Entries Tagged 'birding' ↓

Last Saturday’s field trip was cancelled because of rainy gross weather. So I finally got to go birding today and it was so fun. I also posted about this on my local bird club’s website NCIOS.org. It is so cool that all the bird club members can write about their bird sightings on it.

We hiked at Rock Cut State Park. We got there around seven. Five birders went, including me. The five of us saw quite a few warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos(!).

It was kind of chilly but got warmer near the end of the hike and it was sunny. I had a great time.

Bird List

1. Blackburnian Warbler
2. Black-and-white Warbler
3. American Redstart
4. Black-throated Green Warbler
5. Tennessee Warbler
6. Nashville Warbler
7. Common Yellowthroat
8. Magnolia Warbler
9. Blue-headed Vireo
10. Red-eyed Vireo
11. Dark-eyed Junco
12. Northern Cardinal
13. White-throated Sparrow
14. Field Sparrow
15. Song Sparrow
16. Chipping Sparrow
17. American Goldfinch
18. American Robin
19. Swainson’s Thrush
20. Eastern Bluebird
21. Turkey Vulture
22. Great Blue Heron
23. Mallard
24. Canada Goose
25. Double-crested Cormorant
26. Belted Kingfisher
27. Pied-billed Grebe
28. Eastern Phoebe
29. Eastern Towhee
30. Ring-necked Pheasant
31. Black-capped Chickadee
32. House Wren
33. European Starling
34. Mourning Dove
35. Downy Woodpecker
36. Red-bellied Woodpecker</liL
37. American Crow
38. Blue Jay
39. Common Grackle
40. Cedar Waxwing

I went to the doctor and got my brace off. My knee is feeling a lot better and there is no injury anymore. I have not gone birding yet, but in my yard I have seen the usual residents and I saw a Swainson’s Thrush and a few warblers like American Redstarts and a Black-and-white Warbler.

Last weekend was my uncle (Eddie)’s birthday. We got him a blind called an Outhouse Blind (hee hee). It is for taking photos without the birds getting scared. I tried it out when I was on crutches and I got a few pictures of some type of flycatcher, which I haven’t uploaded yet.

Eddie’s new blind - Photo by Birdfreak

Tomorrow, we are supposed to go on a birding field trip to Illinois Beach State Park but it is supposed to rain a LOT so we might have to cancel it. That would be sad.

I’ll keep you informed.

Over Labor Day weekend I injured my knee. My neighbor’s dog ran into my leg and it twisted it backwards and it really hurt. The dog didn’t see me and ran into me but it was on accident.

So, birding has been no fun because I can’t walk very well. I was able to sit down and bird in the backyard though and luckily there are some warblers and other birds like Common Nighthawks to watch.

Hanging out in the Callaway Nature Preserve - photo by Birdfreak

In my backyard there are three Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that are coming to the feeders. They are fun to watch hovering and drinking.

It is hard to deal with not playing baseball or hiking and I don’t know yet how long I will have to wait to get better. I hope it is soon.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - photo by Birdfreak

On day two (July 27), we visited Presque Isle State Park and saw a really cool lighthouse. This was in Erie, Pennsylvania.

photo by Birdfreak

We left Erie, Pennsylvania and headed to Allegany State Park where Mon@rch (Tom) lives. Tom is cool and really smart. We met in the parking lot and went for a short hike to look for Prairie Warblers.

We didn’t find any Prairie Warblers but it was fun. We went to the park station to check it out. Then I got the chance to do something very exciting! I got to help Tom band five baby Eastern Bluebirds!! I took them out of the box, and even got to put a band on one of them. One baby pooped in my hand.

Mon@rch helping me band baby Eastern Bluebirds - photo by Birdfreak

I learned how to tell male and female babies apart by looking at the color of their wings. I found out that if the color is in between you record a U which means you can’t tell if it is male or female.

Baby Eastern Bluebird - photo by Birdfreak

Tom then took us to Thunder Rocks. The rocks were huge and fun to climb around on. One was in the shape of a dinosaur’s head and tried to eat me.

