Five On The Wing – #21
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Five birds in flight showing off their beautiful wingspans.
Let’s fly with these big birds!
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Double-breasted Cormorant
Wingspan 44.9-48.4 inches (114-123 cm)
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Great Egret
Wingspan 51.6-57.1 inches (131-145 cm)
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Great Blue Heron
Wingspan 65.8-79.1 inches (167-201 cm)
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Bald Eagle (immature)
Wingspan 72-90 inches (182cm-229cm)
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Bald Eagle (adult)
Wingspan 72-90 inches (182cm-229cm)
Airplane species and wingspan unknown
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So sorry, quick note on me missing again, it has been a roller coaster past couple weeks; too difficult to think about blogging. Thankfully, Dad pulled through the sepsis but still has several hurdles. He’s been transferred to an acute rehab facility where he has a long road still ahead of him. I am thankful I’ve been able to visit him a few times. Your prayers for my Dad have been greatly appreciated, I told him I had friends around the world praying and thinking of him. He said to tell you, “thank you”; and I know he truly meant it. And I do too; thank you, my friends. 🙏
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1-2-3 Cute As Can Be – #7
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Ready for three more adorably cute birds? 😃 These have the added theme “sparrows” to show some comparisons.
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House Sparrow (male)
5.9-6.7 inches (15-17 cm)
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Song Sparrow
4.7-6.7 inches (12-17 cm)
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How about a pair of playful sparrows!
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Field Sparrows
4.7-5.9 inches (12-15 cm)
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Eagles & Sticks – It’s Nest Building Time!
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The beginning of Bald Eagle mating season also means it’s construction time on building or renovating their nest from last year.
These photos are from the past month of the Eagles that live across the cove from our property. I cannot see the nest, but I know what ‘clump’ of loblolly pine trees it is in.
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Bald Eagle carrying nesting material
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Bald Eagle doing a fly-by to give me a closer shot, thanks!
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Another day, this time with a long stick. If this is the same male as the last photos, he was probably told to up his game on stick size, eh? 😉
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Bald Eagle carrying a long stick
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And then there was the time, when one of them came up from behind, flying over and out in front of me, not only startling me but giving me a chance at these cool shots.
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Bald Eagle passing over and out in front of me
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Bald Eagle making the turn to head to the nest
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Bald Eagle climbing high over the trees to the tall loblolly pines where the nest is hidden
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Bald Eagles mate for life and build some of the largest nests in the world in tall trees near rivers, bays, and wetland areas. About 60% of Eagle nests in the Chesapeake Bay region are located in mature loblolly pine trees at 80-110 feet above the ground. Nests are made of sticks but also contain grass, pine needles, and sometimes pieces of cornstalks. Eagles add to their nests each year, and after many years of successful nest building, their homes may grow to around 10 feet in diameter, 12 feet deep, with a weight of up to 2 tons.
Shot from a distance and heavily cropped, here’s one of the largest Eagle’s nests I’ve photographed, about 11 years ago on the Wye River on the Eastern Shore Maryland. Yes, they do get big!
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Bald Eagles – Love Is In The Air
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Our resident Bald Eagles remain together year-round, and it gets exciting to watch when they start spicing up their bond in flight during the fall season.
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Bald Eagles
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Bald Eagles
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This next pair was full of fun, chasing and teasing. I love their expressions!
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Bald Eagles playing together
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Bald Eagles
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Bald Eagle ‘chase’
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“Hey there, Sweetie!”
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Bald Eagle “love”
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I’m on a mission for the next couple months of capturing them during their flight mating ritual where they locks talons and cartwheel down to the earth. To see this is in person is truly a thrill!
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Canada Geese in Landing Form
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We have year-round Canada Geese, but their population increases substantially as the winter migrants arrive, which has been going on for several weeks now.
And there’s still more of them to come!
Have you ever watched Canada Geese when they’ve begun their descent to the ground or water? Sometimes they look a bit comical!
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Canada Geese landing #1
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Canada Geese landing #2
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Each goose thinking, “Oh boy, that space sure looks a little tight for all of us….”
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“Here We Come”
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“Flight, Stage Right”
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Canada Geese in the sky at sunset, in chaotic form and noise, trying to figure out where to safely drop down and land
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A side note–
So sorry for the sudden blog break without notice, my late comment replies, and my missed visits to your blogs. Both of our fathers have been in the hospital over the holidays. My father-in-law is back home and doing fine, thankfully.
My Dad, though, is not doing well. He was towards the end of an intense five-week chemo and radiation regimen for esophagus cancer diagnosed just weeks prior. He was admitted a couple days before Thanksgiving for being malnourished and dehydrated, and was going into sepsis, which he is still fighting. I am so worried, and am now not permitted back into the hospital to see him.
If you believe in the power of prayer, would you please say an extra one to include my Dad next time? He needs comfort and strength so much right now and the days ahead. Thank you kindly, my friends, I truly appreciate it. 🙏
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Five On The Wing – #20
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Another post of five bird species in flight, sharing their beautiful wingspans!
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Northern Cardinal (male)
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Rock Pigeon
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Golden-crowned Kinglet
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Northern Flicker, Yellow-shafted (male)
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Eastern Bluebird
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“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings.” ~ Charlie Wardle
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1-2-3 Cute As Can Be – #6
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Here’s my continuing series of three photos of three of the smaller bird species, being adorably cute!
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Tufted Titmouse
5.5-6.3 inches (14-16 cm)
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Dark-eyed Junco
5.5-6.3 inches (14-16 cm)
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Brown Creeper
4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm)
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Autumn Color in a Mushroom and an Old Barn
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As our autumn dwindles, I wanted to share these two subjects with autumn coloring that caught my eye.
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Amanita Frostiana or Amanita Flavoconia
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Five On The Wing – #19
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I’ve been waiting on this ‘bonus themed’ post for my series of five bird species in flight for some time and am going to cheat by giving two photos of one bird species to complete it. 😲 I know, tsk tsk!
It’s been weeks, and I’ve not scored that fifth bird species. 🤨
You know, once this posts, I’ll get that fifth species and could have finished the post without cheating, right? 😂
These birds in flight have the added theme, carrying food!
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Blue Jay with its gular pouch also filled
(Blue Jays can carry up to five acorns at once!)
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Common Grackles (four carrying food)
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Another Blue Jay with a packed gular pouch
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American Crow or Fish Crow with a mouthful
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Great Blue Heron with his fishy catch
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Northern Mockingbird
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The Northern Mockingbird is the third most used species for the designated State Bird in five of the U.S.’s fifty states.
Those five states are: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
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Northern Mockingbirds
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Northern Mockingbird
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Northern Mockingbird
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Northern Mockingbirds are known to sing several hundred different songs. In addition to mimicking the calls of other birds, Northern Mockingbirds have been known to imitate other animals (dogs, insects, frogs, toads) and manmade noises like music and machinery.
John James Audubon was so in awe of this bird’s singing ability, he wrote of the Northern Mockingbird in Birds of America, “There is probably no bird in the world that possesses all the musical qualifications of this king of song, who has derived all from Nature’s self.”
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Northern Mockingbird landing
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Northern Mockingbird defending its territory from the sparrows below
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Bay Photos by Donna 