Day 19.118: That's one fancy hat

This picture came up on Google Photos because it is from almost exactly 18 years ago. We were impressed that Exile #4 elected to style their fancy party dress with a winter hat.

Around this time next week, we'll be celebrating their college graduation - an occasion for another fancy hat.

Day 19.117: Migration

Not birds this time, but E5N1 who has vacated his freshman college dorm room to return home. There are piles of his stuff in every available space right now. 

His last final was today, but he still has some work to complete and submit before the official end of the semester tomorrow.

Day 19.116: New arrivals

Yesterday we saw what we assumed to be cedar waxwings in the trees at our neighbors across the street and today we saw some small warblerish birds from our back window. This is what they turned out to be:

Bohemian waxwing

Color under tail and white bar on wing are distinctive I believe

Chestnut-sided warbler

(Looking a little damp)

Northern parula

All are first sightings of the year. 

Day 19.115: Spring bird walk #3

We had a large number of people and a relatively modest number of birds for walk 3. Here are some of my sightings:

A very obliging hairy woodpecker

Northern flickers

Brown-headed cowbird

Eastern bluebird

Northern cardinal

Canada geese

Broad-winged hawk

American robin

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-bellied woodpecker

Chipping sparrow

Tulip tree

American robin

Day 19.114: Nature walk

Our nature group outing on Saturday was in two parts. Here are some more sightings from part two (before the porcupine)

Tree swallows

Chipping sparrow 

Osprey

Vesper sparrow 

Field sparrow

Eastern towhee

Eastern bluebird

Yellow-rumped warbler 

Day 19.113: Exile #2's Sunday Column #551

Exile #2 writes...

As usual, we headed out early Saturday morning for a nature walk. We stayed pretty dry for the most part, considering the fact that showers had been predicted but just as we got in sight of the parking lot it really started to come down. That's when we spotted this little guy, who was doing his best to sleep through the whole thing.

North American porcupine

Day 19.112: Madison

I didn’t have a lot of time to get out and about with my camera in Madison this week, but I did manage one short early morning outing. This is what I saw.

Rowers on the lake

The Wisconsin State Capitol 

Barn swallow (first of the year for me)

American coots (another year bird)

Common grackles

Lots of the mallards show hybridization features such as these white neck patches

House sparrow 

Red-winged blackbird

Close-up of the top of the Capitol