Sanderlings are only one of three species of shorebirds with a nearly world wide distribution. The Ruddy Turnstone and Whimbrel being the other two. Unless you go to the high arctic breeding grounds you’ll probably only see their black and white non breeding plumage though. Still beautiful! #birds 🪶

Brown pelicans are one of only two species of pelicans that plunge dive for their food, and the only one you could see do it here in the US. Watching a flock hammer the water like cannonballs is really something else! Here is a striking male in breeding plumage I saw recently! #birds #birding 🪶

American Oystercatchers are my favorite bird! They have such goofy little personalities! I got lucky enough to see a few in North Carolina recently. Even more lucky, it was a banded pair! #birds #birdwatching 🪶

Piping Plovers are pretty endangered due to the destruction of the dry sand habitats they nest in for human development. The world probably needs a few less beach rentals, and a few more plovers, so let’s save two birds with one stone and protect habitat! #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

It wasn’t until I was editing the photo did I notice the PORTUGUESE MAN-O-WAR in the background!!! Oh, there’s a Marbled Godwit in there too I guess…😄 #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Here’s one I don’t see every day, a Sora! I was sitting waiting for a swamp sparrow to come up out of the reeds when she peeked out. Never saw the swamp sparrow again, but the consolation prize isn’t too bad! 😄 #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

I promise it’s a Golden Winged Warbler! This bird is exceptionally rare where I live, only the third sighting in my county this year! Had a good look through my binos and almost forgot to even attempt a photo. Unfortunately this Zapruder film level quality is all I got 😔 #birds #birdwatching 🪶

The fall colors are here! This Cape May Warbler just melts into the autumn foliage. A good crisp morning in the woods is a nice reprieve from the troubles of the world #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Black-and-White Warblers are like a warbler in a little Nuthatch costume. They’ll hang and climb on the trunk and larger branches just like a nuthatch too! We’ve had quite a few this year. Always happy to see a species thriving! 🙂 #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

It’s nothing short of awe inspiring to think that this Blackburnian Warbler could fly from Canada to Colombia! Good luck little one! #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Got a fantastic look at a Yellow Billed Cuckoo yesterday. He was much less excited about the migrating warblers in his tree than I was 😄 #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Stunning Wilson’s Warbler this morning. #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

An Indigo Bunting resting in the Pokeweed. Pokeweed is a lovely plant native to the eastern US that produces deep pinkish-purple berries that are an excellent source of late summer food for birds, and a bane for nearby car windows! 😄 #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Found this absolute beauty of a Chicken Of the Woods this week #fungi #mushroom #foraging

Some of the sticks Ospreys build their nests with are more like limbs! Very impressive! #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Portrait of our resident Great Blue Herron this year. Ive named him Wade after Jeremy Wade the famous angler, as he regularly out fishes the fishermen on the Lake dock. #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Red Winged Blackbird enjoying the rose mallow blooms. Often times large bright flowers are introduced species here, but not these! They feel almost out of place in a wetland hidden in the Appalachian mountains. All the more reason to protect our beautiful wetland biodiversity! #birds #Appalachia 🪶

The male Indigo Buntings will return to their winter brown plumage in a few short months, but for now the radiant blue can still be seen in most fields and power line cuts around here. On a particularly proud day they can sing as many as 200 songs per hour! #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

The undisputed monarch of the meadow! Eastern Kingbirds are notorious for mobbing birds several magnitudes larger than themselves to defend their nesting sites. It’s not unusual at all for me to see one chasing a Red Tailed Hawk or a Bald Eagle out of the tree line! #birds #birding 🪶

Couldn’t get my shutter speed fast enough to un-blur her wings before she zipped away. This is at 1/1850! Such incredibly fast wings #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

This female Ruby-throated Hummingbird flittered around a mimosa tree before resting for a photo. Incredible to see them out in the forest in their natural habitat away from feeders! Really just awe inspiring birds! #birds #birding #birdwatching 🪶

