Friday, March 29, 2013

Past the Half-Way Mark!

After going at this project for nearly three months, I have photographed 251 species of birds this year, which is barely more than half-way to my goal of 500. Yesterday (2/28), I was able to photograph one of the remaining Lincoln's Sparrows present at Tall Timbers which is just north of Tallahassee, FL. There are still a few kicking around, but it is pretty obvious the sparrow flocks are thinning out.

Lincoln's Sparrow
Today, in one of the recently burned areas (the entire property is burned each year to maximize Bachman's Sparrow habitat) a Northern Bobwhite was foraging out in the open, a rare sight here. The are a huge number of Northern Bobwhite on the property, and I see or hear them every day. They are usually flushing away from me. It was nice to see one out in the open, and made for a nice target. He scampered away shortly after.

Northern Bobwhite
Another bird that has shown up in increasing numbers is the Eastern Kingbird. They like hawking over the ponds. Today, a pair was close enough to the edge to get an acceptable picture. I always enjoy the return of this kingbird in the spring!

Eastern Kingbird

The last couple of weeks were pretty slow, so it was nice to get a few new species. Tomorrow I will be helping on a local butterfly count. Sunday will be my day of birding, and I'm going to make the most of it. I plan to go to St. George Island (on the gulf coast) to search for some of the earlier arrivals. I'll likely work my way east along the coast, making stops at the major hotspots. Last time that route turned up a Great Shearwater and 3 Razorbills. What will it be this time?

No comments:

Post a Comment