Often the little birds are all tucked in at the end of the day but this little fellow was hunting for snacks just before the sun dipped below the tree line.
He checked a variety of spots along a hedge.
I didn’t see him catch anything.
Since I walked this path a month ago the water has been drained out of the pond behind this Eastern Eastern Kingbird.
Dragonflies were hovering over the mostly dry pond bed and the Kingbird was taking advantage. He had a nice snack of what looked like an Eastern Pondhawk between these two images. Unfortunately swaying reeds on the bank ruined all images of that!
A chick joined the adult calling to be fed. The adult didn’t seem impressed and soon they swooped off together. Time for the juvenile to catch his own lunch.
The Eastern Kingbird is a perky flycatcher known for being tyrannical. These two entertained me as they called and flitted along a tree line running between two ponds.
There may have been a third one, it was hard to tell the way they were moving around.
At least this one was behaving like a juvenile waiting for food to be brought.
He made a few forays out over the water after bugs but I’m not sure he caught any before getting safely back to his perch.
The female Painted Bunting is drab when compared to the multicolored male, but seen on her own is quite a pretty, in shades of green and brown.
This female flitted increasingly further from me in her quest for a snack.
Yesterday I spent some time in a quiet corner of Magnolia Plantation where pine forest and marshland come together. There is a small field that is kept mowed around a few scraggly trees, perfect for a Summer Tanager to hunt for bugs.
I watched this one flit back and forth in the higher tree branches until he took a break down closer to the ground.
There had been a heavy rain the night before and the leftover puddles of water made a great bird bath. This Common Grackle showed off his iridescence before he jumped in.
Head first, he splashed some water around.
Grackles tend to hang out in flocks and make a lot of noise. This one was off on his own and quietly went about his bath ritual.
Splish, splash.
This wider view shows the trail and a Squirrel ignoring the bathing proceedings.
His animated behavior brought my attention to this Northern Mockingbird perched in a well clipped hedge. He seemed to have an itch and something to say.
Zoom in on this first image to see the papillae or spines on the roof of his mouth, something I rarely see in my bird photographs.
He was not at all concerned that I was watching.
All fluffed up after his scratching episode this fellow looks like a youngster. It was the last day of October and the references say Mockingbirds can have up to three broods a year.
Finally, he struck a Mockingbird pose then went about his business down the hedge.
I had been watching some small birds flit in and out of the underbrush at the side of the road. The sun had just come up and they were hunting for breakfast in the lowest, darkest parts of the vegetation. This Palm Warbler finally took a break in the sun on a reed frond.
I was able to get a few steps closer and get a few images at a different angle before he went back to foraging.
