May 12, 2019
I had every intention of staying home today and getting some things done around the house (it’s piling up!), but I also knew I needed to get some exercise. The big decision came down to whether to take the dog for a walk or my camera. If I took the dog, I’d actually get some exercise; if I took the camera, I’d have a lot of fun, but not get much exercise. Fun won.
Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak 
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Black-capped Chickadee 
Nuthatch
Taking pictures of birds and butterflies and all things skittish, requires a lot of patience and a lot of standing still, but If standing still counted for exercise, I’d be an Olympic medalist! Today’s picture walk ended up lasting five hours—most of which was non-ambulatory and I ended up with nearly 600 pictures! It got me thinking – shouldn’t all that lifting and lowering of camera equipment count for something in the exercise department?? Do they have an App for that??
Male Baltimore Oriole 
Female Baltimore Oriole
There was a wonderful variety of birds today and all I had to do was walk out my front door and into the nearby woods! Several of the birds were brand new to me– or I’ve seen them so rarely that I couldn’t identify them without my Merlin App. It must be that a lot of different birds are migrating through our area right now. I was quite excited to have seen so many different ones!
Common Yellow-throat, male 
Common Yellow-throat, female
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Yellow Warbler
Early on in today’s walk, I spotted a small, black and orange, warbler-sized bird flitting around in the trees at a frenetic pace and I wondered what it was. It was almost impossible to get a picture! At first I thought the little bird might be a rare discovery, but I found out later that it was an American Redstart, a bird that can be found across much of the eastern and northern United States! Geesh! Where have I been??
American Redstart, male 
American Redstart, male
Later, I saw another small, yellow and grey, warbler-sized bird that was also zipping around so fast my head was spinning. I thought I’d discovered another ‘rare’ bird, but then, a little light went off in my head and I wondered if the bird I was seeing might also be an American Redstart only a female or a juvenile—and it was!
Along with the Redstarts, I saw several other birds that I have either never seen before or have only seen on rare occasions, like the Black-throated Blue Warbler, the Veery and the Alder Flycatcher.
I couldn’t always get the best shots today– those warblers are busy little things, but I did document seeing at least 20 different birds! I’m so glad I decided that the housework could wait!
Black-throated Blue Warbler 
Gray Catbird
Swainson’s Thrush (I think) 
Alder Flycatcher (I think)
I’m so very glad you decided ‘housework can wait.’ I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of birds you posted, of course the sweet deer caught my attention. I agree your birding should be considered exercise and housework can always wait.
Thanks, Lynette! If I could, I’d probably be out talking pictures all day every day! It’s so much fun finding new things and learning interesting facts about them!
Beautiful selection of photos! I’d have thought you lived straight south of us, because we get all those birds here on the Saskatchewan prairie, with the exception of the redstart. The thrushes have just come through on their way north and the Myrtle warblers just arrived yesterday..
I was surprised to see so many different birds! We live in the southwest lower corner of Michigan. From the bird maps, it looks like most of the warblers are headed your way. I was delighted to catch them on their journey!