Day 305: Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Here's a photo of a cute little female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. This is eastern North America's only breeding species of hummingbird. We have a lot that buzz around our porch during the summer, especially if we put out a feeder.

Day 304: Red-breasted Merganser

The Red-breasted Merganser is a medium-sized duck with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring more frequently in salt water and estuaries. It has a serrated bill that helps it to catch prey underwater.

The Red-breasted Merganser has a spiky crest. The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a white neck with a rusty breast, a black back, and white underparts. Adult females have a rusty head and a greyish body. These photos are from a distance, but you can see the spiky crests. The male is on the left, and the female is on the right.

Day 303: Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl is a magnificent bird. It's found throughout North America and has the most extensive range, widest prey base, and most variable nesting sites of any American owl.

Day 302: Brant

Well, we're getting ready for a big storm to hit here in Maryland. It's very possible we will be without power for a few days this week, so I'm going to try and post as much as I can ahead of time. If posts are a little light this week, that's why!

Today's bird, the Brant, is a small dark goose that lives throughout the northern hemisphere. We see occasional flocks during the winter when we visit Maryland's eastern shore. These photos aren't the best (some of them were taken through a scope), but you can still tell how they look different from the more common Canada Goose.

Day 301: Cooper's Hawk

The Cooper’s Hawk is a crow-sized woodland raptor that breeds throughout much of the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. This raptor has short, powerful, rounded wings and a long tail that ensures maneuverability in dense cover, making it well adapted for quick pursuit of forest birds and mammals.

Day 300: Townsend's Warbler

Hard to believe I've managed to post 300 days in a row, in spite of busy days, vacations, and power outages so far this year! Only 66 more days to go after today. I'm getting pretty lean on photos at this point, but hopefully we'll get some more as the winter birds start to come in.

Today's bird, the Townsend's Warbler, is one that we actually saw in Colorado in August, but I forgot to post it earlier. I didn't get a super clear shot of it, unfortunately, but it's still identifiable. The Townsend's Warbler is a colorful wood-warbler that breeds in fir forests in the Pacific Northwest.

Day 299: Blackpoll Warbler

Blackpoll Warblers are common migrants through Maryland this time of year. During the breeding season, Blackpoll Warblers have a black cap, white cheeks and white wing bars. Non-breeding birds, like the one we saw, have greenish heads, dark-streaked greenish upperparts and yellowish breasts.

I normally identify a Blackpoll Warbler by its call. They have one of the highest pitched songs known, and it's a simple repetition of high tsi notes.

Day 298: Sabine's Gull

I almost forgot to post about a really great bird that we saw a while ago. In early September, a Sabine's Gull wandered into Maryland, and we were lucky enough to see it! This was only the eighth state record of a Sabine's Gull in the state.

The Sabine's Gull breeds in the arctic but migrates south in autumn to the tropics and subtropics. It's considered to be an easily identifiable species due to its tricolored wing pattern and other distinct features.

Jared was able to go see the Sabine's Gull a few days before me, and he got a fabulous picture. The photo is so good, in fact, that David Sibley (birding God) posted Jared's photo on his Facebook wall!! So jealous....

My photos are not much more than blobs, since the gull didn't get very close while I was there. It was really fun to watch it through a scope, though, and it's a wonderful bird to add to our list.

Day 297: Piping Plover

I was very happy to finally see a Piping Plover a few weeks ago! We tried to find one on Assateague Island earlier in the year during nesting season, but had no luck. These adorable little shorebirds are globally threatened and endangered, so it was exciting to see one up close.

Piping Plovers live on sandy or rocky beaches of the Atlantic Coast and on the Great Lakes shores. They are not too difficult to find on Assateague Island in Maryland, if you know where to look. We were hiking close to the beach and passed some fellow birders, who told us they had just spotted one close to the water. Luckily, it was still there when we arrived a few minutes later.

Day 296: Least Flycatcher

A couple of weekends ago, we were exploring Ocean City, MD, when Jared got a text about a strange looking flycatcher nearby. We ran to meet his friend, who had just lost track of the bird. A short while later, he found it again, and I was able to get a few photos. After a closer look, it was decided that the bird was a Least Flycatcher, the smallest flycatcher in eastern North America. It looks similar to the larger Eastern Wood Pewee.

Day 295: Winter Wren

I've been trying to get a photo of a Winter Wren for a while, and I finally managed to snag one a few weekends ago while we were visiting Assateague. These little guys never want to behave for the camera. We saw several on one trail, but they kept flying away or hiding in deep brush where I couldn't get a clear shot. It was lunch time, we were starving, but I vowed that I would get a photo before giving up!

FINALLY...one popped out from a thicket, and I managed a few fuzzy shots. I'm happy to check it off of my list.

Winter Wrens winter across southeastern Canada and the eastern United States. They can be identified by the light colored eyebrows over their eyes.

Day 294: Purple Finch

During the winter, Purple Finches can be found throughout much of the eastern United States and southern Canada. Males have raspberry red plumage, while females are brown, drab, and sparrow-like. Purple Finch populations have declined in the east due to competition from House Finches.

Day 293: Blue Grosbeak

Day 292: Sanderling

Sanderlings are small wading birds that I like to lump in the group titled "shorebirds", which I am not very fond of. Though they are cute, many shorebirds look similar to me, and I have a hard time distinguishing them. However, these birds in the photos are most definitely Sanderlings, since Jared helped me identify them while we were walking along the Assateague shore a few weeks ago.

Day 291: Caspian Tern

We saw a Caspian Tern fly overhead while we were birding on Assateague Island (eastern Maryland) a couple of weekends ago.

Day 290: Blue Jay

Blue Jays are residents throughout most of the eastern and central United States and southern Canada.

Day 289:Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Jared's mom, Susan, came to visit us this weekend for Jared's birthday! On Sunday, we decided to go to a nearby park, Blue Mash. It was a beautiful day, and we saw quite a few birds, snakes, and bugs.

There were Ruby-crowned Kinglets all over the place. Male birds have a red crown patch that is usually concealed, but you can see it in a few of these photos. In spite of their great numbers, it was difficult to get a good photo because these little birds were extremely active, flitting around the trees. I did manage to get a few by the end of our walk, though.

Blurry photo, but you can see the red patch

Day 288: Connecticut Warbler

Happy birthday to my sweet husband, Jared!!

Today's bird, the Connecticut Warbler, was Jared's nemesis bird this fall for a while. No matter how many times he went out to find one, he just never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Finally, a few weeks ago, he found a Connecticut Warbler one morning at Hughes Hollow, a marshy area close to the Potomac River (though, he had forgotten to bring the camera!). He called me, and I rushed over, camera in tow. Luckily, Jared was able to find it again, and I got some great photos! This was a state bird for both of us.

I threw Jared a bird-themed birthday party to celebrate his 30th, and in honor of his recent great find, I made him a Connecticut Warbler cake!

Day 287: Pied-billed Grebe

Apologies for the distant picture. I should have been able to get a decent photo of a Pied-billed Grebe, but just haven't had the opportunity so far this year.

Day 286: Canada Warbler

Sorry for not writing much recently, it's been a busy week! This weekend, we celebrate Jared's birthday, so it won't be slowing down anytime soon.

Today's bird, the Canada Warbler, is one of many warblers that migrates through Maryland this time of year. We saw this one at our favorite nearby park (where we've seen a lot of our birds recently), but it was too dark to get a really good photo.

Adult males, such as this bird, have a distinct black necklace on their yellow breast. They breed in Canada and parts of the United States, migrating to northern South America for the winter.

Day 285: Olive-sided Flycatcher