Friday, January 14, 2011

Birding the Eastern Neck NWR

Working a full time job makes it hard for me to go on the chase for lifers. I am a little envious of other birders who can run and see new birds at any time. So,  when I do get the chance to see a "rare" bird on the weekends I grab my hubby and I am on the go too. On this weekend the rare bird was a Golden Crowned Sparrow, sighted in Kent County across the Chespeake Bay.  The Golden-crowned_Sparrow is a western bird, seen in the west coast states of the USA. I used Wikipedia's link for a photo because even though I saw the bird I was not able to get a photo. Still I was a happy birder, just being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow and to add a new bird to my life list.

Here a few of the other birds we saw in the same area as the Golden Crowned Sparrow.


                                    A field of  Snow Geese





White Throated Sparrows, Cardinal and Bluejays. Every once in a while my new lifer the Golden Crowned Sparrow would join these other birds down on the ground.



                                        Cedar Waxwings


Not a bird but, I thought this sheep sticking its head thru the fence was funny and cute.


After being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow twice, hubby and I visited the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. It was a cold windy so most of the birding was done by car on the wildlife drive.





One of the first birds we saw at the refuge was the Bald Eagle.



The Bufflehead ducks and some Scaups pictured below were bobbing around in the Chesapeake Bay.





A view of the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge.


These are my Camera Critters for this week, I hope you enjoyed them. To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

Thanks for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend and good birding!

32 comments:

  1. Way to go,adding a Lifer to the list.The pictures you show are great,such a variety of birds.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  2. Your photos are wonderful! I got excited about spotting 4 cedar waxwings. I would have stroked out had I seen yours! LOL

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  3. love love love cedarwaxwings. How lucky you saw ao many great birds

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  4. Hi Eileen, That Golden Crowned Sparrow was LOST, wasn't he???? Someone told me recently that they saw a Ladder Back Woodpecker here in TN... I wondered about that since they live in the desert.....

    Love that Eagle photo... WOW!!!!! And your Snow Geese are beautiful...

    Thanks for sharing such beauty.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  5. It looks like you had a sucessful birding outing. I need to get to a wildlife refuge before spring comes and the birds leave.

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  6. I read and see many Cardinals and Bluejays recently.

    Blue and red, both make the scene attractive.

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  7. I wonder why the golden-crowned sparrow was so far out of its territory!

    Snow geese like to travel in crowds, don't they? :))

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  8. You saw a wide variety of birds!

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  9. Great series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  10. oooooooooooooo, wow!! Wow to all the photos. Absolutely amazing. I bet when all those snow geese took off it was a sight.


    American Coots

    http://hootin--anni.blogspot.com/2011/01/coot-by-any-other-name.html

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  11. Congratulations on the lifer. It's always fun to visit and see where you are taking us next, Eileen. You never disappoint! Happy Critter Day! (The sheep is too funny --- hope he didn't get caught and whatever was on the other side was worth it!)

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  12. I enjoyed seeing your photos for Camera Critters, especially the cardinal.

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  13. Nice post, Eileen! The variety of sightings is nice to see. Back when I lived on the Eastern Shore of MD, I was not appreciative of seeing things like this.

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  14. I did enjoy them! Your photos are always interesting, thanks for sharing.

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  15. Thanks for the cool post...was great to see the cedar waxwings. I got to see my first ones up close last april & had my camera handy for a change. here's a link to that image. <a href="http://bluelionphotos.smugmug.com/Animals/Animal-Gallery/April8thPhotos-0984cropped/868110215_B4rsu-L.jpg>Blue Lion Photos - Cedar Waxwing</a>


    Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Lovely shots, Eileen. I sm quite taken by the sheep. That expression! I also love your gorgeous header photo!

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  17. So many great shots of so many great birds - well done!!

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  18. I liked the sheep photo. The geese looked cool too. You obviously had a successful day. :)

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  19. I love the photo of the Blue Jay and Cardinal!

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  20. Great shots. I loved the second shot most.

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  21. Great photos as always. Beautifully captured. I love to see those snow geese someday.

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  22. What wonderful photos! Love the swans and that charming sheep!

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  23. You must be so keen to chase birds in freezing weather. Glad you saw another new one but I just love the sheep.

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  24. How nice..you see things despite work that I don't have a chance to! We have what we have I suppose but I could use some more out door (hiking) adventures. At any rate..these are fun..love the sheep and the sun on your header!

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  25. I don't think I've ever seen a field of geese quite like that. So interesting!

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  26. Congrats on getting the lifer Eileen. Would love to see a flock of Snow Geese. Cheers FAB.

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  27. Thanks for the giggle with the sheep, he must have thought the grass looked tastier on the other side.

    You always find the most interesting birds Eileen, I especially like the flock of Snow geese.

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  28. Amazing how many snow geese in that shot.

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  29. Great mosaics with the jays and cardinals. Always nice to see color during winter snows.

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Have a happy day, Eileen

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