I joined the Buena Vista Audubon Society this morning for a bird count and workshop.
Apparently I am not the only one new to birding... this was an unusually large group.
#28- Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Ruddy Duck's have a blue bill!
(I didn't take this picture.)
Right after seeing the Ruddy Ducks a Green Heron flew right overhead!
I couldn't miss his bright orange legs!
(I didn't take the picture below either.)
#29- Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
(I didn't take this picture.)
Right after seeing the Ruddy Ducks a Green Heron flew right overhead!
I couldn't miss his bright orange legs!
(I didn't take the picture below either.)
#29- Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
#30- Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis)
This was an exciting one, both of the birders conducting the workshop had never seen this bird before. Hermit Warblers are being displaced by a similar looking warbler, the Townsend Warbler. The Hermit Warblers are also hybridizing with the Townsend (meaning they are cross breeding). The Hermit Warblers can be distinguished from the Townsend because of their all yellow head.
Like I said, exciting stuff!
Brady, I thought this quote summed up Birding...
ReplyDelete“The sharp thrill of seeing them reminded me of childhood happiness,
gifts under the Christmas tree, perhaps, a kind of euphoria
we adults manage to shut out most of the time.
This is why I bird-watch,
to recapture what it's like to live in this moment, right now.”
― Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats: A Mother's Memoir
I am so glad you found your "Jenny" to bird with. It is truly special. Thanks for sharing your Oceanside species with me. That green Heron is amazing.