Big news #BiggestWeek fans - there’s now a brand new Sheetz right on Navarre Ave in Oregon OH, so if you’re staying in that west area during spring migration, you have easy access to early breakfasts!
#SheetzBirderz
A waterfowl with a black belly and under-wing, gray head with a red-brown mohawk-like crest, orange beak and legs, and white on the wings, flies over a pond covered with duck weed. In the background and foreground a few marsh bushes provide cover for the many native species.
A bit of a late post today, but here's a rarity in northern Ohio, a Black-bellied Whistling Duck(Dendrocygna autumnalis)! It was staying very close to a group of Canada Geese with goslings.
#birds 🪶 #wildlife #photography #bwiab #biggestweek
The calm, reflective surface of a pond is broken by a clash between two blackbird with red epaulets. One is being consistently forced beneath the water. He eventually passes out during the fight.
After the assailant leaves, the body of the lover's remains in the water for 10 seconds, when suddenly it takes a gasping breath.
Larger male blackbird returns after seeing the smaller one take the gasping breath. This time he finishes the job, completely drowning the challenger.
The corpse of the loser is snatched up in the large talons of a female Bald Eagle. Attracted by the ruckus from a nearby tree, she jumped on the easy meal to take back to her three near-fledgling children. The photo shows her flight away, water still dripping from the body of the blackbird. Her massive brown wings beat hard to keep her large frame in the air.
Warning: Death/Nature is Brutal. Witnessed a Red-winged blackbird(Agelaius phoeniceus) male kill a younger male in a territorial dispute, then the loser's body was snatched by a mama Bald Eagle(Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
#wildlife #birds 🪶 #photography #biggestweek
A small bird (Kirtland's Warbler) with a bright yellow belly, grayish-blue back, and black markings on its head perches on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves. The bird has color-coded leg bands, indicating it is part of a tracking program. The background is softly blurred with shades of green and brown, suggesting a natural, wooded environment.
A small bird with a bright yellow belly, grayish-blue back, and black markings on its head perches on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves. The bird has color-coded leg bands, indicating it is part of a research or tracking program. The background is softly blurred with shades of green and brown, suggesting a natural, wooded environment.
I used to live where I could see Kirtland's Warblers daily, and now I live where they're only a two hour drive away. So I kinda take them for granted. (Horrible, I know!) Still, it was unexpected and fabulous to get great looks at one in Ohio on Saturday. #MageeMarsh #BiggestWeek #BWIAB #birding
black-throated blue warbler, posing over a puddle
a green heron who was unusually close to the boardwalk--some leaves providing a nice, soft focus
American redstart in a rare moment of sitting still
magnolia warbler peeking through the bramble
first pictures from the boardwalk--the green heron in particular put on quite a show for us :3
3/4
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
Yellow warbler singing their heart out
A pair of male Baltimore orioles meeting in a tree
A regal great-blue heron, watching over a marsh pool
Eastern kingbird taking a break from their wheeling and diving
more birds we saw on Ottawa's backroads
I can't remember our driver and guide's names, but they were excellent!
2/4
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
Monday went quite well!
enjoy some pelicans--they flew closer than I've ever seen them
1/4
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
last batch for today~
a lonely white pelican, and an early indigo bunting that I could not stop taking pictures of!
(and yes, this is why I'm not streaming this week ^^)
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
more birds I saw today:
- a very handsome gray catbird
- an always-photogenic prothonotary warbler
- a flashy Baltimore oriole
- a Carolina wren with a bad-feather day
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
2/3
feel uncharacteristically lucky to have spotted the Kirtland's warbler today--and gotten a decent picture!
I read this one was banded in the region last year, so it coming back feels like a good sign for the species~
#birding #biggestweek #BWIAB
1/3
HELLO, OHIO!
#BiggestWeek
One last errand and then I can finally get on the road to #BiggestWeek!
Facebook post from The Biggest Week in American Birding. Text reads: Exciting news, photographers! Sony gear will be available for loan at Optics Alley from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily throughout the festival. 1. Register for The Biggest Week In American Birding. 2. Bring your ID (driver's license or passport). 3. Have a credit card for the hold. 4. Go take great photos! Whether you're a seasoned pro or just getting started, Sony experts will be on-site to help with any questions and give you a quick rundown of the gear. Sony experts will show you how to transfer your shots from camera to phone so you can post your best photos right away.
