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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Northern Mockingbird
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Northern Cardinals
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The Northern Cardinal is the most used species for the designated State Bird in seven of the U.S.’s fifty states.
Those seven states are: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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Northern Cardinal (male)
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Northern Cardinal (female)
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Contradictory to many other songbirds, Northern Cardinals are mostly a non-migratory species, opting to overwinter in their chosen spring/summer habitat.
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Northern Cardinal (male)
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Northern Cardinal (male)
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Eagle Fly-By Sequence
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To watch a Bald Eagle soaring at a distance and then turn to head your way is super exciting!
When it continues to make its way up and over you, it just blows you away.
Here’s an Eagle that did just that to me.
Feel the fly-by!
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Bald Eagle flying by
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(photos taken from my backyard on November 11, 2021)
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Eagle Perched In A Tree (B&W)
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While a Bald Eagle preened in my last post, its mate was in the same tree, keeping a watchful eye.
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