The "All About Birds" Web site describes the male Northern Cardinal as "a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off."

HWW

Thank you for your visits, faves and comments.

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

Every two years we seem to get an invasion of grasshoppers, big and small. The large ones love my dahlias and they give me a fright each time I encounter one! They like to eat the leaves more than the flowers but also like to eat my window screens which is not so good.

Thank you for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

Your visits, faves and comments are greatly appreciated. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

Because they are so common, robins are under-appreciated, in my opinion. So when I get what I consider to be a good a shot of one of these handsome birds, I sometimes decide to post it. I especially like how this robin was framed nicely amongst the branches, and the way that the sun was illuminating that pretty orange breast.

HWW

Flickr friends, after today, I will be offline for a few days. See you when I return.

Best viewed large. Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments! HWW!

Thanks so much for your visits! Happy Wing Wednesday! Have a great day.

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

A Monarch sipping nectar from a Sweet Scented Joe Pye Weed. She stayed on these flowers for a very long period of time and wasn't bothered that I was so close to her, so I was able to shoot many photos. Best viewed large.

Thank you all so much for your visits, faves and comments. Have a lovely day!

Red Admiral butterfly feeding on Chrysanthemum flowers at my local garden centre back in August HWW! My parents are coming over tonight from the UK to visit us for a few days so I won't be on Flickr properly again until Monday. Apologies in advance for my lack of comments. Best get back to cleaning the windows & dusting the spiders ;)

This tiny insect (1/4 - 1/2" long) is a Feather-Legged Fly, a Tachinid Fly in the family Tachinidae. This was my first time seeing this type of insect.

In addition to the fringe of hairs on their hind legs, feather-legged flies can be identified by the yellow coloration of their halteres (pair of small, knobby structures that are the modified second pair of wings) that are used for balance. The males have all-orange abdomens, while females have either dark abdomens or dark-tipped abdomens. Best viewed large.

Thank you for your visits, faves and comments, always appreciated.

This Great Egret was actually taking flight on a recent day, but in this frozen moment, it appears to me to be dancing.

HWW

Some who follow my Flickr site have noted that I've been posting a lot of bird shots lately. That's true. As Spring is the season for bird migration, I've been out scouting sites near my new location in search of migratory birds as they pass through my area or arrive at their breeding grounds. And I've had some degree of success, so I will be posting a few more bird photos before it's over.

This handsome bird is a Great Crested Flycatcher. It's one of the larger and relatively more colorful of the flycatchers, with reddish-brown upper parts and a lemon colored underside. These birds typically hang out on high treetop perches, which is where I spotted this one. From there, they can swoop down and catch insects in mid-air or pluck them from leaves below.

This duck seems to be having trouble not sinking the Lili pad!

Hope you all have a wonderful mid week and HWW!

Thank you for your visit and support!

Male Northern Cardinals such as this guy are easy to spot amongst the winter browns, especially when they pause for a moment in the sunlight.

HWW

Best viewed large. Thanks ever so much for your visits, faves and comments.

Thanks for your visits. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

Thank you so much for your visits. faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday! 🐝

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

With its flaming orange and black plumage, the male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) is one of the most brilliantly colored songbirds to be seen in my part of the world.

HWW

Have a Happy Wing Wednesday folks : o )

These handsome Cedar Waxwings were part of a large flock of these fruit-loving birds that descended upon a berry filled tree one day when I was there a couple of years ago.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: "The Cedar Waxwing is one of the few North American birds that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit alone for several months...Because they eat so much fruit, Cedar Waxwings occasionally become intoxicated or even die when they run across overripe berries that have started to ferment and produce alcohol."'

HWW

This Sandhill Crane was catching some great late-day light on a recent evening at McHenry Dam State Park, McHenry County, Illinois.

HWW

This shot, taken just over a year ago at Florida's St. Augustine Alligator Farm, is surely typical of what's happening at the rookery there now. Sadly, the place this year is currently closed due the the Covid-19 outbreak.

HWW & HBW

Best viewed large. Happy Wing Wednesday!!

