Male Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the first, and most vocal, Spring migrants to Michigan. By the end of summer, and the beginning of fall, they will begin migrating to the South for the winter months.

I've taken many pictures of Redwings, but I couldn't resist this one that was so close, and knowing he might be gone soon.

A shorebird you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, and parking lots. This time the killdeer is behaving like a typical Shorebird, searching the mud flats.

My favorite Coffee and a Butterfly... Simple Pleasures :)

The monarch butterfly or is a milkweed butterfly. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly.

Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3 1⁄2–4 in).

The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn migration from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multi-generational return north.

The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in southern California but has been found in overwintering Mexican sites as well.

(Nikon - 500mm, 1/1600 sec @ f5.6, ISO 1000)

Kingfisher - Alcedo Atthis

Double click..

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as the Eurasian kingfisher, and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbours and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.

Like all kingfishers, the common kingfisher is highly territorial; since it must eat around 60% of its body weight each day, it is essential to have control of a suitable stretch of river. It is solitary for most of the year, roosting alone in heavy cover. If another kingfisher enters its territory, both birds display from perches, and fights may occur, in which a bird will grab the other's beak and try to hold it under water. Pairs form in the autumn but each bird retains a separate territory, generally at least 1 km (0.62 mi) long, but up to 3.5 km (2.2 mi) and territories are not merged until the spring.

Very few birds live longer than one breeding season. The oldest bird on record was 21 years.

They are also listed as a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act offering them additional protection.

Population:

UK breeding:

3,800-6,400 pairs

Least Tern with chick. Bedtime soon!

Female Western Tanager

This is an uncommon bird seen in our region just for a few months towards end of rainy season and early winter. I think it migrates inward for nesting and then flies back to the home turf soon after. The birds coincides its arrival with the rainy season and it seems to have a preference for the foggy wet climate. The native range is also similar in weather.

The birds sightings are sporadic and think it is not a well-researched bird. Some of my more knowledgeable friends think its a native bird in our region, but that it is impossible to sight. I am not sure since no one ever saw it outside of Q3 in this place.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

Auf dem Weg in den Süden machen viele Kraniche bei uns in den Mooren Rast. Die ersten sind schon hier und es ist ein unbeschreiblich schöner Moment wenn sie laut rufend über uns hinwegfliegen.

The cranes migrate.

On the way in the south many cranes rest here in the moors

The first are here yet

and it is an indescribably beautiful moment when they fly over us shouting loudly.

A song bird makes a brief stop near the Lake Erie shoreline on his journey north during the spring migration. (Explore # 292)

www.rossellet.com

Wood Thrush. Rapidly disappearing. Sad. Lovely and hard to find birds.

Least Tern Chick has challenges ahead.

Interesting facts about Thomas: Broad-winged Hawks nest in Ontario but spend the winter as far south as South America. During migration, they can form large flocks or “kettles” that can contain thousands of birds. When migrating, Broad-winged Hawks travel an average of 110 kilometers per day and a total of 7000 kilometers one way!

Grey Heron - Ardea Cinerea

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged predatory wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows.

The birds breed colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for a period of about 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when seven or eight weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about five years.

In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially-prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, four hundred herons were served to the guests.

The grey heron has a slow flight, with its long neck retracted (S-shaped). This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, and spoonbills, which extend their necks.

Fish, amphibians, small mammals and insects are taken in shallow water with the heron's long bill. It has also been observed catching and killing juvenile birds such as ducklings, and occasionally takes birds up to the size of a water rail. It may stand motionless in the shallows, or on a rock or sandbank beside the water, waiting for prey to come within striking distance. Alternatively, it moves slowly and stealthily through the water with its body less upright than when at rest and its neck curved in an "S". It is able to straighten its neck and strike with its bill very fast.

Small fish are swallowed head first, and larger prey and eels are carried to the shore where they are subdued by being beaten on the ground or stabbed by the bill. They are then swallowed, or have hunks of flesh torn off. For prey such as small mammals and birds or ducklings, the prey is held by the neck and either drowned, suffocated, or killed by having its neck snapped with the heron's beak, before being swallowed whole. The bird regurgitates pellets of indigestible material such as fur, bones and the chitinous remains of insects. The main periods of hunting are around dawn and dusk, but it is also active at other times of day. At night it roosts in trees or on cliffs, where it tends to be gregarious.

Population:

UK breeding:

13,000 nests

UK wintering:

63,000 birds

This is a small part of an exhibit at Birmingham Museum.

The artwork was done by Donald Rodney (1961- 1998) and titled as "Land of Milk and Honey II" Rodney was born in Birmingham. He used objects in his work to explore aspects of the human experience. His father migrated to Smethwick from the Carribean in the mid 20th century, in search of a better life in the "Land of Milk and Honey" The Vitrine contains coins and milk. They represent the 'sourced' reality many migrants actually experienced. The material he used will deteriorate and change over time.

