Hel-lo, Mr. Sibley

Welcome to my life!

See What I've Become?

Birding in the Cracker Barrel parking lot

(I was looking at Sparrows, thank you very much!)

The Ponds

I returned to the Busch Wildlife Area to bird a few of the 40+ ponds. What a beautifully sunny morning! I had great hopes of finding a few new species (such as a bittern or a duck) but the day was without. :( It's not quite migration season yet, so I guess my expectations were a bit high.

But I did have a sweet time watching the dozen or so Green Herons around the Adhen Knight Hampton Memorial Lake. Green Herons crack me up because the can stand SO still when they are hunting. It's like they are little statues. They so such funny little creatures!

"I'm not here. You don't see me."

Beautiful lily pads (or whatever they are really called!)

This Easter Phoebe was picking out little seeds from the cone it's sitting upon. I'm pretty sure its a phoebe. Please tell me, if I'm wrong. I stink at Flycatchers from afar!

Turtle saying "Wassup?" or just begging for food.

These cool tree markings are holes drilled by Sapsuckers looking for, well, sap!

Not Birdy, But Purdy

A couple weeks ago during the Pereids Meteor Shower, I went out at 1 am to photograph the shower. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the shooting stars (it was a technical problem, more than actually capturing the white streeks.)

So instead, I spent the next three hours driving around Innsbrook in the dark, shooting photos of the lakes and the surrounding night sky. I want to point out that the glow that you see in each photo is NOT the early morning sun rising. It is the lights from the city of St. Louis! Enjoy!

Things I Never Thought I'd See

Went on a great little hike last evening, and came upon a beautiful female White-tailed Deer. I was surprised how close she let me get to her.

As I was taking some shots of the deer, a Flycatcher came swooping down and SAT on the back of the deer! It sat there for about two seconds and flew off again. What an amazing moment! I'm still laughing about it!

When Birding Gets Tough...

...the Tough Look at Flowers?

The last several days have been very rainy/stormy here in the St. Louis area. (Oh, how I miss the blue skies of the desert!) I haven't yet figured out how the birds respond to the local weather patterns and the birding has been a little off (or maybe, I'm a little off!) So, when the birds were slacking a bit the other evening, I went about photographing wildflowers. Just wanted to share my finds...

Partridge Pea

Purple Aster

Jewelweed
(this is, like, the best looking weed I've ever seen!)

Pale Touch-Me-Not

Every American Goldfinch's dream flower, the Purple Coneflower

And just cause I appreciate the life cycle of every living creature, here is a dead Coneflower. Kind of goth, don't you think?

FYI, did you know that Missouri has more native species of orchids than Hawaii? Hawaii has only three species of wild orchids, while Missouri has 35! Wow!

Learning to Warble in Missouri

Yesterday morning, I decided to stay within the Resort and do some birding along one of the great nature trail Innsbrook provides. It was a very nice morning, weather-wise and the trail was to follow a flowing stream. I was totally looking forward to this. I had some good mojo that today was going to be a good bird day.

Within 20 feet of the trailhead, I found my first Kentucky Warbler. It flew down right in front of me! Nice...that was easy.

I then spent the next three hours completely wrenching out my neck, trying to identify little cute Warblers 100 ft above my head! Oh, the challenges of birding in a tall, dense forest!

I can't tell you how much time I spent trying to identify a female Northern Parula. She was SO high up, so squirrel-y that I couldn't get a good look at her. I could only see her undersides. I was like, "Please come down here! Please, just dip your head just so I can see the top of your head. Please just sit still!" I almost wanted to throw my hiking boot at her! :) (You're all laughing at me right now, aren't you?) lol

I am slowly learning how to bird in Missouri. S-L-O-W-L-Y....

Question is: Do they make neck braces for birders?

I don't know if you can tell, but this Indigo Bunting is totally giving me the stink eye. He and his mate were going completely BAH-ZERK. I was obviously around their nest, which I never could find.

Things That Remind Me of Home

Found this old car along a middle-of-nowhere trail I took yesterday. Memories of the Mesquite!

Well, it's happened already....

It hasn't even been one hour since I sent out a notice about this blog, and already I've misidentified a bird! (That is why I NEED you!)

In the post It's Rough Being a Bird, I was dork and assumed the bird I held in my hand was a juvenile White-breasted Nuthatch (cause they are everywhere, and it has SOME similar traits.)

Thanks to dear ol' Dee Zeller, I am told that I am actually holding a Black-and-white Warbler! I'M HOLDING A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER?! OMG!! That would be a new species for me, thank you very much. I'm freaking out a little, now!

Lesson learned....NEVER ASSUME! (Thanks, Dee! Love you!)

What would you say?

Went for a great bird walk this morning here at Innsbrook, and I came across this little fella. At the time of the sighting I couldn't get a good ID on him, but now examining the photo, I'm thinking it's a juvenile White-eyed Vireo. I know, the photos are not the best.

The basis of my ID its yellow spectacles, white neck and yellowish breast.

What do you think?

Doo-tee-doo...

...a new species for you-know-who!

Worm-eating Warbler

Found him right outside my dining area window. That wasn't hard! (P.S. This one is not my photo.)

