Painted Buntings, Cardinals, and snakes

Here is a Painted Bunting I saw while watching a snake in a Cardinal nest.

The Bunting came in, as well as a Mockingbird and an Oriole...As if they wanted to help. The poor Cardinal pair we really going crazy. I felt really bad for the Cardinals.

 

Here is the snake. The upper 1/4th of the snake was in the nest. The snake was a bit lumpy so I am assuming it was full of chicks.

Poor Cardinals.

 

 

American White Pelican

We went to The Great Salt Plains this past weekend (yesterday). The American White Pelicans were out and about. They are a really neat bird!

It was a really windy so a lot of the song birds were hunkered down. The water fowl, woodpeckers and hawks were still out and about.

The pelicans went along the spill way looking for things to eat.



Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Most beautiful bird! It is the state bird of Oklahoma. They are still here in Norman (OK). Migration is in full swing. The Juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived. Hummingbirds are making their way south. The Scissor-tails will gather together and migrate within a week or two.

Goose is Goose!

There are cute little ones.....

A couple of broods together....

And there they go....



I'm hungry!

It is that time of year again...there are hungry babies everywhere.

I love to watch the young ones beg for food. They open their mouths wide and shake their wings...which make their whole bodies shake. It really is a joy to watch.



Who's the King?

The Eastern Kingsbirds were out in force yesterday.

 

They were chasing each other, it was awesome to watch.





Roadrunner

We saw this cute Roadrunner today at the lake.

 

I love how the light makes it's feathers look green (ish).

 

 

Gotta goooooooo.......

Bufflehead and Goldeneye

Here is a Bufflehead and a Common Goldeneye. I love the contrast of these birds against the gray of the water.

Great Blue Heron

This is a Great Blue Heron in a tree. It was an amazing sight, though not rare at all. It was a great find.

 

 

We are always looking up in hopes of seeing an owl.

There has been a lot of herons around lately. Of course they are here year round.

Carolina Chickadee, your go to bird

 This Chickadee is 4.75"-5".  In Oklahoma they are here year round.

 

Where there are Chickadees you will often see the Tufted Titmouse. On the day this photo was taken....yesterday...there were Tufted Titmice hang with them.

 So what do Chickadees eat? They eat a variety of food including seeds (they love black oil sunflower seeds), nuts, fruits, insects and will even visit your suet feeders.

So when it comes to cute birds....Chickadees are your go to bird!

Hangin' with the Homies

This Photo was taken at the Great Salt Plains.

Blue Jays rock!

 Who would say they hate Blue Jays?

 They apparently don't really know the Blue Jays. Some folks think Jays kill baby birds and eat eggs. Ha....Well "in an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of jays had evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts."1

Get to know this awesome bird...and you too will understand when I say Blue Jays ROCK!

1. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue_Jay/lifehistory

White-breasted Nuthatch

 So, what this nuthatch is doing is wedging this nut into the tree.

He will strike at it and break it open releasing the meat and gobbling it up.

The nuthatches are a sweet little bird. We have the White-breasted Nuthatch year round. We get the Red-breasted Nuthatch in the fall/winter.

Brown Creeper

It was the highlight of my weekend to see this Brown Creeper. They are soooo cute. We only get these cuties in the fall/winter.They move up the tree in search of insects. When it reaches the top it flies to the base of the next tree and works its way up that tree.

Sandhill Cranes in Oklahoma

 This past weekend we made a trip north to the Great Salt Plains State Park and The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. Over the next few days I will be posting photos and info.

 These are Sandhill Cranes. There were hundreds of them flying over head. I am so glad we had a chance to see them.

More tomorrow.............

Yellow-rumped Warbler

So the Yellow-rumped Warbler is back. They are here only in the fall and winter. This is a cute warbler the moves around a lot. You can see them on the ground or in the trees. Most often I spot them on the ground. These warblers are usually in small groups.

 

 

They have a bit of yellow under their wing as you can see in the photo above.

 

And as their name implies, they have yellow on their rump. They can be seen at your feeders. Most likely they are looking for black oil sunflower seeds, peanut butter, raisins, and suet. I love when they are back in town!

It ain't fall 'til you see the Dark-eyed Junco

They're back!

 

 

My goal this past weekend was to see a Dark-eyed Junco. I had heard they had returned, although I had not seen one yet. The weekend before was a slow birding day, not much action. But this past weekend was awesome!

 

 

As you can see we spotted the Dark-eyed Junco....Fall has now started!

Trumpeter Swan

To end our birding adventure yesterday, we traveled to east Norman (Oklahoma) and found these wild Trumpeter Swans. They are currently hanging out in the Summit Lake addition (off of Alameda street). We saw a total of six. Word has it there are seven swans on the lake. Just a quick note.... the dark shadow on the bottom of each photo was created by the side view mirror....I took the photo from my truck and lined up the mirror just below the view path. TMI....C'est la vie.

Taking time for the birds!

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Gray-headed Junco

(the one with the rosy color on it's back)

So, my friend Nancy called the other day. She told me that she had seen a Grey-headed Junco. (In Norman, Oklahoma!!!!) These birds are not normally anywhere in Oklahoma! She had contacted some people from the Audubon Society (which she is a member). They came out and documented it. So, yesterday my mother and I hopped in the car and drove over to see it. Amazing! Nancy had birds galore. We also saw a Red-bellied woodpecker, Spotted-Towhee, several type of sparrows, Chickadee, Tufted-Titmouse, Purple Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, Goldfinches and so on...