This and That

All me to introduce you to the Mallard x American Black Duck . This duck is a hybrid which basically means that a mallard and black duck mated and the duck on the left of the picture above is the end result. It took me forever to figure this out as I leafed through my Peterson Guide to not find any duck that looked like the one above. Google came to the rescue and I found out quite a bit about this particular breed of duck which is actually quite common. I also saw my first Green Winged Teal at this pond but was unable to get a decent picture. Another check on my list!

Here is the beloved Pileated Woodpecker. He was busy the whole time I was at the cemetery in Grafton. His mate could be heard throughout the wetlands and I was able to catch a glimpse of her before she flew off across the street.

I also met two birders while I was there which was very cool! I really need to get out there and meet some local birders as I am still really new at this. Perfect example was a bird flying up in the sky. I thought it was a Bluejay, but they knew straight off it was a hawk of sorts. We tried to get an identity, but it flew off too quickly. I would have still thought it was a Bluejay with my inexperienced eyes and ears. I think more experienced birders would teach me a lot this summer so need to break out of my comfort zone of birding alone and mingle a little. ;o)

Lastly a Mute Swan! The pictures came out rather dark due to the gray skies that were present at the time I took the picture. very pretty birds though.

I can't wait to go birding this weekend. Waterfowl are everywhere and I so want to see a Wood Duck! Happy Birding all!!!

Saturday Birds and Help with ID of Swan Please

The robins were EVERYWHERE today. Normally when I bird on weekends I always see a few robins but nothing like what I have seen over the past two weekends. I actually took this picture on a bridge to the bike path. I had to point my camera between the chain link fencing to get this shot. I was at an advantage in height because I was right at the robins eye level. It was flashing its wings like the shot above and thought it would make a nice picture.

I saw the pileated again today. This time he was in the cemetery vs the wetlands. The bright morning sun made all of my photos look washed out today. Normally I try and position my body behind the sun but there are times when you have to be quick and get your shot and by the time you do get your body where you want it, your photographic subject flys off. I went from no sun all winter to too much sun. Photography is such a challenge.

Lastly some pictures of some swans who kept doing circles around the perimeter of the cemetery. I am thinking they are Tundra Swans?? I was looking around the cemetery when suddenly I could hear this beautiful sound from the sky. It almost sounded like wings whooshing. I looked up to see two of them soaring above me. Wouldn't you know that the sun again made everything too washed up looking.

I believe these are the same two I saw at the Grafton Cemetery last year during Late November. That was the last I have seen of them until today.

The pictures could not be closeups due to how far away there were from me. Can anyone identify this swan despite the lousy pictures?

Can't wait to bird again tomorrow. It is going to be in the 50's!! I am kind of disappointed though because I was expecting to see a lot more waterfowl now that migration has started and only saw my usual mallards today.

Bird Photography Weekly-Pileated Woodpecker

The pair of Pileated Woodpeckers were back at the Grafton Cemetery on Sunday. Once again the male was out in plain view while the female was hidden but I could hear her call. I was able to get closer to him this time for a sharper picture.

This photo above and the photos below all came out kind of blurry so I couldn't crop as much as I would like to have. I wanted to post them though because they are unique. I am guessing he is preening here? I love how fluffy his feathers look. This woodpecker has some pretty incredible feet to be able to pull this off and keep his balance!!

One with his beak open. I have never seen a woodpecker do that before!

Finally one in flight. I wish he were flying toward me so I could have gotten that glorious crown, but I was able to get the white feathers on his wings.

For more bird photography go to Bird Photography Weekly.

Lifer for Moi! Pileated Woodpecker!!! Squeeee

Check it out all! For those of you who follow my blog you may recall me writing that there were two birds I had to see this year no matter what. Those two birds were the Bald Eagle and Pileated Woodpecker. Well check out what I saw today at the Grafton Cemetery!!

It was a gorgeous morning when I arrived and was dismayed to see that my usual parking spot was covered by a snow bank. Hmmmph, I thought as I parked somewhere else. I got out of my car and looked toward the wetlands and saw a spot of vibrant red on a tree. I tiptoed over the fence, adjusted my camera settings and there it was. I took a photo and couldn't believe my eyes. At first I thought it was a red bellied woodpecker until I zoomed in more to confirm it was indeed a Pileated Woodpecker!

To make this even more exciting is that there are two of them. I was able to observe them both for about 1/2 and hour and now know their call which is unique to say the least.

I went home to change my clothes because I was soaked (I actually had to sit in the snow to get these photos because I needed to rest my elbows on my legs due to the fact that my camera had to be on full zoom because they were so far away. When I came back all I could hear was the manic call of the woodpeckers. My guess is they know this land very well and I will be seeing a lot more of them this spring. LIFER and a super sweet one at that.

Speaking of super sweet, look what I saw today. My first blue bird of the year! The picture is a little fuzzy but the bird was so far away and when I went to get closer it flew off so I had to settle with this one.

It's funny because the whole reason why I went to the Grafton Cemetery today was to see if the blue birds were back yet. I didn't even think I would see the pileated. It's funny how life works out for you sometimes isn't it. ;o)