Shots: January Gulf Coast Birds

We always have a lot of birds down here, with the barrier islands, many bays, bayous, and rivers, but we also get some Winter guests from the North.  Snowbirds that come down with the snowbirds.  To those of you who are missing your birds right now:  they’re doing fine; we’re taking good care of them!

I couldn’t get photos of all of the ones I saw today, but will keep trying, even if that means wearing camo.  Anything for you.  Even camoflauge.  I really, really want to get a good shot of a bluebird.  Three were on our birdbath this afternoon, but I couldn’t catch them quickly enough.  It was just the incentive I needed to give the window a good scrubbing for next time.

Here are a few of the birds I saw this morning in the span of only about 10 minutes until I heard the trash guys’ truck and remembered I was outside in my pajamas:

I think this one is a finch?  This is a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

 

This cardinal is quite a character.

He peeks behind Mardi Gras beads that a child put on our tree,

stalks a mourning dove (see it?),

then dashes off in a blaze of red.

This is the stalked Mourning Dove:

I guess they are common in most of America, so probably everyone doesn’t love to see them.  But we don’t see them too often, so I was happy to have a pair visit us today.  Someone else was very unhappy to see the doves; they got dive-bombed (without the bomb) by a bigger, meaner bird.

I didn’t get to see who did it, as I was frightened into closing my eyes and cowering behind the porch pillar.   Hey, birds can peck people, you know.  Mean, territorial, dove-hating birds do.  Probably. 

~~~~~

This Carolina Chickadee is a favorite of ours.  The feeling must be mutual; this has been our most frequent visitor lately. 

p.s. I’m no ornithologist – or any other ologist, so please comment if I have any of the names wrong.

Photos by Lori Seaborg, January 30, 2008