As long as round-ups are making the rounds, here’s my round-up of my ten favorite bird photos from 2009. Chosen either for quality or for the excitement of the bird itself, these are the top ten I’ll hold near and dear to my heart for years to come.

1. The star of the show at the Midwest Birding Symposium was this Kirtland’s Warbler, a rare and endangered species that breeds in the upper Midwest. Imagine my surprise, shock, and delight when festival organizers said this shot was likely the best captured during the festival-it’s been requested for use by several entities. This life-bird Kirtland’s Warbler brought tears to my eyes, and I was lucky enough to share that sighting with my friend Krissie, who is a new birder. This was practically the first bird she saw after learning how to use binoculars. Talk about spark bird!

Kirtland's Warbler (East Harbor State Park, western Ohio)

2. My life Scissor-tailed Flycatcher caught a southwest wind and wound up in central New York! His mission? To show that dreams really DO come true (Scissor-taileds are the only birds that show up in my dreams) and to signal, without a doubt, that I MUST attend the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival of Texas come hell or high water. And as you’ll soon see, my camera was grateful for this event.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NY)

3. While down at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, I photographed several life birds during my photography workshop at the Martin Ranch. This Pyrrhuloxia was one of my favorite shots.

My life Pyrrhuloxia at Martin Ranch (Rio Grande Valley, Texas)

4. While sitting quietly in a blind on the Martin Ranch, several Green Jays swooped in and out to grab nuts and go. They are gaudy, beautiful, feisty creatures. The closer I examine their colors, the more in awe  I become. Sitting still in a blind allowed me to find the appropriate exposure and focus settings and take hundreds upon hundreds of shots.

Green Jay (Rio Grande Valley, Texas)

5. Until the RGV, Vermilion Flycatcher had been on my most wanted list for YEARS, mostly due to the photographic artistry of those whose images show up on full-page spreads in birding magazines. It’s an unbelievably attractive red-and-black bird that is deceptively hard to photograph. The red is so intense that it easily saturates the image – I’m still working on solutions to this problem. This particular fellow was eating spiders and capturing insects from its tall perch in full view of our party at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas. 

Vermilion Flycatcher at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (Rio Grande Valley, Texas)

6. Sometimes a pretty bird sits pretty in perfect light, allowing you a pretty good shot. This Tri-colored Heron was extremely cooperative as it sat on a huge pipe in one of the ponds at Viera Wetlands in Brevard County, Florida. These birds remind me of 1920s flappers.

Tri-colored Heron (Viera Wetlands, FL)

7. What some images lack in dazzle they make up for in novelty. This rare Lawrence’s Warbler paid visit to a nearby natural area last spring. The experience of learning about and searching for that bird was quite something. The LAWA is part of the Vermivora complex, and is a hybridized form of Golden-winged and Blue-winged warblers.

Lawrence's Warbler (Rush Oak Openings, near Rochester, NY)

8. The story of Eastern Bluebirds nesting in our backyard box was a classic csae of “If you build it, they will come.” It was an intensely loving and intimate experience to host this pair of bluebirds. I watched and waited for them daily while photographing their every move. Here, the female has just removed a fecal sack from the box. I love the gleam in her eye, and still remember how the sunlight reflected off the fecal sac when she brought it out. I submitted this to the Birders Who Blog, Tweet, and Chirp photo contest and WON! (Thanks if you voted for it!) 

Eastern Bluebird (Rochester, NY)

Would you mind if I inserted an (8.5) here? Considering how long I waited for nesting bluebirds and how immensely rich it was to watch them grow a family, this image of their nestlings ranks high on my 2009 list of faves. 

Eastern Bluebird nestlings (Rochester, NY)

9. I love several things about this shot of Delaware’s first-ever Roseate Spoonbill. First, I was lucky enough to see the bird. Second, I love how feminine and graceful the bird looks as it flies off the ground into a nearby tree. Third, this sighting was a perfect case where social networking can put you on a bird faster than a New York minute. Let me add a fourth: Birder’s World published this in their October, 2009 issue in the sightings section. 

Roseate Spoonbill, Delaware's First Record!

10. My best image of the year, in terms of quality, is this Scaled Quail. A covey advanced on the scene while I was huddled in the photo blind during the Martin Ranch photo safari in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The photo opps were just dazzling, resulting in at least one publishable shot.

Scaled Quail at Martin Ranch (Rio Grande Valley, Texas)

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Delaware’s first record Roseate Spoonbill (June 28,2009).

Here’s a reason to use Twitter: it can put you onto a rare bird faster than a New York minute!

The first Roseate Spoonbill ever to grace Delaware’s shores was observed the Sunday before my trip to Maryland. The bird—believed to be a first-year juvenile —was first observed in Fenwick Island (Assawoman Bay) in the extreme southeast corner of the state, close enough to the MD line to make MD listers green with envy (and hoping for a strong north wind).

Being from the Great Lakes, I knew nothing of this rarity. But as I neared southern Delaware, I happened to have a brief Twitter exchange with birder extraordinaire Jeff Gordon as I passed close to his hometown.

After asking him to peek over his fence and wave (metaphorically speaking) he immediately said, in 140 characters or less, “Howdy! You will be passing by a long-staying Black-bellied Whistling-Duck & Delaware’s 1st Roseate Spoonbill. Want info?”

Well, do ducks fly?

Roseate Spoonbill inhabits the warm waters of the Gulf Coast and its range extends to South America. The species is a colonial tree nester and uses its spoon-shaped bill to strain food from the water.  This is another species whose populations were threatened in the late 1800s when its feathers were indiscriminately used to adorn ladies hats and fans. Luckily, conservation efforts made its population rebound, and it is no longer a threatened species.

The bird was only 15 minutes away, so on Sunday, June 28th, I followed Jeff’s excellent directions to the bird, which was hunkered down below some pines in a private residence just behind the Catch 54 Restaurant in Fenwick Island.

Sporting a pretty pink wash on its sides, the eyes of this young spoonbill beamed a clown-like innocence. In some photos, he is almost smiling…On site I ran into another birder, Dirk Robinson, who traveled from Pennsylvania. We watched the bird for an hour or more as it rested in the company of Canada Geese. We appreciated that it was tired after a long, wayward journey, but we also hoped it would alter its resting/preening posture long enough to see some field marks. 

Suddenly, we were startled by the synchronous flush of wings. A large dog flushed the entire gaggle–including the spoonbill, which circled a few times before landing on an osprey platform. Luckily, the bird held some fidelity to its original spot and eventually returned. The scare didn’t affect the bird for long, and this gave us an opportunity to see it in flight.

At one point, the bird flew up into a pine tree, where it proceeded to nibble on cones and needles:

Maybe the spoonbill was enjoying the tasty sap or scraping its tongue? If you have any ideas, let me know.

On June 19th, Virginia recorded its first-ever Roseate Spoonbill in Augusta County. Could this be the same individual? 

In any case, it was a privilege to see this wandering wader and I’m grateful to JeffGyr and to the network of birders on Twitter that makes spontaneous rare bird chases like this possible.

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