Museum in the Mulberry Tree

Back in April we had a museum of Cedar Waxwings at Bluebonnet Swamp. Yes, a group of waxwings are collectively known as a "museum" or an "ear-full." This group was particularly fond of the mulberry tree. I thought I'd never post these because the light was so bad and I didn't think the photos came out that great. Also this was right around the time I discovered shooting from a tent blind (here and here), so nothing else I photographed could compare to those images. I guess I'm over that now, so here we are! A little lightening and sharpening in Photoshop, and voila!

Notice the mulberry stains on his belly.

Peek-a-boo!

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They're baaack!

Beyond thrilled to walk out into my backyard this weekend and hear the distinctive high-pitched bzeeee call of the bird I look forward to seeing each year! After detecting the call, I looked high up into our neighbor's Chinese tallow tree and there sat my beloved cedar waxwings. I counted 35, then someone playing baseball behind our house hit a foul ball into the backstop fence, effectively clearing out the tree. But they came back and I was able to get some shots.

Our  class had two field trips this weekend. Two early mornings, lost an hour in the process due to the time change, and still lived to tell about it. Hee. A few notables were the meadowlark, pair of eaglets, bald eagle parents, ruddy ducks with distinctive blue bills (blue only during breeding season), American kestrel, and loggerhead shrike. 

The best part of the class? I met two other photographers about my age who are retired and looking for others to go on nature outings with. Yay!! One lady has a 500mm lens! And I'm sad to report that I lusted after it. :)

Sharing with Anni at I'd Rather B' Birdin'.

Ridgefield

The second day in Oregon my daughter planned an early morning bird watching tour in Ridgefield, WA. The group ended up with too many people and was going too slow for our liking, so we bailed and decided to explore on our own. Not long after sneaking off like thieves in the night, we stumbled onto a couple of photographers with gargantuan lenses pointed toward a tree. To our sheer and utter amazement it was a pair of great-horned owls; a momma and her baby. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy so my pics didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. We were so glad we ditched the group because we circled the park twice and never saw the owls again. If we hadn't gone when we did we never would have had the opportunity to observe these beautiful birds.

All in all we saw 28 different bird species! How I wish I could have photographed them all and done them justice. Just gives me incentive to return again soon. So while these are not my best shots, many of these are lifers, and for that, I am beyond delighted.

Marshy area of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Marsh wren with a grub worm

Pair of great egrets

Great-horned owl and owlet

Tree swallow

Pied-billed grebe

Cinnamon teal, female and male

Possibly a savannah sparrow

American goldfinch
I thought about cropping this down, but I liked the way he was leaning horizontally

Savannah sparrow

Song sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Black-headed grosbeak

More Zorro

Cedar Waxwings at Waddill Wildlife Refuge on March 1, 2013. The last CW is from my back yard on March 6, 2013.

As I was leaving Waddill I noticed this cute little birdhouse nailed to a pine tree.
If only a bird could have been perched at the table!

Double D was kind enough to fetch a ladder so I could get up higher.
They finally found our berry-laden holly trees, so I have a feeling that by tomorrow afternoon
there will be no berries left. I hope they don't get drunk and plow into the window like one did last year.

I thought today would be different...

I was all set to post something―anything―that didn't have a bird in it. I'm boring my own self with bird shots. But the sun was shining so brightly that it practically begged me to go out and find some birds to shoot. You really have to take the opportunities when they present themselves.

Early this morning I found myself googling "wildlife areas in Baton Rouge". First on the list was something I had not seen before and was not on any of the local birding web sites: Waddill Wildlife Refuge. It's about 9 miles south of my house, so Bluebonnet Swamp now has some competition. And it's free!

The first thing I saw when I walked up was a red-headed woodpecker. Score! The next thing I came upon was a flock of Cedar Waxwings. They were eating some tiny red berries―I'm assuming holly berries. I photographed them for quite some time with glorious light, but the wind gave me heck. What's with all the wind lately? I managed to pull off several decent shots, so you will be seeing these guys for some time to come! I didn't want to flood you with them today, and besides, I'm tired from being out there for four hours. During that time I slipped in mud, catching my camera before it landed in the muck, almost fell into the Comite River because of mud, and got lost briefly on a trail giving myself a mild panic attack. Overall, it was a great day!

I thought I'd come back to them after my hike. Two hours later the berries were gone.
They had completely stripped every tree along the bank! Glad I took so many shots while I had the chance.

Cedar Waxwings have a smooth, silky appearance. They love fruit from cedar, juniper, serviceberry, dogwood, and hawthorn. Their call is a high-pitched dzeeee, sort of like electrical equipment giving off a high frequency sound. They are similar to the Starling in size and shape, so if you see a flock like that, look closely―it might just be the Cedar Waxwings!

Ruby and friends

Happy Wednesday, y'all! Before we begin I have a little update on the bird that I saw in the cemetery on my mother's birthday. (I almost typed birdday...obsessed much?) The bird I saw that day was the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. What's so amazing about this discovery is that my mother's favorite color was red―specifically ruby-red. That I saw this particular bird when I asked my mother for a sign brought me to tears when I finally made the connection (I first thought it was the Acadian Flycatcher, but a bird friend corrected me). Now I envision my mother up in heaven with rubies in her crown. :)

I tried so hard to get the perfect shot of this Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but these guys flit around faster than gnats.
My goal was to get the red crown on the head. This was the best I could do. Sigh.

Brown Thrasher

He was gorging greedily on suet.

I think this Rufous is giving me a little lip.

I rounded a corner and heard high pitched shrieking. I barely got this shot of the wood ducks
fleeing for their lives. Seriously, they made terrifying sounds as though in a horror film.

Another Eastern Phoebe

Red-tailed hawk (?)

Cedar Waxwing

Downy Woodpecker

Thanks to Stewart for hosting!

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