Birding 101

My friend Birdie, birder extraordinaire, went kayaking on the Silver River with me today.  She gave me birding tutorials and trivia along the way, and no additional charge for bird call IDs.

The white ibises were plentiful, and dazzling when they flew overhead with their black tipped wings on  a backdrop of blue sky.

 Birdie takes a picture.

 Tri-colored heron

 My bird of the day was this Killdeer....first time I've seen one of these on the river.

I have trouble with the little birds...they don't hold still. Birdie is patient as she reminds me this is an Eastern Phoebe.

 This one is harder, it's an immature little blue heron.

 Just monkeying around...

 I think I will never call the pied-billed grebe a duck again. This one just caught a fish.

 I know, it's a phoebe!

We're all smiling.

 Birdie liked the limpkin best.

 The sun feels good.

 We're all enjoying the warm day.

 I see you!

 To the casual bird-watcher like me, these two look alike. But the one on the left is an immature little blue heron, while the one on the right is a snowy egret. And if you don't believe me, just ask Birdie.

 The cormorants are pairing up and building their nests at the rookery.

 Do you think she'll like this wet stick he found?

 Birdie made it to the head spring!

 It's all downstream from here...

 Drifting down the river...

 Great Blue Heron shows off his plumage.

I think I tired Birdie out for today, but perhaps she'll teach me some more next time. I discovered that birders can recognize other birders instantly by the binoculars they carry. Two binocular-clad ladies stopped Birdie on the trail back to the campground when they spied her fine birding binoculars. The conversation was all about birds of course.