Merlin.....My latest lifer

Hello again, I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday   and Nature Notes

My post this week is my latest lifer the Merlin.  We got to see a few of these birds while visiting Chincoteague NWR recently. The merlin  is a small falcon and my field guide says they will winter on the coast. Merlins will go out after birds and insects on the wing. They can accelerate to incredible speeds to snatch their prey.  The adult is steely gray above and a streaky pattern below.

The Merlin above was seen during our sunset tour on the wildlife drive.

This Merlin was seen closer to Tom's Cove and the beach. We were watching the Merlin perched in a tree when all of a sudden it swooped down next to our car and grabbed a huge dragonfly and flew back to the perch to enjoy its catch.

The Merlins are migrating and I do believe we were seeing more than just the one during our weekend visit to Chincoteague.

To see more beautiful and great birds please visit World Bird Wednesday  and for
more nature scenes check out Nature Notes  Thanks to Springman of World Bird Wednesday and to Michelle of Nature Notes. I also appreciate your visit and comments. Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

More from Chincoteague

Hi everyone, I am linking up with Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday.. I hope everyone is a having a Happy Columbus Day weekend. It is great to have a long weekend.  But, this post on last weekend's visit to Chincoteague Island, Virginia. It was a great weekend seeing lots of great birds, the famous Chincoteague wild ponies and a climb to the top of the lighthouse.

In the mosaic above, the top first row photos is a Merlin and was a lifer for me, the second I was told it is a juvenile Black Bellied Plover. They look nothing like the adult black Bellied Plover but I thought it was a cute bird. The last top row photo is one of the Chincoteague ponies. Bottom photos are what I think is a juvenile Snowy Egret and a single Pelican and last shot is a group of pelicans over the flying over the ocean.

In this mosaic, the top row includes the Assateague Lighthouse and it celebrated its 144th birthday last weekend. I was surprised it is called the Assateague Lighthouse and not the Chincoteague Lighthouse. We visited both the Chincoteague National wildlife refuge and the refuge is connected to the Assateague National Seashore. Next to the lighthouse is a Little Blue Heron and last top row photo is a Great Egret. On the bottom row I have a Cattle Egret sitting on one of the Chincoteague ponies, a Bald Eagle and a few Willets at the beach.

I always think it is neat to see the Cattle Egrets riding the ponies.

This Merlin swooped down next to our car to catch it's dinner, a huge dragonfly.

I could be wrong but I believe this yellow legged egret is a juvenile Snowy Egret.

We climbed the stairs to the top of lighthouse and had a great view of Chincoteague Island and the ponies. We could even see the egrets below and watched Ospreys flying nearby.

We were told there are at least two nesting pairs of Eagles on the wildlife refuge. This Eagle was perched in a great spot with the evening sunlight shining on him/her.

This weekend is the Columbus Day holiday weekend and it seems to be going by so fast already. Yesterday, I joined in with my bird club on a walk at a nearby nature center which was a lot of fun. Great birds and surprisingly saw some beautiful late blooming wildflowers. I see another post coming up on my bird club outing and a new lifer. And today I spent most of the day with two of my cousins visiting with them and going to two cemeteries where my grandparents and great grandparents are buried. Besides blogging I have become interested in working on my family tree at Ancestry.com.


To see more wonderful mosaics, please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday and for more great photos and posts check out Our World Tuesday.  Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and to the nice gang at Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Sanday, Lady Fi and Sylvia.  I hope you enjoyed my post and I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Chincoteague Pelicans

I am link up with the Friday Ark   and Camera Critters

During our visit to Chincoteague NWR last weekend we saw many groups of Pelicans flying over the ocean.

We saw many Pelicans like this early morning sighting below of a  large group flying low over the ocean

After seeing the Brown Pelicans at Chincoteague I looked them up in my field guide. I was surprised to see that the Brown Pelican has also made a stunning comeback after the banning of DDT.  I knew all about the eagles and  DDT but I did not realize how many different birds DDT had an effect on. I am so happy it was been banned. The pelican increased in popultion in the gulf, pacific, atlantic and have expanded to include Maryland. They did have another kind of battle going on with the oil spill in the gulf. I feel sorry for the birds and animals during this time, politians and the big companies do not seem to care about the critters.


This Pelican below was perched on a rock next to the side of the road , it was seen a few days in a row in the same spot. Each time we saw this Pelican it was preening or clean its feathers.

The Brown Pelican have webbed feet and feed mostly on aquatic prey and they can dive for fish.


We watch this Pelican for a little while, he/she did not seem to mind.

The Brown Pelican is one of my favorite birds, they kind of remind me of a prehistoric bird. Very cool looking.

I hope you enjoyed my Chincoteague Pelican and

to see many more cute and wonderful critters please visit the Friday Ark and Camera Critters

SWF>>>Chincoteague sunrise & Pelicans

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday

In the distance we watched a couple being married on the beach during the sunrise. What a great place for a wedding. On my previous post my video shows some of the bride at the very end of the video.

The clouds were turning pretty colors.

We watched groups of Pelicans flying by. I assume they were all migrating south.

 I really liked the colors in the sky and on the sand in this photo below.

We watched the Willets take off from the shore. It seemed odd that on two mornings the Willets left the beach as soon as the sun had risen.

A large flock of Willets.

A flock of Pelicans

To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the hosting group of Skywatch: Sylvia, Sandy and Wren.  Also, thanks for stopping by to see my skies. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend.

Birding Chincoteague Island NWR

I am linking up with Our World Tuesday  and World Bird Wednesday

This weekend hubby and I visited Chincoteague Island NWR. It was a great weekend and we saw some great birds. We left early for Chincoteague on Friday morning and it was a wonderful day almost feeling like a hot summer day. We spent a few hours on the beach and the rest of Friday was spent birding and a hike on the Woodlands Trail. During our dinner it was upsetting to hear that the US Fish and Wildlife service and the National Park Service have plans on changing the public usage and access to Chincoteague NWR and Assateague Island National Seashore. Businesses are worried and I am sure as a visitor I would not like some of the proposed plans. Here is a link Preserve access to Chincoteague to read more about the plans.


I included a video of Sanderlings and Willets on the beach

 Hubby enjoys watching the ocean and the waves and I was checking out all the shorebirds and seagulls. The most common bird I saw were the Sanderlings and then the Willets, flocks of Cormorants flying by and lots of Brown Pelicans and of course many seagulls.

Sanderlings at 8 inches in length are one of the smallest shorebirds. Sanderlings forage at the water edge and can be seen racing back and forth with the waves.

Willets in flight

This chubby seagull was bathing in a puddle near the parking lot. There are so many species of Seagulls I have not begun to even try to id them. I do know a few of them by sight like the huge Great Black Backed, Ring-billed and my favorite gull is the Laughing Gull.

Chincoteague Island NWR and the Assateague National Seashore is one of my favorite places to visit. The birds are plentiful and it is really cool to see the wild ponies. We were lucky to pick a weekend when the ponies had to be rounded up and penned to be wormed by the vets.  Also, it was the 144th birthday of the lighthouse. Soon,  I will do some posts on my blog Travel with Eileen about the Chincoteague ponies and the lighthouse.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my post and to see more great posts and photos please visit Our World Tuesday and to see more beautiful birds make sure you visit World Bird Wednesday.  Thanks to the host of Our World: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sandy and Sylvia. Also, thanks to Springman the host of World Bird Wednesday.

I hope everyone has a great week and Happy Birding!!!!