Thank you!

So many comments, hearts and stars on my blip yesterday (the "official" if not actual 1,460th).  I will eventually get around to thanking everyone personally but in the meantime, I hope you don't mind that I've enlisted one of the Tufted Titmouse Tribe to sing Thank You to you all!  

I headed out early this morning to meet up with a local birder in a State Forest about 30 minutes from here.  From there, we traveled up into NY State and she showed me the nesting location of a pair of red-headed woodpeckers - a new life bird for me!  Because their nest hole was quite a distance away, most of my pictures are drek - but it was such a thrill to see the two parents carrying insects back and forth to the nest.  I will post a picture on Flickr in a few weeks - once the youngster has fledged.  Red-headed woodpeckers are a threatened species and are very subject to nest disturbance so it is best not to alert a bunch of people to the nest location.  Not all people follow the code of conduct that binds birders and nature photographers to "do no harm".  

We also saw a pair of Bald Eagle nestlings who were busy testing their wings and getting ready to leave the nest.  Apparently there was a third juvenile who has already fledged.  Very cool thing to see.  And at the same location, we watched barn swallows gathering big beaksfull of mud for their nests.  From there, we went to where a colony of Cliff Swallows were nesting ... it was a very fun day.  Capped off by more firtillary butterflies than I have ever seen in a single location - it was candy for the eyes.  

I've posted 3 pics on Flickr...
Another shot of the Tufted One giving me the eye
a colorful mob of fritillaries on milkweed
and
a mud-grabbing swallow

I'm off to put the finishing touches on dinner, a glass of wine and then a much-needed shower!

Toodles...