Southeast Birds

You wouldn’t think that a foggy morning would be a good time to to go birdwatching due to the fact that you can’t see anything at a distance. Sometimes you get a sweet surprise. The fact that you can’t see birds from a distance also means that they can’t see you. The other morning I got up at 5:00AM and headed toward the lake at Chester Frost Park. As daylight came about, so did the fog. I could hardly see the water right in front of me. I began to think I might be wasting my time. I decided to wait it out a while to see of the fog would subside. Sure enough it did and I started to see the silhouettes of Mallards and Great Blue Herons flying in the distance.

They started landing in the water in front of me. As I was trying to get pics of them landing in the water two Great Blue Herons landed right next to me, one on the left, one on the right. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could have reached out and petted the one to the right of me. I was so shocked they landed so close to me that I hesitated with my camera and missed the shot, of course as soon as they landed they realized I was there and flew off, quickly. I just couldn’t believe that both of them landed so close. Looking back, I believe they couldn’t see me due to the fog, and the fact that I was sort of hiding under a tree.

After the excitement I took a seat on the ground and looked up. In the tree I was using as cover for the birds flying over my head sat this Red Headed Woodpecker. At first I couldn’t tell what it was so i zoomed in with my camera and got the pic you see above. It wasn’t until I lightened the picture up with the in camera editor that I saw what it was. I know these birds are in the woods behind my house but I have yet to see one so I was excited to get these pics. He flew off into the fog and I couldn’t see him anymore. Knowing that the Red Headed Woodpecker will catch insects while in flight and return to the same perch, I waited for a few minutes and sure enough he came back. It’s kinda cool how birds of the same species will behave in the same manner. Using this knowledge can help you while birdwatching.

I was running out of time so was getting ready to leave. Just as turned to walk back to the car, this Tufted Titmouse flew right over my head and landed in the tree right next to me. I believe he was just as curious of me as I was of him because as I was taking pics of him he would fly around me and right back to the same tree.

So if you think a foggy morning is a good time to stay home, think again. That foggy morning birdwatching at the lake was one of the best times I have had birdwatching. Don’t expect to have all this happen to you every time you go out as this was an unusual day, but if I would have stayed at home due to the weather I would never have had these experiences.

Here are some other pics I got that morning. Just click on the pic for a larger view.