Carolina Wrens not only mate for life, they’re also non-migratory. They are extremely territorial of their chosen homes too! This means that using any artificial calls to draw them out of their brushy hides is particularly disruptive to these guys, or any wren! Patience is key! #birds #birding

I was watching some Yellow Warblers in a tree when their little gray friend showed himself. Yellow Throated Warblers, like many other warblers, are known to join mixed foraging flocks for winter migration. The subtle first signs of fall may be starting! #birds #birding #birdwatching

A morning Mourning Dove #birding #birds #birdwatching

Getting lucky with the Common Yellowthroat sightings! #birds #birding #birdwatching

The quest for a good picture of the Common Nighthawk continues…they’re above my house almost every night so I get plenty of tries! Listening to their “peent!” Calls and watching them dive and swoop for bugs is among my favorite ways to spend a summer evening. #birds #birdwatching #birding

The Greater Yellow-Legs moves so fast through the salt ponds! Hard to imagine anything could move quite so well through mud and water. His long legs, webbed feet, and slender bill show off his perfect adaptation to an unforgiving environment that many animals avoid! #birds #birding #birdwatching

Mundane to some, exotic to me! Loved seeing these White Ibises recently. #birding #birds #birdwatching

Spent a few days on the Hatteras National Seashore, got to see some amazing Black-Necked Stilts. A rare sight here on the east coast! Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge has a few breeding pairs! Thank you to Peggy, a lovely volunteer at the refuge for the birding walk! #birds #birding #OBX

This gorgeous Summer Tanager gave a rare open-perched pose up in the canopy. It can be easy to write off a flash of red through the trees as another Northern Cardinal here in WV, but every now and then it’s something special! #birding #birds #birdwatching #WestVirginia

Field Sparrows are among my favorites, their zippy song reminds me of playing in hayfields all summer as a kid. Anyone else have a birdsong that is extra nostalgic? #birds #birding #birdwatching

A Tree Swallow reminding you to use your voice, no matter how small! #birds #birding #birdwatching

Had the privilege of watching this Osprey hunt a backwater yesterday. They aren’t called raptors for nothing, look at those talons! #birding #birdwatching #birds

The camouflage of birds never fails to amaze me! This Song Sparrow melted into the dried reeds washed up on the river bank from a distance. #birding #birdwatching #birds

House Sparrows were introduced to the US in 1851, so while they’re non-native, they’re certainly no strangers. I’ve been paying more attention to our non-migratory locals lately. Less flashy, but equally interesting animals! #birding #birdwatching #birds

Northern House Wren showing a spider that it’s not quite the top of the food chain. #birding #birdwatching #birds

An Eastern Meadowlark looking sharp today #birdwatching #birding #birds

Finally got a picture of a Common Yellowthroat! These little black masked bandits are incredibly shy of open spaces. #birding #birdwatching #birds

The American Goldfinch brings just a speck of yellow to the sea of forest green. #birding #birdwatching #birds

Is it a Carolina Chickadee? Is it a Black-Capped Chickadee? Is it a hybrid? I’m on the edge of both ranges, so who knows! 😃 #birding #birdwatching #birds

Another beautiful Green Herron today. #birding #birdwatching #birds

A very secretive little Swainson’s Thrush (I believe?). This is the first time I’ve actually had eyes on one for more than a split second! #birding #birdwatching #birds

I will stop posting the Indigo Buntings when they stop being so astonishingly photogenic. #birding #birdwatching #birds

It’s fledgling time again! This young Northern Mockingbird was still figuring out just how to hold his wings and balance at the same time. #birding #birdwatching #birds

Eastern Bluebird on a park gate this morning. Lucky enough to have several nesting pairs near me. #birding #birdwatching #birds

An exceptionally bright Indigo Bunting amongst the grapevine today! #birding #birdwatching #birds

A Black-Billed Cuckoo being its regular secretive self. Fairly rare for my area too! #birding #birdwatching #birds

Watched this Belted Kingfisher hunt for a while yesterday. #birding #birdwatching #birds