Lifers, lifers, lifers!

I've been sneaking in tiny snippets of birding while working, going to the grocery store, etc. -- time is just crunched right now, as I try to cram everything into every minute of this spring. I've been lucky enough to happen on some lifebirds during these little sneaky snippets!

A few nights ago, I stopped at a local hotspot near the turf where I was working, and I happened on some real gems. The first thing I saw was a Black-bellied Plover in breeding plumage -- finally! Oh, and I must apologize for the poor photo quality; I'd left my camera at home, so I was digiscoping with my cellphone camera at about 7:30 or so in the evening -- no light!
So cool--I'd only ever seen them in winter garb in Texas!

Then I saw this little guy:Semipalmated Plover! Lifer number 304! What a cute little bird this is. Gotta love those plovers.

Then the other day, as I headed to work again, I left a little early and stopped by a new little conservation area right down the road, the Barrens to Bald Eagle Corridor (aka B2B). I'd heard there were Bobolinks there, and I wanted to see and hear one. I was not disappointed!What an insane little song! And look at all that patterning on the back; it's like herringbone or something. That's number 305, baby!

I also saw and heard tons of Eastern Meadowlarks:
Spring of the year!

Yesterday, I wanted AB to hear the song, so I took her out there, hoping to show her the Bobolink and the Eastern Meadowlarks she'd admired when I showed her my pics from that day. So we get there, and OF COURSE she spots a Bobolink and an Eastern Meadowlark in the same tree, right off the bat, no problem. SOME of us have waited for YEARS to see a Bobolink, but AB gets out of the car and practically trips over one.

But I'm not bitter.

Now it's time for FEEDERFIRSTS!
You'll recall that in our last segment of FeederFirsts, we saw a beautiful male Indigo Bunting that came by to partake of the seed. On Thursday, we had another FeederFirst that really made my day:YES--a few people on the local listserv have been reporting that, for the first time ever, they've had RBGR at their feeders. Glad I could join in the conversation!

I'll leave you with this rather stern look from a Tree Swallow:Ouch.