Some of our backyard visitors over the past weekend. Gray Catbird enjoying a bath in our water feature and a Coopers Hawk enjoying a tasty snack from the charcuterie board known as our bird feeders. Everyone had a good time except for the poor Red-bellied Woodpecker. #birds

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee! BCCH#18. Portrait of a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), Meadville, Pennsylvania. #birds #birdphotography #nature #wildlife #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #birdoftheday

Ruby checking out the Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) in our pollinator garden. RTHU#27. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), Meadville, Pennsylvania. #birds

RTHU#26. Ruby visiting our pollinator garden this morning. #birdsphotography #birds 🪶

RTHU#25. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) feeding on a Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). #birds #birdphotography

Ms. Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) strikes a jaunty pose in the Conneaut Marsh, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. WODU#14. #birds

A lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler casting it’s song towards the heavens. #birdoftheday #upanddown #birds #birdphotography

In the stillness of the marsh. SOSP#22. Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Conneaut Marsh, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. #birds #birdphotography

Happy no kings day (unless we are talking about kingbirds, of course)! EAKI#21. Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), Conneaut Marsh, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. #birds #birdoftheday #wildmotion

Our native garden is beginning to bloom! In order: swamp rose (first time it’s bloomed for us!), a hummingbird mint, and two types of milkweed. Plant native. It’s beautiful!

My daughter wanted to go up and see our arctic visitor. So glad she made another appearance for us! WIPT#6. Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) on the beach near Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. #birds

Mega-rarity!!!! Did not have Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) on my bingo card for Pennsylvania birding this year. Photographed on the beach near Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. #birds

AMGO#13. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) Meadville, Pennsylvania. #birds

NOCA#7. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Northwest, Pennsylvania. #birds

Tangled up in blues. GRCA#12. Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). Northwest Pennsylvania. #birds

A great great-blue! GBHE#26. #birds

YHBL#4. Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), Frank Lake, Calgary, Alberta, Canada #birds

A backlit beaut! GCFL#3. Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus), Conneaut Marsh, Pennsylvania. #birds

A study in gray & lilac. GRCA#11. Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). #birds

New yard bird! Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). RHWO#6. #birds

NOSH#11. Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), Frank Lake, Alberta, Canada. #birds

A low-key beaut! AMRO#25. American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Banff National Forest, Alberta, Canada. #birds

MGWA#1. MacGillivray’s Warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei), Banff National Forest, Alberta, Canada. #birds

YRWA#22. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata), Cave and Basin Marsh, Banff National Forest, Alberta, Canada. #birds

YHBL#3. Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), Frank Lake, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. #birds

COYE#5. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), Cave and Basin Marsh, Banff National Forrest, Alberta, Canada. #birds

LISP#1. Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii), Cave and Basin Marsh, Banff National Forrest, Alberta, Canada. #birds

HETH#4. Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). Study in browns with a cute rufus rump! #birds

YEWA#11. This bright Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) is singing his little heart out down on the Conneaut Marsh, northwest Pennsylvania. #birds

Had the most wonderful encounter with this Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) in the Conneaut Marsh (NW PA). I was sitting in my car trying to catch an image of a Willow Flycatcher fly catching when I saw this larger, plumper bird in the same thicket. What a wonderful surprise! #birds 🪶

GBHE#24. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) on the prowl at the Conneaut Marsh, Northwest Pennsylvania. #birds

The end is nigh! One of the last warblers migrating north for their breeding season in the spring are Blackpoll Warblers (Setophaga striata). I caught up with this one when it made a brief stop over at the Linesville Spillway, Northwest Pennsylvania. BLWA#2. #birds #birdsofinstagram #birding

Ran into this handsome Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) during my walk in the woods today with a couple of good friends. SCTA#1. Northwest, Pennsylvania. #birds

WIFL#1. A Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) doing its fly catching thang! Conneaut Marsh, Northwest Pennsylvania #birds

GBHE#23. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) takes flight over the Conneaut Marsh, Northwest Pennsylvania. #birds

CONI#3. A Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) spotted during last weekend’s #festivalofthebirds at Presque Isle State park, Pennsylvania. Boy, they sure blend in, don’t they?! #birds 🪶

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) singing his little heart out along the trail at Fry’s Landing, Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. BTBW#2. #birds 🪶

BAWW#2. Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) on a White Birch tree. Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. #birds

“Miss Parula” NOPA#9. Female Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) found at Fry’s Landing, Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. #birds 🪶

Time to shake your tail feathers! Blue-grey Gnatcatcher photographed on Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. #birds 🪶

Good mourning, everyone! MOWA#1. Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia). Northwest Pennsylvania. #birds

PAWA#6. A Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) welcoming the new day on Woodcock Lake, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. #birds

Had a crazy moment this morning. Two American Crows were mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk and then suddenly there was only one. I didn’t see the moment of impact but I suspect that it was accidental, a defensive raising of its talons. Regardless, it was one of those awe inspiring moments of nature. #birds

This lovely olive-backed thrush made a brief stopover in our yard this morning enroute from either Central or South America and making its way towards boreal Canada. Heck of a yard bird! SWTH#2. Swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Meadville, Pennsylvania. #birds 🪶

A freshly arrived Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) surveying the Conneaut Marsh, Pennsylvania for some insects to nibble. PRWA#17. For high resolution prints: brianjkmillerphotography.com

BARS#15. A few evenings ago, I stood entranced as a small flock of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) swoop in to feed on insects along the surface of the Conneaut Marsh. Tears of joy streamed as I attempted to photograph the moment. Birds are absolutely magical! brianjkmillerphotography.com #birds

Our new yard bird noshing on some suet. BRTH#2. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), Meadville, Pennsylvania. #birds

My sparrow era continues! Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) looking out over the Conneaut Marsh, Pennsylvania. #birds

Got a chance to see this lovely, and rare to the area, Western Cattle-Egret (Ardea ibis) that has been making the rounds in southern Crawford County, Pennsylvania over the past week. #birds 🪶

SOSP#31. Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) hanging about along Woodcock Lake, northwest Pennsylvania. #birds