This list is going to be a bit bigger than the rest, but will catch me up on all bird species that I have photographed. My goal for 2024 was to find 100 species, and I managed to surpass it by a few more! Lincoln’s Sparrow was one of my favorites I found this fall. They seemed to be fairly friendly and I took tons of really nice up close pictures. The Savanah Sparrow was actually my 100th bird! When I first took the photo I thought it might be something I’d already found, but to my surprise it was new! Brewer’s Sparrow was another fall find and I think I got lucky to find one during migration. White-throated Sparrows are super cute, they have a beautiful bright yellow on the front of their face, with some grey underneath. American Tree Sparrows are gorgeous. The rusty red colored plumage really looks beautiful.
Lincoln’s Sparrow, Savanah Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow
Shore birds are tricky for me, a lot of them really look similar to each other in my opinion. This little Wilson’s Snipe hung around this lake shore for a week and I got some really beautiful photos of him. The next photos are of some Least Sandpiper foraging in the lake. I’m not entirely sure of the difference between the Lesser Yellowlegs and the Greater Yellowlegs, but here we are! Finally we have some Pectoral Sandpipers. They were a little easier to tell apart as they were quite small and seemed to hang around in bigger groups.
Wilson’s Snipe, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper
This Western Cattle Egret was a real surprise. He was hanging out amongst several seagulls, and I almost didn’t notice him. This egret is quite small and compact and I would love to see one again. The Western Gull was another bird I saw while in California, and they're quite large. He was watching over the Wharf likely waiting for some fish. Blue-winged Teal were all over the ditches this spring. Like most ducks they tend to be easily spooked, but I managed to sneak up on this beauty. Another real surprise, was this Caspian Tern. I’ve never see a bird like this in this Midwest and it was so cool watching him fish. He would hover in the air quickly dive under the water to catch his prey.
Western Cattle Egret, Western Gull, Blue-winged Teal, Caspian Tern
For the final five, there’s the Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Shrike, Eurasian Collared Dove, and the Red-breasted Nuthatch. The warbler landed right next to me in a tree and allowed me to get some really beautiful shots, and you can just see that little yellow rump. We all know how I feel about my woodpeckers, and this one is no exception. It appears to be a juvenile and I would love to find an adult. This picture is absolutely terrible! So again, I would really, really love to find another one. I occasionally have Eurasian Collared Doves come to my feeder, and I really love that striking red eye. I very frequently have White-breasted Nuthatch at my feeder, but this winter was the first time I’ve ever had the red. They are significantly smaller than the white, but no less fun to watch.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Shrike, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red-breasted Nuthatch
