Rare Hooded Oriole in Florida!

Posted Jess Yarnell2 CommentsPosted in Weekiwachee Preserve

Thanks to the awesome Christmas Bird Count reporting on eBird, I got to see my lifer Hooded Oriole this week! :) The bird was spotted at Weekiwachee Preserve just before Christmas. Hooded Orioles are usually found in Mexico, with their range extending only slightly into the southwestern United States. They are very rarely found in Florida. Chasing the bird involved a nice little hike into the preserve carrying a heavy camera, but boy was it worth it! I sat watching and waiting for over an hour, then the bird flew in and posed on the top of a cedar tree. A minute or two later, he hopped down into some low vegetation by the nearby lake. He posed there for some time, quite unaware of the unwritten law of lifer photography that states that lifer bird images shall be obscured by branches, blurs, bad light, and other photographic mishaps. This beautiful bright yellow bird posed for me in perfect morning light, showing off his feathers on all angles. I think I grinned the whole long walk back to my car. :)

Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole

My Turn with the Western Tanager

Posted Jess YarnellPosted in My Parents' Backyard

A few days before Christmas, my parents got an early Christmas present – a rare Western Tanager showed up in their backyard. Well, the bird must have been in the Christmas spirit because he showed up again in the backyard during Christmas dinner. You know you live in a family of birders when the pies are being cut and someone yells, “There’s the bird!” and everybody runs to the doors/windows. So I got to see and photograph my lifer Western Tanager.

Western Tanager
Western Tanager

This Western Tanager is a big fan of American Beautyberries. He sat quietly on the bush eating the purple berries one at a time. Then he hopped to the ground and ate some more berries that had fallen. I guess I’d be hungry if I’d accidentally flown across the US, too. This bird’s normal range extends from California to the western half of Texas. I wonder what brought him all the way to Florida.

While the bird was foraging behind some bushes, I was distracted by a Ruby-throated Hummingbird high in the neighbor’s oak trees. The bird was darting in and out of the top branches. When I blew up the pictures, I could see the insects that the tiny bird was snatching out of the air.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A White-winged Dove perched a little lower in the tree. My parents have both White-Winged Doves and Eurasian Collared Doves in their backyard. That’s a fun change from the normal Mourning Doves in my backyard.

White-winged Dove
White-winged Dove

The Western Tanager showed himself one more time, perching in the beautyberry bush again. It was amazing how camouflaged his bright yellow feathers were against the yellowing leaves of the bush. A few more shots, then the happy photographers headed back inside for some pie. A rare bird is an excellent Christmas present – I guess Santa decided that I wasn’t on the Naughty List after all! ;-)

Western Tanager
Western Tanager

An Early Christmas Present – Rare Western Tanager

Posted Jess Yarnell1 CommentPosted in My Parents' Backyard

Santa came a few days early to deliver a Christmas surprise to my parents’ backyard – a young male Western Tanager! My mom has been spotting this “bright yellow bird” for several weeks. She didn’t realize she had a rarity until my dad took his camera outside and got some great ID shots. Western Tanagers typically reside in the western United States, ranging from California to western Texas. Cousins of our Summer Tanagers, only a few Western Tanagers are reported in Florida each year.

The bird doesn’t go on my life list until I photograph him myself. Now I have an end-of-year resolution! ;-)

Merry Christmas to all!!

22Dec2019