The first bird we saw wasn't a bird at all, however:
This guy was hawking for insects for the entire five or so minutes we watched him, despite the daylight. That's the second time we've seen a bat flying in the daytime over a creek; I guess they do that?Here's one of the first nests we saw:
Don't see it? How about now:
That's a Mallard nesting in a tree! Not very common, but I guess it does happen sometimes. I'd hate to be a nestling in that family taking my first step out of the nest! It's a doozy!There were little bits of nesting material scattered around the tree:
and it looked like at least one egg was deemed not up to snuff:
I thought it might've fallen out, but the cavity looked pretty secure.We also found this guy sleepin' it off in the creek:
Here's another builder:
That's a Black-capped Chickadee digging out a good home, but I didn't manage to capture Mrs. (or Mr.? who digs?) BCCH standing nearby inspecting the work and tapping her foot impatiently.We also saw a bunch of a Yellow-rumped Warblers who refused to sit still and be photographed, but mixed into that flock I found this:
Black-and-white Warbler -- finally a half-way decent photo for my lifebird photos file!I had a life-flower for the day as well:
Dutchman's Breeches! Finally! I had thought the flowers would be bigger but they're quite small. Another beauty:
Purple Trilliums, which were really taking that "nodding" thing to the extreme:
Must've been an "end-of-day-I'm-tired" thing; I'd never seen one drooping like that.My second life-flower, Wild Ginger:
Nice!Finally, I was able to ID this scary-looking tree from hell using my new National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees:
Honeylocust.Nothing sweet about that tree, man.
5 comments:
I love honeylocust trees – their shapes have so much character in the winter. Some of my best tree photos are of honeylocusts. When I was young I used to pick up some of the thorns to bring home with me.
Cool photo of the bat! I've never been able to get a picture of one. Love that wild ginger too. Sounds like a perfect day out.
Good eyes! Have not seen Dutchmen Britches since as a kid in Michigan (April Showers bring May Flowers!)
We have a similar one here - pink - called Bleeding Heart.
Our Yellow Rumps arrived yesterday!!!
Just noticed - did you see the Google home page today?? Sweet!
John--they just look so scary!
Lynne--it was a lucky shot! And yes, it was a single sunny day in a month of solid rainy days. Sigh.
Rabbits' Guy--a friend told me to look for them, or I wouldn't have seen them I think. They're so little! Oh, you know, AB was wondering if the two were related as they look so similar in structure -- turns out they are!
Did you mean the Earth Day one? I loved it!
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