Thursday, October 17, 2013

Government Back to Work Equals Another Bird For Me!

What are the chances that the year that I am doing this contest, the government shuts down during fall migration and all of the National Wildlife Refuges are also shut down?  Just my luck. I swear.  I have probably missed all kinds of birds because of it.  Anyway, the stupid politicians struck a deal last night which means that the NWRs reopened today and viola - a rare bird was spotted.  The bird is Gray Kingbird.  Not very sexy but still rare in our part of the country and still adds another tick to the contest list.  My friends Chris and Gerry spotted the bird and were still there babysitting it when I arrived.  I have some decent photos below.

You may be able to notice the pale yellow under wings on this shot.  Kingbirds like to sit on top of trees and shrubs then swoop out to catch a bug in the air, then land back on top of the tree to eat it (or wait for another one).

Gray Kingbird
 Here it is perched and ready to snag another bug from the air.
Gray Kingbird
I won't tell you my total but suffice to say it's pretty high.  My competition is right on my heels though. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go, Linda...GO!!!! HH