Worried

The terrible disaster that is occurring in the gulf is sickening to me. I spent a few days down on the gulf last March collecting red seaweed (I do DNA research on invasive species) and also photographing birds along the coast. I am very worried about the future of these coastal birds given the scale of this disaster. Here are a few of the gulls I saw while collecting my seaweed specimens.

Some Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) and Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla)

A Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Spreading their Wings

It is that time of year when a lot of chicks are leaving the nest and a lot of juvenile birds are spreading their wings for the first time. Just today we say the 4 bluebird chicks raised in our backyard birdbox leave the nest. Above is what I believe is juvenile blue grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea) based upon its size and the shape of its beak. The pic with the cardinal is for scale.

New Front Yard Visitors

I was delighted to see a pair of Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) in my front yard today. I had been seeing them around, but was unaware they had built a nest in the same tree as their cousin, the mockingbird. The mockingbirds have been nesting in a cedar tree in my front yard for several years now, but believe me this tree is big enough for the whole family.