Saturday, May 8, 2010

Birds on a wire....

It seems that I have been seeing a lot of bird activity on the wires overhead lately.We saw the Eastern Kingbird on slanted wires like this in several places.
I wonder if it prefers the slanted wire to the horizontal wires for a reason?
At the park we saw more kingbirds.....in a very awkward spot to shoot, but I rather liked all the poles and shapes.

More commonly at the park they sit on these low wires separating the parking area from the soccer fields.

A back view

A different set of wires in a different location....a Dickcissel! I thought this was a new bird to me, but according to my list I saw one last year in May also!
We kept seeing blue birds flying across the road in front of us. This one stopped on the road and appears to be a Blue Grosbeak. I thought we were seeing Indigo Buntings....we did see some, but no photos worth keeping.
The next wire sitters we saw were these Barn Swallows down along the Ohio River in the Henderson riverbottoms area.

In a nearby parking lot we found these other swallows....not sure what kind or if they are young ones? Mike thought maybe they were resting from the wind. It was really blowing that day.
Two more of them.

Not on a wire, not even a bird, but I wanted to put this snapping turtle photo some place! He was lounging on this log in the sun as we drove by down in the riverbottoms area.
The Mockingbird opted for the post rather than the wire :-)

And lastly.....a Robin with a mouthful of worms!
I like watching all the wire sitters and there are certainly plenty of them right now.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice shots of the Kingbird Mary.

eileeninmd said...

Cool shots of all the birds. Neat sighing of the Dickcissel. Great photos!

grammie g said...

Until I read your caption I did not see the snapper!! WOW!! What a brusier he is!! I thought it was a rock or something!! Kingbirds do sit on straight branches :} :} The pair I have love the big tree by the corner of my garage, but I can't figure out where they are nesting, if they are!!

me ann my camera said...

lovely kingbird photos! I have only seen a dickissel once. It was in our feeder area location. It made a semi-rare visit. Thank you for the card.I received a special butterfly runner for my dining room table from my daughter. Mother's day is full of many rewards. Have a nice day yourself tomorrow. Many thanks, Ann.

Becky said...

First I love that header! I see you have butterflies already and I can be envious again.
Super bird shots, and I see some we don't have. I haven't seen our resident snapper yet, but I'm looking.
B.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

What a lovely assortment of birds.I have seen a Dicksissal only once and would love to see him again.Have a fun filled weekend.
Blessings,Ruth

Mary said...

Roy: Thanks! It is a super bird and likes to pose.

Eileen: Thanks for stopping by!

Grammie G: Hope you find their nest or see young ones at least!

Ann: I hope you show us the runner! Riel is very talented as a quilter.

Becky: I don't look for snappers, but keep finding them anyway! Not too many butterflies yet, but beginning to show up wherever I go.

Ruth: I would like to see more of the Dickcissel, too. A quick shot on the wire isn't enough to really study it. Mike actually took the photo, because it was on the driver's side of the car.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

That turtle looks like a rock!! :)

Patrinas Pencil said...

looks like you had fun...I love the turtle

Rose said...

A wonderful series, Mary. I need to get to the strip pits to see if the Dickcissels are back out there. I seen the blue grosbeak coming home from there last summer but could never get a photo of it...I think that was my first time of seeing it.

CountryDreaming said...

My goodness, a Dickcissel and Blue Grosbeak? Looks like I'll have to head West at some point to try and see these elusive species. A birding buddy did say that a Blue Grosbeak was seen at Akron, Ohio but hey, it's nice to travel anyways. Looks like you're having a really nice spring migration season.

Mary said...

I wish we could have gotten a better shot of the Blue Grosbeak, but we were happy to get anything. The Dickcissel is pretty and I would like to see it again.