Fox News: Christmas Report

Early on Christmas morning when we were looking out the windows and watching birds, Chris commented that she thought we would have a special visitor today; just a feeling. While visiting on the phone with one of our daughters and taking the turkey out of the oven, Chris practically had a fit when she saw the fox, who has been around the neighborhood a lot, drinking out of our waterfall. We sort of suspected something larger than the birds had been helping themselves to some sips, because we've had to fill it up with bucketfuls. This fox was not at all startled when Mike went out to get its picture. It even gave a little shake like a dog would to get some water off its face. Nice to know we are helping out the wildlife with our heated waterfall while the lake is not available for them.

Tufted Titmouse Balancing on a Peanut

This was an entertaining little titmouse. Usually they land for barely a second and snatch a peanut up quickly with their beaks. This one seemed confused about how to go about acquiring the peanut. Mostly it sat around a pile of them, sometimes balancing on one, but eventually it pecked at one to make a small hole which seemed to make it easier for it to fly away with.

Flicker and Sapsucker

Northern Flicker


Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

It's always a special day when the sapsucker or flicker make an apperance.

Carolina Wren:Photo by Donna

This bird was spotted on December 15th, 2010 in Bernardsville, NJ on my back deck pecking at seed from the suet. It didn't stay more than a few minutes, but it was quite a treat.

Birds of Harbour Island, Bahamas

One doesn't go to Harbour Island in the Bahamas for birding. We went to avoid the cold, celebrate a birthday, walk along a stunning pink sand beach, listen to the gently rolling waves, and gaze into the turquoise ocean under a blue sky. However, just before we left, we discovered that our destination, the Pink Sands Hotel, is a bird sanctuary recognized by the Audubon Society. The hotel actually doesn't market itself as a birder's choice, does not go out of its way to attract birds, and no staff seemed overly knowledgeable about  the birds. However, there are a good number of trees on the landscaped grounds, and we saw many warblers. The quantity wasn't great, but there were a wide variety of bird species. We even saw a Cape May warbler, a bird that has eluded us in Cape May.

Prairie Warbler


Cape May Warbler


Yellow throated Warbler



Northern Parula


Palm Warbler


American Redstart (Female)


Ovenbird


Bahama Woodstar


Female Painted Bunting


We also saw a black and white warbler, a black throated blue warbler, a yellow rumped warbler,  some catbirds and a few tropical mockingbirds but didn't photograph them all.

Harbour Island: Birds and Blooms

Northern Parula


Bananaquit


Bahama Woodstar

Prairie Warble

Harbour Island: Raptors in Flight

Kestrel

Osprey

Harbour Island: Pink Sands Beach Birds

Night Heron (Yellow Crowned Juvenile)


Plover