Latest nature finds--including bird banding

One of our nature friends (Thanks Jennifer) posted an opportunity to see a bird banding at Warbler Woods--a local bird sanctuary.  Being migratory season, they get lots of fun birds this time of year.  I wasn't sure what to expect for this event, but it was AWESOME.

On our way there, we saw this Scissortail Flycatcher.  Thankfully the road was empty so we pulled over and whipped out our binoculars to check this guy out.  I'd seen this type of bird recently at our playgroup.  I wouldn't have taken a second glance if it wasn't for that tail when he flew overhead.  But seeing that amazing tail, I snuck away from playgroup w/ Calvin in tow, and tracked that bird down to find out what it was.  My favorite bird identifying book, great for beginners, is Birds of Texas Field Guide by Stan Tekiela .  (Thanks again Jennifer and Karen.)  The book is separated by colors so everything is easy to find.  The kids are even pros at looking up what they find.  This same author has books for multiple states so I'm anxious to get our Washington book when we get there.   I'm still amazed by that tail.

After seeing this cool bird, I knew it was going to be a good day.  We got there to find the gate open (usually you have to get a gate code by emailing the owner) and found a place to park.   They had a table set up in front of the house which was surrounded by people with cameras and binoculars.  Definitely a birdwatching crowd.  We walked up and they had the kids sit on the front row so they could see up close.  Our first banded bird was this cardinal.

We see cardinals all the time in the backyard but they're still amazing to watch.  Cardinals have the hardest bite so the guy gave him this plastic dropper to chew on.  

What is bird banding?  Wild birds are caught, identified, weighed and then a metal or plastic band is put around his leg and he's then released back into the wild.  If the bird is recovered, either dead or alive, at a future time, the information is sent to the original bander.  In this way, scientists can find out how far birds travel, how long they live, where they nest and spend the winter, whether species populations are rising or falling, and many other details of their lives.  How they do all this is beyond me, but it's very fascinating.  Plus we got to see these fun birds up close. 

This little guy is a Nashville Warbler.

He also showed us the underside has a white patch to help identify this bird.

This is the weighing machine.  Small scale with a cut off plastic bottle.  The top was turned upside down to keep the bird in.  They had a few escapee birds that didn't want to know their weight.

When they did the releasing, a child was picked from the front row to hold the bird in his hands.  Some birds stayed there for a few mins. before the child was told to wiggle his fingers to let the bird know it was time to go.

This blue guy is an Indigo Bunting.  My camera didn't want to focus very well. 

This guy is a Tennessee Warbler.  He has a greenish tint to his feathers.  We had one of them in our backyard for a few visits.  He was always caught eating the apple suet.

This is a white crowned sparrow.  We get tons of house sparrows in our backyard but I'd never seen one with this bright crown.

The kids loved it.  My camera died but we didn't see too many more varieties.  We went on a nature walk through the area and then the kids were about done.  Izzy said "Let's come back next time."  Ummm, not sure when the next time will be.  She said, "Maybe they do this in Washington too."  Maybe.  We'll see.  

Some other random nature finds over the past month:

Izzy found this interesting looking bug.  At first glance I thought the red things were his eyes.  This looks like it might be a wheel bug nymph.

This bug looks like a backwards Box Elderbug.  (We had tons of them in Utah.)  When I say backwards I mean the colors were switched (black where red and red where black.)  Searching box elderbugs I found this is a Scarlet Plant Bug.

No idea what this bug was but he was extra tiny.  All I did was check out a flower close to the Scarlet bug and this little guy popped out.  It's amazing how many bugs are right in front of us but we just have to be looking.

We also found this cute lizard called a Green Anole.  When we first found him, he was bright green with an extra neon green around his eyes.  After being caught, he turned brown on us.  Really cool to see the camoflauge changing right before our eyes.

See what I mean.  You'd almost think it was a different lizard.

Hard to tell, but how many cardinals can you spot?  (Do you see some red blobs in the picture?)  I'd say we had 15 to 20 flittering in these trees while we sat behind a birding blind spot.

I had to laugh when I found this picture on my camera.  One of the kids took off with my camera at our park adventure afterwards.  It was too cute to find that one of my kids wanted to get a picture of their bug find too.

And this was a site to see in our backyard.  Never seen a bright yellow bird in the wild before.  This is an American Goldfinch.  I think the other 2 birds were females of the same kind.  (Females are usually brown to blend in while they nest.)

That's our latest.  Thanks for letting me share.