Steve and Judy's Travels!

We have so many kinds of Hummingbirds here.

We have the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

The Geek-necked I-need-a-drink Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

And the Speckle-headed I-just-ate-a-white-flower Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

The wall of trees on the other side of Paradise Pond is filled with roosting night herons during the day. In the afternoon and evening they work their way out to the fringes in preparation for their big night.

Here are Black-crowned Night Herons.

and the Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Paradise pond. Twenty minutes. Twenty-one birds.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird

(And I didn’t have to count any gulls and grackles.)

Can you spot the Hooded Warbler in this picture?
(Click on the picture to get a good look.)

Mostly I work; sometimes I bird. I talk about birding a lot and don’t talk about work at all. I suppose I could shut up about birds and just talk about work every day. In the meantime…

During the winter a person can go to Paradise Pond and only get 4 or 5 different kinds of birds. Now that the migration is underway, I can get ten or twelve without having to count gulls and grackles. And it will get better yet.

Yesterday we got:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
American Coot
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush

Today we got White-eyed Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal too. Sixteen birds at Paradise Pond.

Another sure sign of Spring. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.