Photo by Birdfreak

Tom asked a guy to take a photo of us all together. It was a great way to end our visit, which was too short. I liked hanging out with Mon@rch and we all had the best time.

Eddie, Grandpa, Mon@rch (Tom) and Me

Great Blue Herons - Birdfreak

This summer we have had a lot of rain. A lot of farm fields are flooded which sandpipers, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and other waterbirds love. Frogs seem to love it to because my and my cousin Sammie saw (and caught) a lot of them and there were many different types.

Green Frog - Birdfreak

We also saw a family of Sandhill Cranes. They had one baby and were eating in a field. I love Sandhill Cranes and they are one of my favorite birds. There were also two more cranes in another field.

Sandhill Crane Family - Birdfreak

I am going to go again soon to look for shorebirds and more herons. It was a lot of fun. I even got a life bird which I will post about soon.

On July 2nd, I went with my cousins and Grandparents to northern Wisconsin. On July 3rd, we went to Bayfield, Wisconsin to go on a ferry ride to Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands.

Madeline Island is located at the very northern point of Wisconsin on Lake Superior. It is the largest Apostle Island. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a scenic archipelago of 22 islands surrounding the northern tip of Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula.

We saw about ten Double-crested Cormorants. A couple of them were flying but the rest of them were perched on a breakwater, preening. They were beautiful. There were also noisy Ring-billed Gulls and maybe some were Herring Gulls. They were all over, at least a hundred of them!

The ferry ride was pretty cool. It was the first time I ever rode a ferry. We drove our car right on to the boat. I really love Lake Superior.

Dickcissel

On June 28th my mom and uncle and I went to Seward Bluffs Forest Preserve. One of the cool birds we saw was a Dickcissel. We saw tons of them! The coolest bird we saw probably was the Lark Sparrow.

Lark Sparrow-Birdfreak

I also caught a really cool Virginia Ctenucha. It is a type of moth that flies around dooring the day. It was really pretty.

Virginia Ctenucha

My favorite birder (and teacher) is my uncle Eddie. I think he is the best birder in the world. When I am stuck on identifying a bird, he will help me figure it out and he usually knows all the bird sounds too. One of the best things he is teaching me is how to use his Cannon camera, which I love. Taking bird photos is very hard but so fun.

Eddie - Birdfreak

Eddie is Birdfreak and he is a bird freak. He has traveled to very far away places like Texas and California and Arizona to find birds and someday I want to travel too. One of the birds I really want to see is a Pyrrhuloxia, which is only found in the southeastern United States.

Eddie and I at Lake Superior in Michigan - Birdfreak

My uncle also teaches me many other things like baseball, my favorite sport. Eddie is like a big brother to me and since I don’t have a Dad he also does dad-like things with me. My Grandpa is also a great birder and he does many things with me too.

Grandpa and I - Birdfreak

Saturday, April 19 we went to Sugar River Forest Preserve after the Crane Count. We saw two species of warblers. They were Yellow-throated Warbler and Pine Warbler. They were singing. We also heard a Pileated Woodpecker and a Barred Owl.

Pine Warbler by Birdfreak

Some more highlights include…

1. Chipping Sparrow
2. Belted Kingfisher
3. White-breasted Nuthatch
4. Brown Thrasher
5. Hermit Thrush
6. Yellow Belled Sapsucker
7. Turkey Vulture

Yellow-throated Warbler by Birdfreak

Common Loon

Today we went to Rock Cut State Park. When we got there we saw 10 Common Loons! One of them got really close to the shore line. It started to snow hard and it was really windy. Pretty bad birding weather but we still went and had a good time.

Common Loon

Unbelievably we saw someone grilling out (and it was only 8:00 AM)! My Mom would never let me have a cookout in the snow but it could be fun.

Here is the bird list.

1. Common Loon (10)
2. Bufflehead
3. Great Blue Heron(12)
4. American Coot
5. Tree Swallow
6. Lesser Scaup
7. Wood Duck
8. Wild Turkey
9. American Crow
10. Red-Winged Blackbird
11. Song Sparrow
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Mallard

Common Loon by Birdfreak