Playin' Hooky!

I've been pretty busy at work and on Wednesday took advantage of some "extra hours" I had accumulated. What better way to spend those hours than to take the morning off to do some birding at Presque Isle State Park:) The weather was great, much more like summer than fall. I stuck around the east end of the park and saw some pretty weird things in the first hour or so.

First, I found this plastic skeleton that someone had wire-tied to one of those fold up canvas chairs. Ok, so I embellished the photo a little.

Then I came across this "attractive" fish. This is what happens when you let your "friends" bury you in the sand!

OK, that's it for the weird stuff! I continued down the beach toward Thompson Bay and saw a small flock of shore birds flying in. I panned my binos with their flight and they were headed straight for me!! It was a group of 4 lovely immature sanderlings.By this time it was time to head back to civilization and work. On my way out of the park I ran into Brian from the DCNR as well as Jerry and Linda McWilliams and their friend, Mary Ann, from Iowa. They are lucky to be on the park much more often than I. I better start playing the Powerball, because with the economy the way it is now I might not get to retire until I'm 70! For now, I'll settle for the few hours a week I am able to get to PISP and relish every minute. Like last Sunday when I got to sneak away from home for a short while to try and get some shots of the warblers we had seen in Jerry's class on Saturday. The light was pretty harsh but the birds didn't seem to care that backlighting is the worst possible photographic challenge!

I believe this is an immature common yellow-throat.

Black-throated Green Warbler female

A very handsome black-throated blue warbler
I love my job and my home, but it sure is nice to get away and play some hooky once in awhile!

Sanderling Sunday

I took these shots of a young sanderling last Saturday during a bird identification class I am taking. I had never seen a sanderling before and was surprised that it approached us as closely and nonchalantly as it did. According to my birding instructor, Jerry McWilliams, however, this is not an uncommon behavior for sanderlings. Sanderlings are pretty small sandpipers, 7-8 inches with a wingspan of 14 inches. They weigh only about 1.4-3.5 oz! That has always amazed me about birds but it shouldn't seeing how they have to be able to fly:)I thought these images would be sharper than they are given his proximity but maybe it was the light mist of the day. At any rate, it was a beautiful bird to see and add to my life list, that is if I kept a list. I really need to start writing these things down:)According to Cornell's All About Birds Bird Guide on-line the sanderling is one of the most widespread wintering shorebirds in the world. It breeds in extreme northern Canada, parts of Alaska, and in parts of northern Greenland, Russia and Norway. The sanderling winters on all coasts from southern Alaska and Nova Scotia and southward to southern Chile and Argentina. Its range is quite incredible.

I wonder where this guy is now. Maybe a quick stop over in Florida, then onto the balmy shores of Argentina. Aaah, the good life.