Formosan Whistling-Thrush

There are 24 endemic species in Taiwan. My goal is to be able to photograph all of them. Not so easy as most of them nest in the deep mountain. It requires a good transportation, rain gear, and be able to trek for long time. My strategy is to check out few places without taking my camera with me and return with full preparation. So far, I got four, 20 more species to go.

Formosan Whistling-Thrush (台灣紫嘯鶇 Myophonus insularis) - Black overall to metallic blue color show only in a good light. They are not sexually dimorphic and like to forage near creek and stream. They are solitary foragers even during breeding season. Feed on insects, earthworms, fish or small amphibians. Thanks to my brother's 20/20 vision spotted this gorgeous bird in the rain for me :)

Formosan Whistling-Thrush or Taiwan Whistling-Thrush

Since the year of 1500, there are over 190 species of birds have gone extinction.  Currently there are about 1200 considered to be under threat of extinction. Watching wild bird in their habitat brings me the greatest enjoyment. My hope is to awaken public's consciousness of protecting nature and wildlife through my photography and cinematography. -- Happy Birding! -- Linda

A Dove's Angel

My sister-in-law volunteers at Isis's (Isis is my youngest niece, she just turned 7) school as a story-telling mom, once a week for the first graders. She always selects some animal-related stories and tells kids about love and friendship. This week she tells a story, "A Dove's Angel" and the story comes...

 An old mason named Angelo (in Italian) , tries to repair a church roof. He normally doesn't like birds because they nest on roof and that makes his job more difficult. One day, he found a wounded dove and started caring for it and named her, Silvia. Friendship established between old man and his dove. As months gone by, not only did he worry not be able to finish his work for church due to his deteriorating health, he worried Silvia not be able to find a roosting place when winter comes. Finally, Angelo completed his work for church and still had trouble figuring out how to take care his darling dove. One day, old mason got an idea, he brought all his tools, rushed to church and returned home after midnight. Angelo held his dove in his arms and went to sleep that night..... Next day morning, his coworkers found out old mason passed away in his sleep. Many years later, when church needs a repair again, a young mason went on to the roof and found out a small nest made of putty, something written in the bottom of that nest, " To Silvia, thank you"

Angelo in English means "Angel".

Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis), Guandu Nature Park, Taiwan
Click image to enlarge

 Note:  Often time, one thing (or one person) we dislike the most maybe try to teach us a lesson. We hardly spend time to understand the reasoning until it's too late. We are too busy making money to support our family or our own material needs therefore neglect or disregard those who are close to our heart. That could be our parents, children, the significant other or that could be our pets, the rose bush or that cypress tree we planted when we bought our dream home. Albert Einstein said once, " Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better". When life is abundant, be thankful and grateful; when things are not going well, we have very little or lost everything we had, we still have each other. She'll never let us down and she is always here for us. She is the Mother Nature. Nature rules and nature heals.

Winged Migration! Blue-winged Teal

For a long time, I've been dreaming of photographing a flock of birds flying above water. The problem is finding a suitable object for my imagination. Small birds such as swallows or swifts are out of question because they are too small to focus and their flying pattern is way too random. Too many fruitless mornings made me feeling I need to find some larger birds. So I decide to focus on waterfowl. Most ducks and geese are gregarious. They gather at a big body of water such as lake or dam to roost and to forage. Another obstacle when finding a flock of ducks is they are too far from shore or edge of lake makes even more difficult to photograph them. Just like most wildlife photographers, my strategy is, to wait, no matter what it takes.

Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) Male (as shown in this photo) has a blueish gray head with a white crescent mark between eye and bill, sky-blue wing covers and a green speculum. Female is over all brown with no marking between eye and bill, but blue wing covers and a green speculum. Click image to enlarge

That day I brought myself a sandwich, 2 liters of water and some trail mix headed to my favorite birding hotspot. Located in Clayton County,  E. L. Huie water treatment facility is one of the top birding hot spots close to the metropolitan Atlanta. You will never get disappointed if you want to see some waterfowl. Actually, you might get surprised in any given day when you visit this area. Wintering waterfowl, herons, shorebirds gather here to roost and to prey. The wetland center is also a great birding spot for hawks, song birds, migratory warblers and even owls! E. L. Huie pond is an important stop for migratory birds. After patiently waited for few hours, I got what I really wanted. The best thing for me is that they are not Mallards or Canada Geese, they are Blue-winged Teals! Blue-winged Teal winters in the southeast states, central and northern America, migrate to North America and northeastern Canada during breeding season. They dabble into water to reach submerged vegetation. and often mix with other dabbling ducks and can be found in an open, calm water close to marshes or lake. I hope they have a safe journey to their nesting ground wherever that will be and I go on for my next journey, snapping Tree Swallow, that will be my next post! -- Happy Birding! -- Linda

I sing and prey while you are sleeping: Chuck-will's-widow

When a birder, Nathan Farnau, posted on GABO-L that he spotted a Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) in Centennial Olympic Park few days ago, I was wondering if I would be lucky enough to photograph this bird. The largest nightjar in North America, Chuck-will's-widows get their name from their repetitious call notes (click link to hear their songs) often heard at night. Few years ago when I was doing a night count with Sheila Willis at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, I was amazed to count 5 or 6 Screech Owls in a 4 miles loop, Sheila told me "Linda, pay attention if we are lucky, we might see a Chuck-will's-widow sitting in the middle of the road!" "Why do they sit in the middle of the road?" I asked. Sheila laughed and replied "that's where they like to roost".


Pouring Friday made my hope of snapping this bird drained to the bottom of the ocean. Everyone loves spring rain, but not in the case of photographers.  While places are filled with heavy yellow pollen especially in the southeast, rain is welcome everywhere. It washes away pollen from streets small or big, it cleans our cars, our back deck and it nurtures flowers and crops. I love rain too, don't get me wrong. But between rain drops and a nightjar, I choose the latter . "Hope this bird will stay not just migrate through my state", I prayed.

Chuck-will's-widow, female (as shown in this photo) has brown, rufous outer tail feathers,
Male's outer tail feathers are white.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker drumming on my roof gutter the next morning woke me up from my sweet dreams. I really preferred to snuggle with my teddy bear inside my warm blanket and I just realized what a beautiful, "sunny" Saturday morning! Did I say "sunny"? I could not believe what I saw from my bedroom windows and quickly checked my "Daily Briefing" app from my smartphone. "OMG, 40 degree Fahrenheit!", I screamed.  It was a very cold morning but birds love cooler temperature, so do I!  The good news is it'll be a sunny weekend with no rain whatsoever. I grabbed a bagel, jumped into my car and headed to the park.

Trying to relocate this bird roosting on a Chinese Elm where Nathan mentioned in his post was very unlikely. But I tried to be positive and optimistic and honestly, I had no clue what a Chinese Elm looked like. I stayed around near Baker Street and Olympic Park Drive for about 30 minutes and carefully inspected every tree with dense leaves. Not much luck. As time went by, more tourists flooded into the park, I did not like that because nightjars are skittish and they don't like human's disturbance. After 90 minutes of searching, I then told myself, "birding is a hit or a miss. Maybe today is just not my lucky day. But again, I might not have much luck on other things. But I normally have a very good luck on things with wings!" ..Hmmm "Should I stay or should I go?" I asked myself hesitantly. Oh, well, I never let anything bother me, especially birds show or don't show with a reason. "Maybe this bird is out somewhere preying...but I really want to photograph it....", debating in my mind and walking towards my car, again, I was thinking that instead of crossing the park under this hot sun, I'd go along edges of the park so I might get some shade or even pick up few migrating warblers. "What a great plan!", I thought.  As I strolling near the northwest corner of the park, two Rock Pigeons flew over my head and abruptly, I noticed another bird fly really low on ground, a pigeon sized bird, but definitely it was not a pigeon! I thought it might be my target bird, but until I confirmed with my binoculars I won't not want to be too jumpy.  "Yes! It's the Chuck-will's-widow!" Overjoyed! I did not move for the next few minutes and just wanted to enjoy this moment. She landed on a tree about 8 feet from ground and sat there for a good ten minutes and I got what I wanted!

I believe this Chuck-will's-widow is a female from looking at her tail feather pattern. Male has white outer tail feathers, female has brown or rufous. And I also believe she might have a nest inside a holly bush as she actively preyed and flew in and out of one holly tree. CWW don't build a nest, they lay eggs on ground. They are nocturnal and prey insects at night, sometimes hunt small birds or lizards. They can be found in few southeast states during summer and they winter in south Florida and central America. CWW is so camouflaged, unless you have a keen eye their cryptic coloration protects them from major predators. They are in the family of Carpimulgidae, meaning goatsucker. In the old time, people believe these birds fed by goat's milk at night. But the truth might be that they are attracted to goats because insects around the animals. I read somewhere that CWW could call constantly over 1,000 times at night, birders' delight indeed, but a camper's nightmare! -- Happy Birding! -- Linda

More kisses - House Finches

House Finches. Male is the one to the right

House Finches are never loners. They are very sociable and you often see them at feeders. I hung a feeder outside my office window so I don't get bored from gazing my computer monitor. Many birds visit this seed feeders throughout the day, such as Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, warblers, Red-bellied woodpeckers and even Brown-headed Cowbirds.  While a bluebird chasing a cowbird away from his territory, this male House Finch showed his lady what a handsome bird he really is. I happened to have my camera on stand by mode and caught a short video and like to share with you.








Interesting fact: Males feed females in a display that begins with the female fluttering her wings and pecking on his beak. The male simulates regurgitating food to the female several times before actually feeding her, it's like kind of teasing I think :)  This aggressive male sings day and night and finally his effort got paid off, he got the girl! It's a very short footage and enjoy it! Happy birding! -- Linda

Truth about the life - Great Egret

I have been debating myself if I want to post this image. Most of us like to see things young, beautiful, powerful and peaceful. But do you know in order to get big, beautiful and ready to fly for freedom and ready to mate for life, they have to fight with their own siblings from the day one they are born! Older hatchling will kill the younger ones or throw them out of the nest in order to get all the food! OMG! When I first arrived to this park, I was overwhelmed with such a big egret colony all over the park and saw many big white spots on grass and did not pay much attention to them....then I found out a brutal truth about the nature :( ...There are at least 7 or 8 dead chicks in this small park and no one even seemed to care to pick up their small bodies. They were left there cold and unloved ....so sad...

Dead Great Egret chick

While snapping breeding adults and nesting pairs, I noticed this poor thing, about 7 to 10 days old, hid herself behind a small bush ...she was pushed out by her siblings and if her parents did not find her to feed her, she will eventually starve to death like all other chicks dissipated before they even know the taste of fish, the love of a mate and the pleasure of flying........ I really wanted to grab this egret chick and bring her home and thought, "would she be happy to stay with me? Or, she'd rather be reborn to a great hawk, fly freely and soar high for the love of flying? " ....I left her alone there....

7 to 10 days old Great Egret chick, central Florida, USA

Finally, I photographed this Great Egret (Ardea alba)  near central Florida, one of the prime breeding grounds in the southeast United States. Great Egrets hunt in heron's fish pond or stand motionless and patiently wait for this prey.  They were hunted for their beautiful breeding feathers in the late 19th century for women's hats and nearly facing extinction. Due to conservation effort by bird lovers, their number has been sustained. Great Egret's graceful mating display is one of the most dazzling courtship among birds. With on and off rain this day, FreedomBird also patiently waited at this park, hoped to see some interesting display ...Now you know why I love breeding season, rain or shine ;) Have a safe and peaceful holiday weekend! -- Linda.

Osprey - The Greatest Hawk!

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), a unique bird of prey, relies mainly on live fish, appears on all continents except Antarctica. Osprey reuse their nest year after year and both parents take turn and sit on the nest. During nesting season, their biggest threats are Bald Eagles, crows and raccoon as they steal the eggs and chicks. It will takes 38 days to hatch and about 60 days to fledge. We often see Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk and even Bald Eagle (occasionally) are sent to rehab center due to car accident or injuries. But we seldom see an Osprey sent for treatment. Because they stay at the "safe side", near a large body of water such as lake, river or shoreline to catch fish. 

Osprey, Central Florida, 2013
Click image to admire!

Osprey is very special to me among all hawks.  I remembered my first encounter with an Osprey was at E. L. Huie Water Treatment Center. That was many years ago when I had only a point and shoot camera with me that day after my 6 hours of volunteering work at the Wetland Visitor Center. I used my car top as tripod and managed to snap few shots of a perching Osprey and thought I wish I had my long lens with me.  Another volunteer suggested to go birding with him around wetland area, I just felt like to check out pond area. Not knowingly that something was waiting for me at the pond, an Osprey was calling out to me ...

Both parent takes turn to sit on the eggs.
During  nesting, male catches fish and brings back to his female
Click image to appreciate their beauty!

Osprey can travel over 160,000 miles during their 15 to 20 years of lifetime. Due to DDT use in the United States their number was close to extinction and rebounded slowly with the help of man-made nesting poles and DDT being banned after 1972. Unfortunately the main cause of their death nowadays is from entangled with fishing net, we, human, left behind from commercial trawling. The net caught by their talons tie them up from tree causes these birds not able to leave tree and ends up starving to death or twines around their chicks at nest and eventually suffocates these young birds who will never have the chance to grow up knowing how great and beautiful they are ...... We are only "tourists" on this planet. We came with nothing and we should also leave with nothing. If you must leave something, leave no harm and burden but a legacy to remember!

Click image to feel his spirit!

Watching them through the view finder, it gives me a new definition of contentment that no word can even describe! If you love birds, please protect them! -- Happy Birding! -- Linda

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

February and March probably are the coldest months in Georgia. It could go as low as 20s at night and as high as 70 degree Fahrenheit during the day. Flowers start blooming in the late February and early March, Daffodil and Camellia never waits for spring! They surprise you  first thing in the morning without you knowing. This crazy weather also brings back my beloved hummingbird! Ruby-throated Hummingbirds start their journey migrating back from central and south America.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, male. Click image to enlarge

I have written many posts in the past about hummingbird, especially this Ruby-throated. This is the only species breed in the east of United States. Planting some of hummer's favor flowers (Click link to see a list of hummingbird flowers) definitely brings a warm welcome to these precious birds. If you have limited space, you can put up a nectar feeder. If you would like to put up more than one nectar feeders, make sure you put them far apart as hummingbirds are territorial, they will guard their own feeder and chase other hummers away. It's easy to make nectar, just one part of white table sugar (never honey) with 4 parts of water. I use filtered or boiled water as I find out nectar keeps longer this way. You can save extra nectar in fridge and it can last few weeks. You can also find nectar concentrate from bird supply store or Wal-Mart. But I will not recommend anyone buy those pre-mixed nectar because they do contain preservative, sodium benzoate, which is a carcinogen. If I don't eat food containing preservatives, why should I feed the bird I love the most with unhealthy food? During hot summer, please clean up nectar feeder with fresh nectar every two or three days as these home-made nectar spoils quickly under the heat.

If you love birds, take care of them and protect them :) -- Happy Birding! -- Linda

Red-shouldered Hawk

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo linertus) are regular visitors to my backyard forest. I caught this shot while refilling my bird feeders. Red-shouldered Hawk mainly hunts small mammals, mice, amphibians and reptiles. In the past, I made a short video of this hawk caught his dinner. If you missed that video, just follow this link to revisit it Red-shouldered Hawk and his prey.

Red-shouldered Hawk Click image to enlarge

You might be wondering why I have so many birds in my backyard. The answer is simple, be a tree huger! Love trees and grow a lot of trees. With various types of trees around your premises, not only do you help to conserve green environment, you provide three most important factors, food, nesting and roosting ground for any bird to survive. Trees are beneficial to all living things, they clean up air, they provide shade, they produce flowers, fruits and even seeds. I agree that diseased trees might need to be taken down if they are too close to your home. But do you know snags (diseased or dying trees) sometimes doing more good than healthy trees! Cavity nesters such as woodpeckers and nuthatches use snags as nests. Pileated Woodpecker only uses a standing, dead tree to excavate their nest. Since they will not reuse their nests, old nests become other smaller birds' nesting and roosting holes! No wonder, Pileated Woodpecker is to be known as the Ecosystem Engineer!

Next time when you think to cut down trees for your firewood, or buy hardwood floor to update your old floors, please rethink that it will take 30 years to grow into a mature hardwood forest, but it will take only one day to bring it down. Consider recycle all your paper (home and office) and use renewable sources such as bamboo floors to replace your current floors. Your friends and neighbors might not know what you do, but birds will thank you :) --Happy Birding! -- Linda

Love or Hate?

I was lucky to get this Downy pair in one frame. Not the best shot I would like to be. But it tells me something. Love or hate? Go figure!

Downy Woodpecker pair, male is to the left. Click image to enlarge

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chasing the Code 4 - Northern Lapwing!

When a graduate student from Georgia Southern University spotted a Northern Lapwing while leading a routine Ornithology class off Alma Lane, Statesboro (Click this link to view location provided by Loren), birders from all over the place were eager to find this "Code 4" bird again. Unlike the heat of Snowy Owl, this lapwing is a Code 4 bird. According to ABA (American Birding Association), Code 4 is a bird that occurs casually in a well-defined pattern but is not seen annually. Most birds in this category breed in other continents and wander extensively during migration along east or west coast of North America. Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) was reported by Loren Deaner on February 6 morning.

