A Cuckoo Afternoon.

I'm at 199 species for the year. It's very exciting to speculate... to wonder what bird might be # 200. ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK, GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, WHITE-WINGED TERN, or perhaps some variety of WARBLER?

Meantime, enjoy these latest to pose for my camera: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, INDIGO BUNTING & a PRAIRIE WARBLER.
Yes, the YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO has occasionally been known to lay it's eggs in other bird's nests. That gesture isn't very nice, to be sure. But on the bright side, CUCKOOS eat lots of caterpillars. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but this year looks like it's going to be a very bad one for bag worm caterpillars. So... eat up CUCKOO! And if you must, I hope that you lay your CUCKOO eggs in either a EUROPEAN STARLING or a HOUSE SPARROW nest.The INDIGO BUNTING is known to have regional dialects. Basically, when this bird sings, it has a bit of an accent. There is a good chance that the one shown here prolly has a Balmer accent hon.The PRAIRIE WARBLER has a whispy song that increases in speed and pitch. Sadly, this bird is declining in numbers throughout North America. PRAIRIE WARBLERS like shrubby habitat. America is either becoming strip malls, housing developments, farm land or forests. Far too infrequently, grassy fields and shrubby habitat is not thought of as valuable or important.Take Care and plant some shrubs.

Dan

Barred Owl Photo Shoot

While hiking through the Patuxent River Park off of Governor's Bridge Road in P.G. County I kept hearing BARRED OWLS hooting down by the river. After some exploring, I found a trail that led down to the banks of the Patuxent. That is where the OWL made it's presence more visible. But first, this frog. What species is it?Anyone have the answer, hmmm? WHO WHO WHO knows about this frog? I could look it up, but I will instead await word from you... the frog expert. One thing I do know is that my lovely wife Emery 'cooked for me' tonight! Oh, it's just a bad BARRED OWL joke. Get it? I'll move on.If you ask me, in this next photo... well, it looks as if this BARRED OWL was up all night.This BARRED OWL was quite cooperative and up until the time that we were aware of each other's presence, this nocturnal predator was quite noisy.

Here are a few other birds that were seen this afternoon. There were several BLUE GREY GNATCATCHERS, WHITE-EYED VIREOS and NORTHERN PARULAS. However, two year birds (an ORCHARD ORIOLE and a PRAIRIE WARBLER) didn't pose long enough for a worthy photograph!As the weekend approaches, the migration season continues. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you see a great bird... let me know.

Okay, fine... here is the ORCHARD ORIOLE. It was 7:30PM when I got this photo. I wasn't expecting much and I hope you weren't either.

-Dan