Tag Archives: birding

Favorite Bird Pics of April ’25

Posted on by
Reply

“Birds are beautiful. After a lifetime of study I still love to look at them and listen to them, even the common species.”
― Kenn Kaufman, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America

Red-headed Woodpecker

Belted Kingfisher

Wood Ducks

White-eyed Vireo

Blue-winged Teal pair

Blue Jay

Eastern Kingbird

Pileated Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Eastern Towhee (male)

Mama Wood Duck and brood

Eastern Phoebe

Solitary Sandpiper

Red-bellied Woodpecker

“Oh, come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” Psalm 95:1

Favorite Bird Pics of March ’25

Posted on by
Reply

“In order to see birds, it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” -Robert Lynd

White-breasted Nuthatches

Cedar Waxwing

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Pileated Woodpecker

Wood Duck (male)

Blue-winged Teal (male)

Barred Owl (napping in the sun)

Hairy Woodpecker

Tree Swallows

Northern Roughwing Swallow

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Eastern Bluebirds–Not sure if the one on the right is making an offering or just showing off.

Hermit Thrush

Goldfinches

Barred Owl (different one)

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” Psalm 125:1

Favorite Bird Pics from February ’25

Posted on by
Reply

“Use your eyes. Use them and have faith in them. Use your eyes and trust them. And go out and listen to the birds. Oh, if we would listen more often to the singing of the birds!” H.R. Sass, On the Wings of a Bird 1928

Red-headed Woodpecker

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Carolina Wren

Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow

Brown Creeper

Eastern Painted Turtle (Yes, this is a reptile, but you don’t see them out sunning in February very often).

Eastern Bluebird

Dark-eyed Junco

Brown-headed Cowbird

Our snowy morning brought many birds to the feeders. They didn’t all like to share as you can see by this sparrow’s greeting to the bluebird.

Goldfinches and brown-headed nuthatch

Pair of Barred Owls high in a pine tree.

Cedar Waxwing

Chipping Sparrow

“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 119:14

Favorite Bird Pics of January 2025

Posted on by
Reply

“He taught me the difference between casual “birdwatching” and the more intense, focused “birding,” and urged me to go beyond identifying birds to noting their actions and behavior.”
― Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-throated Sparrow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Chipping Sparrow

Pileated Woodpecker

Ruddy Duck

Pair of Hooded Mergansers

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Flicker

Pine Warbler

Hermit Thrush

Great Blue Heron

Brown Creeper

Brown-headed Nuthatch

“Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Psalm 149:2

Favorite Bird Pics of December ’24

Posted on by
Reply

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Hooded Merganser

Northern Cardinal

Barred Owl (napping in a pine tree)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Brown Creeper

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker showing off his handiwork. These woodpeckers always make rows of small holes like this.

The backs of two Barred Owls. I know this doesn’t look like much, but seeing these two snuggled up together lets me know mating season has begun.

Great White Egret playing hide and seek with three mallards

Blue Jay

One of these is not like the other!

“He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names. . . .He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that for which they cry.” Psalm 147:4 & 9.

“Hallelujah to him who both feeds the ravens and rules the stars! What a God you are, O Jehovah!” Charles Spurgeon

Favorite Bird Shots of October ’24

Posted on by
Reply

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female). An unusual visitor to my backyard as they only pass through in the spring and fall. I saw a juvenile male the next day.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Red-headed Woodpecker (juvenile)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (looks like he’s holding a Chee-to, but I suppose it’s not).

Wood Ducks (female)

Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Flicker

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Northern Mockingbird

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juvenile)

Blue Jay

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Monarch Butterfly

“I exalt You, my God the King, and praise your name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1

Favorite Bird Shots of August ’24

Posted on by
Reply

“It can be difficult to accept the fact that a lot of birds have to be identified as “possible” or “probable.”
― David Allen Sibley, Sibley’s Birding Basics

Green Heron

Green Heron (sporting his mohawk)

Red-headed Woodpeckers–Parent showing the newbie the ropes or how to find the best bugs

Little Blue Heron

Barn Swallow

White-eyed Vireo

Ruby-throated Hummingbird–one of my white spotted ones

White Ibis (juvenile)

Summer Tanager (female)

Great Egret

Great Crested Flycatcher

Downy Woodpecker (male)

Northern Flicker Woodpecker

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Young Duck–Mottled or Wood?

Mottled Duck

Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His–His people, the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3

Favorite Bird Pics May ’24

Posted on by
1

“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

Posted on by
2

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 Pics of February ’24

Posted on by
Reply

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)