Bring on Spring

As much as I really wanted a big snow this year, now that spring has begun to show it's face, I'm ready.  Bring it on.  More birds, more sun (please let there be more sun!!), and more plants. 

Blackbirds in the Sunshine

The blackbirds are on the move.  Wednesday's walk at Heinz was rife with blackbird calls and I even managed a few photos.  The Red-winged Blackbirds were the noisiest, the second photo is a Common Grackle and the third is a Juvenile Male Rusty Blackbird.  The Brown-headed Cowbirds were also out strutting their stuff but I didn't get any good shots.

Birds in the Art of Japan at the Met

Flock of Cranes
Ishida Yūtei (Japanese, 1721–1786)

I spent the entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday.  I went to see the Bellows and Matisse shows and stumbled upon this really nice exhibit "Birds in the Art of Japan."  The camera I didn't bring was unnecessary because the Met has great images on their own website.  I cropped these two images to give you a better idea of how much you can take in standing in front of this fantastic screen.  Click on the images to follow back to their source at the Met website.

Birds in Snow

Female Cardinal

Song Sparrow

Female House Finch

Winter Sparrows

Fox Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Tree Sparrow

I'm really pretty sure it was another White-throated but I'm having doubts.

The sparrows were also out enjoying Tuesday's sunshine.  The Fox Sparrow is the newest to me and I really like to see them.  Unfortunately I did not get as good a shot of the Tree Sparrow as he deserved.  His "rusty" cap was really quite red.  Last year I determined to learn the sparrows and I have made progress but it is still a bit tricky for me.  You can see the problem if you look at both White-throated Sparrow photos. 

Golden-crowned Kinglets

The Golden-crowned Kinglets were very friendly today.  They are such acrobatic and beautiful little birds.  They are absolutely one of the highlights of winter. 

The Great Outdoors

I finally got back to Heinz NWR and what a beautiful day!  These starlings were clearly enjoying it.  The sun!!! I just can't even say how much I love the sun.  Looks like tomorrow might be the last of it for a while. 

Birds of Woluwe Park

Some kind of crow but I'm not sure what kind.

Eurasian Coot.  I can never get over those feet!

Egyptian Goose.  These are the birds I saw from the road.

Tufted Ducks.  I think but it would be good to confirm.  Maybe they are Lesser Scaup??

Upland Goose.

Chaffinch

Eurasian Coot babies

Eurasian Coot, parent and child

Eurasian Moorhen

Great-crested Grebe

Great-crested Grebes

As we were driving out of Brussels the first time desperately trying to figure out how to get on the highway to Luxembourg I saw a park.  And in that park, even as we were speeding by, I could see that there were birds I wanted to stop and photograph.  So on our last night in Europe after visiting the art museums that had been closed the first time around I dragged Matt and Olivia out to Woluwe Park.  This is probably too many photos for one post but I feel like it's time to wrap this trip up and I really did see all these birds in less than an hour.  So here they are identified to the best of my ability...ahem.

Shake It Off

Romance in the Air

Timing is everything.  Our evening walk around Pepiniere Park coincided with a lot of animal activity.  The doves were also feeling romantic.  And the peacocks, well I don't know if they had romance in mind, but they were screaming their heads off. 

Fall Migration Highlights

Blue-headed Vireo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

American Bittern

Swamp Sparrow

Sora Rail

This weekend had the most outrageous weather changes.  One day I needed silk long underwear, hat, gloves, winter coat and then the next I'm getting a sun burn on my bare arms in 70 degree temps.  Hmm.  Either way it was great to be outside!