Campground Birds

Back in the middle of July, my husband and I went camping.  We stayed at Taylor`s Beach Campground in Howell, Michigan.  We saw several birds at the campground....many at our site, and a few throughout the rest of the campground.  Here are a few of the favourite pictures I managed to capture :)

Chickadee

Robin

Eastern Kingbird pair

A Blue Jay with a wary eye to the sky...it eventually flew off.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Cedar Waxwing...Juvenile, I believe as it was missing the red waxy tips on its wings.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Robin eating a grub...I have a whole sequence of this "capture".

Juvenile Robin

Not only was there a good variety of birds (saw others not included above, such as House Finch, Goldfinch, Cardinals....), there was a good variety of dragon flies!  Here are a few pics of them...

I am very proud of this picture :)

There was also an absolutely adorable Eastern Fox Squirrel that hung out near our site...

It was itchy ;)

I have a couple more posts to put up from this trip, highlighting a couple life birds...those were so special (to me at least), they deserve their own post!  I saw three life birds in total...one of which, Eastern Bluebird, I was unable to capture on "film"...when will I learn not to go outside without my camera??

Victoria Day Weekend 2012

I had a great time this weekend visiting with family and friends, as well as sneaking in a little birding.  On Sunday, after church, we stopped by the Ambassador Bridge to see the Peregrine Falcons that have been nesting there for a number of years...it was my first time going to see them.  We were blessed with seeing both parents and glimpses of a couple of the youngsters.  They have four this year!

On Monday we went to Point Pelee with a truckload of kayaks...the kids and a friend headed out into the marsh as we walked Centennial Trail across the road.  I got fleeting glimpses of a few birds I didn`t recognize, but we did see a female Wood Duck (life bird) leave a tree cavity and saw a few Wild Turkey (life bird) in the woods.  There were a lot of Orioles, Yellow Warblers, Red-winged Blackbirds.  We then headed to the marsh to see if the kids were done...they weren`t, so we walked a bit of the boardwalk and spotted a Common Yellow-throat (life bird) in the reeds as well as some Black Terns (life bird) fishing. Afterwards, we headed to a friend`s house in Essex and were blessed with spotting a Chipping Sparrow (life bird) chipping away on the fence and tree.  Here are a few pictures from this weekend....enjoy!

Peregrine parent at nest box.

The other parent...flew here from side of bridge when the other went to the nest box.

Fleeting glimpses of a couple of young...completely out of sight until parent returned.

Barn Swallow...so beautiful!!

Black Tern

Robin on nest.

What I think of when I think of Red-winged Blackbirds...perched on a reed :)

Wild Turkey

Chipping Sparrow at dusk.

By the way...I have added a gadget on the side of the blog that shows my life list, if you are interested.  It is amazing how fast it is growing :)

Niagara Falls

My daughter had a swim meet in St. Catherine's this past weekend, and while there, we headed to Niagara Falls for the day with some friends.  There were TONNES of gulls in the gorge going after fish, but I didn't get any good pictures of that.  There were also a couple of birds I was unable to identify...one was brownish with a lighter coloured neck that dove under like a loon and another appeared to be pure black.  Both of these I was unable to get pictures of...they were in far less number and at a greater distance that even with cropping, I cannot make out any distinguishing marks.  Oh well.  Here are a few of bird pictures I did get...my friend was teasing me that I took so many pictures of such "rare" birds.

I love the reflection!

Blurry, but I love the "action" shot of running!