Category Archives: Nature Photography

Favorite Bird Pics May ’24

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“On a day like this, I can’t imagine anything better that might happen in a person’s life than for them to start paying attention to birds—to become aware of this magical world that exists all around us, unnoticed by many but totally captivating for those who know its secrets. This kind of spring day, with its bountiful myriads of colorful sprites just arrived from tropical shores, has to be one of the greatest gifts of life on Earth.”
― Kenn Kaufman, A Season On The Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration

Wood Duck Mama and Five Ducklings

Prothonotary Warbler

Red-shouldered Hawk baby

Summer Tanager

Scarlet Tanager

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Pine Warbler

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (I’ve had some with white spots coming for several years now. I’ve decided it must not be the plague).

Hummingbird Wars

Cedar Waxwings

Another male summer tanager

Gray Catbird

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks (from a different nest)

Indigo Bunting

Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile).

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

Favorite Bird Shots of April ’24

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Pileated Woodpecker

Wood Duck ducklings

Ducklings and Otter

Wood Duck pair

Red-winged Blackbird

White-eyed Vireo

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (male)

Red-headed Woodpecker

Great Blue Heron (notice the fishing line around his legs)

Solitary Sandpiper

Red-shouldered Hawk on nest (I paid for this shot. When I turned my back, she dive-bombed me and hit me on the top of the head. I thought a coconut had fallen out of the tree).

Red-tailed Hawk

American Redstart

Mother Mallard and a few of her (at least) 14 ducklings

Prothonotary Warbler

Pine Warbler

Barred Owl Fledgling

Mama Wood Duck plus three

Eastern Kingbird

Favorite Bird Photos from March ’24

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Pied-billed Grebe

Mallard (male)

Pileated Woodpecker

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Wood Duck (male)

Barred Owl (getting sleepy)

Barred Owl–napping in the sun

Eastern Towhee

Belted Kingfisher

Northern Flicker (male)

Juvenile Barred Owl taking a nap

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Bald Eagle

Wood Ducks. Very cloudy day, so hard to get great pictures of these ducks in a tree. There are two pairs though one of the females has her back to us.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Great Egret

“Every time you feel in God’s creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: ‘O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!’ Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

Favorite Bird Pics of February ’24

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Pair of Wood Ducks checking out a potential nesting box

Brown-headed Nuthatch working on a new home

Great Blue Herons and Mallards Ducks–I think these mallards hired the herons as sentinels. The herons never moved the whole two hours I was there while the mallards slept or paddled around.

Hermit Thrush–I’ve seen and heard these birds quite a bit this winter. They will migrate north in the spring, so listen for them while you can.

Belted kingfisher (female)

Golden-crowned Kinglet–These little guys spend their summers nesting and breeding the high elevation spruce-fir forests of Appalachian North Carolina. They grace us here in the Piedmont with their presence during the winter months.

Red-shouldered Hawks–He brought her a snake but she didn’t seem interested.

Eastern Bluebird (male)

Pileated Woodpecker

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-headed Woodpecker

Pine Warbler

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Jesus; Matthew 6:26)

Bird Pictures January ’24

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Pine Warbler

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Great Blue Heron

Tufted Titmouse

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Hooded Mergansers

Pair of Hooded Mergansers

Goldfinch

Hermit Thrush

Blue-headed Vireo

Double-crested Cormorant

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1

Birds of December ’23

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Blue-headed Vireo (took this in November, but overlooked it and I don’t get many pictures of this one).

Red-headed Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Carolina Wren

Northern Flicker (male)

Red-headed Woodpecker (juvenile)

Red-shouldered Hawk

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker (female) Can you tell I like woodpeckers?

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Dark-eyed Junco

Eastern Bluebird (male)

Belted Kingfisher

White-throated Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

Red-tailed Hawk

River Otter (not a bird, obviously; but I enjoyed seeing them).

Happy New Year!

Birds of November ’23

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American Robin in cedar tree

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Wood Duck (young)

Hairy Woodpecker

Cedar Waxwing

Four Cedar Waxwings

Killdeer (and his reflection)

Hermit Thrush

Red-tailed Hawk (and his kill)

Northern Flicker (male)


Double-crested Cormorants

(Another) Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Goldfinch (seems to be talking to himself)

Eastern Phoebe

American Robins and Cedar Waxwings talking it over

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 150:6

October ’23 Birds

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“seeing that bird, which might take off at any second, has taught me to sit still, to relish the moment.”
― Julia Zarankin, Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder: A Memoir

American Redstart (male)

American Redstart (female)

Northern Parula

Pine Warbler

Hairy Woodpecker

Blue Jay

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Red-Headed Woodpecker (juvenile)

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (male)

Palm Warbler

Red-shouldered Hawk

Trio of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

Cedar Waxwing

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Yellow-rumped warbler (female)

Unidentified Ducks (Hope to figure this out soon!)

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Bird Photos September ’23

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Eastern Towhee (male) and hungry chick

Eastern Towhees (father and chick)

Baby Wood Duck

White-breasted Nuthatch

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided warbler

Ruby-throated hummingbird (and his amazing tongue!)

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Cape May Warbler

Pileated Woodpecker

Not a bird but a little extra–Zebra Longwing Butterfly

Bird Pictures for August ’23

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Prothonotary Warbler eating a juicy caterpillar for lunch!

Summer Tanager (female) eating a bee.

Green Heron looking for lunch.

Common Yellowthroat

Indigo Bunting

Blue Grosbeak (male)

Blue Grosbeak (female)

Belted Kingfishers (male above and female below)

Pileated Woodpecker (male)

Young Wood Ducks. Male on Left and Female on Right.

Mama Wood Ducks and offspring

Juvenile male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (showing off his red)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)

Eastern Kingbird

“At whatever moment you read these words, day or night, there are birds aloft in the skies of the Western Hemisphere, migrating.” Scott Weidensaul in Living on the Wind Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds