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Well, Here We Are — Back to Birding Girl After 11 Years

Well, here we are—after an epic 11-year hiatus, I’m sitting back at my Adirondack chair, overlooking the picturesque cranberry bogs we live on now. I've swapped my super strong coffee for a hoppy, locally-brewed IPA to celebrate the end of the work day, and starting work again on my personal project- BirdingGirl. Honestly, it feels a little surreal. If you’re popping in and thinking, “Wait, she’s posting again?”—yep, it’s me! The binoculars are still close by, the dog is snoozing nearby, and yes, the birds have kept me company all along. Life Lately: Birding (Mostly) at Home Let’s get this out of the way—I never stopped birding. Not for a minute! Sure, life looks a bit different now. Marriage and kids will do that to you, right? These days, “getting out in the field” means looking up at the trees lining the trails leading to the cranberry bogs I walk my dog on, listening for great-horned owls and wood thrushes, or watching a flash of yellow as the warblers return each spring. I ...
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Killdeer Chick in Yellowstone National Park

These were taken at West Thumb Geyser Basis, along the beach. It was really cool to get to watch these little chicks up close and personal. I had never seen Killdeer chicks before- only adults. These pictures are from our trip to Montana/Wyoming in July 2012.
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Clark's Nutcracker at Yellowstone National Park

While visiting the Upper and Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park we got a great photo opportunity with a Clark's Nutcracker. It was perched atop two different trees at one of the lookout points. Beautiful bird. I remember it reminded me of a mockingbird but was larger, had a longer, narrower beak, and the gray coloring was very distinct.
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Western Tanager and other Montana Birds

Western Tanager  Cedar Waxwing Brewer's Sparrow in the sage brush (I think...) Brewer's Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco The Cedar Waxwing picture was also taken at the side of the nature preserve along Teton Park Road (Grand Teton National Park). The Brewer's Sparrow pictures were taken at while we were camping with some friends at Taylor Fork, near Big Sky. Sparrows are by nature tricky to identify (especially for me!) but I did my best to narrow down the list, and feel like it's a close  match.
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Tree Swallow Preening- Montana Birds

Tree Swallow Preening  These pictures were taken in Wyoming on our drive from Grand Targhee Resort to Jackson Lake. We were passing by a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons and on the right-hand side of the road was a fenced-off preserve, which must have been part of Grand Teton National Park. While we were stopped to take pictures of the Grand Tetons I also got pictures of this Tree Swallow, and a Swainson's Hawk, which I'll post separately. I'm pretty sure we saw Sandhill Cranes while driving, but didn't stop to take pictures.
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Mountain Bluebird- Pictures from Montana Trip

Female Mountain Bluebird Female Mountain Bluebird Male Mountain Bluebird Male Mountain Bluebird I'm catching up on posting pictures from my trip to Montana in July 2012. These pictures of a Mountain Bluebird were taken in Big Sky. The ones at a distance were taken from the backyard of the condo some of our friends rented. We were all in Big Sky for Steve's friend Kevin's wedding. We stayed at the lodge where the wedding took place- up on the mountain-side. The female Mountain Bluebird pictures were taken up there. She was making lots of noise while we were packing up the rental car for our drive to the airport to go home. It took a long time to clean the car and pack our bags for the airport since we had been in Montana-Wyoming-Idaho for a week and a half! The Mountain Bluebird kept us company.
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Mallard Hybrid Hen in New Jersey

I'm not the greatest at identifying hybrids- I've blogged about them twice before with mixed results (one was likely some kind of domestic duck hybrid , and the other was a Green-winged Teal , which was actually a rarity for the time of year I saw it)- BUT I'll give it a shot anyway. I'd love to know everyone's thoughts!   I was in Beach Haven, NJ this past June for a friend's wedding. As part of the festivities we went to the rehearsal dinner, which was hosted by another one of their friends with a canal-front home. There were two different families of mallard ducks swimming close to the dock- looking for a free meal. I noticed that one of the female mallards (or "hens") had an unusual amount of white on her neck and wing. Does anyone have any idea what type of mallard hybrid this might be? Mallard Hybrid:  
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