Some days you wonder why a grown man would wander around in the heat, the mud and the bugs looking for birds who don’t give a damn about you. Other days, however, make you wonder why everyone isn’t doing it.
Today was a good one. The King Rail is a life bird for me;in 6 years of frequent jaunts into the marsh I haven’t seen one, or even come close, yet two crossed my path and posed nicely this morning.
In addition, several nice birds and a couple of mammals took advantage of the very nice weather to be out in front of my lens and made my day several times over.
Blackwater Dawn.
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds were very active today.
The Purple Martin Colony at Blackwater is thriving.
Red Headed Woodpeckers were easy to find today.
I was surprised to see these Ospreys mating so late in the season.
These Ospreys were feeding at least one chick.
A lone Catbird was singing at the visitor center.
A Carolina Wren was singing also.
Only a few Great Egrets were present.
Several Bald Eagles were foraging in the marsh.
I don’t often see Turkey vultures drying their wings on the ground.
Eastern Kingbirds were flycatching along the drive.
You’ll usually hear an Orchard Oriole before you see him.
This Red Winged Blackbird has found a nice bug.
The secretive King Rail is hard to photograph.
It’s not always easy to photograph a Delmarva Fox Squirrel.
This Fox was hanging out at the visitor center.
Fantastic sightings and fabulous shots! That hummingbird! Red-headed WP! And that rail!! Booyah!!!
Wow Hugh you outdid yourself here. These are fantastic! Talk about being in the right place at the right time. So there is why we have to do it so often. You just never know what it going to happen with nature. Congrats on the sighting and photos of those King Rail. Mammals are great too, not to mention that beauty of a sunrise. My personal fav the red headed woodpeckers. Just love.
Beautiful captures of a wonderful variety. The King Rail images are fabulous, congrats on the added lifer! If you don’t mind me asking, where did you sight them at the refuge? It’d be a lifer for me too. 😉
They were about 150 feet short of the blind. I met a woman last year who found one near the observation platform at dusk.
Thanks!