Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My birds of the decade

Goodbye 2009 and Hello 2010. I wish everyone all the best in 2010. Greating Birding in 2010. Happy New Years to everyone.

This is my entry for Misty Dawn's a and to see more wonderful and cute critters  go to:  Camera Critters 

To see more birds and other animals photos go and visit the:  The Friday Ark


Nature Notes #42 :  Nature notes at Rambling Woods

I also thought it would be fun to post my favorite birds of the decade. I am posting them in order of my favorites first not by the date they were seen. I can not really say it was a decade of birds officially since I did not start really birding until 2003. They are not really exotic birds. Just birds that really made me happy just to look at them and to see them. I am lucky that most of my favorite birds were seen right here in Maryland.

1,   Snowy Owl seen at Assateague Island, Md  seen 01/2009 . This one was my top bird to see and I had to make two trips to Assateague before I was actually able to see this beautiful owl.





2,    Eastern Bluebird was seen in  my backyard  and there has been a nesting pair for years now.






3,     Rose Breasted Grosbeak  my backyard 04/2003. This was the bird that really got me interested in birding. The colors on the male are just stunning.




4,      Green Heron seen in Cuyahoga Nat'l Park Ohio 06/29/07. This bird drove me nuts, I wanted to see one really bad. I went everywhere looking for this bird. Since seeing my first Green Heron it seems like I see them everywhere now.





5,      Painted Bunting seen in  Arnold, Md   02/09/08 this bird was a rare bird for me to see in Maryland. It was sighted at a birdfeeder in a backyard in Arnold, Md. The homeowners were gracious and kind to allow birders to see the beautiful Painted Bunting.




6,      Scarlet Tanager  seen at the  Prettyboy Reservoir, Md   05/2006.  I can see these birds near my house. They nest in the trees above the fireroad where I take my walks.





7,      Brown Headed Nuthatch seen at  Blackwater NWR, MD  06/15/08. This bird seems to be a regular on the trail at Blackwater NWR in Maryland.




8,      Evening Grosbeak  seen at  BattleCreek Cypress Swamp, Md  02/16/08. This was a female not as colorful as the pretty males but was well worth the drive to see her.





9,      Little Blue Heron  seen at  Smith Island, Md 04/2008. This bird was seen during one of the bird club's trip. I just love the colors on this beautiful heron.





10,     Prothonotary Warber seen at the Piscataway Park, MD  04/25/09.  This bird has to be one of the most colorful warblers I have ever seen.


62 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful, Eileen. A green heron? WOW! I am soooo impressed!

Unknown said...

That's quite a nice list! SO many pretty birds! I had to drive to Texas to see a painted bunting, lol.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

I can see why these would rate as your favorites.I think most birds are beautiful,only some are just a bit more colorful than others.Love the Bluebird picture.Thanks for stopping by my blog and for leaving such kind words.Have a fabulous New Year.
Blessings,Ruth

Unknown said...

Oh sweet - that is one beautiful collection!
And no, I've not seen one of them yet, sigh :)

Ramosforest.Environment said...

Beautiful post and birds.
Happy New Year.
Luiz Ramos

Bestemor Drillo said...

I love the birds ! HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Caron said...

This is a great collection of birds I have not seen myself except in books. They're beautiful.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Eileen, I love your birdies.. We have similar ones --but you have seen some that I have not seen yet. The Painted Bunting is gorgeous and I love the Scarlet Tanager. WOW!!!!!

Thanks for sharing... I have added you to my followers list.

Happy New Year.
Hugs,
Betsy

Carver said...

This is a wonderful post. You have such a variety of beautiful birds and are great at photographing them. Happy New Year!

Lindy said...

Very nice collection of favorites. That's a fantastic capture of the snowy owl and the color of the Prothonotary Warber is outstanding! Here's to a new year of continued successful birding! =)

Tussy said...

They are all beautiful, my favourite is the 2nd one with blue.

Happy New Year :)

You Got A Posty
All Little Things I Like

Maude Lynn said...

That shot of the owl is absolutely stunning!

kayellen said...

what amazing wild life you captured!

Happy New Year to you!

kayellen

FAB said...

A super series to remember your achievements thro' 2009.

Happy New Year....FAB.

Small City Scenes said...

All beautiful birds and lucky you to capture them.
I think my most---to me---unusual bird I saw was a Northern Shrike--Very interesting bird. I loved the Western Tanager---I have only seen one male. but my favorite backyard bird is the Towhee. they are so cute and busy. MB

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Hi again. What a great idea for a decade-ending wrap up. And such wonderful birds; your pictures are marvelous! Those birds would rank high on my decade-list too. Now I want to make my own list(just for ourselves).

Diane AZ said...

Beautiful and fascinating observations. That Rose Breasted Grosbeak is so cute! I just saw bluebirds for the first time a couple of weeks ago. :)

Bestemor Drillo said...

Wonderful birds ! And amazing pictures;)

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Eileen: It has been a wonderful time getting to share your birds. I loved the Green Heron from CVNP which is in my area.

Martha said...

Fabulous. I hope to do some bird watching this coming year. I totally love watching the few species we have at the feeder right now!


Happy New Year!

My SWF

storyteller said...

I love your marvelous header mosaic and all the individual bird photos from the decade. Little by little I'm learning how to recognize various birds from reading posts like this. If I ever travel again I'll be more knowledgeable ;-)
Happy New Year!
Hugs and blessings,

Photo Cache said...

They are all delightful, but I kinda soften a bit more with the bluebird.

Happy New Year. All the best.

Anonymous said...

