A Little Bit of Color This Morning

I woke up to a very nice surprise this morning. It was a 1st Spring Male Tanager. This young male is just starting to get his color after his first winter.


His color is beginning change over the bright orange-red that Tanagers are known for. This visit was especially nice for me because it was a Lifer because I'd never seen a young male before.

He seemed to like the suet in the feeder as he came back later on the day to get a few more bites!

Good birding and God Bless!

Tanager Anyone?

You know it pays off sometimes to just to sit and watch the birds out your window and wait to see which ones fly into your yard next. I really love this about birding because it helps me to slow down and enjoy things a little more than I used to.

This is just what I was doing on Sunday afternoon when this female Summer Tanager stopped by for a little visit. I've seen a male two times before but never a female. Tanagers are residents of the southeast and central portions of the U.S.




She is not the bright red color that the male exhibits but rather a dull yellow. Tanagers are distinctive birds and beautiful. They have proven hard for me to photograph as they hang out in the upper levels of trees.



Good Birding and God Bless!

Cane Creek Birdwatching

I had a pretty good weekend last week watching birds. My wife and I went up to Cane Creek State Park near Star City, AR to check it out on Saturday.


They have two trails to nature walk on, the Delta View Trail and Lake Trail. The Delta View Trail is 2.5 miles and the Lake Trail covers the entire lake is about 15 miles long. We covered a partial segment of the Delta View Trail. It was very nicely land out and was great for taking a nature walk.





I was walking for birding, she was walking for exercise so our paces were slightly different. About 5 minutes into our little adventure, she calls me on my cell to tell me to hurry up. She thinks she has spotted a Pileated Woodpecker! I quickened step only to be disappointed when I arrived, it was gone. This is the one bird I has on my list to see first and hopefully capture the moment with a picture.

I did see a Summer Tanager, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, several Titmice and a few Downy Woodpeckers. I include a pic of the Summer Tanager below. It was high in the trees. He wasn't in the mood to have his picture taken!

I went back up to Cane Creek on Sunday afternoon with my friends and their little 'birder' that I've had the pleasure of showing my backyard birds to. She just loved it. This time we covered the entire 2.5 mile Delta View Trail. We saw and heard several birds.

This time, however, the Pileated Woodpecker wasn't so illusive. I was able to observe 3 Pileateds, all in flight. They are awesome birds. They are distinctive to say the least. I was excited I was able to see one. Next time I hope to get a pic of the experience!

That same day, I had another treat to add to the weekend. I had two Indigo Bunting visit my yard. The hung around for most of the day, just at a distance. They never would come in close enough to get a descent pic.

All in all, it was a good weekend. I added two birds to my life list!

God Bless and Good Birding!

Time on My Hands

I spent most of this past weekend at Kevin and Summer's trying my hardest to catch up with the Summer Tanager that perches near their house. I was able to see the Tanager well with the new Bushnell binoculars I recently purchased. However, capturing a good picture of the Summer Tanager proved to be harder than I imagined.

Tanagers are solitary birds and love to perch in the upper levels of trees. Its call is very similar to that of a Robin and can be easily heard throughout the woods. Its song helped me to find it but the 'upper level tree perching' kept me from obtaining a great shot. I attempted to creep, ever so slowly, closer and closer to the tree in which the Tanager was singing from but each time I got close enough, it flew. Check out Journey Through Grace's blog to see what a great picture of a Summer Tanager should look like!

This scenario played out several times over the weekend leading me to look elsewhere to take up my picture taking time on Brush Mountain.

The garden that was been setup by my in-laws is very nice. A wide variety of flowers and bushes dot their landscape.

They are working very hard in their backyard to beautify it like the rest of the surroundings.


Check back later in the summer for pictures of the newly landscaped backyard!

Unknown Visitor to My Yard

I had an unknown visiter to my backyard last Friday morning. I've got a few ideas of what this little visitor may have been. If anyone has any thoughts on helping to identify this bird, I'd appreciate your help.

I spent this past weekend on Brush Mountain with Shelley's brother, Kevin, and Summer. I got a few shots of a new bird to me, a Summer Tanager. I'll post a few pictures later this week.