Thanks so much for your visits, faves and comments!! Have a wonderful day!

Thank you all so much for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

A fledgling Great Egret (Ardea alba) waits in the nest for some parental attention.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm

St. Augustine, Florida

Spring, 2019

HWW & HBW

Best viewed large. Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments.

Thanks for your visits. Happy Wing Wednesday!!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

HWW & HBW

Flickr friends, after Wednesday, I will be taking some time off from Flickr. I'll be back in October. See you then.

There are hundreds of these wildflowers located in a field behind my house and they are full of bees and wasps. I think I was a little too close to this one as it was waving me off. Best viewed large.

Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments! HWW!

A Great Blue Heron sticks a landing at water's edge.

Veteran Acres Park

Crystal Lake, Illinois

HWW

We had more snow over Easter weekend which has now melted and today it is raining. This photo was taken through my window, best viewed large. Happy Wing Wednesday.

Thank you so much for your visits, faves and comments.

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

For Wing Wednesday, HWW folks x

An unhappy robin that migrated back too early again,

photographed through my window. We are getting more snow today, neverending. Warmer weather coming by Monday, 70°F (21°C)! We are going to completely skip the 50's and 60's.

Thanks so much for your visits. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

A Great Blue Heron flys past in this archive shot from 2017.

HWW

A Great Blue Heron catches some strong angled sunlight on an October afternoon shortly before sundown.

HWW

Also known as Confusing Bumblebee, best viewed large.

Thanks so much for your visits. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

A Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), I believe, patrols the shoreline at a local pond.

HWW

A bumble bee on a Sweet Scented Joe Pye Weed. These wildflowers attract a wide variety of butterflies, bees and other insects. Best viewed large.

Thank you all so much for your visits, faves and kind comments.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

I find it amazing that these birds are able to locate and capture their prey in a heavily algae-covered pond such as this one. HWW

A hoverfly on Goldenrod wildflowers photographed last fall. Thank you all so much for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

A Great Egret looks downstream as it rests on a branch near sundown on a recent evening at McHenry Dam State Park, Illinois.

Happy Wing Wednesday

I don't know how these Blue Jays find out so quickly that peanuts have been tossed out for them. They show up immediately to snatch them up and within minutes, the peanuts are gone. You have to be quick with your snap because they fly away quickly after the pick up.

This photo was taken through my patio door window on one of our colder mornings. You can see some frost that has formed around his eye. The temps have been dipping down to -18°F (-28°C) on/off with windchills at -35°F.

Thank you so much for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Trees and snow in the background, taken through my window. Winter has definitely arrived....4 more inches of snow today on top of the foot we already have.

Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments! Have a great day!!

Native to the Americas, Barn Swallows such as this one are the most abundant species of swallow in the world. And there is some interesting folklore about how it got its distinctive forked tail: "According to legend, the Barn Swallow got its forked tail because it stole fire from the gods to bring to people. An angry deity hurled a firebrand at the swallow, singeing away its middle tail feathers," says the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

HWW & HBW

Since you can't see it here, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it about the yellow rump. :-)

Magee Marsh, Oak Harbor, Ohio

Spring Migration 2019

HWW

Every year we get these birds nesting in our pine trees and I usually hear their beautiful singing before I spot them. It is estimated that the brown thrasher has more than 1,100 song types, making them one of the most varied singers in the bird world. Photographed through my window.

Thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.

The bees are pretty much gone now where I live, despite some recent unseasonably warm temperatures. But they were still hanging around in mid-September when this shot was taken. It's a long lens "macro" shot, taken at 600mm and cropped relatively little.

HWW

It's a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), photographed on a warm autumnal day this week at Michigan's Kensington Metropark.

Did you know that Blue Jays aren't actually blue? While many birds get their color from the pigment in their feathers, blue pigment is rare in nature. The pigment in a Blue Jay's feathers is brown; we perceive it as blue due to a scattering of light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

HWW & HBW

Thank you so much for your visits, faves and comments. Happy Wing Wednesday!!

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written permission.