Monday, October 29, 2007

Birds on the Brain

I've noticed quite a few posts about birds lately and felt the need to add another to the mix, as they are one of my favorite subjects :) But I had to cheat, this one is from a few months ago.


I was sitting on the deck at Mom's and she wanted me to take pictures of the hummingbirds. The hummingbirds sit in the chestnut tree at the side of the house when they are not at the feeders. I was having trouble with them, and started taking pictures of whatever bird would sit still long enough. I thought I had a nice shot at a goldfinch. But when I reviewed my pictures, I realized it wasn't a goldfinch at all!

After a great deal of time with two different identification guides, Mom and I decided it was an immature Chestnut-Sided Warbler (after the oven bird incident, Justin tries to tell me this is a yellow-headed crab finch - yeah right :). This shot makes me smile, because I had no idea what I was shooting at the time I took the photo: a type of bird I'd never seen before!

ETA: Ack! I tried to post from Picasa's "Blog This" feature. I assume that's what caused the problems. Here's the bird :)

12 comments:

Tom said...

Hi Ash,
I love the story but I can't see the picture, never had this trouble before. Is the problem your end? if not I might be busy today sorting that out.

Unknown said...

I agree its a good story but no bird is showing.

Thanks for your thoughts and your prayers hon :)

Anonymous said...

Yep, that is a ghost of a bird. I can't see anything except that red x which always seems to stand proud as a sunstitute for everything else.

Kerri Farley said...

I see it! And he is BEAUTIFUL! I have never seen this type of bird before. How neat for you to discover it without even looking for it. Gosh - I do find that a lot. I'll snap something, then when I get home I'll see something in it that I never saw at the time. Great catch!

Cape Cod Washashore said...

What a lovely little bird! And a fabulous photograph! I just love seeing photos of wildlife from other parts of the world. =)

Tom said...

I can see it and its a cracker, the colouring is so nice. Well captured Ash, I'd be as proud as anything with that.

Annie said...

This is lovely. She looks like she is about to fly off!

imac said...

Nice story and pic.

Wayfarer said...

Really enjoying the blog, Ash. birds wont be still at my feeder. Arghhh!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

isn't that a cute birdie ...i love the pastel yellow of hers.... :)

photowannabe said...

I do see the bird so I guess Blogger straightened itself out. Frankly Blogger drives me crazy sometimes.
Great post of the young bird. He looks so sleek.

Tom said...

Me again Ash...
While reading up on your warbler I came across a nice referance site you might find of interest. I've now put it on my favourites so when you, Salty, Willard, Chad, and of course Abe, mention your birds I can check them out.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Chestnut-sided_Warbler.html