Teal

50. Blue-winged teal
A very small north american duck. Here is a male and a female. The male is the one with the white stripe on their head.

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

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.

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 .

Gnatcatcher

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

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.

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!