Welcome to Week #30 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #30 challenge is Birds starting with a “C”. As long as one of the words in the title starts with a “C” it is good to go. Like Double-crested Cormorant which could also work for the “D” challenge in a few weeks.
The feature image is a Carolina Wren. There was a nest in this hanging basket. The female laid 4 eggs. Three hatched and all three chicks thrived and fledged. We watched the male and female catch insects and gorge on mealworms provided by us to raise those babies that fledged about 3 weeks after they hatched. This was in April, 2020 when I had just lost my job due to the pandemic and brought brightness to my days and life.
Before we plan our birding trips, we scour the many lists on Ebird.org to see what has been seen and logged in recent days. If you don’t use Ebird and want to get out there and find them, I suggest using this site or download the app to your phone. The data you submit goes directly to CornellLab of Ornithology. Birds are logged by birders and scientist all over the world.
Steps to a Great Day of Birding
- Log on to Ebird.org site. Free to create an account.
- Click on the Explore tab at the top and then click on Explore Hotspots.
- Find our favorite hotspots within a few hours drive and look over the lists.
- Create an agenda on where we are going. Usually verbally, nothing fancy or written down. We do this a day or two before we want to go.
- Pack a lunch, snacks and several thermoses of water as there are almost no places to eat where we go. Some are driving trails and some are hiking trails. Many of the them are a little of both.
- Take a notepad & pen to write down the birds as we see them. Old school, however the new Ebird app has a feature that you can start a list, add your birds as you see them in a specific area and it will record the whole time you are in that area. When you are finished birding in an area, you can then complete the number of each species, complete the data and finish recording until you get to the next spot. It records the time you start and finish so you don’t have to do that manually. I’ve used it once and loved it, but when I’m out there, it is pretty easy for me to write them down. For me, it’s a mental exercise.
Two and half hour (one way) Trip
This week, Frank & I have had a big week. We took two birding day trips. Monday, we went to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. In a 9 hour day, we saw 65 species of birds. On every trip, we have at least one target bird of the day, but on this day, we had three. The Sora, Cinnamon Teal and Florida Scrub-Jay. We saw all our target birds and then some. At the end of the day, January 4th, we had logged 85 species since the beginning of 2021.
Three hour (one way) Trip
Then on Wednesday, we got up at dark-thirty and drove to St. Marks Wildlife Refuge with the American Flamingo and Canvasback as our target birds. Unlikely that we would see the flamingo as there was a lot of water in the wetlands. We were right. We hiked miles looking for that bird, but came up empty. We did, however, see over 10,000 waterfowl in one pond. It was like nothing we have ever seen before. We did get the Canvasback. At the end of an 9 hour day, I logged birds on the trip home and we saw 73 species. We have 109 species for the year and it is only January 8th.
The true magic of this week was that I got two target birds starting with a “C” for this weeks challenge. That never happens. 2021 is starting off pretty darn good. The bird photos above are just a small section I could get at one time. I didn’t bring my other lens to get the whole pond. There must have been over 1000 Redheads.
Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinals are probably the easiest bird to identify. They are popular as live birds, but they adorn many items and are a true symbol of the holidays. I have several cardinal ornaments decorating my Christmas Tree. The quilt on my bed is embroidered with Cardinals. This photo was taken in our backyard on the fountain that Frank built out of stone and driftwood that he collected in Washington State and granite that was left over from our kitchen remodel. He repurposes many things to create new things.
“Grabbing a bite to eat for my photoshoot, but Mr. Red-bellied had to get himself in there. I guess I can share the spotlight”.
Chipping Sparrow
The Chipping Sparrow makes its home all over North America. To attract them to your feeder, I would suggest black oil sunflower seeds. They will eat most birdseed, but the black oil sunflower seed is their favorite.
Common Gallinule
The Common Gallinule is also known as the Common Moorhen. These birds swim like a duck but have the feet like a chicken that allows them to walk like rails on top of floating vegetation seen here. They are easily spotted with the red shield over their bill and the white stripe going down their side.
Double-crested Cormorant
These Cormorants were preparing to roost for the night as we were leaving St. Marks on Wednesday evening. So many of them were flying in and knocking others off branches. “How Rude!” Like the Anhinga from the last challenge, the Cormorants have to perch in the sun, wings spread out to dry because they have less preen oil than other birds which makes their wings not waterproof.
Cattle Egret
The Cattle Egret is a true World Traveller. They can be found in agricultural areas near wetlands. They are often in open fields and you might get a photo op of one perched up on top of a cow or horse. They follow behind farm equipment and large animals that stir up invertebrates and will head towards smoke to catch fleeing insects as they evacuate the fire.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
This Yellow-crowned Night Heron is a juvenile that we spotted at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida last January. This is the perfect habitat for them as they eat crabs and crayfish. They catch their food with a lunge and will shake it apart or swallow it whole.
