“Watching birds is good for mental health, the research tells us; it reduces anxiety, stress and depression and builds a well-being connection that might remain for life.” Miriam Darlington in Owl Sense.
Red-tailed Hawk
White-eyed Vireo
Barred Owl
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Barred Owl (doing a little fishing)
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
(Another) Barred Owl
Prothonotary Warbler
Eastern Bluebird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (juvenile male; notice the tongue action)
Barn Swallows
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
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
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
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)
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
I bought a journal to keep track of some of the birds I’ve seen and places I’ve visited, but like most of my journals, my writing in it has been haphazard at best. Since I still would like to keep some kind of record, I decided to start recording some of my adventures in this blog.
Reading that various ducks winter at MacAlpine Creek Park (in Charlotte,NC), I have made several visits in the past few months, hoping to see new waterfowl. So far, I’ve only seen mallards and Canadian geese. As much as I like to see these birds, I’ve been disappointed not to see anything new.
On my most recent trip to MacAlpine, I saw several types of birds and most excitedly, several I hadn’t seen there before (though not the waterfowl I expected). I started on my usual route to the marshy area where I have seen a great blue heron and an egret on several visits. Much to my disappointment, there was nothing there. Some mallards soon flew in, but I kept looking for the egret and heron. Then I noticed a bird sitting on a metal cross in the pond (I have no idea why that cross is there. Maybe someone can enlighten me.) Using my binoculars, I realized it was a kingfisher. A first time sighting for me. I took a few pictures and decided to go to the other trail I usually walk and maybe I would come back before I left to look one more time.
Belted Kingfisher
Just as I was leaving that area, a heron flew over my head and landed in a tree. I had never seen this bird in a tree (though I have since learned they nest in trees) and took several pictures from different angles.
Great Blue HeronGreat Blue Heron
I made my way back to the front pond, hoping some ducks had shown up. I saw some white birds that looked like seagulls. And before anyone corrects me, I know gulls are not just “seagulls” but I confess that is still how I think of them. Anyway, I have never seen these birds at McAlpine before. They didn’t stay long. They were gone by the time I made my loop.
Ring-billed gullColony of Gulls
Walking along the other side of the marsh, I finally saw the egret. I guess the slightly warmer weather brought out the turtle.
Turtle and Great Egret
As I continued my walk, I saw something a bit strange up in a tree. I thought it might just be some trash (more than once I’ve trained my binoculars on a plastic bag), then thought maybe it was a nest of some sort.
Strange creature
You probably notice the beak, but I didn’t even see that at first. Once I saw the leg (that’s just one leg; the other is a branch), I realized it was a bird. Another heron. He was probably trying to take a nap, but I walked around him as close as I could and got quite a few shots even before he woke up and began his creaky cry.
Great Blue Heron
I usually see several downy woodpeckers at McAlpine but not this day. However, I did see two other types of woodpeckers. The first a red-bellied woodpecker who I always hear, even if I don’t see them. They are very noisy birds and that’s not counting their rat-a-tat-tatting on trees.
Red-bellied Woodpecker, male
While I was snapping pictures of this woodpecker, I heard another one drilling very loudly behind me. I’m always reluctant to turn from something I have discovered as I can quickly lose sight of them and a bird in a hand, etc. But, fortunately, I did turn around in time to see a pileated woodpecker. The first I’ve seen here.
Pileated Woodpecker
Last, but not least, I saw a couple of cardinals, a mockingbird, several eastern phoebes, a couple of tufted titmice, and, of course, a scurry of squirrels.
Male Northern CardinalEastern PhoebeGrey Squirrel
I saw a good variety that day and was pleased with what I saw, even though I still didn’t see any different ducks. I also talked to a couple of other birders who had seen a hawk at close range and was told by another birder of a barred owl that lives there. I’m still hoping to see that owl and get some good pictures of the hawks on future trips.
pmgilmer 