Black-chinned Hummingbird

Helen Roth had a stunning male Black-chinned Hummingbird in her yard this winter and the Fred's paid her a visit to band him. They were successful and Helen sent us a picture of him laying on her hand during release.

Forster's Tern

Nancy Harrell's husband Mike took this great picture of a fishing Forster's Tern at St. Marks NWR. Thanks Mike!

Don't forget if you have any pictures or stories you would like to share with us we are more than happy to post them on our blog.

Andy

Hagen's Cove

Carol Miller writes.....

I discovered Hagens Cove down in Taylor County Friday! Although the pine woods along the entrance road were toast, we saw Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, White Ibis foraging in the pond on the right until an eagle flushed them into the trees.At the tower, we saw a flight of White Pelicans. The most amazing sight was the thousands of birds on the shore across from the north picnic area. I sure wished I had a scope, but maybe I'll be able to i.d. some of them when I blow up my pictures.

Goldfinches

We have a tremendous number of goldfinches visiting our nyjer feeders at the moment. I took this picture yesterday of our four super tube feeders. When I looked out of the kitchen window earlier today, I was amazed to see that all 80 perches were occupied with several more finches waiting their turn in a nearby tree. Goldfinches are one of my favorite birds and it's always exciting to see them. I just wish we could have 'em all year round!

Mary

Monticello Birds

Carol Miller sent us pictures of a Pine Siskin and an Orange-crowned Warbler. She has seen 10 Pine Siskins, mixed in with 50 American Goldfinches, at her thistle feeders this week.

St Marks NWR Photographer's Club

Chances are good, that if you frequent WBU, you are familiar with St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1931 for wintering migratory birds, we are lucky to have this beautiful place of nature practically at our backdoor!

I'd like to invite everyone to check out our newly formed photo club. We are a very informal group with broad differences of photography levels and cameras. There are no fees, other than the normal admittance to the refuge and the only requirement is that you enjoy nature! We meet at 9am on the third Saturday of each month at the educational building, which is to the right of the refuge welcome center and gift shop. We generally take a field trip somewhere on the refuge's 68,000 acres that encompasses Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor County, then eat our brown bag lunch while sharing photos and photography tips. We also help the refuge with some service projects, but this is NOT a requirement. Join us on Jan19 for a nature and photography adventure that will surely keep you comming back!

For more information, you may contact Thomas Darragh at :
thomasdATtalstar.com

A glimpse of just a few of the many birds you may see at the refuge that I took while on a club outing.

Glenda Simmons

Two Hummers

We now have two hummingbirds in our yard, a female Ruby-throated, which Fred banded a while ago and a newly arrived male Black-chinned. This is the first Black-chinned we have had in our yard. At first the female Ruby wasn't as impressed with his arrival as we were but they seem to be getting along as I write. I put an extra feeder out so they wouldn't have to compete as much especially since the freeze pretty much killed all our flowering hummer plants! Hopefully he will stay so that FRed can slap a band on him next weekend.

Andy