Field and Swamp: Animals and Their Habitats

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Bird Blog:  June 2005

Great Blue Heron, Durham (neighborhood swamp), 6/29/05	Green Heron, Durham (neighborhood swamp), 6/29/05	Female Northern Cardinal, Durham, 6/29/05	Ovenbird, Durham, 6/29/05.

Green Heron, Durham, 6/26/05.  For now, this bird is sticking around the swamp.  Today, the heron got my attention with its squawking.				Purple Martin, Durham, 6/26/05	Purple Martins, Durham, 6/26/05	Durham, 6/26/05.  This bird eludes identification.

Green Heron, Durham, 6/24/05	Eastern Bluebird, Durham, 6/24/05.	Female Northern Cardinal, Durham, 6/25/05, in the front yard after leaving the birdfeeder.	A male American Goldfinch (Durham, 6/25/05) retrieves a thistle seed,	retreats to a branch, processes it, then gets ready to return,	going to a fake branch on the feeder,	then starting the cycle over.

An Eastern Phoebe appeared at the swamp and the Green Heron seems to be sticking around.  Back on the home front, a juvenile Northern Cardinal showed up.

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), Durham, 6/18/09	Same bird.  Both appeared in my favorite swamp.	This Green Heron kept a discreet distance at the the top of a tree at the swamp on 6/18/05.	Green Heron, Durham, 6/18/05.  A view of the swamp, duckweed and all.	Juvenile male Northern Cardinal, Durham, 6/20/05.  This bird appeared on our backyard deck.	The Green Heron popped up again on 6/20/05,	showed its crest,	finally settled in another tree.

Pictures of some immature Eastern Bluebirds (I think) that showed in a Durham swamp on 6/16/05.  They made loud chattering sounds that were unfamiliar to me.

Territorial battles don't always occur between males -- or females, for that matter.  Here, a female American Goldfinch defends her territory against a male.

A male views his target from the vantage point of a potted tree on the deck.	He makes the leap to a closer position.	A female on the thistleseed bag first senses there's a problem.	She looks up to see the intruder.	He looks down, hoping he'll be welcome.	After the fight, he's back to square one.

Purple Martins, male and female, 6/12/05.	Close-up of male martin.	Close-up of female martin.

A Green Heron appeared in a bog in my Durham neighborhood on 6/12/05.

A really different kind of bird.	In the sunlight, it's quite a sight!	Sometimes the crest is down,	sometimes up.	A rear view.	Look at that long neck!	A front view.	Preening.

It's nesting season for some birds, maybe the reason some many female birds are showing up with a new determination to eat what's available.  On the other hand, the Mimidae family members (mockingbirds and brown thrashers) are obviously well beyond the nesting stage.

Female American Goldfinch, Durham, 6/7/05.  The one constant in our bird situation is the regular goldfinch visits to the thistleseed bag.	Same bird.	Why do birds of so many species look away when I try to photograph them?  This American Robin (6/7/05) illustrates the general problem.	Female Northern Cardinal, Durham, 6/8/05.  She showed up in the dim light on our deck to eat seeds there, apparently not without some indecision.	After some impulses to fly away,	she decided to settle down and eat.	Juvenile American Robin,   Durham, 6/11/05.  Look at those big eyes!

Female Eastern Towhee, Durham, 6/5/05.	Brown Thrasher, NC Museum of Art outdoor trail, Raleigh, NC,  6/5/05.  This is normally a very reclusive bird, hiding under bushes and up in trees, so I felt lucky to see a family crossing the trail.	Another Brown Thrasher, perhaps a young one, struggling to keep up with the one on the left.

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