Snow Bunting -Lifer!

What a fantastic day of photography and hanging with friends I had yesterday at Bethel Beach near Matthews VA.  Everything came into perfect sync and I was able to not only get this lifer, the Snow Bunting but 4-5 more which I will share over the next several days.

The Snow Buntings breed in the most northern areas of Canada and Greenland and while they do migrate to the US Atlantic states, they rarely make it as far south as Virginia according to the Audubon and All About Bird websites so this was a huge treat to see and photograph.

Purple Finch

Funny story about the Female Purple Finch in the first photo. I thought I had taken a “lifer” shot when we came upon her at Pony Pasture.  A fellow bird photographer we met that day & now friend Megan pointed her out to me and explained in detail how to know it was a Purple Finch and not a House Finch.  That night while looking through photos I had taken the day before I found a few that matched her female description (second and third) and male description (fourth photo) and so after texting screen shots to her it was confirmed that I had actual gotten my life shot of the Purple Finch the day before, and I know I would not have thought to think it wasn’t a house finch without Megan’s help so thanks Megan!

Purple Finch are another bird not seen in this part of Virginia very often but due to the bird “irruption” of 2020/21 flocks have come further south in search of food. Since the first sighting of the pair in our yard I have seen them and a few more several times with hopes of getting a few more shots.

Eastern Phoebe

Dutch Gap, Chesterfield VA

Mr. Blue

Male Blue Grosbeak who has spent the summer in our woods. I will miss the flash of his and the Mrs. Blue when they head off soon to Mexico for the winter.  

At least they get to go somewhere for vacation ;)

Eastern Wood-pewee - Life Bird

Crazy story…  I took this photo last week in our backyard and saved the image thinking it was a young Phoebe.  Today (8/7) I was looking at E-bird researching a new trail to explore and saw a sighting of an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Never having seen or heard of this bird before I did what all good birders do, Google’d images of it and found several which showed me this was the bird I photographed in the back yard last week. Later this evening I was in the backyard and this Pewee was sitting on the fence singing.  As I watched it I opened my Merlin Bird ID and played the song and call.  The cutie answered right back to both.  Both the call and song matched perfectly.  

And this is how I saw and identified my first Eastern Wood-Pewee 😀

White throated sparrow