Happy Turkey Day

 

Hope all your Turkey wishes come true!!!

Mellow Yellow Month

In my travels in the past month, I caught many birds on camera I had never seen before, as I was in south Texas near the Mexican/US border and these birds don't travel much further north that than in their range. A lot of them happen to have yellow in the mix of colors. So, here are a couple of yellow (and orange) birds caught on camera in November. The Brown Jay, below (well, it has a yellow beak and feet), is rare in Texas. There are only 7 of them known to be in the US and we saw all seven, as one family seems to have relocated to south Texas. They are quite common 100 miles south in Mexico. The Brown Jays consistently show up on the rare ABA bird alert (yes, there is such a thing) but they are living on private property so not seen very often. We were able to get access to the property and find the birds. Quite the trip with 23 new bird species added to my list. 

 

Turkey Day

 

Looking up and seeing this many Turkey Vultures overhead is quite disconcerting. Although this is a composite of two shots--this is what it felt like when you looked up and can see from horizon to horizon, Turkey Vultures everywhere. That is what parts of southern Florida in the Keys looked like last week. Maybe locals are used to these views, but for someone from Illinois, it was something to see. 

Caught breakfast....now what?

 

Well, that can be a problem. You caught breakfast. Now, you have to figure out how to eat it. Saw this double-crested cormorant come up with a catch, but couldn't get it off of its bill. After flipping it up and down to no avail, it eventually went underwater and presumably was able to rearrange it to finish breakfast. From Biscayne Bay National Park, my 31st national park. 

Snow Buntings are here!

 

Joined a group doing a bird hike this past weekend and I was able to see two lifers. This one, a Snow Bunting, was a long-sought-after target bird for the winter season.  Beautiful bird. If you want to find one, research their song first as you will likely hear them before you see them. The Ebird app will also point out where they have been seen near you in the past 7 days. They go as far south as maybe the Mason-Dixon line. Happy hunting. 

Coming in for a landing

 

Found a new birding spot that has become a hot spot for Illinois birders at Murihead Springs out in Elgin. These Sandhill Cranes put on a nice display with the watertower behind them. Caught two more lifers at this location but I will save those shots for another post. 

A little Halloween treat

 

I missed taking shots of Stephanie's kids but got a shot of Princess Noah in pink (and her school friend in blue), Fireman Graham and, in the shot below, raptor Eli. Hit about double the houses compared to last year as the kids are starting to get into it a bit more. The weather went from beautiful all fall to a bit of a chill yesterday for the first time this year. Lots of fun in the treating.