A not very common Swainson’s Thrush.
Summer tanagers. The bottom one is an immature male.It’s cool to see them when they are half yellow and half red.
Gray birds: a wood pee wee and a catbird.
I think this is a female Orchard Oriole.
Baltimore Oriole.
Beautiful blue indigos.
Red eyed vireos.
Magnolia Warbler
A bay breasted warbler was hiding high up in the trees all morning.
Lots of different little birds at Fort Desoto at the end of April.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World.
I hadn’t seen cedar waxwings in years. They are somewhat rare here and only a few come through during spring migration. I saw one hiding deep in the bushes and was a little bummed he was not visible. Later in my walk a flock of them quickly flew by and one stopped for a few second right in front of me. They are beautiful birds.
A rare western kingbird. I’ve only seen these once before in the area in the last 9 years. At first I thought it was a great crested flycatcher which are more common but realized later it was a kingbird.
All of the usual birds that are at Possum Branch Preserve.
Not sure what this little yellow bird it. I’m thinking it’s an immature palm warbler.
Other little critters along the lake (besides alligators).
These were all taken at Possum Branch Preserve, a small watershed, near my home in mid-April.
Painted buntings were all over the ground.
Summer tanager.
Scarlet tanagers have black wings.
Lots of prothonotary warblers.
An immature male orchard oriole. He’ll turn a burnt dark orange after his next molt.
Above are female orchard orioles.
A rare Kentucky warbler.
An immature blue indigo looking back at me.
Fort Desoto Park in south Pinellas county is known as a hot spot for birds migrating through in the spring and fall. The birds seem to be more plentiful in spring vs. fall migration. All of the above were seen in a 2 hour period in mid-April. Just standing quietly in the bushes watching them fly in and eat the mulberries with 20 or so other people. All with our long lenses and binoculars. I was using my 300mm lens with a 1.4 extender to zoom in. These are also cropped up so we were all pretty far away.
Male rose breasted grosbeaks were all over Fort Desoto in mid-April. They were eating the mulberries while resting up before their migration up north. Most of them had mulberry juice all over their beaks.
A few females and juveniles were also munching on the berries.
Catbirds were eating as well.
I only got a brief glimpse of the Baltimore oriole before he took off.
I only saw one indigo bunting on this trip but more would pass through later in the month.
A small portion of the crowd at Fort Desoto during spring migration in mid-April. It felt like there were more people than birds that morning but at least there were a lot of eyes looking out for the birds. There wasn’t a lot of variety there but it was still early for migration.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World.
The mangroves along the road at Fort Desoto Park were full of female indigo buntings. They were the most accommodating birds. All of the others were staying hidden.
There were yellow warblers all over the park.
We had one lone bay breasted warbler in the mangroves.
A single black throated green warbler kept us entertained for a while.
I’m not sure if this is a eastern kingbird or an eastern wood-pewee.
The ruby throated hummingbirds were out this morning. There were several females hanging out at the firebush.
We only had a small sprinkle of birds stopping over on their way north for the summer in April. On the first Friday in May we had a big storm come through the area. On Saturday morning I got up early and headed down to Fort Desoto to see if any birds had landed to take a break before heading north. The park was full of little birds. Most were hiding but I managed to get a few shots of them deep in the bushes. There were a lot of barn swallows flying around but after torturing myself for a few minutes trying to get pictures I gave up.
Little critters.
Swimming critters.
A scarlet tanager high up in a tree with a snack and a pair of doves that were flirting.
A squirrel eating a branch.
Stopped by Sawgrass Lake park after work in late May for a quick walk before heading home. I didn’t expect to find too much but the scarlet tanager was nice.
Blue grosbeaks were all over Fort Desoto during spring migration back in late April. The all blue ones are males and the blue and brown one is a juvenile male that will eventually be all blue.
Hanging out on the fence. The light brown ones are females.
I think this is a very young male rose breasted grosbeak.
A laughing gull playing with his food.
A cardinal checking himself out in the mirror in the parking lot.
Osprey are everywhere at the park.
My first ovenbird, hiding deep in the bushes.
My first Louisiana Waterthrush at the fountain.
An unidentified bird on the top. Any ideas? The 2nd one is a Cape May Warbler.
Eastern kingbird high up in the tree.
A blurry shot of a young blue grosbeak. I thought his color was interesting. I guess he’s molting into his adult male colors.
An osprey with a fish.
And a pretty moth.
By mid April there hadn’t been too many birds passing through on their way north for the summer. I headed down to Fort Desoto Park expecting not to find too much. As usual there were more people than birds on the trails. Not too many birds but some good ones. Two new birds for me, the ovenbird and waterthrush so it was a good morning.
A very young Baltimore oriole way up high in the tree. He didn’t have all of his adult feathers in yet.
A black throated blue warbler.
A black throated green warbler.
A few blackpoll warblers in the mulberry bushes.
I think this is a female black throated blue warbler.
Brown thrashers were eating the mulberries.
Summer tanagers were in the oak trees.
This is either a female scarlet tanager or a summer tanager.
A lone indigo bunting.
Spring migration felt a little slow this year. It was much harder to find the birds at Fort Desoto. It felt like there were more people than birds in the woods. It was still a fun morning out. No new birds this spring but there’s always next year.
Yellow bellied sapsucker.
Lots of indigo buntings including the juvenile in the last picture. He hasn’t got all of his blue feathers in yet.
The scarlet tanager has black wings.
The summer tanager is the only all red bird in America (according to All About Birds)
Female red breasted merganser.
And a pretty cactus flower just for fun.
These were taken at Fort Desoto in early April when spring migrating birds were stopping by for a rest before heading north for the summer. There wasn’t a ton of birds but a few good ones.