Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Little of This and a Little of That!

It had been couple of weeks since I have been free to roam some of the nearby parks so I decided this weekend that I was going to get out! Come rain or shine! I hadn't had much time to focus on the 09'migration so Saturday I spent most of the day looking for Warblers. For the most part I got skunked... the morning started off great but seemed to end almost immediately - I ended up with only 6 species of Warblers for the day. Common Yellowthroat, Yellow, Canada, Palm, Yellow-rumped, and American Redstart. However, aside from the few Warblers, it turned out to be a great day - many other beautiful birds graced me with their presence. I was able to spend the afternoon with my sons on a birding/ nature walk AND some time in the yard. I love spring!


Eastern Phoebe?... This was actually one of about a family of 3-4 young ens that I come across during the day. When it comes to Flycatcher I.D. I become a nervous wreck. I believe this to be a young Phoebe - not sure.


Tree Swallow... a favorite! They fly around all day and eat insects AND are beautiful!

Magnolia Warbler... not the best picture but hey, they are fast!

Venus Flytrap... in my front yard! I have a thing for Carnivorous Plants too! For the past 3 years I have successfully wintered over Venus Flytraps and several species of Pitcher Plants. This is what one of my flytraps is looking like so far for 2009.

Pitcher Plant flowers... S. Flava. Spring flowers. In the spring these plants use insects for pollination. Once the flowers are gone... the insects become meals. What a thank you! I love it!

Tiger Beetle... a clearly perturbed Tiger Beetle. My two sons and I followed this common trail insect for several minutes to get a picture. It finally stopped, looked up as if to say, "get it over with".

Palm Warbler... another fuzzy pic but, a pic nonetheless.

Happy Toads... it is not uncommon for my boys to catch anything they can get their hands on. My youngest son caught both of these toads and carried them almost the entire hike. He was so happy! I am not so sure they were as equally excited! He caught a Leapard Frog later!

Not a care in the world... I had my camera lense about an inch from this flower and the insect inside did budge. Whatever it was eating must have been great.

2 comments:

Kelly said...

...I think it's a really nice photo of the Magnolia Warbler. It's nicer than mine, which is non-existent! Sometimes, the only way I can tell a Phoebe is by the call.

Chad said...

Thanks Kelly. I am new at the picture taking thing so all nice comments are always welcome.

Indiana State Bird

Indiana State Bird
Northern Cardinal