There’s so much going on that it’s hard to make the time to create a post for crittercam. Today, we have steady rain, nothing torrential, but no day to be outside looking for birds. Apparently, we were spared from any hurricane force winds by a bigger hurricane that pushed the one barreling towards us out to sea.

Sleepy Orange on Ironweed.

Seeing more Monarchs traveling through, which is heartening.

Black Racer. In case you’re wondering, differentiating our local “black” snakes is pretty easy. Black Rat Snakes are constrictors. Low key and slow, they amble up to prey. Black Racers almost always travel with this posture. Head up, surveying the ground for prey. It’s strictly race and bite for these snakes, so the head is up searching for prey. Even from a distance, you can see they have smooth scales, not keeled. If you capture a Racer, they tend to bite more readily than a Black Rat Snake.

Yes, another Eastern Box Turtle, this individual a rather showy male.

Chestnut-sided Warbler (migrant)

White-eyed Vireo, summer resident, (immature) and without a lick of sense. this bird comes out daily to stare at me. No fear, just curious.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I closed in to a portrait on this Cuckoo to show the caterpillar hairs on the beak (summer resident) and they are all over Brumley North at this time, galumphing, public, and slow.

Ovenbird (summer resident)

Yellow-throated Warbler (summer resident)

Common Yellowthroat (summer resident). Normally these warblers skulk around in thick tall grasses, where they nest in obscured sites, but now that they are gearing up to leave us, they are insanely public, scolding all the intruder birds, and popping out to stare at passersby.

Yes, I know it’s your turf. I’m moving along.

Bay-breasted Warbler (migrant)

Cape May Warbler (migrant)

Magnolia Warbler (migrant). I love these particular warblers because they flipped the switch on my warbler obsession. I saw one near my house many years ago, and its beauty was so striking, that I had to see all the warblers.

Blackburnian Warbler (migrant) This individual was found by Bart, who has some serious birding gamesmanship. The darned bird was at the very top of an impossibly tall tree, but Bart was on his game. His true gamesmanship starts with the fact that he eschews the standard birding outfit of dull green trousers (tucked into one’s socks to ward off ticks), wrinkled tan shirt, and weird hat. Bart birds shirtless. Daring choice.

Oh, the beloved Magnolia!

More to come in the next days, just hard to include them all in one post.

So long from Brumley North.

Love,

Mary K