Tag Archives: birding

Acadia Birding Festival 2015 – Day 1

The Acadia Birding Festival is Maine’s premiere bird watching festival and was established in 1998.

Group at Indian Point Blagden Preserve

Group at Indian Point Blagden Preserve

This year, the Festival is from 28-31 May, plus two post-festival trips on 1-2 June, and over these days it visits 27 different birding locations.

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Presque Isle at Erie, PA, for the Warbler Migration – 11 May 2014 — Page Two

Back to Page One/Introduction

This page shows my own remaining photographs, with very little commentary.  If any of our WWNP group that went with us to Presque Isle  send me suitable images, I’ll create an additional gallery on a third page.

A male Baltimore Oriole singing.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All rights reserved.

A male Baltimore Oriole at his singing station. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A male Baltimore Oriole in the early stages of building a nest. (One of the materials that can be seen here is discarded fishing line, which can be dangerous to some wildlife and should always be taken away and destroyed.)   Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All rights reserved.

A male Baltimore Oriole in the early stages of building a nest. (One of the materials that can be seen here is discarded fishing line, which can be dangerous to ducks and swans, and should always be taken away and destroyed.) Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A male Baltimore Oriole nest building, with his female partner looking on.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All rights reserved.

A male Baltimore Oriole nest building, with his female partner looking on. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

Watching a male Baltimore Oriole starting the construction of a nest under the watchful eye of his mate was a light-hearted moment. She was certainly keeping an eye on his every move!

 

A female Baltimore Oriole examines the early stages of her nest.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All rights reserved.

A female Baltimore Oriole examines the early stages of her nest. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Redstarts were present in significant numbers.  One of my shots of these was of an immature bird and another was a grab-shot of a male flying above us, with the sun gleaming through the orange patches on his tail.

An immature American Redstart (i.e. one of last year's young).

An immature American Redstart (i.e. one of last year’s young). Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

An adult male American Redstart with the sun glowing through his tail. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

An adult male American Redstart with the sun glowing through his tail.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps it is too easy to ignore some birds on the basis that they are ‘common’ or drab, but I — for one — actually find that hard to do.

A female Brown-headed Cowbird, looking positively prehistoric! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

A female Brown-headed Cowbird, looking positively prehistoric! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same female Brown-headed Cowbird, looking positively pugnacious!  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

The same female Brown-headed Cowbird, looking pugnacious! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many new birders are surprised when told this is a female Red-winged Blackbird, but how about this for a spectacular pattern!  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

Many new birders are surprised when told this is a female Red-winged Blackbird, but how about this for a spectacular pattern! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of nature's great mimics: the Gray Catbird.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

One of nature’s great mimics: the Gray Catbird. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even some hummingbirds are as big as or even bigger than the Kinglets, of which this is a Ruby-crowned.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

Even some hummingbirds are as big as or even bigger than the Kinglets, of which this is a Ruby-crowned. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-crowned Sparrow.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

White-crowned Sparrow singing. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My one wader/shorebird of the day was well camouflaged against dead cat-tails and reeds:

Spotted Sandpiper.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

Spotted Sandpiper. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, a species I have so far failed to identify, so if any good birders out there can help me with this one, I would be grateful.  (Please use the ‘Leave a Comment’ link at the top of the page, if you can help.)

Currently unidentified.... Help welcome!  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

Currently unidentified…. Help welcome! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some more of the warblers that we made our 210-mile round-trip specifically to see:

The delightful Black & White Warbler, the only bird in North America except nuthatches that can walk down as well as up tree trunks.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

The delightful Black & White Warbler, the only bird in North America except nuthatches that can walk down as well as up tree trunks. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An acrobatic Black & White Warbler.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

An acrobatic Black & White Warbler. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rufous-capped Palm Warbler.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

The rufous-capped Palm Warbler. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Warbler. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

Palm Warbler. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ubiquitous Yellow-rumped Warbler.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

The ubiquitous Yellow-rumped Warbler. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Yellow-rumped Warbler in full song.  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler in full song. Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yellow rump of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler!  Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren.  All Rights reserved.

The yellow rump of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler! Photo copyright 2014, Eddie Wren. All Rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

<– The End! 🙂

 

 

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Looking Forward to the Arrival of Swallows and Swifts (video)

My inspiration for this post comes directly from the Oakmoss Education blog, where Mary Jo Graham has written an interesting post about tree swallows.

What I would like to do is mention similarities and differences between the swallow family (more technically known as hirundines) in the USA and the swallows and martins in my native Britain, where there are only three such species, compared to America’s eight regular species and two ‘casual’ visitors.

video from BTO explaining how to identify UK hirundines & swifts

Two of these species are found as regular summer visitors in both countries. The bird that Brits call just the ‘swallow’ is known in the USA as the ‘barn swallow’ (Hirundo rustica).  The British birds spend their winters in Africa whereas the American birds head down into South America.  Interestingly, the North European subspecies are always white-breasted, whereas the American birds are a buff or cinnamon color underneath.  I’ve also seen many birds of this species in several African countries where some of them are very bright orange underneath, and I presume these are yet another subspecies — perhaps one that is resident year-round in the so-called  ‘Dark Continent’.

Is it worth knowing these differences, here in the States?  Well, if you travel within North America it might be, because two of the white-breasted, Eurasian subspecies are casual visitors here.  Hirundo rustica rustica and Hirundo rustica gutturalis are both occasionally seen in west and north Alaska, and the latter has also been seen in the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Another hirundine that is found on both sides of the Atalantic is the bank swallow (USA) or sand martin (Britain).  Again, the scientific name — Riparia riparia — shows that these birds are indeed the same species.

Britain’s third member of this family is the house martin (Delichon urbica), which has been seen on both sides of North America: Western Alaska, where it is a casual visitor in spring, and a record of a single bird at an island off the coast of Newfoundland.

Although not closely related to swallows, swifts cause some confusion to new birders.  North America has four regular species, only one of which — the chimney swift — is to be found on the eastern side of the continent.  Britain, on the other hand, only has one — the common swift (Apus apus) — which is an ‘accidental’ visitor to islands off both Alaska and Newfoundland.  Records of visits also exist for Bermuda and (quote) “probably the north east” of the USA.