Cinnamon Teal
Rare Bird Alert! The last time we saw a Cinnamon Teal was when we went to Henderson Birding Preserve outside of Las Vegas, NV. This duck breeds in the Western part of the United States and rarely is seen east of Texas. This guy migrated in with the Blue-winged Teals and was spotted at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge near the second blind of #3 on Monday. A separate breeding population of Cinnamon Teals can be found in South America.
Canvasback
Imagine trying to spot one Canvasback in the midst of 1000 Redheads surrounding him and separate him from the hundreds of American Wigeons and Blue-winged Teals. That is the scenario that played out on Wednesday at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. This was our target bird for the day and he was spotted amongst the Redheads (seen behind the Canvasback). Easiest way to distinguish these two red headed ducks is the Canvasback has a longer bill and the white plumage on his back. To see them together during migration makes sense. The female Canvasback sometimes lays eggs in another Canvasback nest and Redheads and Ruddy Ducks sometimes lay their eggs in a Canvasback nest.
The Canvasback species name is valisineria meaning wild celery. The winter buds and stems are their preferred food during non-breeding periods.
American Coot
Often seen by the thousands during migration, the American Coot is similar to the Common Gallinule as it swims and floats like a duck but has those long toes like a chicken to climb around on marshy vegetation. They are a close relative to the Sandhill Crane if you can believe that. On Monday, we saw over 4000 on an 11 mile stretch of the Black Point Drive at Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve.
Common Yellowthroat
Found all over North America, the Common Yellowthroat is among the numerous warblers in their habitat. The male Common Yellowthroat is like seeing the Lone Ranger with its broad black mask. They are very vocal birds with their witchety-witchety-witchety songs.
Canada Goose
The Canada Goose is one of the birds that has done a fine job of expanding its territory. I mentioned a few weeks ago how they have become invasive in many areas. I guess they found that retirement in Florida was a really great idea!
Common Merganser
This Common Merganser with 5 other females swam alongside our Inflatable kayak that we loaded on a plane for our trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We were paddling String Lake in Grand Teton National Park when they flew in and landed near our boat. Couldn’t believe I was bobbing in the water and got this shot clearly. This is a bird that we don’t see in the southeastern part of the United States.
Common Raven
The Common Raven is found mainly on the west coast of the US, Mexico and Canada. It would not be unusual for it to be seen in some of the northern states from North Carolina. We had to go to Vegas to get our first sighting. This guy was perched up in a tree at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge just north of the Las Vegas strip.
Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Cranes seen near Viera Wetlands. Viera, Florida is just south of Cape Canaveral and one of several favorite birding spots in that area.
Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.
Next time…Week #31 – Butts in the air. Please try to identify what the bird is that has its butt feather smiling at you.
Our Eyes Open 
Comments
57 responses to “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Starting with a “C””
Wonderful images! Glad you’ve been out on some birding adventures!
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Thanks Beth! Me too and the days couldn’t have been more beautiful. I’m ready to go again next week. We might go to Okefenokee one day next week depending on the weather. 🙂
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Where do you to in the Okefenokee? We love Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo.
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We take the drive throug the Pine Trees and down Chester Island Boardwalk. Sometimes, we take some of the other walking trails near the boardwalk. We haven’t gone down the trails near the Gift shop where they rent boats because there are too many people around there even with covid. We have been to Stephen C. Foster in a while.
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We’ve never been to that area of the swamp. We always went to Stephen C. Foster because we love to camp there.
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It’s worth a visit. We continue to try to find the Red-cockaded woodpecker. They breed there but are not often seen.
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[…] Bird Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds that start with a C […]
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Your birding year is off to a marvelous start!
You have so many wonderful birds that start with the letter C. I’ve been trying for years to get a decent close shot of a Canvasback with no luck so far. Yours is terrific!
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We just got lucky this week. Sometimes we see the birds on ebird and think we can go see that but spend 8 hours not seeing it. This week, we saw everything but the Flamingo that we set out to see. I hope you get a chance at shooting the Canvasback. It is such a rarity for us. 🙂
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Beautiful C´s! Some are seen here as well but a lot of them are not. Would love to see cardinals IRL.
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Cardinals are pretty spectacular. I never take them for granted and they live right here in our yard. 🙂
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[…] For Bird Weekly Challenge. […]
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What a great variety!
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[…] The Bird Weekly Photo Challenge: Birds starting with a “C” […]
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[…] Bird Weekly […]
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[…] A cardinal, Common merganser, covy of Common redpoll, a chickadee. For Bird Weekly’s challenge: birds that start with ‘c’. […]
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[…] BIRDS WHOSE NAME STARTS WITH A “C” […]
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Have I mentioned how much I enjoy your write up on the birds you photograph?
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Thank you so much! I just read your blog. I will comment in a bit. WP is not letting me comment or like from my phone.
