Had a Woody This Morning...

Wood Duck, that is. Flushed a male at close range as I stood by the pond. Didn't notice its presence until the swoosh! and whir of wings. At one point it looked like it was gonna try to make a landing in a pine, but then it corrected its flight path and kept going. Also saw an adult Cooper's Hawk soaring off to the north. It was a biggun, so probably female. She had a large gap in the secondaries on her right wing, not that it seemed to slow her down much.

Best bird we've had lately is the female Baltimore Oriole that has been draining the hummingbird feeder by our kitchen window. First saw her swinging on the feeder on January 30th, and as of today she's still around.  It's a good winter bird for the UTC.  Here's her picture, taken back on the 30th:

On February 5th I saw a female Archilochus-type hummingbird at our feeder.  It's a bit early for a returning migrant, and I suspect this bird has been hanging around undetected for a while - there's a hummingbird that frequents the thicket along our driveway, and has a ninja-like ability to avoid being seen.  I often hear it chipping away just out of sight, or glimpse a darting motion as it disappears.  This, I suspect, is my stealth Archilochus.  We also continue to have a couple of Selasphorus-types, one of which is a male Rufous Hummingbird; identity of the other one is less certain.

In more distant news... recently birders have been seeing Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Amazon Kingfisher, and Roadside Hawk down in the Rio Grande Valley, filling my heart with bitter envy.  Actually I've seen all three species in Costa Rica, and I'm sure they looked much better down there where they really belong (just adding sour grapes to the bitter envy).  There are plenty of other tropical goodies being seen in the valley these days, and if I could I would go...and probably get skunked and come home without seeing a damned one of them (pessimism to go with the sour bitter envy).  Fortunately I have a yard full of interesting birds, so being a homebody isn't so bad.

Michelle and the kids are in Louisiana for the weekend doing the Mardi Gras parades and Superbowl party thing - Go Saints! (I'm no sports fan, but I'm trying to get in the spirit).  Me, I don't have the vacation time or personal leave to take an extended weekend trip, so I'm home alone putting some final touches on the kitchen and working on a painting that I abandoned months ago, when this accursed kitchen project started.  It's nice having time to paint, blog, etc., but I do miss Michelle and the little ones.