I had a total of 7 days in Florida to visit many different birding hot spots. The first morning I headed to Stick Marsh to see the nesting Roseated Spoonbills. This time of year they are actively gathering sticks to place in the nest. As far as I can tell, it must be a competition among them to see who can gather the largest stick. They will often fight over these choice pieces. The day starts, however, with gathering in the shallow water areas to feed and preen. They are very social animals and are almost never alone.       The flattened bill is to help them feed on insects and crustaceans in the mud.                                                   In flight they can look rather ungainly.          I watched many battles over who would get possession of this huge stick.          This was the winner  Another time, the birds were fighting over a long piece of grass, but it was still attached. One bird tried to fly off with it, but his efforts were thwarted.            This piece of grass is long, but it should still be easier to place in the nest than a 12' long stick.               The pink coloration in these birds is due to their diet of crustaceans and insects.        A more practical stick gathering bird. It would be fun to see the chicks, but it did not happen on this trip. Another time!      

This little gem was first found in my yard on March 17th. She was likely here a lot longer than that. Once I figured out she was actually living in my yard, I set up a viewing area for the public. This worked out remarkably well, other than the fact that I had to spend days and days doing traffic control. There were several wonderful occasions where others offered to step in and help. I took one of those breaks to photograph the bird from my deck. I now had a better idea of where she might land. Her absolute favorite perch was a dead branch lying on the ground under the Forsythia. On occasion I caught her on different perches.  Each perch had its own charm. I also started experimenting with video. I first got a good sequence of her on her favorite perch branch. For days I had been trying to get a photo of the Bluetail in the birdbath. On her final day in my yard, I got my chance.  But the video of her is absolutely precious, but you will have to forgive my amateur cinamatography. The video of her in the birdbath had several wonderful moments. One was her shaking off the water, which I slowed up so that you can savor it. Little did I know that these would be some of my final shots of her. It is like she is waving goodbye and taking a bow.   My other favorite moment was a surreal shot of her leaving the birdbath.  This precious little bird is now making the journey of her life. She has to find her way to Siberia to meet up with the other Bluetails. This is a tough journey to make all on her own, and there is no way to determine if she makes it safely. But, she was fat and healthy from living in my yard, so I have every hope she will make it, find a mate, and have lots of chicks! Safe travels little one!

I have had the surprise of a lifetime this week. I spotted a bird in my back yard that I did not recognize. So, I posted a picture on a birding site on Facebook. There were many random guesses, but one gal thought it was a Red-flanked Bluetail. I laughed and decided to post my querie on the Tweeters Listserve for a "real" answer. Low and behold, the FB gal was right. For only the 3rd time in history, this bird has been spotted in Washington State. It is normally found in Asia and Russia. Here is the yucky photo that got the birding world in an uproar (shot through my kitchen window from 40 yards away): I honestly thought it it was some juvenile form of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I had not yet seen the tail, as it was dark and rainy when I first spotted her. By late afternoon that day, I was well aware of the uniqueness of the find. By Friday, my neighborhood was overrun with birders. They were covering every spot they could get access to. The end result was that the Bluetail was chased out of my yard, and was not seen for the next two days. The main problem was that folks were trying to get a view into my back yard, so they entered my neighbor's yard (with permission) and flocked to the back fence. This was where the Bluetail hangs out, but was frightened off. I had to ask my neighbor to deny access to her back yard. Within one hour, the Bluetail returned and foraged in my yard for the rest of the afternoon. I then figured out a solution to this problem: I set up a viewing area in my side yard. This area is a safe distance from my back fence, and has a very clear view of the Bluetail's favorite foraging areas. Win-win. I put up a rope to keep encroachment at bay, and it worked very well. I put out a call on Tweeters that I had a viewing area set up for all to enjoy. This kept the gawkers from trying to look over my back fence. I had 40 to 50 birders show up on Tuesday, and every single one of them got a good view of the bird. The rule was that you had to leave once you got a good view to make room for those that had not seen it. This worked remarkably well since the Bluetail was out foraging all afternoon. It was also a beautiful sunny day, which helped.

I finally had a chance to get some shots of my own, but she pretty much stuck to the dark shady areas, so my pictures are fairly grainy. Not that I am complaining! The Bluetail had a favorite perch under my forsythia. She foraged from there a lot (I call her she, but it may as well be a juvenile of either sex). This next photo is of her diving to the ground after an insect.   One of my favorite shots was an out of focus shot of her flying away. It clearly showed the blue on her back.  It took me two days to finally get a shot of her away from the Forsythia. She perched on a fence and on a brush pile.  This last shot was the one shot I was waiting for. Not in the sunshine, but a bit more open. She is a beautiful bird, and I hope for a few more days to spend with her.

One of the most amazing side benefits of this surprising find was that I have met a never ending stream of amazingly nice people. I am glowing with joy from all the warmth from everyone! Thanks one and all for making this journey a warm fuzzy experience.

One last look at that beautuiful tail!