Northern Shrike

Last year everyone but me saw this bird.  Seriously.  So you can imagine how happy I am to have seen this Northern Shrike twice this fall already!  And this last time was a really good look.

More American Bittern

 

Saturday morning this American Bittern spent quite a few hours hunting and feeding near the boardwalk at Heinz NWR.  He came amazingly close to the people watching him, even walking underneath the boardwalk.  In the final photo you can see him preparing to defend against whatever threat was above him but he did not fly away.

Fall Warblers

I got up early on Saturday to walk at Heinz NWR and was well rewarded for my trouble.  I saw lots and lots of warblers including these four.  Top to bottom: American Redstart, Palm Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula.

Yellowlegs

Lesser...I think...Yellowlegs.  Earlier in August the water level in the impoundment at Heinz NWR decreased enough to encourage the shore birds to visit.  I made a stab at getting all the id's straight but it's really quite hard to do and I'm not sure how much progress I made.  Luckily there's always next year.

Piping Plover

On our last day in Boston my sister-in-law was feeling well enough for a short stroll along the beach.  We came upon these Piping Plovers in between the gulls and crabs.

Sora Rail

There are a lot of great things about the Heinz NWR at Tinicum.  Some of the best are all new birds I've been able to see there, like this Sora Rail about whose existence I was totally unaware until last week.  The other great things are all the people willing to share what they see and even tell you what it is...five times if that's what it takes. 

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend HBO's documentary "Birders: The Central Park Effect."  It was intelligent and beautiful and included this fabulous comment by author Jonathan Franzen:

"I'd been walking in Central Park pretty much daily for the previous seven years and I thought it was a place of pigeons and sparrows...  ...It was like the trees were hung with ornaments...   ...Seeing this familiar urban park filled with birds like that was one of those rare times in an adults life where the world suddenly seems more magical rather than less."

I'm going to have to read more of his books. 

Frickenhausen 1973 & 2012

One of our primary objectives in visiting Germany was to visit Frickenhausen where I lived with my parents and sister in the early 1970's.  This was my first trip back since I was the little kid with blonde hair in the pink pants.  The steps, you can see, are exactly the same.  I expected Frickenhausen to be charming but I did not expect it to be such a good place for birds.  It's a great place for birds!  Right on the Main River, quiet and beautiful.  I still need help with the id's but the red faced birds are Goldfinch, the woodpecker is a Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Magpie is chasing a Kestrel ( I think), and a Kestrel is sitting atop the church.

The Hummingbird And The Woodpecker

I couldn't resist another break from the vacation photos to share these images from our butterfly hunting at Tyler Arboretum this week.  This hummingbird seemed to be taking the woodpecker to task for some reason.  Now I'm wishing I'd looked for a nest.  I was just so surprised to see her flying circles around the young woodpecker that I didn't think of anything else. 

Flicker Interruption

I just had to interrupt my vacation blogging to share these Northern Flicker photos from our walk yesterday.  Olivia and I walked (slowly!) around the impoundment loop at Heinz yesterday.  We saw a few things here and there but, of course, we saw our most dramatic siting right by the visitor center (i.e. near the car) a the end of our 2.5 hour walk.

A Few Belgian Birds

Not sure who this guy is.  (got it...Stonechat)

Blue Tit

Maybe a Chiffchaff??

Wood Pigeon

Stork

Jackdaw

Juvenile Blue Tits

Here are a few of the birds I saw at Het Zwin.  I haven't figured out all of the id's so if you know your European birds please help.

Storks!

Our first order of business after flying from NYC to Brussels was to drive out to Het Zwin, a nature preserve near the town of Knokke-Heist not too far from Brugges.  This was a last minute addition to our trip because I found out they have storks.  So after no sleep on the plane, Matt drove our rental car (diesel, stick shift car in the pouring rain) to Het Zwin (about an hour from the airport) so that I could look for storks and other birds.  It was like hitting the jackpot.  The birds were everywhere.  I spent two hours walking through the reserve while Matt and Olivia slept in the car.  When the storks came close to the car (seems like someone threw them bread) I tried to rouse Olivia and Matt (to no avail.)  The storks made a great CLACKing sound when they snapped their beaks together.  Totally awesome.  So I let the sleeping beauties rest for another hour before I pushed them both out of the car to look at the storks.

Least Bittern

If you look at this Least Bittern's throat you can actually SEE him making noise.  It was a very cool sound.  It was also very exciting to get so close to him.  Last year this was as good as it got.