[From description: Birmingham Museum]

Find out more bmagblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/1615/

A bird with a distinctive crest on its head, the color is light brown, and its crest is brown, spotted from its edges with black feathers, and the lower half is black speckled with white feathers in beautiful arrangements. It has a distinctive way of flying, and it feeds on insects and sees individuals in agricultural areas. Worms, larvae and pests. Its presence and sighting is a sign of the purity of the environment from pesticides, and it is forbidden to hunt it (as is the case with Abu Qardan and Abu Fasada, as it is not eaten. It lives in the southern and central regions of Asia and Europe and is largely found in Africa, and lives in the terrain, vineyards and meadows, in particular The meadows of the savannah and in the scattered trees, and it is not stable in one place, but it is constantly moving and migrating from one place to another in search of food.

طير له عرف مميز على رأسه، اللون بني فاتح وعرفه البني مرقط من أطرافه بالريش الأسود ونصفه الأسفل أسود مرقط بالريش الأبيض في نظم جميل، له طريقة مميزة في الطيران، ويتغذى على الحشرات ويشاهد أفراداً في المناطق الزراعية، وهو من أصدقاء الفلاحين فهو ينظف الأرض من الديدان واليرقات والآفات. يعد وجوده ومشاهدته علامة على نقاء البيئة من المبيدات الحشرية، وممنوع صيده (كما هو الحال بالنسبة لأبو قردان وأبو فصادة، حيث أنه لا يؤكل. وهو يعيش في المناطق الجنوبية والوسطى من آسيا وأوروبا ويتواجد في إفريقيا بشكل كبير، ويعيش في التضاريس وكروم العنب والمروج وبالذات مروج السافانا وفي الأشجار المتفرقة وهو غير مستقر في مكان واحد، بل هو دائم التنقل والترحال من مكان لآخر بحثا عن الغذاء

Bullfinch - Pyrrhula Pyrrhula (F)

The Eurasian bullfinch, common bullfinch or bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as bullfinch, as it is the original bird to bear the name bullfinch.

The bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. The upper parts are grey; the flight feathers and short thick bill are black; as are the cap and face in adults (they are greyish-brown in juveniles), and the white rump and wing bars are striking in flight. The adult male has red underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff underparts. It moults between July and October, but males do not have the duller autumn plumage that is typical of some other finches. The song of this unobtrusive bird contains fluted whistles, and is often described as 'mournful'.

This bird breeds across Europe and temperate Asia. It is mainly resident, but many northern birds migrate further south in the winter. Mixed woodland with some conifers is favoured for breeding, including parkland and gardens.

This species does not form large flocks outside the breeding season, and is usually seen as a pair or family group.

The food is mainly seeds and buds of fruit trees, which can make it a pest in orchards: in England for centuries every parish paid a bounty for every bullfinch killed. Ash and hawthorn are favoured in autumn and early winter. If wild bird cover is planted for it, kale, quinoa and millet are preferred, next to tall hedges or woodland.

Population:

UK breeding:

190,000

Roberts, Idaho

True to its name, the Solitary Sandpiper prefers its own company. It generally migrates on its own and is aggressive to its own kind throughout the year. Along with Eurasias' Green Sandpiper, they are the only cavity nesters found in the worlds 85 known species of sandpipers. They use the abandoned tree cavities of mid-sized passerines. They nest in Canada and Alaska with the only exception being extreme Northeastern Minnesota.

My favourite shot a Vireo from earlier this spring. This shot was taken through some low vegetation which is why parts of the bird are slightly blurred, I love the colours and level of detail in this shot!

Was a scramble taking off the ND filter and changing settings to take this capture of the geese ... but was able to do so before they were out of the frame :)

Back to the Garden of the Museum of the Republic, another species found is the domestic goose ((Anser cygnoides domesticus / Anser anser). This type of goose is part of a family of birds that includes ducks and swans.

There are more than 40 varieties of geese. Wild geese inhabit temperate regions, migrating to warmer locations during the winter.

Geese were domesticated in Ancient Egypt for meat production and feathers for making arrows.

In general, domestic geese are more active at night, and due to their territorial sense they can play guard dog functions, as mentioned about Signaler Geese. The captive bird can live up to 50 years.

Something interesting I noticed about the geese and ducks that live in the garden of the Museu da República is that everyone takes care of and protects the goose or duck chiks. So, no matter who are the parents they taking care of everyone.

I don't have a dedicated macro lens at this point (and it shows), so it's the cheaper route for now. But I've enjoyed and been inspired by so much of Peter Miles' work (www.flickr.com/photos/forumcz) that I still want to try my hand and just experiment a bit nonetheless. Here we have a small colored glass figurine from my china cabinet, with a fiery border to punch the orange and red tones.

Actually our storks should have migrated south by now, but an increasing number of them decide to stay here during the winter. Right now lots of meadows are flooded and they seem to find enough food.

Created for KP April 2019 Contest 71.

“The Art of Shadows”

BiG THANKS to EVERYONE for your personal comments and also your support from selected groups.

Awards are always encouraging and especially appreciated from those add my work to their collection of 'faves'.

Cheerz G

This neat little Nashville warbler doesn't live in Nashville, or even Tennessee although they do migrate all through the eastern U.S. as they move from dense forest lands in northern states and Canada to similar thick forests in southern Mexico for the winter. Note its obvious light eye ring and pale yellow breat.

