Quite Quiet

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

Great Egret Ardea alba

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Papilio canadensis

Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum
(female)

‘Quiet Place’ in NDG, June 1, 2024

-Welcome to my blog, “Groundhog Pic of the Week” – sorry, no Groundhog pic this week, but there were plenty out and about, doing silly Groundhog stuff

-An Eastern Phoebe was seen attending a well-hidden nest, let’s hope the nest is a success

-Spotted a Great Egret drifting north (patch bird #67)

-A Warbling Vireo singing in the same spot still

-At least six singing Red-eyed Vireos

-May have heard an Alder Flycatcher (50%)

-No warblers

-Summery weather

-In a field of chest-high grass and nettles, a few Autumn Meadowhawks

-IMPORTANT BUTTERFLY NEWS: Aside from a zippy Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, there were also a few Black Swallowtails and Red Admirals still – individuals of the latter species were looking pretty ragged

-19 species, and migration feels done-zo

—

  I had a lucid birding dream the other day. I don’t remember where I was, but I got on two birds with the bins, and saw them well: White-winged Crossbill, and Izu Thrush. Weird, right? Does anyone else have birding dreams? Sometimes I dream that I see a rare bird but can’t get the camera to focus – an all-too-real nightmare we’ve all had, eh (I'm looking at you, Chuja-do Redwing). I guess that’s the birding equivalent of your teeth falling out? Being naked in school? I dunno. I wrote a story on the subject of dream birding once, but I could never get it buttoned up to my satisfaction – couldn’t find a suitable Twilight Zone twist ending: "Then he woke up...and there was...a blue feather in his hand!"