Spring Migration

     I have most certainly been getting out and enjoying the birds out there. I just have not been super compelled to update this thing. It seems to be an ebb and flow of motivation to keep this thing going. 

    In the last month a number of birds have arrived, and I have had the pleasure of birding with friends, getting to special birding places, and keeping up as best I can with the plovers. I'll just dump the best pictures I have here.

A Northern Waterthrush in its element in Prospect Park's upper pool.

A great blue heron looking spiffy in its breeding plumage.
Check out the monster sliders and cooters in the background.

A cute shipping sparrow foraging among the fallen petals of the spring trees.

I love veerys. I love them veery much.

I birded the western side of the Marine Park Salt Marsh before work one day and was treated to a number of termite hatch-outs, which brought some birds with it.
A northern parula, one of very many.

Singing it's northern parula song.

A house wren gathers nesting material, got family on the way!

A not-so-shy black-and-white warbler, feeding upon the termites taking their nuptial flight.

For the termite in the beak of this indigo bunting, that flight was very short lived.

A female common yellowthroat hawked termites like a yellow-rumped warbler would.

A blackpoll warbler gets in on the feast and signals this warbler migration coming to an end.

Red-eyed vireos are one of the common songs being heard in the tree tops.

On a very-dog filled plover outing, I spotted this American Oystercatcher on its two eggs.

A piping plover taking a rest in a small divot in the sand.

For this walk, I had one single plover on my walk out, and encountered around 8 dogs on the beach.
But when I walked back, all but one dog, a service animal, had exited. And once the dogs were gone, I finally got to see the plovers, as they came out and down to feed.

Looks like a stretch of relief to me!

Love these little loves.

This years birdathon raised money for NYC Plover Project. Our team, Smooth Like Bittern, saw 115 bird species across Brooklyn.
Including this Magnolia Warbler.

We stumbled upon a termite hatch-out while standing on a bridge, giving us nice tree-top, eye-level views of warblers, like this chestnut-sided warbler.

 A black-and-white warbler stealing a few termites.

A crappy picture of a robin with some piebald leucism. 

The birdathon took us out to Plumb Beach where we enjoyed this semi-palmated sandpiper who was with least sandpipers.

t Floyd Bennett Field, we nearly stumbled over a nesting killdeer - a reminder to watch your step on any fields this time of year!

Our final stop of the birdathon was Shirley Chisholm SP and we enjoyed this gingery little field sparrow.

On Mother's Day, I did no birding. I was exhausted from the birdathon. Instead, I napped.
But Monday, I worked from my in-laws and did a pre-work birding trip to Doodletown.
Greeted just up the hillside by this indigo bunting.

The forest was filled with birds and their song, but it was hard to see much.
This Carolina wren was one of three wrens working on a fallen log.

American redstarts were everywhere. I like this natural vignette looking through a tulip trees leaves.

There were so many Ceruleans and a picture was dang hard to get- and I did have to start my work day. SO this is the best I got. Belting out its song.

Also enjoyed the other expected warblers there, like this blue-winged warbler, worm-eating warbler, hooded warbler, and even heard a black-billed cuckoo call.