Wading Birds – #1
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Here we go again! I’m beginning yet another bird series, this one on the taller, long-legged wading birds. Think herons, egrets, ibis.
In Maryland, most waders are here from spring to fall, then depart for migration, leaving us primarily the Great Blue Heron here over winter. So to begin, most will be favorites from this past spring/summer/fall, until I get into this year’s upcoming season. 😊
Let’s get this long-legged series started!
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Great Egret
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Snowy Egret
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Western Cattle Egret
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Black-necked Stilts
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Great Blue Heron
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Little Blue Heron
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Green Heron
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Tricolored Heron
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Glossy Ibis
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Snowy Egret, immature White Ibis, and two Black-necked Stilts
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All I need is my wading boots, and I’m out there with them! 😉
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Shorebirds Terns Gulls – #1
I’m beginning another bird series, this one on shorebirds, terns, and gulls. 🙂
Let’s begin this first post by flying back to some of my favorite fall photos of a variety of shorebirds that had briefly stopped by on their migration south.
Ruddy Turnstone
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White-rumped Sandpiper
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Semipalmated Sandpiper
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Least Sandpiper
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Pectoral Sandpiper
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Semipalmated Plover
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Hudsonian Godwit
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Wilson’s Phalarope
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Lesser Yellowlegs
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Greater Yellowlegs
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Sanderling
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My migrating shorebird life is good!
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Colored Snow Sparkles
Scanning the back yard shortly after sunrise, my eye caught some of snow glistening with colored sparkles.
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I learned snow sparkles are an optical phenomenon that occur when sunlight reflects and refracts through hexagonal ice crystals at the right angle of light, more profound in fresh dry snow. With the perfect angle, the sparkles will reflect different colors of the rainbow. This is the same effect that gives us sky rainbows and sun dogs.
Have you ever noticed colored snow sparkles before? I know it bedazzled me!
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Snow Birds
We recently received about 10 inches of snow. It was quite enchanting!
It was several days before I could walk my backyard and trails in hopes of capturing some birds with snow in their composition.
The afternoon was beautiful and so serene. All that was heard was the distant cackling sounds of Canada Geese and Tundra Swan out on Harris Creek.
What was that?
I can hear an occasional chirp here and there.
Where are you, birdies?
I flushed a Great Blue Heron from the above frozen pond’s edge. Sorry ’bout that.
Anyone else out here? I think so….
Northern Cardinal (male)
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Mockingbird
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Mockingbird
A few gave me a chance!
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1-2-3 Cute As Can Be – #34
I know my series suggests three; but I’m sharing six little cuties, all in the sparrow family and currently part of my winter residents. 😊
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Savannah Sparrow
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White-throated Sparrow
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Song Sparrow
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Swamp Sparrow
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Dark-eyed Junco
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Chipping Sparrow
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Five On The Wire – #16
It’s been almost a year since I’ve shared this series of birds on wire/metal things, so here we go!
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Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored)
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Northern Cardinal (female)
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Rock Pigeons
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Northern Mockingbird
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Purple Finch (female)
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Snow Geese Snow Globe
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It’s that time of year when you travel around the farm fields on the eastern shore of Maryland, you might just happen upon the exciting sight of a flock of Snow Geese.
Sometimes, it might be a flock of 50, or 500, or 1,000. Sometimes it’s the jackpot!
Heading home late afternoon last week, I saw what I’m always hoping for each winter…..a farm field white-out in the distance. Getting closer and looking up, thousands more were converging from all directions. I estimated about 5,000 Snow Geese total!
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Trying to share a cell phone video, fingers crossed…..
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The Snow Goose has two color variants, the white morph (all white body with black wing tips) and the blue morph (all black body with white head).
I got lucky to have a nice variety of both as adults and immatures land right across from me with these closer shots.
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No sooner after those above shots, there was a sudden lift-off and they all went into the air.
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The noise was deafening as they went in all directions including over my car.
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From the swirling chaos, I felt like I was in a snow globe!
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After a few minutes, the Snow Geese began landing again, filling the fields.
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And then another lift-off! Trying another cell phone video, hope these are working!
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And yet again, they began landing, with even more still just arriving to the chaos. I imagine they were parking for the night’s rest.
As I began to leave, I had several cars parked behind me, all enjoying this phenomenal sight. 😊
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Bald Eagle – It’s Official
As a child, I was taught that the Bald Eagle was our national bird.
The United States has been using the Bald Eagle as a national emblem since 1782, but it was never officially declared our national bird until last month on December 24, 2024.
“For nearly 250 years, we called the Bald Eagle the national bird when it wasn’t,” said Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, in a statement. “But now the title is official, and no bird is more deserving.”
Finally!
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Did you know a Bald Eagle does not reach adulthood until it’s five years old?
Here’s a nice comparison chart of the Bald Eagle’s head plumage over their first five years of life to help ‘age’ an eagle when you see one. Of course, immature eagles’ plumage changes are like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike in the mottling.
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Can you guess approximately how old the eagles are in the rest of my photos? Quiz at the end!
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Bald Eagle – United States National Bird
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Five on the Wing – #38
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Let’s fly into the new year!
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Eastern Bluebird (male)
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Great Blue Heron
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Red-winged Blackbird (male)
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Blue Jay
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Wild Turkey
Another shot since my first time getting a Wild Turkey in flight.
Wild Turkey
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