Sunday Birdwatching in Northwest Georgia
My new favorite Sunday activity is bird watching – in particular capturing photos of birds. I’m absolutely loving my new Canon Rebel T7! With my camouflaged snowmobile suit, I stay warm and the birds don’t spot me as easily. It’s so much fun taking closeup photos of birds in their natural habitat!
Mockingbird
Today after church, we went for a walk to the creek and I took along my camera to do some bird photos. I was hoping to perhaps get a photo of an otter as well for the Native American Spirit Animals section of Creation Girl.
Before setting out, I took numerous photos of a mockingbird in the hickory tree that borders our property in the back yard.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
When Dave was ready for our walk, we went toward the field. The first bird we spotted was a red-bellied woodpecker. Interestingly enough, a red-bellied woodpecker doesn’t have a red belly at all. It has a red head, a white belly, and black and white zebra-like feathers. I got two or three photos of it from a distance while it sat in a honey locust tree.
We went to the creek bank and spotted a couple birds that Dave thought looked like brown thrashers, but my photos weren’t clear enough to tell what they were, and the beak didn’t seem long enough.
White-Throated Sparrow, Towhee, and Yellow-Rumped Warbler
While Dave counted our recently-planted elderberry cuttings in the field, I went to what we call “The Fairy Garden” next. It’s a spot by the West Chickamauga Creek that has pretty green grass and a magical feel. I sat in a chair there and captured photos of several different birds:
- white-throated sparrow
- towhee and
- yellow-rumped warbler
Cardinal
We shifted down the creek to the spot where Dave usually sees otters. We spotted an otter right away. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera zoomed out enough, so I missed getting a picture before he disappeared beneath the water.
Dave went back to counting elderberries and pawpaw trees, and then eventually fell asleep in the sun on the beach. While he did that, I sat by the creekbank for an hour waiting to see another otter. I never saw one. I did get some good photos of a cardinal.
Another Red-Breasted Woodpecker
On our way back, we spotted another red-breasted woodpecker. We used the cornstalks as camouflage and got closer and closer for better shots. I’m really pleased with the various photos I got of the woodpecker listening for bugs, eating a bug, and in flight.
Introduction to eBird
We were outside for about three hours. That was huge for me since it was in the 40’s today with a cold breeze, and I really do hate the cold. But now two important things have changed. I use my snowmobile suit and that keeps me warm and comfortable. It really was a beautiful day and it was quite warm in the sun. I also have something I really enjoy doing — learning to use my camera to photograph nature for this blog.
When we got back home, I pulled up the photos on the computer, and Dave introduced me to eBird, a project of Cornell University. It’s a place where bird watchers and other citizen scientists log their bird observations from throughout the world. Cornell University uses the information for scientific research on bird habits, populations, migrations, etc. It’s kind of cool to be part of something so big. I will never be as big a bird watcher as the people in The Big Year, but it was really fun.
I enjoyed uploading my bird photos and learning more about how to identify birds and to know which ones are male and female. Dave taught me a lot this afternoon, and I’m hooked! He said his Grandma Bertha and his dad taught him about birds and that it’s fun for him to be on the other side of it, teaching me. I’m grateful to be married to a man who loves nature and knows so much about it!
Here’s our log on eBird of all the birds we spotted today.
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