You do have a nice collection of birds there in this post. I wish I had some of them.

I am not yet back to normal as far as being sick goes but I may be able to pop out and about now and then.

Elaine said...

What a delightful selection of photos!

Happy New Year to you and your family!

Gemma Wiseman said...

I don't know any of these birds, which makes them all the more fascinating for me! Beautiful collection of photos! I think my favourite is the grosbeak with its stark colour! Happy New Year!

lazyclick said...

Lovely captures.
Wish you Happy & Prosperous New Year.

Rajesh said...

Very lovely birds.
Wish you Happy & Prosperous New Year.

Lorac said...

Truly incredible shots Eileen! Happy New Year!

Redzlan said...

Great!, ten beautiful birds to end this decade.
Happy New Year!

Kerri Farley said...

A fabulous decade of birds!! Here's to many more in the upcoming decade!!
Wonderful Post!!

Jo said...

Wow Eleyne;) what a stunning array of bird photos. Too beautiful. Thanks for visiting my blog so regularly and commenting. I will visit much more as from next week: I'm off to join my husband in North Africa and always have lots of time in front of the computer there. Happy New Year to you. (((Hugs))) Jo

Rambling Woods said...

I enjoyed seeing all the birds as you know how I love birds..I have only been watching birds for the past 5 years...so I have to wait another to post about a decade. I love the snowy owl especially as they are such a rare treat.. Have a very Happy 2010...Michelle

The Pink Birdhouse said...

Eileen, oh my gosh, your bird photos are out of this world! MD is definitely the place to be to bird watch and get great shots like these. my sister lives there and although she does not take photos, she just got a very powerful binoculars for Xmas so that she could bird watch, her favorite past time. It is a bird heaven there in MD! there are some great places in NJ too, my old stomping grounds when I still lived in the states, and I see that you have Cape May on your list! What ever made me move away from such lovely country, I will never know! :-) What love does not do to us, eh? ~~ Debby

Vickie said...

Great collection of birds! Happy New Year!

sunnymama said...

Wonderful collection of favourite bird pictures! :)

Rebecca said...

pretty birds and lovely colors :)

Kind of Curious said...

What a fantastic end-of-decade collection. I especially like the prothonotary warbler - it is so colorful. Happy New Year!

John

SquirrelQueen said...

For some reason blogger kicked me off this post the other night, actually it just froze up on me. Oh well, try again.

I love your decade of birds, you've got some really great shots. My favorite is the last one, the color is gorgeous.

Misty DawnS said...

What a great post, and it looks like it was a great year for you!!!

Out of these, the only ones I have seen and photographed are the Bluebirds and the Rose Breasted Grosbeak.

I would love, love, love to see a Painted Bunting, but they aren't out here. We do have Indigo Buntings though, and I have a goal to photograph one! And I would be ecstatic to photograph an owl!!!

Snap said...

Eileen,

These are all wonderful! I love your decade of birds. Gorgeous! Happy New Year!

Kim, USA said...

For some reason I am so envious of you ^_^ you saw all this beautiful birds. I like birding and taking pictures of them just makes me happy even to see one. Thanks for sharing Eileen Happy New Year!

A parade of Raccoons

DeniseinVA said...

A great series of bird shots. Enjoyed them very much. Lovely birds. Happy New Year!

Captain Shagrat said...

Love them Nuthatches,the ones which visit our garden don't give up till thev'e pecked out every nut in our feeders.

Chubskulit Rose said...

I always love your entries Eileen because through them I have a chance to see beautiful critters which I haven't seen yet.

My Camera Critter post. Have a good day!

Merisi said...

Thank you for sharing these favorites of yours,
simply wonderful to see all these birds!

Happy New Year! :-)

EJ said...

My oh my, you live in the place where there are lots of beautiful critters.

My first time joining this meme,hope you can take a peek on my first CC entry. Have a great weekend!

Michael said...

All birds are wonders. Nice pictures.

ellen said...

What a great entry you have! Wishing you all the best this year. God Bless you and your family.

Mine is up! Hope to see you. Your comment is much appreciated.

Al said...

Bravo! Those are nice photos of birds and my favorite is the bluebird!

Happy New Year Eileen!

AL

Indrani said...

Such lovely and delightful captures all. Great shots!

I wish you and all your loved ones a Very Happy and Safe 2010!

Adrienne Zwart said...

Wonderful photos, Eileen. You've seen some really beautiful birds!

rinelle said...

awesome! wishing you all the best in 2010! mine is up. see yah.

rinzo said...

happy camera critters! visit my 2nd entry! Happy new year!

kRiZcPEc said...

glad that you found out. Happy shooting!

diane b said...

Fabulous collection of photos of your favourite birds. How lucky you are to have them close by. I love the red, blue and yellow ones oh and the owl.

Anonymous said...

Great birds, but the snowy owl is particularly wonderful, Eileen. Here's to more good birds in 2010!

Prizler Photography said...

Love the owl! But all of them are spectacular.

Lisa said...

Absolutely beautiful! :)

Squirrel said...

Wonderful collection of photos Eileen!!

Ricepatty said...

Eileen as usual the photos are spectacular! Just love how very close up they are. Thanks for your comment on LuLu :) Happy New Year!

Willard said...

A beautiful selection of birds. I wish you the best of success in your photographic endeavors in the coming year and for the new decade.

Amanda Moore said...

Green herons are one of my faves. I prefer the larger birds over smaller ones but even the little ones on your list are gorgeous!

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "Whatever your beliefs, spread love not hate." East Paden Twin Bridge, Fishing...