Thursday, April 30, 2015

Bluebird

The new addition to my list is the...

49. male Eastern bluebird ...!

Here is a pair of brown-headed cowbirds


And ehm.. a visitor

Friday, April 24, 2015

Punk duck

48. Red-breasted Merganser is another beautiful red-eyed North American duck.

male merganser


47. Yellow Warbler

and a spring American goldfinch




You can see the "winter version" of the american goldfinch in this post.

46. Blackpoll warbler. Photo shows either a female or an immature male.

And another Northern Flicker. The undersides of the wing and tail feathers of this flicker are bright yellow, which means it is the eastern kind. On the contrary, if the flicker has red undersides, it is western. 

All in Olentangy river area, Columbus, OH.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Great Egret and Heron

Click on the photos for full resolution.

45. Great Egret
In Olentangy river
and in flight

Also, here is a reddish Great Blue Heron. I had seen another one before in Tennessee. Check this older post.




44. Common Raven




43. Tree Swallow



42. Chipping Sparrow


More Blue Jays



 Breeding cackling goose


Photos taken in the Olentangy river area .

Monday, April 13, 2015

Gnatcatcher

Number 41 on our list, spotted today in Olentangy river area, is the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.


Saturday, April 11, 2015

Colorful North American ducks

40. Wood duck

Here are some photos of a pair of wood ducks (the colorful one is the male) and a canada goose trying to scare them away. It's one of the most colorful ducks in North America and one of the most beautiful in the world.






39. Brown-headed Cowbird

First cowbird. Male.




 Also, here is a pair of red-winged blackbirds 

Female blackbird


Male blackbird

Another favourite photo of a male blackbird can be seen in this previous post.

Taken in Olentangy River trail area.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Cackling Vs Canada Goose (and more)

38. Cackling Goose

This species was originally considered to be a subspecies of the Canada Goose. Now it is considered by the Ornithological Society a full species, so I will count it as a new species on my list, although many people still call these birds Canada geese. What distinguishes these geese from the canada geese is the length of the neck. I am posting a Canada and two cackling geese for comparison.

Cackling Geese

Canada Goose

Some older posts of Canada and cackling geese can be found here and here. I (mis)used the name Canada goose for both until now. Can you tell which is which?


37. Belted Kingfisher

A pair resting on a branch over the Olentangy river. The male is the one with the blue stripe across its breast while the female is the one with the two stripes. A blue one and a chestnut.



Turkey Vultures

A group of more than 6 of these vultures were flying today above the Olentangy river. Here is a photo of some of them showing off their heads and wings!