Feathered Friday - Bird Sightings for the Week

Here is a compilation of all the bird sightings I've had this week for this #featheredfriday by @melinda010100 .

The first sighting was my usual camera testing robin. This one had a ton of different worms in its mouth. I suspected it was collecting things for its babies.

Then it flew up into the tree above and I saw the nest and the little babies that gulped all the worms down.

Later on near another nest I found a cracked robin egg. Perhaps a cowbird threw it out of the nest and put its own egg into the nest. At least the ants got a feast out of it.

From a far distance I saw a red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) this guy is on my bucket list to get a nice close-up clear shot of. Perhaps the only way to do this would be to setup a feeder somewhere. They are quite skittish and I only ever see them from a far distance.

The tree swallows have hall taken over the nest boxes and they are everywhere scooping up mosquitos.

The male goldfinches are out preening looking for a mate.

I noticed the bobolinks are back.

I finally got a shot of a bobolink's back feather coloring.

It was a bit hazy out and none of my bobolink photos turned out too crisp. I'll have to go back to this field where they are nesting to try and get better photos. These guys are endangered because they are ground nesting and usually get their nests accidentally mowed over by lawnmowers and plows. Fortunately I know of this area to be able to get photos and more field areas are being protected and their numbers are increasing.

Nearby in a marsh area the red-winged blackbirds are also starting their nests. The female bobolinks look quite similar to the female red-winged black birds. An easy way to distinguish them is just noticing where they nest. The red-winged black birds are usually near bodies of water and the bobolinks are ground nesters in open fields.

The males red-winged blackbirds are very recognizable and sort of aggressive. Once there is a nest around they will dive bomb you if you get in their area.

Here is a male sandhill crane taking a little nap out in a marsh/prairie area. You can kind of see his clear eyelid obscuring his bright orange eye.

Right behind him is the female sandhill crane. She is warming her eggs and the male is standing guard. I'll have to return to this area again soon to see the hatched chicks hunting in the field.

That's all for now, thanks for looking and happy #featheredfriday :-)