Robin #202

Another beautiful day - at the Bailey Tract - filled with surprises. I've been going through those trails for a year now and it's enlightening to see my list of species grow, yesterday morning reached 33 species ..... a great morning.

The Red-shouldered Hawks are usually one of the first to greet me on the trails - I wonder if he/she recognizes me by now.

An adult male checking/waiting for the next insect....yum.

Sweet Grebe

A Little Blue Heron - though, in this light and so close to me, he doesn't look blue nor little.....it's amazing.....birders dig this.

Here, a Tri-colored Heron (blue, brown and white) - 1oz bigger than the Little Blue. It is quite loud when it croaks, especially when disturbed.

He took off to the other side for better fish to fry.

And there he is - isn't it amazing how different it looks across the pond and standing tall?

The Yellow-rumped Warbler were a dime a dozen this morning. I'm not sure what those berries are - at first I thought it might be poison ivy berries but the stems and branching doesn't make sense. I'm hoping someone will share their tidbits of info here.

Whatever berries they are - the Yellow-rumped loved it.

Now, look at this .... an Eastern Phoebe standing on the edge of a Sea Grape leaf and the leaf is not even moving or bending - no wonder ..... this 7" bird only weighs 0.7 oz.

Odd place for Ibises and the oldest should be setting a better example for the juvenile, no?

Would you believe me if I told you that this American Robin was a Life bird for me? I know, probably very hard for you to conceive - so, you can just imagine my excitement here.....I was walking along the Airplane canal when I spotted a small group (6) of dark birds fly across the path and I thought to myself...."oooh, wait, let me see you" and, as if on cue, one of them came back and perched right on my eye sight. He sat there with his back to me at first and then started to turn.....

ooooh, could it be? Am I really seeing what I think I am seeing?

YES, YES, YES! Oh, what a beauty! - the moment almost brought me to tears....to think about this bird, wish for it to come and to pose in front of me....what a precious gift this was....my spirit was filled to the brim.

Once I reclaimed my sense of decorum - I proceeded down my last trail for the day and spotted my friend, still busy looking for more food.

Another Phoebe, and again .... sitting on top of some very small vegetation

The Osprey - going so fast that he left a Jet trail .... not....LOL....as they say sh**t happens.

Here's a nice comparison - A Little Blue on the left and a Tri-colored on the right ..... very interesting considering that they usually fish/sit/preen alone.

 Well, another beautiful day on the trail - the trail may look the same - day in/day out - but the experiences are different and each and everyone of them brings moments that are special and treasured.

My E-Bird List (33 species)