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| Black & White Warbler |
Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through. There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted).
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| Yellow Warbler |
Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5. But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago. One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally.
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| Black & White Warbler |
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| Prairie Warbler |
Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have been much more cooperative, so much so that I had to post a couple today.
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| Magnolia Warbler |
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers are always nice to see; I always consider a morning a success if I see at least one of them. But they have stayed under cover where I need to ratchet up my ISO to get images. It's really frustrating, especially since I don't use a flash.
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| Nashville Warbler |
I also saw a lifer here this fall--a Nashville Warbler. Unfortunately, this is the best photo I could get of this beauty, but I'll take it.
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| Eastern Wood-Pewee |
This Wood-Pewee also posed for a couple minutes. It is strange to me, though. The lower mandible is all dark, which is supposed to be found in Western Wood-Pewees. This bird did not call, though, so it will have to remain a mystery I think.
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| Tufted Titmouse |
I'll admit it. I have precious few good photos of Tufted Titmice. I think it's because when I see them, I'm always looking around for what warblers might be with them. Well, I took a break from that to give this one some love. I'm glad I did.
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| Peregrine Falcon |
And finally, just today I found a Peregrine Falcon flying along the lake shore.
A great collection of migrants, Scott! That Peregrine photo makes me jealous! Very nice to see one anytime! Any chance the dark bill of the Wood-Pewee is a result of the light? I took several shots of one last week and when the bird turned a certain way the lower bill looked very dark. (A Western Wood-pewee was just reported at Alafia River State Park, so it's certainly a possibility!)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I so wish I had thought to play western peweee tape to see if it would respond. I took 60 pictures of this bird from different angles, and the bill always looks dark. In fact, it's darker than the western reported at Alafia River State Park. That prompted me to send a couple photos to a good birder and blogger friend who has experience birding in TX and AZ, so he's familiar with both species. He thinks this is likely a western too. Here's my reasoning for it being a western:
ReplyDeleteThe lower mandible is nearly all black. In fact, I can detect no yellow, and I think that's out of the range for easterns. The primary extension is at least as long as the tail extension in the photos where it can be measured (as in the photo above). It seems to have a more dusky look than most easterns I've seen. In a couple photos it looks like it's resting its tail in line with its wings, though in a couple it seems slightly downward.
However, the upper wing bar seems to have as much contrast as the lower, though this jay be a younger bird and I'm not sure how that trait holds in younger birds. It never called. I don't know if there's conclusive proof from my photos, but I'm now leaning toward western in my mind.