What I've seen

This morning was the monthly bird walk held at LeFleurs Bluff State Park in Jackson,  MS and the weather was perfect; sunny and cool early but warming up as the day went on.  Before we even walked away from the cars, we had seen 5 species.  As we started down the trail, a magnolia warbler was spotted right at the trails edge and  was still long enough for everyone to get a good look.  The magnolia warbler was the most prolific bird for the day, we must have seen 15-20.  They seemed to be everywhere!  We also saw a black throated green warbler which was a lifer for most of us.  The list for the morning was: northern flicker, red-headed woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, great egret, great blue heron,  little blue heron, anhinga, robin, magnolia warbler, black and white warbler, black-throated green warbler, american redstart, carolina wren, brown thrasher, eastern wood pewee, hooded warbler, indigo bunting, cardinal, common grackle, mockingbird, gray catbird, belted kingfisher, white-breasted nuthatch, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, blue jay, white-eyed vireo, yellow-billed cuckoo, chimney swift, wood duck, and mallard.    We also heard pileated woodpecker, eastern bluebird, eastern towhee, and northern parula.  After leaving the park,  I also saw some turkey vultures and pigeons.

Later, in my yard and during my afternoon walking/birding, I saw chickadees, cardinals, ruby throated hummingbird (yes, ours are still here), blue jays, wrens, red-bellied and red-headed woodpeckers, a pileated woodpecker, an eastern phoebe, a hooded warbler (I think) hiding in a patch of goldenrod, mourning doves, indigo buntings,  the usual flock of blue birds, and a multitude of house finches.  I also scared up some ducks on our pond that were probably wood ducks since that's what we usually have.

But the highlight of the day was, believe it or not, a magnificent frigatebird!  They were blown here by Hurricane Gustav and are still around.  One of the guys in the morning walk told me he had seen them recently.  The thing was HUGE and was flying over the interstate near the Pearl River in Jackson.  I really wish I could have stopped and watched it but that's kind of hard to do on the highway.  Who would have thought you could add a frigatebird to your life list 4 hours from the coast and in the middle of a city.   

I plan to bird again in the morning and hope it's as great a day as today was.  Happy birding ya'll!!!

(new additions to life list are in bold type)

The weather here in MS has  been really hot and there's been little rain up until recently.  In the past week we've finally gotten some rain and the temps have dropped a few degrees.  One afternoon, it actually felt a little like fall!  I've noticed that there seems to be more birds now that we've had some rain.  As a new birder, I'm anxious for the fall action to get started so I can see some more new birds.

I have three areas where I routinely bird.  I work on an Army Corps of Engineers base that is an ideal place.  There is a lake, a pond, and a drainage ditch/creek that leads into a swamp so there are always waders about.  There are wooded areas and lots of open areas.  There are usually lots of mockingbirds, bluebirds, mourning doves, and red-head woodpeckers around.  There is also a flock of about 75 Canada geese that live there year round.  Back in July, I saw a pileated woodpecker at a nest/roost in a utility pole and when a looked at the pics I took, you could see the mate in the hole.  This is also where I saw my first eastern kingbird and Coopers hawk.

There is a new subdivision going in down the road from my house that has lots of bird activity.  So far there are no houses going up, just roads and lots.  There are usually downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, mockingbirds, kingbirds, indigo buntings, and bluebirds there as well as others.  Yesterday, I saw a bird that was new to me.  I didn't get a good look, but it appeared to be mostly or all yellow so I'm thinking yellow warbler.  Hopefully I'll see it again soon so I 'll know for sure.

Then there's home.  We live in the county on about 5 acres that's mostly grown up.  There are plenty of mature trees and lots of shrubby growth and there's a small pond.  Saturday afternoon I saw a green heron and a beltd kingfisher on the pond for the first time.  Today the kingfisher was back as well as a little blue heron.  The feeders we have attract all the usuals - chickadees, titmice, house finches, cardinals, doves, etc.  We don't have starlings or grackles at the feeders like some people have problems with and the cowbirds haven't been around since June.  The cardinals have been VERY prolific this year, they are everywhere.  I've seen a male cardinal feeding babies on several occasions, for some reason it's always the male and not the female.  There's a white breasted nuthatch that visits pretty regularly and he picks the peanuts out of the mix in the platform feeder to eat.  Today a Carolina wren was eating at the suet/peanut butter log which I'd never witnessed before.  Five hummer ladies share two feeders or maybe I should say fight over two feeders.  I'm not sure why they squabble so much, one day last week four of thm were drinking peacefully at the same time from the same feeder.  A male showed up in July for a few days but I haven't seen him lately.

Since my last blog the July 4th weekend, I've added the following to my life list:

coopers hawk

eastern wood pewee

great crested flycatcher

eastern kingbird

eurasian collared dove

red eyed vireo

northern parula

Mississippi kite

Until next time, happy birding ya'll!

I'm fairly new at serious birdwatching but I've quickly become addicted.  We've had feeders off and on for years but I really started watching what specific birds used the feeders this spring.  Well, to be honest, it started out as an excuse to sit on the front porch every afternoon to enjoy the peace and quiet but then I really got interested.  Then I had to buy a field guide to ID the ones I didn't know and THEN I had to have a camera.  At that point I was hooked.

So anyway, since I didn't have plans for the 4th of July weekend (sad isn't it?) I decided to see how many species I could see.  Except for the bird walk I took at LeFluer's Bluff State Park in Jackson, MS on Saturday morning, all the rest of the time was spent on our property, in the neighborhood, or just around town.  In just those three days, I saw 49 different species, 9 of which were first timers ( in bold below).  The following is a list of what I saw:

canada geese, mallard (f), anhinga, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron, green heron, yellow-crowned night heron (saw both an adult and a juvie), cattle egret, black vulture, turkey vulture, red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, kildeer, mourning dove, yellow-billed cuckoo, chimney swift, ruby-throated hummingbird (m/f), belted kingfisher (m), red-headed woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker (m/j/and a nest hole), downy woodpecker, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker (one at the nest and one in the nest hole), white-eyed vireo, blue jay, american crow, barn swallow, carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breastwed nuthatch, carolina wren, blue gray gnatcatcher, american robin, northern mockingbird, brown thrasher, prothonotary warbler, louisiana waterthrush, summer tanager (m/f), eastern towhee (m), northern cardinal (m/f/j), red-winged blackbird (m/f), indigo bunting (m/f), brown-headed cowbird, house finch (m/f), house sparrow, orchard oriole (m/f), and eastern bluebird (m/f/and juvie looking out of the nest box).

I also heard a fish crow but didn't see it so I didn't count it.