Magnolia Warblers – Gallery
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During a visit to Chesapeake Farms a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to see several Magnolia Warblers in the woods and thicket as they passed through on their way to their wintering grounds in Central America.
All shot from my car window!
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Magnolia Warbler
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Magnolia Warbler
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Magnolia Warbler’s pretty backside
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Foraging for insects
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Squeeeeeeze through the leaf stems to find those insects!
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Magnolia Warbler
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Did you know there are over 50 species of warblers in North America? I’ve only captured eleven, so I still have many more to go! 😏
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Black-throated Green Warblers – Gallery
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I have not seen/heard any Black-throated Green Warblers for over two weeks now, so those passing through our region must have continued south in their migration to Central or South America.
I loved their early morning arrivals in our backyard trees. Here are more of my favorites.
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Black-throated Green Warbler (female or immature)
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Males have the dark black throat
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Female or immature
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“On The Wing”
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“Dive-bomb”
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“Where’s Warbler?”
(full frame)
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“There he is!”
(cropped)
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Resting in partial shade
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Two final shots, these were taken at nearby Chesapeake Farms along the auto drive from my car window.
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Black-throated Green Warbler’s beautiful backside
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“Bug-Searching”
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Aren’t they a pretty warbler?!! 😊 I hope they stop back by this coming Spring!
(My previous post on first seeing these warblers is here if you missed them.)
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Series: Take A Moment and Enjoy A Sunset
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It’s been way too long since I’ve shared any sunset photos! Here’s one from my home town harbor taken a week ago while we dined outdoors at Waterman’s Crab House.
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Sunset over Rock Hall Harbor, overlooking Chesapeake Bay
(vacant Osprey nest atop the channel marker)
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Rock Hall Harbor’s back sky with three-quarter moon and a Great Blue Heron
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“When your world moves too fast and you lose yourself in the chaos,
introduce yourself to each color of the sunset.”
– Christy Ann Martine
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Eastern Wood-Pewee
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The Eastern Wood-Pewee is quite common over the eastern half of the U.S. during the summer/fall before it migrates to South America for the winter.
I’ve been working harder on the little birds the past couple years, and it’s finally paid off in capturing this flycatcher here locally three weeks ago on two different days. Dare I say? 🤗💃🤗
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Eastern Wood-Pewee (lifer #246)
(Chesapeake Farms)
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Eastern Wood-Pewee
(my backyard)
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I imagine these two are enroute to South America as I type this!
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Five On The Wing – #16
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Continuing my series of five different birds in flight. 🤗
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Prairie Warbler
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Belted Kingfisher (male)
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Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)
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Northern Cardinal (female)
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Brown Thrasher
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Tubby Cove Boardwalk Sightings
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What a welcoming sight to see as I got out of my car to walk down the Tubby Cove Boardwalk at Eastern Neck NWR.
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Bald Eagle
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I watched the eagle for a couple minutes as it soared, getting further and further away. Beautiful!
The short marsh boardwalk ends in a clump of trees, where I found several curious Yellow-rumped Warblers. I lucked out with one shot in the thick brush they were hiding in.
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Yellow-rumped Warbler
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Just pass them, I entered the duck blind and peeked out of one of the holes. Hmmmm….no birds or ducks.
I glanced around inside the duck blind, and….whoa….backed out quickly when I saw this active wasp nest above me in the ceiling corner.
Once outside, I was able to take a shot.
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Common Paper Wasp
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And then I quickly left! 😉
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Eastern Neck NWR Butterfly Garden Visit
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The Bayview Trail at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge passes through their Butterfly Garden, a certified Bayscapes garden created using native plants to create a wildflower garden, a living fence, and a water garden. (For those interested, a list of plants used is at the end of this post.)
Here are my best of those butterflies passing through a couple weeks ago that gave me nice photo ops.
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Pearl Crescent
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Pearl Crescent
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Eastern Tailed-Blue
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Common Checkered Skipper
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Common Checkered Skipper
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Monarch
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Monarch
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Monarch
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American Lady
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American Lady
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I also encountered a dragonfly flirting with me.
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Blue Dasher
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And, of course, a bird! They were shooting up on flower heads for seeds and then dropping again out of sight. I was able to get just one goldfinch.
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American Goldfinch
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Hundreds of butterflies can be seen in this garden during the peak of summer. I’ll be eager to see and share them with you next year!
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Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge Bayscapes Garden – Plant List
Inkberry (Ilex glabra)
Coast Azalea (Rhododendron atlanticum)
Early Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium vacillans)
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tublerosa)
Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)
Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
Pink Coreopsis (Coreopsis rosea)
Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
N.Y. Ironweed (Vermonia noveboracensis)
Black-eye Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
Eastern Columbine (Aquilegia canadensia)
Mist Flower (Eupatorium colestinum)
Virgins Bower (Clematis virginiana)
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Swamp Sunflower (Helianthus angustifolis)
Wrinkle-leaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)
Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)
Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata)
Lizard’s Tail (Saururus cernuus)
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Kinglets – Times Two
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We have two species of Kinglets in North America. the Ruby-crowned and the Golden-crowned. I’ve fortunately had both recently visiting my backyard foraging the evergreens, so how cool to share them together in one post for comparisons.
I’ve photographed the Ruby-crowned Kinglet several times in years prior, so I’ll start with the Golden-crowned. It’s more befitting for another reason too….
Welcome to my bird lifer list #245 Golden-crowned Kinglet! 🤗
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Golden-crowned Kinglet
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Above was my first photo taken, definitely blurry; but as I was taking that shot, I saw that yellow crest and knew I had to stay with this bird if I could. It took 16 more shots to get the next two.
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Golden-crowned Kinglet (lifer #245)
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I could not believe it flew to the evergreen closest to me!
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Golden-crowned Kinglet
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The Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been around for several weeks, so I’ve had many more opportunities with them to share some pretty compositions.
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet (my favorite shot ever!)
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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Whereas both male and female Golden-crowned Kinglets have a yellow crest and display it at all times, only the male Ruby-crowned has the red crest and only displays it when he is excitedly courting a mate, or challenging a competitor or predator.
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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No luck with me catching the rare opportunity of a Ruby-crown’s red crest; but that could be a good thing, they feel safe and comfortable in my backyard for the time being. Or maybe there isn’t a male in my visitors. 😏
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Bald Eagles at the Water
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Here are two more recent photos of Bald Eagles taken at nearby Chesapeake Farms. They love the wetland on that farm. And so do I!
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Bald Eagle (immature)
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Bald Eagle (adult)
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Blue Jays
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Loud and boisterous, the Blue Jay is a fairly common bird over two-thirds of the U.S. as well as in Canada.
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Blue Jay
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They fly with strong wing beats that allow them to ‘bullet’ through the air at high speed!
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Blue Jays in flight
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I hear Blue Jays every morning at sunrise. Already busy looking for food, they are scouring the trees and ground below for seeds and small insects.
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Blue Jay
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Blue Jay
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Blue Jay
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Blue Jays also love acorns! Their fondness for them is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.
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Bay Photos by Donna 