January 30, 2016

A warm day in Northeast Ohio made for busy birding.

This black-capped chickadee has been tagged (see right leg). 

A red-bellied woodpecker, looking for lunch. 

 Incoming!

The chickadee has landed. But no seed to be found (shucks). 

A white-breasted nuthatch. 

A downy woodpecker. 

A northern cardinal.

January 15, 2016

This week we decided to mix it up a bit and travel to the beaches of Lake Erie to look for local water fowl.

Here we see a Great Black-backed Gull (upper left) surrounded by many Ring-billed Gulls.

Here are a couple of mallards.

A closer look at the great black-backed gull and ring-billed gulls.

Looking east, we had a great view of downtown Cleveland.

We caught sight of a new species we hadn't seen before. After looking into it, we've concluded that these are Red-breasted Mergansers.

Here is a shot of a large flock of red-breasted mergansers.

Until next time!

January 9, 2016

It was relatively warm January day in Northeast Ohio today. Although we didn't get many new sightings, we certainly heard many interesting songs.

This downy woodpecker peeking into a hole.

Someone left out some bird seed, and this squirrel wasn't afraid to take advantage of some free food.

One of my favorite shots of the day. An American Tree Sparrow 

Another American Tree Sparrow enjoying a dip in the pond.

Lots of excellent cardinal photos today...

As well as front and back angles of song sparrow.

Without a doubt, the most exciting sighting of the day was a Pileated Woodpecker. This is the first one we've seen in our nearby reservation, and our first pileated woodpecker sighting of the new year. 

Until next time!

Welcome! - January 3, 2016

Welcome to Identification Strategy, our new birding blog. We post pictures of birds from around the Northeast Ohio region, along with our experiences in birding. Please comment and enjoy!

We had our first good snow today, as you can see from the lagoon.

Here's a shot of a red-bellied woodpecker, a year-round regular in the Northeast Ohio area. We often here them chattering to each other in the trees.

Another year-round resident of the area is the white-breasted nuthatch. This nuthatch managed to stay still long enough for these shots. 

The reservation has a variety of wildlife beyond birds, including beavers.

These black-capped chickadees are one of my favorite types of birds. Known for being bold and brave around people, it's not unusual to have them fly around your head and even take seed from your outstretched hand!

 These Northern Cardinals are one of the most recognizable birds, and this bright red male (top) was flying around with several females (one seen in bottom photo).

This squirrel had the right idea. It was downright cold!

Here's another regular, the downy woodpecker, which is considerably smaller than the red-bellied woodpecker seen further above.

Part of the reservation includes part of the Lake Erie Birding Trail. Hopefully we will get to other parts of it this year! 

 Here is one of the more exciting identifications of the day, the dark-eyed junco, along with a female northern cardinal. Juncos are more shy than many other types of birds, so I had to utilize the great zoom of my new camera before he flew back into the bushes!

 Another shot of the junco.

Until next post!