Sunday, September 15, 2013

It's migration time

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

 September 15, 2014

I know all my blogging friends and readers are not addicted to birds like I am, so I appreciate everyone stopping by to see my post. Migration time is an exciting time if you are a birder. It is time to see birds you may not see all year, the birds are moving from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. And if you are in the right place at the right time you may see these birds stopping to refuel along their flyways.

On Saturday, I was home hearing a lot of bird activity in my yard. I noticed a lot of movement in our Crepe Myrtle bush tree.


I was flipping back and forth on my id. My first thought was a juvenile Scarlet Tanager. I saw the dark wings and I was trying to get a photo of the bill facing in a direction that would help my id. If you look in a guide book, the Orchard Oriole is the same color and dark wings . The only difference to me is the shape of the bill.  They are the Scarlet Tanagers with big thanks for a confirmation from another Maryland birder on facebook.


Above is what my Crepe Myrtle bush tree looked like on August 24. It is growing straight up and is very tall now. We planting the Crepe Myrtle because we love the pretty colorful blooms not knowing the the birds love them too.



Fall time is a confusing time, the fall birds and juveniles can look totally different than the adults that you are use to seeing. The juvenile male Scarlet Tanager is yellow with dark wings like the female but the adult male is a bright red with black wings.  Back on the subject, migration is timed primarily by the changes in day length. Migrating birds navigate using celestial cues from the sun and stars. The availability of food and the changes of habitat and weather also have an effect on migration.

Scarlet Tanagers everywhere..very cool!


I never seen birds eating the flowers off of a plant I thought maybe they eat seeds and bugs off of the flowers. I was watched as they ate some of the flowers. After they left most of the Crepe Myrtle flowers were gone, just like the birds. Not to be seen again till next spring.


I am used to seeing the Scarlet Tanagers one or maybe two at a time but, there had to be close to 15 Scarlet Tanagers in our Crepe Myrtle tree. In my next post I will share some of the Warblers that also stopped by on Saturday. I loved that I was able to see all these birds in our yard and not have to travel to see them.
It was a great birdie day and exciting sight to see, I wish you could have been here with me to see it in person.

As always, I hope you enjoy my post and thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week!

64 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

how lovely to see all those tanagers together

Mersad said...

Love how it's so little against the big green backdrop!

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Nancy said...

An exciting few moments for you Eileen -- the crepe myrtle blossoms just glow!

Maria said...

I love these images with the flowers.

Brian King said...

That's awesome! I haven't seen a Tanager in a long time.

Ailime said...

Olá Eileen, absolutamente fantásticas essas aves e o seu jardim! Belíssimas árvores e flores! Um verdadeiro paraíso:))!!!!Tenha um dia lindo. Abraços Ailime

Joop Zand said...

Nice shots Eileen.....lovely little bird.

Greetings, Joop

http://joopzandfotografie.blogspot.nl

TexWisGirl said...

no doubt, you get some great warbler and songbird visitors come thru there! neat tanagers!

Noushka said...

Hello Eileen,
Amazing what you can see in your yard and around!
I love to discover "your" birds, many are not know where I live in the south of France.
I bet you will have a ball with migrations starting! ;-)
Cheers, keep well!

Gail Dixon said...

Yay for fall migration! I am so excited to see what will come through our area. You are already seeing some awesome birds. Thanks for all the info, too!

DIMI said...

Hallo Eileen!!!
And here all the swallow birdS moved to more warm climates(Afrika)!I love seeing new birds in your beautiful yard!!You must be so happy with the new arrivals!!!And this Scarlet bird,is so cute!!!Thank you for sharing!!Have a happy new week!!!
Dimi...

Maude Lynn said...

Splendid captures!

Debbie said...

i am a birdie also and have been ignoring mine as i have been so busy.

time to fill up those feeders and hang out the window ;)

you got some great captures here....happy sunday!!

Betty Manousos said...

what a spectacular!
great work, eileen! :)
xo

Suzan said...

We have lots of the myrtle!! Sure wish we had the Scarlet Tanager here!! They are cute!!

Elna said...

Beautiful pictures and what a cute little bird.

Hugs from Sweden

inge said...

I never even knew what a tanager was they are cute. Have a lovely week

sweetbriardreams said...

We are beginning to see the migration get underway but my regulars are still coming to us for a top up in food. Today I saw our robin come to us again, so tame and posed again and again for me. Better start the Christmas shopping! Have a great week. xx

Poppy said...

Hi Eileen,

Okay, I confess: I'm not addicted, as you say, to birds like you are, BUT, I did do a grade 4 project on them and since then, my first real attempt at research, I have had a special place in my heart for these cute, flying wonders! Your photos are always so full of movement and vitality and today, I love the colours of all your flowering trees, as well!

Have a great week!

Poppy

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Eileen How wonderful that you have all these birds in your back yard and Yes I would love to be there to see these birds with you.

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Lovely shots.. Regards from Madrid..

Ailime said...

Olá Eileen, também aprecio imenso aves, mas por aqui não é fácil captá-las! Adorei as suas fotos. Fantásticas.Bbeijinhos Ailime

Montanagirl said...

Nice shots, Eileen! Love the Crepe Myrtles and the birds you were seeing!

Merlesworld said...

Your crepe myrtle is wonderful mine is just sticks at the moment, I love the curly flowers.
Merle............

EG CameraGirl said...

I wish I could grow crepe myrtles so I could lure some tanagers into my yard! I love trees and shrubs that are bird friendly. ;)

Stephanie said...

