View allAll Photos Tagged fallmigration
This rare bird was very cooperative and hung around several minutes, allowing me to get lots of good documentation shots. Including several reflection shots.
Juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus )
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Guess what showed up in the hundreds today, I wanted to show you how many, but then I thought I'd better add a portrait (taken in the spring) so you could admire a close up too!
I have posted several different shots of a male hooded warbler since Spring but this one from today I really liked. I like the face on look with the appearance of a black diamond on the chest and the hood seen more as a black cap from this perspective. It shows the white undertail well. This is an important characteristic especially with the female who lacks the impressive hood and might otherwise (if not for the white undertail) be confused with other yellow warblers, notably the Wilson's and Yellow warblers. There is no mistaking the male hooded though! He is one of my favorite warblers.
Another view below from today's Kennesaw Mt walk along with a black-and-white warbler shot:
From middle of August. Top of Kennesaw Mountain.
On two occasions in August I had the good fortune of observing a pair of these birds at very close range at the top of the mountain. One was walking on the large boulders found near the sign up top. They weren't high up in the trees as they often are but rather in short bushy scrub found at the top of the mountain. What a delight to observe such a beautiful warbler at such close range.
Photographed 16 September 2018, Smith Point Hawk Watch, Candy Cain Abshier WMA, Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas
At least I think it is the correct id. I thought this was a somewhat different view than I usually shoot. It barely looks like the Cape May in the previous image.
I'm not a wildlife photographer. Technically these images are lacking, but for me they capture some of the form of these magnificent birds. At this time of year Sandhill Cranes are resting in Fairbanks by the thousands, stopping briefly on their long journeys to the south. They are amazing creatures and cross the skies in large chevron formations, sometimes of a hundred birds or more, accompanied by their prehistoric cries.
I see them a couple of times a year and always only one. Beautiful bird and quite a bit larger than the white wing doves. First one I've seen since I started taking photos this past summer.
Photographed 16 September 2018, Smith Point Hawk Watch, Candy Cain Abshier WMA, Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas
"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language. The quality of cranes lies, I think, in this higher gamut, as yet beyond the reach of words.”
~ Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (Thanks to Belinda for the quote)
Photographed 17 September 2018, Smith Point Hawk Watch, Candy Cain Abshier WMA, Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas
American Oyster Catcher - Red W34
Frequent verified sightings:
#1 Fort De Soto Park
#2 Anna Maria Island
Originally banded at Shell Key in 2020 as a pre-fledgling (about 5 or 6 years old in 2025) as part of a research project.
Other locations sighted: As far south as Longboat Key, Braden River and Manatee River
On Monday, I decided to see if there were any interesting birds in Lake White since fall migration has begun.
I saw and photographed various ducks. I believe the majority of them are mallards, but since I saw some of different sizes, I am hoping that I am wrong and perhaps there are some migrants in the flock. However, I need help from others, as my duck and bird identification skills are a work in progress.
Information for the Bird Identification Group: taken in Lake White State Park, Waverly, Ohio, USA on September 12, 2016.
The "deep" part of Lake White is so large that it is hard to distinguish birds that are far out on the water, even with my lens at 400mm. (I should have brought my extender.)
The lake is currently lowered and will continue to remain low while the earthen dam and spillway are being rebuilt. So this does allow for the possibility of some wading birds in the "deep" part.
Another perspective from my encounter with two of these beautiful birds a few weeks ago on top of Kennesaw Mountain. This fall specimen has a rich yellow underside. I don't think there are many other of our migrant birds that have a more vibrant fall than spring plumage. Notice the white coloring of the abdomen surrounded by the yellow on the breast and the remainder of the underside which is a not so well known field mark.