Great Egret and Heron

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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 .

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!

More to come

36. Red-tailed hawk

First hawk. Caught in flight.

35. House Finch

This is a male house finch. It is very similar to the male purple finch, but you can tell the difference by the bill. The bill of the house finch is curved downwards whereas the bill of the purple finch is conical shaped. I will post a purple finch when I find one for comparison.

Photos are taken in Olentangy River Trail. Interesting fact: 160 species of birds have been sighted in the Olentangy River Trail area. So, there is more to come!

Canada Goose in the Olentangy river

Update (April 2015): Cackling VS Canada goose