Catbird eating a berry

There were several catbirds rustling about in some bushes that were full of berries. Chris took several photos of one bird and when we looked at this one, we found she caught it in the middle of a snack.

Mystery bird III

We aren't sure about this bird. It may be a cowbird or a phoebe.

tib78?

Red-Tailed Hawk by Jim from Old Bridge

Blue Jay having a bad hair day

This blue jay has been hanging around for about two weeks. We think he is one of three juvenile siblings whose nest was nearby, but the others all have nice crests.

Osprey at Island Beach State Park

Here are two photos of Osprey nesting at Island Beach State Park.

Egret at Island Beach State Park

Here is a photo of an egret taken on the bay side of Island Beach State Park on the Jersey shore.

Female Oriole

Green Heron

Here's another photo of our new favorite, the green heron.

Female Belted Kingfisher

The belted kingfisher is easier to hear than to photograph. The reddish-brown on the chest is only found in the female belted kingfisher.

Spotted Sandpiper

We weren't sure who this was. Maybe a type of sandpiper, plover or sanderling. It stands on logs or the side of the lake and flies close to the water.

Thanks to tib78 for the comment! It's a Spotted Sandpiper. The lack of spots is what was throwing us. But I see in the field guide now that the juveniles lack the breast spots and have a darker bill.

Chickadee in a tree

If you look closely at this photo of a chickadee, you'll see a half-eaten seed between his feet.

Swallows

The upper photo is a barn swallow with the buff colored chest.
The lower photo shows a male and female tree swallow, we think.

Baby Barn Swallows

Out in our boat yesterday morning, we went under the bridge and saw these two adorable baby barn swallows. They were constantly screeching for food. Today, we went by again and got a photo of a slighly older baby swallow.

Black and White Warbler

A new visitor today. It's not our greatest picture (see the barn swallow for that!) but we couldn't resist posting because we haven't seen one of these yet. He has zebra stripes, and he runs down the tree head first like a nuthatch and darts about like a chickadee.

Green Heron

This nice little green heron will be seeing more of us. We now have a pedal boat so sometimes we cruise under the bridge and get down into the more remote part of the lake. We saw this green heron and also the Kingfisher and a rose-breasted Grosbeak. The lighting was only right for the heron pictures, but we'll be heading back there on occasion to keep trying.

Northern Flicker

We shot these photos of the northern flicker on a stump. He spent some time eating insects from the dead wood and some posing on the stump.

Great Blue Heron fishing

We've been posting quite a few heron pictures from our trip to California. We really didn't need to leave Lake Nelson and New Jersey at all. This heron and a friend have been frequent visitors since we returned. Here are some pictures of a heron fishing from a neighbor's boat.

Baby Robin

August seems a little late for a baby, but we encountered this little one.

Downy Woodpecker

Cardinal having a bad hair day

Nuthatch

The white-breasted nutcatches were common visitors last winter but we didn't see any this spring. A few have just returned to the area.

Why did the turkey cross the road?

Squirrel: Cute or Evil?

There is a disagreement in our family about squirrels.

One more heron

Virgina Rail

We are pretty sure this is a Virgina Rail. We ran into him at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. At first we thought he might be a green heron, or maybe a least bittern, but unless someone can convince us otherwise, we are sticking with the Virginia Rail.

Black-necked Stilt

We visited the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary and got these photos of the black-necked stilt.

American Avocet

Photo of an Avocet, taken in California. Because he has long legs and a long bill, we were surprised to see him swim and eat like a duck, not a stilt.

Marbled Godwits

Photos of Marbled Godwits, a type of Sandpiper, taken in California

Ducks

We skimmed our bird books and can't really identify these.

Least Sandpiper

From Tom in Mount Taber, NJ: Downy Woodpecker & Female Cardinal

First, A downy woodpecker at my feeder today. I noticed that he would eat from the tray, and not perch on the openings.
Second, a female cardinal – she was accompanied by what I believe is a juvenile – much more red, but not fully, like a grown male.
Taken in Mount Tabor, NJ