This one moved on pretty quickly. Some of the migrators have stayed for about 3 weeks or more.

i got an "ear-full" and ran with the telephoto, i managed to catch a "museum" of waxwings through the trees, they have been passing through our garden for a few weeks now .

♥

The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It is known for the extreme altitudes it reaches when migrating across the Himalayas.

What it is doing in the central belt of Scotland is unknown

I was fortunate to come across a nice flock of these migrating north. A few of them would rest at times on perches along a fence line before returning to adjacent fields to forage.

“Black-headed Grosbeak parents fly south with worn feathers after breeding season. Their molting locations had been a mystery. The California scientists solved it with relatively inexpensive Global Positioning System (GPS) receiving devices.

They attached the 1-gm electronic devices to a leg of each grosbeak. The devices wake up every 2-6 weeks, record the GPS position and switch off. The GPS device, leg harness and leg bands weigh less than 2 g, or the equivalent of a long-distance runner carrying a laptop in a backpack. Each bird must be recaptured to download the data.” Topbirdingtours.com

A bulbous perennial to 15cm in height, with paired, strap-shaped leaves and starry, white-centred, bright blue flowers 3cm in width, borne in clusters of 2-3 on a leafless stem..The sweet nectar hidden among the brightly coloured petals of early spring flowers can be a lifeline for hungry insects.

Some species of bee, such as honeybees meanwhile don’t hibernate, so they will become more active and start collecting nectar as soon as your spring flowers arrive. There are even some species of butterfly that will be migrating back to the UK from warmer climes, so will need plenty of nectar after their long trip

This is a very common butterfly here, and elsewhere across North America. It is especially hardy, and what better proof of that than the one I saw here in early November. They are steady fliers and significant pollinators - the French name situates them on clover or trefoil, where they lay their eggs.

One of the keys to identifying the various Sulphurs one sees - I always assume it is a Clouded until I find evidence that points me in a different direction - is the semi-circle of black dots on the outer wing. This is a species that only very infrequently opens its wings when resting, so the ventral side is the key to identification.

One of the really cool things about them is that they are conventional migrants: the vast majority of them fly south, as far as Central America, at a rate of about 15 kilometres a day. Vast swarms of migrating Sulphurs appear in records as far back as Darwin. And then there is the northbound migration: like Monarchs and other migratory fliers, this is a multigenerational exercise, with butterflies getting part way back to Canada and then laying eggs that will carry out the rest of the journey.

Six inches of wet snow fell the morning where we went looking for waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes. This couple was strutting a pure white field in the marsh. Made for a great high key scene with the natural minimalism landscape.

Yes - I nearly got stuck - but experienced in driving in snow.

She sat on the limb; so timid and watched all alone as the other birds were eating. I saw her sitting there and jumped up and found some fresh sunflower seeds and filled up the feeder to give them all easy access. I was sitting in my chair watching and soon she was right there on the feeder with the home birds eating happily. That was two days ago. I haven't seen her since. Happy Travels little bird.

Species: Carduelis carduelis.

The goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch. Sociable, often breeding in loose colonies, they have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. Their long fine beaks allow them to extract otherwise inaccessible seeds from thistles and teasels. Increasingly they are visiting bird tables and feeders. In winter many UK goldfinches migrate as far south as Spain. Info: RSPB.

Many thanks to people who view or comment on my photos.

Female Myrtle hanging around this winter. She's not supposed to be here.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Botswana

Southern Africa

The springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in southern and southwestern Africa. The sole member of the genus Antidorcas.

Active mainly at dawn and dusk, springbok form harems (mixed-sex herds). In earlier times, springbok of the Kalahari desert and Karoo migrated in large numbers across the countryside, a practice known as trekbokken.

Primarily a browser, the springbok feeds on shrubs and succulents; this antelope can live without drinking water for years, meeting its requirements through eating succulent vegetation. Breeding takes place year-round, and peaks in the rainy season, when forage is most abundant.

Springbok inhabit the dry areas of south and southwestern Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources classifies the springbok as a least concern species. No major threats to the long-term survival of the species are known; the springbok, in fact, is one of the few antelope species considered to have an expanding population. – Wikipedia

And the Sandhill Crane is out of here! This is one of the takeoffs from Creamers Field in Fairbanks, Alaska during the August Crane Festival as the Sandhill Cranes are migrating south for the winter. I was able to predict the takeoffs much better as I now understand the behavior that indicates they're ready to take flight. They have a particular lean they do when they're telling their mates that they're ready to go. When I see them do this it's usually within seconds that they run forward and take to the sky.

Taken 21 August 2021 at Creamer's Field, Fairbanks, Alaska

On a foggy day at the Fernhill Wetlands.

www.ticklebear4u.com/2014/05/passing-through-116365-days-...

:)

First saw Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in the Rio Grande Valley, at the very south of Texas, three years ago. Today they are in large numbers in many colonies throughout my suburb of Houston, 3.5 degrees farther north in latitude, about 385 kilometers (240 miles). Global warming? This shot was taken on my morning walk about Double Lake, Sugar Land, Texas. Notice an Egyptian Goose in the background, also a new migrant, hanging out with the ducks.