Blue-headed Vireo
Luckily around me, there are so many remote areas and pull-offs in Everglades NP, 10,000 Islands NWR, and Big Cypress Preserve, that it is still easy to venture out and be the only person or one of a handful of others, so social distancing is not a problem.
I headed to 10,000 Islands NWR yesterday morning for some one-on-one with nature. As soon as I crossed the ‘bridge’ to the walking path, movement occurred in the tree before me.
Into the tree’s shadows, I spotted this bird sporting bold white “spectacles”!
Welcome #204 to my bird lifer list, the Blue-headed Vireo!
Blue-headed Vireo with his wings tucked tight!
I was so thankful he turned around before taking off!
Blue-headed Vireo
I really did not do this bird’s beautiful coloring justice with its blueish-gray head, mossy green back, and greenish-yellow to white underparts.
Seeing this bird immediately put a ‘happy dance’ in my step as I ventured on to the path to see what else I could find! 😊
Photos by Donna 
What a neat sighting and lovely images! That one would be a lifer for me too.
Thank you, Deborah!
The beauty of where we both photograph is a lack of people. 👍👍
Off that beaten path….. 😊
It’s a beauty! 🙏🏻🥰
Thank you, John!
Nice Donna! Congrats on # 204!
Thank you, Reed! 💃
What a beautiful bird! I’m not sure I have ever seen one. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Susan! They’ll migrate through the CBay area soon to head to the northeast mountains and Canada. 🙂
Congratulations! For your # 204 lifer. It’s a pretty little bird, very shy. I had one in my backyard years ago. Great capture. 🙂
Thank you, HJ! 💃 I felt very fortunate to see this little beauty! 🙂
Enchanting, Donna.
Thank you, Imorgana!
Congratulations! Cool that you got such good shots of both front and back. I’ve never heard of that bird before which got me to wondering. Do you know every bird you are photographing, or at least have a suspicion, or do you sometime have not idea and have to look it up afterwards?
Thank you, David! Once I’ve photographed a new bird, I usually know it by sight again, or the main species it’s within. I’ve been trying to learn their calls as I go along too to help when sighted or to find.
For this bird, I immediately thought a Vireo because of the white eye-ring and because I had recently photographed the White-eyed Vireo along that same path. I could see the ‘spectacles’ crossing the lore as I photographed him, so that’s when I knew it was not a WEV, but still maybe another Vireo. I had to look this one up to ID it, so getting this bird’s front and back profile was perfect.
Sometimes I have no idea what a new bird is, or one that went so fast, I didn’t get enough a look to ID! I have been doing amateur bird photography for over ten years. I try to learn as I go along. Now that I’ve got quite a few under my belt over the years, I’m getting better and better at sight IDing. 🙂
Wonderful new sighting, Donna! Are you seeing lots of migrants returning from the Caribbean and South America? I hear that you are in a big landfall area. Are your mornings full of birdsong? Rather envious if so!
Thank you, Eliza! I am in a big landfall area for the Caribbean and SA migrants going to and fro. My mornings are mostly quiet, except for Doves and Osprey, maybe because I’m alongside a river that runs out to the Gulf of Mexico and not ‘inland’ so much. If I go out to the remote areas, that’s where the birds are singing! 🙂
Great! I like their song. you got some nice clear shots, too. The geese are back and so are the gulls, both a true sign of spring.
Thank you, Jane! Glad to hear signs of Spring is happening up your way!
What a cute bird. It has racing stripes.
The “…greenish-yellow to white underparts” I first read as “underpants.” LOL! I blinked a bit and re-read. Then, I started to giggle. Both actually work. 😉😁
Thank you, Vic! Hey, it does have racing stripes colors!
LMAO!!!! 😅 😂
😁
Oh … isn’t he beautiful … how exciting!
It was a ‘happy dance’ moment! I looked for him again the next morning, but didn’t find him….
Terrific photos of this beauty, Donna!
Thank you, Belinda!
Doing a happy dance here right along with you! I’m so glad you’re having such fun. You’re certainly overdue for this. Congrats on #204!
Thank you, Gunta! I looked in the same area two more times for this beauty but to no avail. It was a RPRT moment! 🙂