"You Just Missed It!"

Pied Bill Grebe with exuvia (dragonfly larvae)for the baby chicks.  Thanks to Ragged Robin! for the ID

"You just missed it!", exclaims an excited birder in the muggy and super moist environment.  I think to myself, "Damn you Mr. Yellow Bill Cuckoo. Damn you Green Heron."  Like every birder with a report, you run off to find those little gems hiding in the reeds, tree branches, or rocks.

Today I went to find the Green Heron, the Pied Billed Grebe, and the Yellow Bill Cuckoo.  I found one of them:)

Mourning Dove

Which isn't bad at all.  But when you consider, "You just missed it!"  Well that can make it frustrating:)  It was so muggy.  We were all wiping our brows from the moisture dripping off our faces.  I was a mess.  And it was only 7 AM!!!  No joke about our desert.  It's a hot one here.  Afternoon is off limits and the mornings are sometimes barely acceptable:)   From sun up +2 hours, you have to bird.  So that means you have to get up early in the morning.  No shower for me until I get back.

Gila Woodpecker

But I am always rewarded with unique views of birds.  I did find the cormorants.  They flew off later and I thought the below shot was nice.

Neotropic Cormorants

Yellow Billed Cuckoo?  No.  A Yellow Headed Blackbird. Still a nice find:)

Yellow Headed Blackbird(female)

Oh and this Moorhen was needing a little photo attention.  "Look at me!  Look at me!"  It's still hard to believe, for me, that this bird is related to the Purple Gallinule.

I snapped a shot of this bird last year in Panama.  There are some similarities.

And dragonflies.  No matter how much I try to resist taking their pictures, I can't help but snap one more shot.

The good news is that I did find the parent Grebe with some food for the little ones.  They were hiding in the reeds and it was fun watching the parents get the food.  And on top of that, I met another really nice birder who shared her observations on this day.  I was in a chatty mood.  Until next time...:)

Pied Billed Grebe

Squint

Do your eyes ever "shut down" after long hours on the computer?  Or after long hours on the trail searching for life?  Sometimes I have to squint my eyes to catch what it is I'm searching for.  And if I didn't squint, I might miss some of the fun shots that happen all around me.

What's that with wings on a dark shadowy branch?  What's that glistening thing sticking out on the twig?

Or that rustle in bushes?  Will it bite me?  Is that a lizard or a dinosaur up ahead?  How big do these guys get anyway?

Desert Spiny

And the birds off in the distance......like this American Avocet below.  You can definitely strain your eyes trying to focus on the shot.

During this shoot, I was by a thorny mesquite tree.  I cleared the branches away so I wouldn't poke my eyes out.

Would I get these Black Neck Stilts finally?  Was the lighting finally going to work with the shot?  It was all so far away.....

So my question to you is, "What do you do when your eyes get tired?"  or  "Do your eyes get blurry after many hours of using them with your camera?" 

Mr. Wilson!!!!

Greetings all!  I have enjoyed your comments this weekend.  I'm back again after an exhausting 4 days.  Tomorrow morning I'll catch up with all again and look forward to your posts.  Like the picture of this squirrel suggests, I had to get hopping over to the Sweetwater Wetlands to find the Wilson's Phalarope and while there, I was hoping to capture the Wilson's Warbler as well.  It was a day of finding the Wilson family:)

So I MOVED!!!  My last experience with the Phalarope family wasn't a good one.  I consider only excellent pictures to count as a bird sighting.  And while I spotted the Red/Red Necked Phalarope, they weren't close enough to see in the pic.  So I hoped to get better shots of this particular Phalarope.

While scanning the only basin of water, I captured the Black Neck Stilt, the Glossy Ibis, and a couple American Avocets......and then, in the far distance, I saw 5 spinning circular motions....indicative of the Phalarope family.

But I hadn't counted on 5 of them!!!!  Just to be sure I walked around the basin as best I could to see if I could get better shots.....

At first I thought I had counted wrong, but alas, the other Wilson Phalarope joined in.....

.......creating the group of "5".  I hoped to get closer to these interesting birds but a fence prohibited me from crossing. And to be honest, it wasn't so much the fence as it was the law that kept me out:)  I could really get some great shots if I could just cross the line:)  So playing detective paid off today....

.....and I did get better shots than those of the Red/Red Necked Phalarope. As for the Wilson's Warbler??