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You thought of a lot of “C” birds, Lisa! I liked your first shot of the wren and the story behind it. Also liked the canvasback shots. Congrats on spotting him amongst the redheads.
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Thanks so much. It was an exciting week. Hope we get out somewhere this week but because of the amount of ducks we saw, I got plenty of butts in the air for the next challenge. 😂
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I love how much you love birds and your knowledge of them, Lisa. Did birding grow on you or have you always loved them? It sounds like a perfect way to leave the cares of the world behind 🙂 🙂
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I’ve loved birds since my divorce in 2004. They became an escape for me as I started photographing them. Then I met Frank and he loved nature. When we saw the movie “The Big Year” I really got into it and that’s when we started counting birds. A couple years later we started logging on Ebird.org. I learn something new everyday. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing that, Lisa. It’s amazing how much a life can change when we find something that catches our imagination. You’ve done some beautiful work 🙂 🙂
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Thank you for asking and listening and thank your the compliment. It helps when the passion is great! 🙂
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[…] BirdWeekly:…Birds-with-letter-C […]
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Wonderful collection, Lisa! Out of all your “c” birds, I have two I have posted before, the merganser and Canadian goose. My theme for Sunday Still is “night” this week, so no birds for me this time! I’m betting you have pictures of birds at night 🙂
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[…] Somehow I missed the announcement for last week’s Bird Weekly Challenge, but I’m back this week. The theme for this week’s challenge, hosted by Our Eyes Open, is Birds Starting With a C. […]
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[…] Birds beginning with the letter C? Well that’s Lisa’s challenge this week. https://oureyesopen.blog/2021/01/08/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-starting-with-a-c/ […]
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Like your selection Lisa and a good challenge!
as usual mine are over at blhphotoblog.wordpress.com
Have a great week!
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Thank you Brian! I love your story about flying in a helicopter to go see birds. I’ve never flown in one for pleasure. Been on a few Blackhawks when I was in the military. I’d trade that in for a chance to go see rare birds. 🙂
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[…] Birds Weekly: https: https://oureyesopen.blog/2021/01/08/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-starting-with-a-c/ […]
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[…] Birds beginning with “C” is the Bird Weekly theme. […]
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Nice cardinal shots! My parents get cardinal visitors but the photos I’ve tried to take of them are generally of where it was before it flew off. 😦
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Keep practicing! You would will win! 🙂
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[…] Bird Weekly Challenge – Birds That Start With ‘C’ […]
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Lovely shots, Lisa. That Cinnamon teal is a real beauty, among a bevy of beautiful birds. I love water birds. There something about being around water and birds that is particularly soothing. In Australia, we have the endangered cassowary which is a spectacular bird. It lives very far from me though so no chance of one ending up in my photos.
I send compliments to your husband too for his bird bath. If I was a bird, I would love it.
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Thank you so much! The luck of going out and getting the Cinnamon Teal and Canvasback on a week that it was “C” birds was so coincidental and thrilling! I’ve never heard of the the Cassowary but I’m learning about birds in Australia and across the world with Bird Weekly. So glad I started this challenge. Frank’s bird bath and feeder system is quite the creative process and he is really good at it. 🙂
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You’re welcome. 🙂
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🙂
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[…] Bird Weekly […]
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[…] For Bird Weekly Photo Challenge – Week #30 – Birds starting with a “C” […]
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Awesome captures! All so lovely… Here’s mine – https://myheart2heart.blog/2021/01/12/all-from-my-neighbourhood/
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Thanks so much Rita. It was a great week of birding last week for sure! 🙂
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Lis you amazing photos of these birds. The birds here seem to enjoy the cold winter . LOL!
http://100countrytrek.com/2021/01/13/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-starting-with-a-c/
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A couple of typos ..Lasa not Lis ..
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I read between the lines. LOL! No problem! 🙂
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[…] thanks to Lisa and her Weekly Bird Challenge: Birds Beginning with C, for which I have so enjoyed putting this post […]
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Wonderful images and info again Lisa.
I’m rushing to get my post finished before we move on to next week’s challenge. So there might be a some editing required for me later!!!!
https://www.helenbushe.com/weekly-bird-challenge-cormorant/
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Thank you Helen. I understand. I often edit my posts after the fact. Nothing too major except typos and broken links. So glad to have you back. 😊
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Here is mine for the week
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[…] Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly Challenge: Birds that begin with the letter “C” […]
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[…] Birds Weekly: https: https://oureyesopen.blog/2021/01/08/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-starting-with-a-c/ […]
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I’m not actually entering the Bird Weekly Challenge but your Challenge inspired me to do some bird posting anyway.
I never could follow rules very well. So will just make up my own.
;(
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[…] Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly Challenge: Brown Feathered Birds […]
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[…] one of the title names must start with a “C”. If you haven’t see it, you can visit this post and see lots of “C” birds like Carolina Wrens, Chipping Sparrow, Common Gallinule, […]
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