Hello All! Today was an excellent birding day for me. But I will share all that once I address my first blog contest winner. I received two correct answers one from My sister, Heather and second from my Aunt Barb. The mystery man is my Dad's older brother, my uncle John. It was so neat to see his photo up as we were driving into Holland. Kelly and I were just saying we need to get my Uncle and Aunt's phone number for our next impromptu trip to their beautiful town. Next thing we knew, WHAM, there was my uncle's face up in lights : ) So I will give the winning identification to my Aunt Barb, his wife. If anyone can identify him it better be her, right? So thanks for participating in my first ever blog contest. More to come I am sure.
Birding was easy today as it was not planned. I just kept my eyes open today and I saw three special birds. First, this morning while making breakfast Kelly said " Hey, is that an Oriole at the hummingbird feeder?" I stopped buttering the English muffins I was preparing and peeked out the window. I will admit, I thought "No, he probably isn't seeing an oriole." Upon spying the hummingbird feeder I was so happy and shocked to see it was in fact a Baltimore Oriole. The best part is when I still lived at home with my parents I used to see them at my hummingbird feeder I hung outside my bedroom window all the time. So the other day I filled the hummingbird feeder with Oriole nectar to see if I could attract any this year. I tried hard last spring with no success, orange slices littered our backyard. I know Orioles love eating oranges, but it mostly attracted big fat squirrels. I have not seen an Oriole in probably 13 years back in Freeland, MI. So this was a huge victory for me!!!!! I will be up watching to see if my friend returns tomorrow.
After dropping Grace off at preschool I met a friend at a park. this particular park is right on lake Michigan. The kids played on all the playground equipment
and we hiked down to the water to watch many boats and much activity on the lake. As we returned to the play area to have a snack, I saw a red bird fly up to a large tree in front of me. I could view it quite well as the sun was shining on it. It was a Scarlet Tanager!!! That is a life bird for me, I think. I may have spied one with my mom in high school, but that doesn't count as I wasn't keeping a life list of all my birds seen than. I could see his black wings clearly as he sat perched high in the tree. This is the second tanager on my list as I have seen a Summer Tanager in Missouri while we lived there. So it was great to finally see this guy : )
and we hiked down to the water to watch many boats and much activity on the lake. As we returned to the play area to have a snack, I saw a red bird fly up to a large tree in front of me. I could view it quite well as the sun was shining on it. It was a Scarlet Tanager!!! That is a life bird for me, I think. I may have spied one with my mom in high school, but that doesn't count as I wasn't keeping a life list of all my birds seen than. I could see his black wings clearly as he sat perched high in the tree. This is the second tanager on my list as I have seen a Summer Tanager in Missouri while we lived there. So it was great to finally see this guy : )
Lastly, the day ended with one of my favorite migrants returning to us for the summer. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird has made it's way north to us, YAHOO! I spied one today checking out me New Guinea impatiens plant. I love hummingbirds. They signify summer to me. If they have returned, it means summer is not far off. The male hummer usually comes to check for food sources before settling and breeding. So I hope they like my home and yard. Thanks for humoring me and reading about one of my passions, birds!! God Bless and have a great weekend!!! Love, Crystal
