So many new birds!

Yesterday we went to Lake Stephens and saw 8 (EIGHT!!!) new birds! It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get great pictures of some of them. I saw 3 different kinds of swallows (Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, and Northern Rough-Winged Swallows) and tehy were hard to capture. They were flying all over the lake, swooping here and there. Cool birds. We also identified our first Hawk. We got a Broad Winged Hawk. And then there was a Greater Scaup ( a duck), an Eastern Phoebe, and a Spotted Sandpiper, and a Red Breasted Merganser (another duck). Fun day. And then today I saw another beautiful White-throated Sparrow pecking the ground beside a great looking Chipping Sparrow. Here they are:


Here is the Hawk


Greater Scaup


Tree Swallow


Some Rock Pigeons we saw on the way out of the neighborhood

Yay! A new Lifer! Purple Finch

I was photographing this guy today, even though I thought he was a House Finch, which I have many pictures of. I was taking his picture anyway because he was so bright. I thought it was just his mating plumage. Apparently, I was wrong though. This is a Purple Finch! This is the first time I have seen a Purple Finch. Isn't he pretty? I hope to get some better pictures soon.




And, for comparison, this is a picture of a House Finch from November.

White-throated Sparrow

I have had some BEAUTIFUL White-throated Sparrows outside this morning. I love this bird, mostly because I often don't know what it is until I look at the pictures and see the yellow spots behind its beak. This morning though, the yellow spots were nice and bright and I knew immediately that the White-throated Sparrows were back. They're cute, chubby little things and are fun to watch as they peck away on the ground.

Chipping sparrows

I have had lots of Chipping Sparrows at my feeders today. They're pretty little birds, with their chestnut crowns. I saw my first Chipping Sparrow at my sister's house in Georgia in early March. I had not seen one here in WV until earlier this week. Now they're everywhere. Skittish little things though. There were about 5 on my red feeder and when I went for the camera they all flew off. Here are some individual portraits I got though. ;)



And I've had several American Goldfinches lately also. Pretty birds, too.

Killdeer

I saw a 'new to me' bird today! Woo hoo. That's so much fun! We were at my youngest son's soccer practice and my husband pointed out some birds to me that were walking around in an empty field. I took pictures as I slowly walked towards them. Once I got home I was able to identify them as Killdeer. They're very cool birds. They're actually Shorebirds, but are often found in large fields or parking lots. Check out the pictures I took.