It's Rough Being a Bird

One of the nicer things about my home at Innsbrook is that one whole side of the home is windows (it's an A-frame.) Great for us humans watching birds, but not so great for the birds.

This morning while vacuuming, I heard a loud thunck. D-oh!.. I know that sound. It's a bird diving into the window. I shut off the vacuum and carefully peaked outside to see what bird death scene I might find. I mean, I did hear it over the vacuum.

Laying on the decking was an immature ***White-breasted Nuthatch*** (now correctly identified as a Black-and-white Warbler!) I am laughing to myself right now, because, thankfully, the little guy wasn't dead, but it was laying on its back with its legs straight up in the air. Totally funny position for a bird to be in.

I carefully picked it up and allowed it to recover from its brain bash., which took about 10 minutes. It was a great opportunity to study it up close. The little booger had a death grip on my hand!

Places You Don't Want to Leave

In my effort to get out and find great birding spots around the St. Louis Metro area, I spent a relaxing morning at the August A. Busch Wildlife Conservation Area.

Wow! This place has got it all. Riparian areas, lakes, meadows, mowed fields, and dense woods. Typical wild Missouri, I guess. What amazing beauty!

My prize bird for the day was a female American Redstart, which is a new species for me. I found her hanging around a little fishless pond, along with about 15 American Robins. No kidding. 15 Robins!

See, I told you it was fishless!

Another great find was an Eastern Towhee, singing at the top of its lungs.I'm beginning to think that the Eastern Towhee is not as "rarely seen" as some of the literature says, 'cause I'm seeing them everywhere. That, or I'm just really lucky.

Eastern Towhee

Monarch Butterfly

A Monarch Caterpillar

Party on the fountain!

Beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, with a Mole catch

Sharing the Love

One of the great joys I had over the weekend in Indiana was sharing bird watching with my nephew. I had no idea he was so interested in birds!

Together we searched for a mysterious bird that my folks have seen around their farm the last couple months, and have been unable to identify. We found the little booger (actually, big booger!)

It had me a little perplexed because it mostly looked like Brown Thrasher, but according to my bird guide it should have had a curved bill, which this bird definitely did not have. Anthony was fantastic in remembering it’s persistent warning call (we were obviously around a nest) and we checked out Cornell’s website for more photos and a sound bite.

Sure enough! It was a Brown Thrasher.

It was precious time with Anthony, and I promised to take him on a real bird walk once we return to Missouri. I already taught him how to pish, which was great fun. I can’t wait to spend more time with him. Looks like I have a new birding partner!

The new birding duo!

Oh, and I really do need to get a new bird guide. I got burned this time. Question is Peterson's or Sibley's? :)

Time with the Fam

Got to spend a fun weekend with my sister and her family at my parent's home in Northern Indiana. The highlight of the weekend was seeing my niece and nephew help my dad throw candy from his gas truck in the DeMotte Town & Country Parade. Who doesn't like being in a parade?

CANDY!!

My reason for the roadtrip...my cousin Lisa (whose been stationed in HI for the last 4 years!)

Go- carting at Grandma and Grandpa's! Lizzy getting go-cart instructions from her daddy

Go-cart rescue mission! We forgot to tell Anthony how to turn the go-cart around. He got stuck out in the corn field!

All is well! Anthony keeps zooming around the yard.

Getting Used to My Avian Digs

One thing that I’m having to get used to since moving back to Missouri is all the new “common” species. Ya, I know, the Eurasian Tree Sparrow is now my new best friend, but what I can’t get used to seeing are the Buntings. Deep blue streaks flying all over the place.

On every bird walk I take around Innsbrook, I find several pairs of Indigo Buntings. Indigo Buntings for goodness sake! I do a little “happy bird dance” every time I see one (’cause I got no one to high -five) and walk away satisfied that if I see no other bird today that at least I saw an Indigo Bunting.

I’m wondering how long it will take before it becomes one of my “junk birds?” I hope never.

Sweet Girl

One of the common, but definitely more interesting, bird sounds I hear around Innsbrook is the call of the Eastern Towhee. I finally found one! After a persistant chase, I found this sweet little lady lurking in a low tree.

I think she’s blushing that I found her!

The After Six Crowd

When I’m at Innsbrook, I normally take bird walks in the morning, when the birds are peeking out in the warm sun. Last night, I needed to get out of the house and I decided to take my binoculars with just in case something interesting pops up. I AM SO GLAD I DID!

In a grove of mixed conifers and deciduous trees, I found a small tree ripe with these tiny little red berries. Well, the birds were all over that! It was crazy! Within five minutes I spotted the following birds in the tiny tree:

• Eastern Bluebirds (male, female, and immature)
• Blue-winged Warblers (two, chasing each other around)
• Hairy Woodpecker
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Eastern Wood-Pewee
• Great Crested Flycatcher
• Catbird (new species for me)
• Cedar Waxwing
• Tufted Titmouse
• Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Cardinal pair

Totally fun for five minutes! Complete surprise to me since it was after 6pm. I don’t know what type of tree that was, but, boy was it good eats (for the birds!)

I also saw these birds along the mile-long walk.

• Wild Turkey (3 adults, and 5 babies)
• Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
• Carolina Wrens
• Many Crows
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Field Sparrows (New species for me)

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Look who said “Good Morning” while I was enjoying my morning coffee. What a treat!