Brown Creeper

10/15/16

Brown Creeper Doing its spiral up the tree, lit on the side by sunlight, before starting again at the base of another tree.

Brown Creeper Sometimes it is just straight up for a segment before doing the wrap-around.

Red-eyed Vireo Lurking in the thick leaves of an Ash Tree as it hunts bugs.

Swamp Sparrow Rich brown colors and a tendency to hide in the low grass and bushes.

White-crowned Sparrow Large, with a distinctive black and white striped crown, it forages in short grass and gravel.

White-crowned Sparrow Interesting smudge patterns on the back of its crown and neck. Fat pin stripes.

White-throated Sparrow White throat, patches of yellow behind the bill, and a definite need to hide in bushes.

White-throated Sparrow But sometimes in moving from one hiding place to another it pauses out in the open for a good look.

Black-capped Chickadee Working on a tiny piece of food snared from a bird feeder below.

Chipping Sparrow Though everyone chips, this one has a very distinctive sound, yet it's often silent.

Eastern Bluebird Off on its own, just born this year, maybe wondering what the urge to go south is.

Eastern Phoebee Though at a quick glance, it may seem nondescript, it has subtle colors with a light yellow on its breast, unlike the monotonous squawk of its song.

Great Blue Heron Powering its way across Stricker's Pond in the dim light before sunrise.

Gray Catbird For a shy bird, they talk a lot, and in great variety. Always elegant in shades of gray.

Gray Catbird Thinking about the Dogwood berries, while its rusty brown rump peaks through other feathers.

Lincoln's Sparrow Small and usually hidden behind twigs and grass when it thinks it's being watched.

Lincoln's Sparrow Prairie grass glowing behind, sumac in front, it shows off its distinctly patterned vest.

Northern Cardinal In the process of mashing a berry in its powerful bill.

Ring-billed Gull With a silent, floating flight, they often sneak past unseen unless they happen to call.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Even smaller than a wren, they sometimes burst out in a melodious quick song as cute as they look.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Very flitty, it tilts its head briefly to show off its ruby namesake before flitting off and away.

Red-tailed Hawk Perched briefly, hoping for a stray rabbit below, and soon off as none were careless at the moment.

Sedge Wren A chatter and partial song as it does its constant hide and peek with everything.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker A bit of red showing on its crown as it calls and works on a tree before trying another.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.

Black-capped Chickadee

10/12/16

Black-capped Chickadee Ever the consummate acrobat, extracting a seed from upside down.

Black-capped Chickadee Trying to get decent leverage means a bit of swaying and fluttering while at work.

Black-capped Chickadee A drink of water as one raindrop falls and hits the water.

Pied-billed Grebe Paddling serenely along in Stricker's Pond.

Great Blue Heron Usually shallower water is preferred, but this one waded right in up to the top of its legs.

White-throated Sparrow Early October and a wave of migrants brought many of these who are usually quite talkative.

Red-bellied Woodpecker And speaking of talkative, this is one whose every move has to be broadcast loudly.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Looking out-sized among the Chickadees and Goldfinches, this Grosbeak paused for a drink on the way through.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak And a quick head bath.

Black-throated Green Warbler Unlike most fall warblers, this one really stands out with its bright color and markings.

Red-breasted Nuthatch This year apparently a drought up north pushed a greater number of these nuthatches south than usual.

Red-breasted Nuthatch Arriving at the yard feeder, it tries to figure out what food might be good to eat.

Red-breasted Nuthatch Off in a tree, and very fluffed up.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird One of the very last to visit the feeder.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Tiny golden feathers sprinkle the top of its head.

House Finch A year-around resident and always in a small flock, being a very social bird.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird A huge wave of Hummingbirds came through during migration, with a dozen and more busy around the prairie at Owen Park, Madison.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Depending on their angle, a few looked rather plumped up for their journey of thousands of miles ahead.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Feeding with great precision and delicacy as it hovered before one of countless blossoms.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Even a thistle had to be checked out.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Perched and watching as others flew around and around. Though not in their terrritories, they could still be contentious with one another.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Sometimes the aggression seemed half-hearted, with only a buzzing fly-by.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird If another came too close, a squat posture turned elongated with the possibility of a lift-off and chase.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird A close-up showing the fine detail of the very tiny bird.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird That portly look achieved partly by posture and partly by actuality.

Red-eyed Vireo With its bright red eye gleaming in the sunlight, the Red-eyed Vireo is on the hunt for insects active in the warm morning sun.

Red-eyed Vireo A Ruby-throated Hummingbird pauses to look back at the staring Vireo.

Brown Thrasher Another bird with a very bright eye, though this one is brilliant yellow, attached to a very long tail on the other end.

Brown Thrasher And here's the tail shown off.

Gray Catbird Looking a bit scruffy from being both wet and going through a molt.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Colorful, with no shortage of patterns, and a very large bill excellent for cracking open difficult seeds.

Hairy Woodpecker When side-by-side with a Downy, the Hairy looms much larger, both in body and bill. It's always surprising.

Foggy Stricker`s Pond After yet another stormy and wet day, the morning began with waves of fog rolling over the pond, perfectly clear one minute, then socked in the next.

Northern Flicker Usually raucous, once they have all attention on them, they like to fall silent as if to claim it wasn't them.

White-throated Sparrow As September eases from summer into autumn, more and more White-throated Sparrows appear in the low brush, and often agitated.

Common Yellowthroat A female flitting about and tossing out characteristic grunts and chatter in the sheltering cattails.

Wild Turkey A beautiful feather left behind by a roving wild Turkey. A combination of night dew and rain beads up on its surface.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.