A Bird Walk and Some Luck

Last Sunday, I took a walk at the Papscanee Island Nature Preserve.  I have been there a few times and it is a great place to look for birds.  It has woods, fields and beach area on the Hudson River which, all give different chances to see a number of birds.

I had been walking around for awhile and hadn't seen much of anything for birds.  The highlights up to then were some Yellow-rumped Warblers and some White-throated Sparrows in a brushy area by the Hudson River.  After watching them for a little while and not having any success getting a decent photo, I headed down the trail to head back to my car.  I came around a bend in the trail and saw this...

The light wasn't great since it was early and cloudy too but this male(I believe) Bald Eagle sat there for a little until it took off and I was able to snap(first photo) one decent flight shot before he was gone.

Happy Birding and to those lucky encounters with our feathered friends!

Feathers on Friday for 10/14

Hairy Woodpecker

Happy Friday! The leaves are changing and the weather is getting chillier here in Capital Region of New York.  This female Hairy Woodpecker was pecking at the wood knots in my deck.  There must be little insects of some sort living in there. 

Here is a shot of her working on one of the knots.

Yes, you got caught!  I have seen a lot more woodpecker activity lately.  Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, and of course the Hairy Woodpeckers are all active in my yard.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the fall colors!

More Feathers on Friday Posts:

Prairie Birder

Bird Boy

Birds In Your Backyard

Wolf Song Blog

Another Day in Paradise

A Day in the Life

The Angling Birder

New Visitor to My Backyard

Yellow-rumped Warbler

This weekend, I had some unexpected visitors to my backyard.  I have seen these little guys at parks and reserves but never in my yard.  The Yellow-rumped Warbler or Myrtle Warbler in the East is versatile warbler.  They are able to eat a number of different things including the fruit of Bayberries and Wax Myrtles.  The wax on these fruit are undigestible for most birds.  This allows them to stay further north than most of the other warblers.  While most of the other warblers have headed south,  these guys are still around in Upstate New York.  

Yellow rump where they get their name.

My yard doesn't have a ton of fruit right now but the Yellow-rumped Warbler appears to be eating maybe ants or insects in the lawn.  My lawn took a beating this summer with the lack of rain.  I have a number of dead spots and these guys were foraging in those areas.

                                                                               Here is one forging in my lawn.  

It was fun weekend watching about 8 of these guys and hopefully they'll be back.  Happy Birding!  Have you had any unusual visitors lately in your yard?  Tell us about it in the comments or Facebook page or on Twitter.