I expected Saturday to be a poor day for seeing birds and photography. The forecast had called for a south wind and by all indications, there would be only a few migratory birds around. Nor did it seem as if anything new was going to show up. Nevertheless, I went birding anyways and am I sure glad that I did!
A brilliant male Scarlet Tanager.
Scarlet Tanager was one of the first birds I saw and when I saw two of them together, I knew that it was going to be a good day.
Female Scarlet Tanagers aren’t quite as colorful as the males but still nice to see.
There were lots of birds, new birds coming in by the hour and the tanagers were just the tip of the iceberg. I also had Prothonotary Warblers,
Prothonotary Warbler
Another Prothonotary Warbler.
sprite, little Blue-gray Gnatcatchers,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
stunning Baltimore and Bullock’s Orioles,
Male Baltimore Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Beautiful species with blue plumage such as Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, and the rare Cerulean Warbler (sorry, no photos for that one),
Indigo Bunting
Juvenile Blue Grosbeak
and species with brown plumage like Wood Thrush and Clay-colored Sparrow.
Wood Thrush
Clay-colored Sparrow
Some of the other birds I saw were Painted Bunting, Hermit Thrush, Nashville Warblers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in substantial numbers, Orchard Orioles, Warbling Vireo, an American Bittern, White-eyed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Ovenbird, and other species. In short, Saturday was a FANTASTIC day!