There was too much Blackbird "noise" going on, but I was able to locate and hone in on a Warbler "voice".  It was intermittent and high above the trees.  One would think it would be easy to identify this hot number.  I kid you not, I stood for a half hour refusing to go home until I found that bird!

Eventually I found it extremely high up in the Eucs bouncing around.....but it wasn't the Wilson's Warbler, it was the Yellow Warbler.  The difference?  Both are yellow, but the Wilson's Warbler has a black swatch on the top of its head.  I'm lucky that I was able to even get this shot.  My neck hurt after this outing. 

Eventually the little guy flew off and I moved onto my owlets.  Look closely at the picture and you'll see the parent and two owlets.  One is looking directly at you:)

Sometimes I wish it were as easy as Dennis the Menace calling out, "MR. WIIIIIIILLLLLSONNNN!" and getting his attention.  But like Mr. Wilson, he would hide from Dennis just as the birds like to disappear from me:)  But with an ear for bird sounds and movement, I am beginning to use my other sense to help me find the birds.  It has been mostly with my eyes, but now I am using the ears.  I will be even more successful once I can replicate the bird sounds with my voice.  If I can speak Spanish, I can also learn to speak bird. I've seen it done and it's quite magical.  More tomorrow.....

Hiking Without A Camera

Today's post is unusual in that it is the first one NOT to use any pictures of any kind.  Boy, am I in trouble!!:)  So this means one thing......my writing has to stand out on its own.  Scary.  But the purpose of this exercise was to leave the camera at home and go on my treks without recording any of it. (It's a terrible idea for me not to post pictures on a blog! I kept moving this post off because I didn't want to release a post without pictures. I caved in and here is a recent photo shoot from the same area. My "new" thoughts are in parenthesis. )

For some of you, this is easy.  As for me?  It was one of the hardest things to do.  Could I just go on a hike without my camera?  Since I've been a kid, I've always had my camera with me at all times.  Would it be a valid experience if I didn't get the shots?  And Murphy's Law.  No camera=Lots of wildlife. (I now have found several shots to satisfy the reader:)

So I went for the hike and the minute I pulled into the parking lot, a Cooper's Hawk flies into sight. Yes, it was happening.  Lots of wildlife.  A coyote looking for food, three birds hanging out around the Coopers Hawk, Western Kingbird, etc. etc. etc.(Well, it's never the same, but I did get a Cooper's Hawk for you all....and a little bit more:)

But the weight of my camera wasn't there to prevent me from enjoying Mother Nature.  It was hot and a bit muggy, but the sun was setting.  I had a crazy day at work, stopped at Culvers for some fried cheese curds and got on the interstate.....passing by Sweetwater.  It was a spontaneous decision and one that proved to be wise.  (While it was nice, I can't let you down.  You need pictures!)

A cool breeze went through the willows and cottonwoods.  Little fuzzies from all the plants blooming floated around in the air.  Alone and relaxed, I took a walk around the trails.  There wasn't really anyone around, no rare bird sighting....nada.  It was kind of eerie actually because I'm used to my guy "friend" on the trail with me.  Well he doesn't know he's my bud, but I've decided that he'll be my friend.  You see....no matter what, I always head to Sweetwater on the weekend.  And my favorite quiet birder guy will be walking around with his binoculars and bird book.  He's also "the guy" because he drives an older bug.  Instant cool factor!  I don't know his name, but we speak once and awhile.(We were the only two there this night I shot these pics) 

Pied Billed Grebe-a first for this blog(you'll love the story related to this bird....stay tuned!)

The last time he asked me, "Did you see anything interesting?"  and I said "Yep."  But he saw more things than ANY of us did on the trails.  He is the ultimate observer.  I'll be looking over the basins lost in the sounds of the Red Wing Blackbird and he'll be secretly in the bushes observing unicorns and fairies!  How does he see this stuff??!!  Anyhow, I worship this guy and he doesn't know it.  (This time I saw PLENTY of interesting things....mostly not birds)

But today, he wasn't here.  I didn't have my camera.  It was wonderful and sad.  I kinda missed not having him around.....he's always there.  Just not today.  My question is, "Do you have these types of "connections" with people in your life?  So like this post suggests today, it's all about the absence of the familiar.  The Nothing.   But I did come home happier and relaxed.  (I'm still showing you pictures:)

Pictures will be back tomorrow.  I will never do a post without pics.  Why?  I'm too much of a visual person. Hope you enjoyed the shots today:) And more tomorrow.....