I may need to buy a football helmet for when I go birding. This morning a Bluebird was making multiple passes at my head, probably protecting a nearby young juvenile Bluebird. This is uncharacteristic of Bluebirds on the trail. A few minutes later I stopped to take some photos of an Orchard Oriole, and was buzzed by a Tree Swallow that had a nesting box a few feet away.
Most of what I saw on the trail this morning were common species, and I logged 31 avian species in 1-1/2 hours. The highlights were the pair of nesting American Kestrels in their usual upstream trail tree, a White-eyed Vireo near the south end of the Glenthorne Loop trail, and a close encounter with an Eastern Black Ratsnake.
When I got home I checked on the Red-shouldered Hawk's nest, and the two chicks were taking it easy.
Female Eastern Bluebird that buzzed me
Juvenile Eastern Bluebird that was nearby
American Kestrels
White-eyed Vireo
Eastern Black Ratsnake
Red-shouldered Hawk chick
Red-shouldered Hawk chick
This morning's list (31 species):
Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Northern Cardinal Carolina Wren American Goldfinch American Redstart Red-eyed Vireo White-eyed Vireo American Kestrel Indigo Bunting Chipping Sparrow Red-bellied Woodpecker Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Turkey Vulture Black Vulture Cowbird Starling Cedar Waxwing American Crow Eastern Kingbird Eastern Wood Pewee Eastern Phoebe Eastern Meadowlark Orchard Oriole Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Brown Thrasher Rock Pigeon |