Prothonotary Warbler

For this week's World Bird Wednesday and Nature NotesI have more on the Prothonotary Warbler. The Prothonotary is one of my favorite warblers. Mainly because of its beautiful yellow color. I love colorful birds. They look similiar to the Yellow warbler, but the male Yellow warbler actually has red streaks down the front of its belly.

The Prothonotary nest in cavities like the woodpeckers holes. They like to be near the water or wooded swamps. They line their nest with mosses, sounds nice and cozy. An interesting thing I read about these warblers is that the fledglings can swim if they fall into the water when leaving the nest. I read that the male is a bright yellow-orange, but I say they look more yellow than orange. Their wings are blue-gray in color. The female has more of a white belly. And they have a heavy and spikelike black bill.

During our visit to Magee Marsh we were able to watch both the female Protonotary going in and out of the nest cavity. The male was nearby also, I am not sure if he was seen helping with the nest.


These photos are fuzzy due to the heavy cropping. I was not that close to the nest.

I hope you enjoyed my Prothonotary Warbler and to see more wonderful birds please click on my links for Springman's World Bird Wednesday and Michelle's Nature Notes.  Thank you to Springman and Michelle  for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my birds. Have a great week!

Birding Magee Marsh

I am wishing GOOD LUCK to Animal Kingdom, he is running in the 136 Preakness here in Baltimore Maryland today. I would love to see a Triple Crown winner this year. It's been too long since we had Triple Crown Winner.  GO Animal Kingdom.

For my Camera Critters post I am showing some of the birds I saw at Magee Marsh, Ohio last weekend. I went with a couple of friends from my birdclub. I was amazed with Magee Marsh and I would highly recommend to anyone that is into birding that they visit Magee Marsh during the spring migration.


My first lifer was the Common Moorhen, it was seen the first evening we arrived at the Metzger Marsh.

The next day on the boardwalk we saw the Common Nighthawk resting on a tree branch. The nighthawk was another lifer for me.

Also seen the second day on the Magee Marsh boardwalk the American Woodcock another lifer for me. It is a cute bird with big eyes.

Not the greatest photo but this is the Mourning Warbler, another lifer for me.

Another lifer the Whip-poor-will, he is hiding down below in between the leaves. A great sighting for me even if it is hiding in the leaves and sticks. Look for the white spots mixed in with the brown feathers. Once in awhile it would open its eyes.

Another lifer on the Magee Marsh boardwalk the Blackpoll Warbler

A pretty female Prothonotary Warbler at the nest.

A gorgeous male Prothonotary warbler, this warbler looks similiar to the Yellow Warbler but the male Yellow Warbler has red streaks going down the front of his chest.

Peeping around the leaves is the male Yellow Warbler showing the red streaks on his chest.

 I was happy to pick up another lifer with this Chestnut Sided Warbler

This beautiful barn owl is a captive bird but still very cool to see at the visitors center. I would love to add this owl to my life list by seeing one in the wild.

I am still going over my list of birds from our Magee Marsh trip and adding up my lifers. I believe I was able to add ten new lifers to my life list.

I hope you enjoyed my birds and to see more wonderful and cute critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Thanks to Misty for hosting and thanks for visiting my blog and post. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Blackburnian Warbler

For my World Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes post I am showing the Blackburnian Warbler. It was one of the first warblers we saw as we arrived at Magee Marsh boardwalk. Magee Marsh in Ohio is a great place to go birding and to see warblers. During my two and a half day visit there I saw 19 different warblers. The spring warblers are so colorful and pretty. Magee Marsh is a resting place for the warblers before they hop across Lake Erie to Canada to their breeding place. I must say if you are into birding Magee Marsh during the spring migration in May is a great place to see the birds.


The male Blackburnian  is a beautiful and colorful warbler and was one on my most wanted to see list.

The male is one of the most striking warblers I have ever seen.  It breeds in spruce, fir and hemlock forests as well as mixed hardwoods. It is an active forager.

 The male's head has a pattern of orange and black, it's back has white braces and extensive white in coverts.  I have seen the female here in Maryland and I was so excited to finally see the gorgeous male in Magee Marsh, Ohio this week.  The warblers are fast moving birds, hopping all around the trees. And of course as soon as I spotted the birds and focused my camera they had moved on to another spot on the tree.

To see more wonderful and beautiful birds please visit Springman's World Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes.  Thanks to Springman and Michelle for hosting and thanks for stopping by to see my post. Have a great week! Happy Birding!