Michelle Summers

Oh, my!! I have about 1000 Bluebird pictures. It's so hard to choose!! These are 4 of many faves 💙

Not one I have gotten many pictures of. These are from 6 years ago 😲 I like and remember the one where the bird is upright, because it's pupils are dilated differently, because the sun is shining in only one eye.

I have had a Ladder-backed here one time, but only once. The red on the head of the Ladder-backed comes farther toward the forehead. This one was one of my resident Downy's enjoying a sprinkler bath 🙂

They are so adorable ❤️

I have started several times, spent countless hours deleting pictures I know I'll never do anything with, and am getting better about not keeping as many, mostly because I'm running out of disk space 🤣 I have hundreds of thousands of pictures, of everything LOL 🤣 Fortunately, I don't have time to take hundreds of pictures every day, anymore, not the motivation, but when I go birding....📸📸📸📸 Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

The best I can find 🙂 I have so many photos never processed or named...makes finding them rather difficult 🤣

No photo, when I click 😞 Just a photo icon placeholder.

THAT was funny 🤣🤣🤣

Like someone else mentioned, they are only here in Winter, and aren't common even then. Add on that, if you see one, they are one of the hardest birds to get a decent picture of, because they move so fast and constantly, so I am very pleased when I do get a picture!!! I have only gotten a few 🤣

I have an older one I really like, in the nest, and got a bunch recently watching a frenzy of nest building and mating at a local lake...

If I am out birding, away from my home, I follow these guidelines, basically, because it may help others. At my own home, it is only really relevant what birds are present on that day. If I don't see/hear the bluebirds until 9a, but cut my list off because I started early, it doesn't mean the bluebirds weren't there, just that I didn't notice them.

I have 3 that I really like...

I saw one once, several years ago, and then never again, until a couple of them showed up at my house during migration this Spring 😲 They are hard to get a good picture of, though!!! This is one of the better ones I got 🤣

Thanks, y'all!! It is rare that I see (or hear) Baltimore Orioles, so it seemed totally foreign to me.

Heard this bird in Fannin County, Texas (North Central Texas), yesterday 5/5/2021, but could never get my eyes on it. It stayed high in the canopy of a forested area. I'm hoping this call will be familiar to someone. Thanks! 20210505_102402.mp3

Ha ha ha ha ha ha, I think that EVERY time I see a Wood Duck 🤣🤣

I know I've taken more photos of Wood Ducks, but this is the only one I can find, so I guess it's my best 🤣

You are doing a great job 🙂

You sure are good at picking the harder birds to photograph, Kevin 🙂 I finally got a decent shot this past Fall 🙂

Another one that I don't have any good shots of...not that I can find anyway. They are always so far away, but I did take a shot of one bathing, a few years ago, because I thought it was cute 🙂 I am always entertained when I see ducks bathing 🤣

That's definitely going to be the prettiest shot 🙂

Not an easy bird to get a good photo of!! I only have a couple of shots, and neither is really good 🤣

Was it a rare sighting? Though I think it's a lovely photo, I don't understand the purpose of posting on eBird, being that it isn't clear enough to be definitive on species. I'm just curious why you wanted to post it on eBird.

It's not terribly complicated, especially if you hear them a lot. It just needs to be 15ft or higher, on a tree at least 1ft in diameter, facing north, and within 100ft of water. I think that's about it, besides the specs for the box itself. Mine isn't visible from the house, but the female is pretty tolerant of me being around, as long as I stay about 30ft away from wherever she is. First year she nested in my box, I walked by frequently, partly to get her used to my presence, and partly to look for other birds. It's worth knowing where they are, and seeing the babies start peeking out, when they get big enough. Also, they stay in the trees very near the nest, after they fledge, for 3 to 4 weeks, so you would get a chance to observe all of that behavior.