The Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

That loud bird in your yard

  This charismatic little bird can probably be heard for blocks. The Carolina Wren is very know through out the Eastern US. They range from Texas eastward and all the way up to the northeast. This bird is very adaptable and makes its home in your back yard. There is no mistaking the identity of this bird. They are unique in their appearance. About the size of a common sparrow or finch they sport a reddish brown top feathers and wings with dark bars on the edges of the wing. They have both a white throat and eye brow with a long thin bill that curves downward. To me the coolest feature on the Wren is their pointy tails that often point straight up in the air like an antenna.

 They are an open cavity nester that has found some real weird locations to create a nest. They have been known to nest in Propane gas tank lids, door reefs, fake hanging plants and flower pots, garages, deck steps, mail boxes, car tires, abandoned Hornets nests, and various other yard debris. One year I left out a half a bag of barbeque charcoal and they nested inside the bag.  Look for their nests to be located about 3 to 6 feet off the ground and close to their feeding grounds made up of dense bushes and vines, downed trees, log piles, and wherever they can find their favorite insects. As I said they are very adaptable and will also visit your yard feeders. I see them quite often visiting my Suet feeders. 

 The Carolina Wren is often mistaken for its close look alike the House Wren. I have not researched this much but I believe that the House wren got its name from being so close to homes. The main distinction that I can tell between them without them being side by side is the eye of the house wren has a lighter eye ring and they appear to be a little more grayish brown. Their tails are mostly pointing up and they have some faint yellow variation on their lower bill. The eyebrow is barely visible or missing on the house wren unlike the well defined eyebrow of the Carolina Wren. The house Wren can be found along the same region as the Carolina Wren.

 Both of these Wrens are very aggressive toward other nesting birds. They have been know to destroy the nest of other birds and even poke holes in other birds eggs. They are extremely territorial and many other backyard bird have fallen victim to the Wrens aggressiveness.  Their victims are Mostly Eastern Bluebirds but they have also victimized, Chickadees, Nuthatch, Sparrow, and even Warbler nests. Despite them living close to peoples homes they have also been known to smack into humans when they venture to close to their nests. I have even seen them dive bomb a domestic house cat before. Pretty brave for such a small bird. All around a very impressive bird!

  Caroina Wren song     https://youtu.be/7GLIFUtXj2M

    House Wren song     https://youtu.be/5LvRj3cbmBc 

  

The Common Tern

To me this Common Tern is not so common. These birds are world class travelers and can be found from Europe to South America. Their close relative the Arctic Tern is the farthest traveled migrating animal in the world, traveling over 3 million miles in their 30 year lifespan. I took these photos of a small flock off if the coast at Cape May. I went on a tour sponsored by Birding by boat on the Osprey. Here is the website if your ever in Cape May NJ. Birding by boat. On my your we moored the boat against a nesting site of the Common Terns. We did not bother them and caused no harm buyer were concerned for them. The was bad weather coming and the tides was going to be real high that evening which would wash away all these birds nests. The reason for these Tern nesting so close to the edge ofthewater was because the Laughing Gulls were also nesting in the same piece of land and they chased the Terns off. They nested where they can. When we pulled up they were clearly agitated buy calmed down quickly once realizing we were not a threat to them. Nature can beautiful and cruel at the same time. Poor eggs wish I could build a barge for them to nest in.

Northern Waterthrush

The Northern Waterthrush like it's close relative the Louisiana Waterthrush are actually warblers. One of the main differences besides the size is the selected hunting territories. Northern Waterthrushes prefer standing water at the edges of forest such as ponds and lakes while the Louisiana Waterthrush prefers the faster moving water of brooks and streams. Both similar in characteristic put on a dance of the tail wag. They constantly gyrate their tails up and down. Scientist state that this is either to scare there prey into movement or for confusing the prey. They primarily eat insects, grubs, worms and I even saw one with a bee in it's beak. I have noticed that like a chipmunk they keep stuffing their beaks with food but do not actually eat it right away. Not sure if why they do this. Both of these are not too shy and are easy to see but because they move constantly they can be difficult photograph. They range all throught the Northern US, Canada, and even Alaska during mating season and usually chill out in southern US and south America in the winter. 

Louisiana Waterthrush

This little guy is very unique in it behavior. Went on a small hike with my fiance to a local wildlife education center in the Poconos PA called Kettle Creek. It started off bad without a single bird sited. We circled back to this mucky pond that had a downed tree. We noticed this Louisiana Waterthrush putting on a show for us. He had a bumblebee in his mouth. It was hard to land any decent shots of him due to the fact that he does not stop moving. One unique thing with this bird. They shake their rump constantly bobbing it up and down. It was quite the show. I am curious why they do this so off to research for me. If you ever come across one of these, they are by brooks and ponds and streams. They are kind of sparrow size and will always be spotted low on the ground near water. Good luck in your searches.

Gray Catbird.

Gray Catbird

    This common North and Central American bird is called a Gray/Grey Catbird. It gets its name from the The various cat like calls that is makes. Soundbyte link. Gray Catbird Call . This bird is easy to identify and not very shy. It is primarily gray in color with a black or dark grey cap on its head. If you look close enough you will see a red or cinnamon color under it's tail feathers. Many people confuse this bird with the Mockingbird. This a pleasant bird that seems to always be singing and meowing. They like the forest edge and will eat a variety of food from worms, bugs, seeds, and recently discovered at my feeders, they love oranges...who knew. 

Bringing a variety of birds to your backyard

Blue Jay Photo by Mr G's photography 

Mr G. Presents: Birding Photography Blog

        In this Blog I will present to you my journey from backyard birding and travel wildlife photography. The main focus of this blog will be to learn together, expand our photography and birding skills and share our passion of Birding photography. We will discuss useful products with personal reviews as well as tips and techniques to becoming a better birder, photographer, and a conservationist.  Stay tuned and subscribe. 

               Hello and welcome to the beginning of my new Birding and Photography Blog. If your interested backyard bird, feeding and Photographing then search no further. This is the spot where you want to be. In this blog you can follow my journey to be the best birder out there. I will introduce you to my world of creating an ecosystem in my front and back yard where local and migratory birds flock to feed pose, live or move on. I will show you the products I use, what  works for me and what drives me crazy (Squirrels). We will go on many adventures together as I  pursue 500 plus birds on my personal life list. Follow me and learn from my mistakes and experiences. Please follow, like, subscribe, and forward this to your friends. Enjoy!!