outdoor photography

Chestnut-backed Chickadee Here in Central Florida we've grown accustomed to having an easy time identifying chickadees. If you see one, it's a Carolina Chickadee.  But this is no longer the case, as there has been a massive irruption of northern and western species of chickadees into Central Florida.  The irruption was first noticed when the above photographed Chestnut-sided Chickadee was spotted in a park near my home in Seminole County. After this, birders here began giving chickadees more attention, and all of the sudden, people were starting to find Black-capped Chickadees in various locations throughout Central Florida, such as the one photographed below. Black-capped Chickadee There have been confirmed reports of Mountain Chickadees on Sugarloaf Mountain and one unconfirmed sighting of a Boreal Chickadee in Winter Springs!  This is a staggering reality to be faced with.  Who would think that we would ever be able to find these species in Central Flor...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet This past week I went to Seattle to attend my sister's wedding.  It was a pretty good time to hang out with my sister, her husband and my parents.  We had time in the morning for my dad and I to do some birding.  We couldn't go very far or stay very long, but in just the little time we had, I found about 25 life birds (including about 5 birds I'd saw when I was a child living in California but before I was a birder).  We visited a few places in King and Snohomish Counties, including Picnic Point Park, Wallace Swamp Creek Park, Lake Washington and my sister's back yard.  I thought it would be best to share what I saw in two posts. In post, perching birds, and in the next, ducks and gulls. One of the first birds I saw was a Golden-crowned Kinglet (a life for me). We also saw many Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and I was was surprised to find my first Hutton's Vireo, which do a pretty good job of looking like kinglets. It must be irritating for bi...