Neat bird shots, love all the foilage around the birds. So Monday's are Mosaic days? Will look into that for next Monday.

Carole M. said...


I've recently had eight crepe-myrtles pruned ready for the new Spring growth; some started already. It is when they start to go to seed that the rosella parrots get to enjoy them. I'd love a Scarlet Tanager in those flowers - that's a double-whammy!! Isn't it great when you can pick up ID's from others like you did? I rely on this method myself too sometimes Eileen

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Neat to see all of the Tanagers... I wouldn't have recognized them either...It's hard recognizing them after they have molted and their colors fade....

I'm waiting to see the Grosbeaks as they migrate through here... Haven't seen any yet.

Hugs,
Betsy

orchid0324 said...

Dearest Eileen,
Oh, I LOVE to see your BEAUTIFUL pictures with birds and other natures♡♡♡
Sweet pictures warmed my heart today(*^_^*) And "Fall time is a confusing time"; I thought the words reminded me the bird's changing colors while growing and male, female have different colors. So amateur p;)

Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan to my dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

Lynne said...

So beautiful your photographs . . . Migrating or not.

magiceye said...

Interesting post with lovely captures!

Pallavi said...

Hi! Just stumbled across your blog and loved the pictures! The last pic is my favorite :)

Liz said...

Wonderful little bird.
Great shots, Eileen.

Irma said...

Beautiful pictures Eileen.
And what a cute little bird.
Greetings Irma

Stewart M said...

I'll have to take your word for the ID!

Nice looking bird - and what do you mean about people not being addicted to birds? How strange.

The one shoe left me rather baffled as well!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Zenserly said...

Yes I enjoyed the post so much! The pretty flowers must be so sweet and the birds simply can't resist! Viewing nature on your page never fail to relax me.

Seraphinas Phantasie said...

The yellow bird is wonderful and the pink blossom too. Best regards, Synnöve

Anonymous said...

Such pretty birds and I like that splash of pink.

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen, So you had a flock of Scarlet Tangager Teenagers. Way cool. Ha! Lovely birds. I have never seen any. I sure do hope to see a Tanager someday. Have a fine day today and a great day tomorrow, too!

Charlene N. K. said...

I also love to watch the birds and capture them with my camera, but I'm not so patient to wait for the right moments.
You have amazing shots of your bird sighting and a lovely blog. Best regards.

My name is Riet said...

Such great pictures Eileen . I love the sight of the birds between the green of the plants and bushes.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos, Eileen.

Our Neck of the Woods said...

Awww so cute! I bet it is very exciting for birders right now :)

DeniseinVA said...

It is truly wonderful to see your enthusiasm for birding Eileen and I love your photos. Have a great week :)

Unknown said...

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

Sylvia K said...

Wonderful captures for the day, Eileen!! I've never seen a Scarlet Tanager -- teenage or otherwise!! Beautiful! Hope you have a great week!

Anonymous said...

I am addicted to bird watching too, but in my world birds are very limited.

Your photos are gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photography as always ~ love the tanagers ~ and all the myrtle glowing ~ carol, xo

Such a wonderfully informative post ~ ^_^

Jenn Jilks said...

Well done! That is wonderful. I often just have to post a photo and ask for advice!
They can be so close.
The crows are really funny. They are quite something. Clever birds. I often see three at a time.
Cheers from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

I love your bird photos, and enjoy looking at them..Will never have enough :-)

Unknown said...

such a skill to capture a little bird in a tree like you did! I laughed when your reply was to go up the hill, otherwise you might have missed out on something good. I wouldn't have expected anything else, seeing what you do to catch good shots of little birds:):)

Jen Sanford said...

Wow, I'd love to see 15 tanagers in one tree!!

islandwonder said...

What a cute bird. I JUST planted a Crepe Myrtle 2-days ago. It is small right but hopefully it will attract cool birds in the coming years.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I'm a long time bird lover. These are wonderful photos! I knew there was a reason I've been wanting to try to grow a crepe myrtle other than they are beautiful trees! I haven't seen a tanager here, but I keep looking. The birds have been a bit scarce in our yard and I can't blame them. We've had too many kitties running around. Now that problem is solved, I'm hoping to lure the birds back. Have a nice week!

Al said...

What a pretty yellow bird, and I'm impressed how green it is where you live.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Thank you for the lesson on birds.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I cannot even imagine seeing 15 tanagers at once...just fantastic. I learned a lot about migration from reading this...thanks for sharing your knowledge (and of course your wonderful pictures). It's pretty neat that the birds love that beautiful crape myrtle too. (and it definitely IS a tree!)

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I never live din an area that had the plenitude of different birds like where you live and travel to Eileen, so I always enjoy learning more about the birds you photograph. My husband remarked to me today that a friend of his visited Yellowstone NP last week, and saw a large amount of eagles that were migrating south. We both wondered how birds knew it was time to migrate and now you answered this question in this post! It's very interesting!

Photo Cache said...

i look forward to coming every week, and each time i leave hoping i could photograph the bird like you do :)

Rajesh said...

Good to see images of this beautiful bird.

Kusum said...

Lovely pics!

Fun60 said...

How wonderful to have planted something beautiful that also attracts so many birds.

Zizi Santos said...

Cada dia mais encantadores sao seus posts
os passaros enfeitam, falam conosco
nao canso de admirar
cada imagem e um presente!
bj
Zizi

NatureFootstep said...

a sweet and nice little bird. ID:ing is often difficult. Great shots.

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! Thank you to all Veterans who serve, for protecting our country and our freedoms.  "...