overhead.



Turkey vultures took over an eagle nesting box. There were so many on the box these two were forced to loiter below.



This is the second lifer: A savannah sparrow.



I got a good closeup of this great blue heron, showing actual blue.



And then a decent shot of it flying away.



Then a pair of screaming bald eagles.



And the third and final lifer: These northern pintails.



Rob