Starting to Gain Momentum

I started the day with the normal dog walk around Lemon Hill. I brought the camera along just in case a bird or two posed for me which they did.  The first was a Goldfinch - a very common bird but this one was lit up by the morning sun so I had to take a photo.Notice how gold he is now. Some of the Goldfinches at my house are still dull and mottled, not quite gold like this guy.

Goldfinch

The next bird that posed was a Pine Warbler - in a pine tree, how convenient for identification.

Pine Warbler

As I was headed back to the car, I ran into this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - almost literally. This bird was bouncing around in the bushes pretty low and right next to the path.  I shot about 100 photos and none came out very good. These tiny birds never stop moving which makes them difficult to get in focus (no excuse, a good photographer can get great shots of a bird that comes this close).

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I headed down to the shore after work to chase after a Swallow-tailed Kite which I didn't see but I did get to see a few First of Year birds including Blue Grosbeak and Blue-headed Vireo which was nice.  Here is Blue Grosbeak showing his, well, big beak.

Blue Grosbeak

This is one of 4 Blue-headed Vireos that I saw feeding in the trees at Cox Hall Creek. I have never seen this kind of bird in a flock before.  I love the spectacles on these birds.

Blue-headed Vireo

Headed down to Higbee at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning to see if the wind blows anything else in.