After talking to Mark McShane, Mark mentioned if I can find time, go as quickly as possible because we never know how long a rare bird would stick around. He sounded regretfully because he could not go until this weekend. Normally if there is a cold front (click link to understand birds and weather), birds will leave sooner. Riding with sleepy eyes, I arrived at Loren reported location at around 8:15, more than a dozen of birders were there searching attentively. It was a freezing, quiet morning with occasional cattle mowing and nothing else, not even a wren or cardinal calling. I was so happy to see my good friend James Fleullan was there and the first thing he told me was "nothing, not yet ....". I took my time, wrapped myself up with more warm cloth, set up my camera with tripod, still,  no lapwing. After almost two hours of searching and waiting, James had to get back to his work and Loren left to search other places. Everyone was a bit disappointed.  But I decided to stay around for as long as I can...Suddenly Patty McLean told everyone..."Someone just relocated the bird at further north down the road...let's move!" What an encouraging moment!

Northern Lapwing (with an arrow) mingles with Killdeer

Lapwing was relocated just about 1/4 mile west of Alma Ln by Simon Thompson, a birder from Asheville, North Carolina! When we pulled over, Simon already had this bird inside his scope! Apparently we were looking at the wrong place this morning. Lapwing was in its own nature habitat mingling with many killdeer and feeding quietly. It was a challenge to "see" this bird from this massive muddy field. Simon pointed bird to us by using a red flag in the far background made an easy viewing from our binoculars and spotting scope.

Uncropped image for readers to see how camouflaged it can be to find this lapwing in a massive mud flat. Simon who relocated the bird on 2/8/13, pointed this lapwing to birders by using a small red flag from far background

Northern Lapwing is a bird in plover family, a common breeder in Eurasia and might winter at as far as India, China or northern Africa. They are not endangered, however, their number declines in the recent years due to the loss of argicultural farm lands and suitable habitat. This is the first time for this vagrant shows up in the southern state and with less than total 15 official sightings in North America. Birding is sometimes all about showing up at the right location and at the right time! If you have time to get to see this bird in the next few days, please stay long enough to see how he fly as his big wings make "lapping" sound when in flight! Finally, chasing this Code 4 bird won't be possible without Loren's original discovery and her passion and dedication to go back to the area every early morning to report the trace of the bird and possible locations for the lookout. My thanks also go to Cameron Cox for his follow-up GABO postings to make chasing this lapwing less stressful and fun. Finally, many thanks to Simon Thompson. Simon relocated Northern Lapwing at a mud flat, just the opposite site of pond off Alma Lane and made many happy faces ;)

-- Happy Birding! -- Linda

Pecker's Blast!

How did you wake up this morning? Did your mom scream and yell at your from the kitchen? Or your dad flipped open your warm blanket while you were having the sweetest dreams? Or, like the most of working adults, your alarm clock played you this annoying, repetitious beeps day after day, year after year? I could never hear what Mom say and dad gave up on me no matter what tricks he played, and the worst is I can never find my alarm clock. I guess it must be either malfunctioned or broken. The good news is, birds always find a way to wake me up!

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus, male.

I could not help but hear this loud blast from a Red-bellied Woodpecker hammering on neighbor's gutter this morning! I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my camera and by the time, I rushed to my backyard, this drumming pecker was gone. I was a bit of upset because I really wanted to video a drumming woodpecker to use in my upcoming short video. Oh, well, I thought I should get up earlier tomorrow since woodpecker's breeding season starts in the late winter. Hammering on tree trunk or metal objects such as chimney cap or gutter is their way of  territorial announcement. As I collected my gears and tried to get ready for my work, I saw something moving between branches. Its golden, yellow colors reflected by the morning sun made no mistake that it was a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)! Flickers are like most woodpeckers, they can climb up the trunk of trees but they mainly forage ants on the ground. The best part was this flicker was very near and he did not move much! While this flicker enjoyed his morning sun, I enjoyed photographing him ;)

 During my snap, one Pileated Woodpecker showed up, few Downy were always around and one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker quietly sat on a River Birch tree. Though I missed a hammering Red-bellied Woodpecker, I got a beautiful male Northern Flicker! What a pleasurable way to wake up! Happy Birding! -- Linda