I have decided to lump these next three life birds into one post, although occurring on different days, because I only got pictures of one of them. Bird number 95, an Eastern Bluebird, was spotted on July 17!! This bird was seen at our camp site while camping in Howell, MI. He stopped by briefly, landing first in the tree, then the camper roof, right on the edge. As I headed in to the camper to grab my camera and binoculars, it took off, never to be seen again.
Bird number 96 was spotted at the camp ground as well, on July 20. My husband and I were walking around the camp ground, and as always, I check out the trees. I happened to see a bird on a relatively distant branch, clearly eating a rather large insect. I snapped a bunch of pictures of it, and studied it back at the camper....it was an Eastern Wood Peewee! Later the same day, in just about the same spot, although much lower and closer to the roadway, I captured more photos. It is such a beautiful bird! I love the yellow on its belly! Here are a few pictures....
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This is when I first saw it....looks like a wasp in its bill?? |
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This was later in the day..much lower and closer. I must have 50 pictures of this one bird :) |
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Sweet! |
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I love that you can see the little hook on the end of its beak. |
Bird number 97 was seen on September 1 at the Harrow Fair. In fact, I saw several this night...Common Nighthawk! There were so many flying above the fairgrounds at dusk, it would have been surprising NOT to notice them. Their white wing bar on the underside of the wing and their call made them unmistakable!
Well, I am now caught up! I am looking forward to some fall birding! I am headed to Pelee Island for the first time next Saturday (with the photography club I recently joined...not specifically for birding, but I will keep my eyes open!), then it is time for the Hawk Festival again. With both of my children in school this year (for the first time in 10 years), I am looking forward to getting outdoors more this fall.
Congrats on the life birds! Those are beautiful shots of the Eastern Wood Pewee! So for now according to our blogs, we're dead even on the life bird count! But I actually saw two more just this past week I'm afraid, so I'm 1 away from the big 100. :) I hope you have a great time on your planned bird outings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the congrats! I too noticed that we were "tied" :) Thanks for rubbing it in that you will most likely reach 100 first ;) I look forward to seeing what you see next...
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