Photo of the camera equipment Sony will have available to use during the Biggest Week. There are three camera bodies: the Alpha 9 III, the Alpha 1 II, and the Alpha 7R V. There are also three G Master Lenses: a 300mm, a 100-400mm, and a 200-600mm.
#BiggestWeek will have loaner camera equipment from Sony!
Screenshot of a Facebook post from Jay Berschback of 13abc. It shows a three day weather forecast along with a migration forecast for each day.
Screenshot of a post from Jay Berschback of 13abc. Text reads: The 13 FIRST ALERT Weather Team is excited to announce that we are partnering with the local nonprofit Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) to add more detailed local birding information and forecasts to our bird migration updates. You just can't get more detailed information from anyone else in the area!
This is cool! @13abc.com in Toledo is partnering with BSBO for spring migration and @biggestweekbirding.bsky.social this year, adding migration forecasts to their weather forecasts!
#birds #spring #migration #BiggestWeek
#BiggestWeek 👍
Covid I got at Biggest Week 👎
10 days of #BiggestWeek done and while I will miss everything and look forward to next year, I am happy to not have to drive an hour each way tomorrow.
For all the joy and energy the first day of Biggest Week brings me, the crash when I finish my last field trip and come back to the empty conference center is the worst😭 #BiggestWeek
On the 7th day of #BiggestWeek, I’ve entered a birding flow state. I see and hear everything, my binoculars snap to place, IDs come quickly and easily, I direct my fellow tour members using clear directions. Please don’t ask me to identify a shorebird, I have no clue.
Happy book birthday to Kenn Kaufman’s “The Birds That Audubon Missed”! Just finished listening to a fascinating talk by Kenn at #BiggestWeek 🪶 📕
Male Blue Grosbeak sits on a stalk of dry prairie grass a few inches above a patch of Wild Blue Lupine flowers.
A pair of Lark Sparrows feed from fallen grass seeds on the ground.
A striking adult Red-headed Woodpecker clings to the side of a charred tree trunk.
Day 4 of #BiggestWeek. Spent some time with a few of the specialties at Oak Openings Metropark. #birds #flowers #spring #migration
A picture of the entrance to the Magee Marsh Bird Trail sign with script lettering laid over the picture that reads “what if we kissed on the Magee Marsh Boardwalk”
Lots of good things at #BiggestWeek. Got lifer glossy ibis, and the Bird of the Year golden-winged warbler!
118 species on the Big Day Van at #BiggestWeek today!
Marsh Wren being an absolute borb in a little woody shrub.
Marsh Wren on the ground on a little piece of mulch, looking alert as it hunts its next victim.
Marsh Wren on some leaf litter, looking forward, focused on the next bug it’s about to unalive.
It may not be in the reeds of a marsh, but this Marsh Wren still found a way to pull off that classic “wren split” in the little shrubs.
Random bits of #BiggestWeek Day 1. A lot of people got their best looks of/lifer Marsh Wren when one decided the shrubs right outside Maumee Bay Lodge (easily viewed from behind the vendor booths) were the place to be! #birds #birding #spring #migration
A Spotted Sandpiper perched on a small wood post next to some sapling trees.
Random bits from #BiggestWeek Day 1. This Spotted Sandpiper decided to do an Upland Sandpiper impression and perch up on a post.
#birds #shorebirds #speing #migration
The digital version of the visitor’s guide for #BiggestWeek is now online! 🪶
www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/visitors-gui...
A stack of the Biggest Week in American Birding visitor guides, featuring a colorful collage of warblers and other spring migrants.
Biggest Week visitor guide looks awesome! Digital version will be up later this week!
#BiggestWeek 🪶
Photo of a lovely Cerulean Warbler on a branch. Text says 60 days until the biggest week in American Birding.
60 days until the Biggest Week in American Birding! Will I see you there?
#spring #migration #BiggestWeek
