Thursday, September 27, 2007

Birding in My Yard and Away

My mind has been spinning these last few days. So much is going on and I have several bird trips coming up. It's less than one month until the Cape May Autumn Weekend and the First Birder Blogger Conference. This will be my first out of state birding festival and I'm getting more excited by the day. I've started making mental lists of what I need to bring. I'm hoping to learn lots from great birders but really what excites me the most is meeting the bloggers that I've gotten to know. My air and hotel reservations are made, the car rental taken care of, and my confirmation for the weekend events came in the mail yesterday. It's not too late to join us!
Tomorrow is my birthday and Art is taking the day off work to take me birding. There are a couple of local spots that I've wanted to visit and I'm really looking forward to spending some time outdoors, just the two of us. Tomorrow evening we have a wedding to attend. It will be Art's oldest nephew and the first of our kids' generation to marry. Everyone got new outfits for the occasion. There's a dinner and dance but I won't be staying up too late because Saturday morning I'm headed up to Duluth with a group being led by Sharon the Birdchick and Stan Tekiela. If the weather is good we'll be going to the hawk banding station that Sharon's been posting about and if the weather is poor we'll check out the migration along the lake. Either way it should be a blast!


Who's this little guy? I've had lots of warblers eating insects in my back yard this last week. My frustration level goes through the roof trying to id these green/gray/yellow twitchy birds.

Maybe if I look upside down...

Ahhh... a bird I CAN id! A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers turned up yesterday. I heard their distinctive call long before I saw them. There are usually one or two that winter in my neighborhood and make frequent visits to the suet and Zick dough. Speaking of Zick dough, my local grocery store finally got their shipment of corn meal. It was impossible to find here for the last month. Any ideas why? Their warehouse said they'd heard it was because distributors were getting more for selling their corn for ethanol production.

Mmmm...tasty!

I bought enough corn meal to make Zick dough throughout the winter.

Here is a super frustrating moment in warbler watching. This grassy area was vibrating with twitchy warblers. I could not get a picture so finally I decided to focus on the yellow leaf and see if maybe a bird would hop into my focus. No luck. Or at least I didn't think so until That is I uploaded this picture and zoomed in to check it out further.

Take a picture- it lasts longer!


Look! It's another green/gray/yellow bird that I can't id!
Cute though...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I almost didn't see that warbler in the last couple of pictures. I've seen similar ones at Presque Isle, kind of an olive green color but I'm sure there are so many that are so close in color. I can never seem to get a picture of one as they just disappear. Kind of ghost-like, I see movement and a hint of color and that's about it. I bet you're going to have a wonderful time at the birding conference! I like the red-bellied woodpecter, I had one for a while but she hasn't been back for quite some time.

dguzman said...

No idea on the warbler(s); sorry! Perhaps we'll learn more at Cape May! I'm finally all set with all registrations, deposits, etc. mailed. I'm pumped!

Unknown said...

Happy almost your birthday! Or should I say birdday! :) Hope it's wonderful!

Deb said...

Happy birthday Lynne! Sounds like a good way to spend it. Wish I could have been with you Saturday, but the duck blind calls...my husband.

Jayne said...

Happy Birthday Lynne!!! Have a very fun day!

Warblers... oh my.... LYJ's? (Little Yellow Jobs?)

entoto said...

Happy Day, Lynne! It sounds like you have a lovely day planned.

RuthieJ said...

Hope you have a very happy birthday, Lynne. Birding for your birthday--I couldn't think of any better way to celebrate.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday Lynne!

Arrgh! I didn't know about the Hawk Ridge trip. :( I'm guessing that 1:30 am the night before is a bit too late to decide to go! I went to go look at the EP Parks & Rec brochure, and the Sandhill Crane trip in 3 weeks sounds cool. Maybe I'll sign up for that one. Doesn't list Sharon though, just Stan.

~other Sharon

Mary said...

Happy Birthday, Linne! The closer Cape May gets, the more I regret.

Maybe my first local birding field trip in two weeks will make me feel better :o)

Enjoy your trip with Sharon and also with Art. How sweet!

Don't ask me for help with warblers because I NEVER see them!

LauraHinNJ said...

Happy Birthday! (How late am I to the party?)

;-)

I made my reservations too - think I'm in the room next door to you. Sorry, but that means you'll be the one to bang on my door to wake me up!

LauraHinNJ said...

Forgot that I wanted to call that little bird at the beginning a kinglet.

Larry said...

Happy belated Birthday! I was thinking Kinglet too on the first one!-Hard to tell from photos!I'm not going to guess the Warbler.-I know what it looks like to me-but more experienced birders than I argue over birds like that.

If you post your photo on the i.d. section of Birdforum-you will probably get your answers:
http://www.birdforum.net/

Patrick B. said...

I don't think the first one is a Kinglet, but I'm pretty sure the second is a Nashville Warbler. Looking forward to Cape May!