Greetings everyone! Been a while since I’ve had the chance to get back to the blog. We had a nice ceremony in remembrance of my Mother a couple of weeks ago and now moving into the will and possessions phase. This part is going to take a bit of time and effort to get through, not to mention a bit of travel being that she still lived where we were born and raised. I definitely want to extend our sincere appreciation for the outpouring of blessings and support we have received from our blogsphere family. As saddening as the ordeal was, it was comforting to know you were thinking of us.
Unfortunately, I am waaaay behind on my postings, not to mention the backlog of post reading on the blogs I follow. Fingers crossed I can get caught up quickly. Getting back into the swing of things, thought I’d bring you an intriguing featured feathered friend.
Our lime green specimen comes to you courtesy of last year’s trip to the Alabama Gulf Shores. More specifically, the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island. I’ve posted numerous times on the incredible finds during our April stay on that small piece of land.
Hit the jump to read more about our lime colored discovery.
We were aided, in part, thanks to perfectly timing the migration fallout that hit the day before we got there. Huge rains had battered the coastline for roughly two weeks before we made it down there. Actually, “before” is probably not the right word as the storms were actually extended northwards causing us to fight the bad weather the entirety of the way down. Apologies to Mother Nature for all the harsh language directed her way as we mucked around the stopover campsites – little did we know at the time this was going to turn out in our favor once we finally floated down to the island.
Those that have been following the blog are also aware my brother Ron had the opportunity to travel down and join us for our stay on the island. Like kids in a candy store, we couldn’t contain our excitement thanks to the multitude of +1s we tallied up during the relatively brief stay.
This particular specimen was a bit of a “fools gold” for us. We had just finished up capturing our first ever Worm-Eating Warbler (link here). Still recall what a struggle that was to get that elusive migrator in the tin. Arms felt like Jello trying to keep the focus on the tiny Warbler as it darted in and out of the Saw Palmetto that lined the Audubon trails – guess technically that is called Serenoa Repens based on a side comment I “saw” while trying to remember how to spell Palmetto.
The task of getting the Worm tinned required us to backtrack quite a ways down the trail. As we tried to re-navigate the flooded trail, Ron noticed this feathered lime creature snacking on a clump of vegetation about 5 feet off the trail. Neither of us had any clue at the time what it was beyond an instant remedy for my sore arms.
Suddenly forgetting how drained my arms were from the Worm, I went to work trying to get this assumed +1 in the tin. Like the other elusive Warbler, this specimen thought we were playing a game of hide-n-seek. Now you see me, now you see a bunch of leaves, “there it is” became past tense as soon as it left my lips. Ron would start snapping when it came into view from his angle, while I internally begged for a bottle of RoundUp. A couple of snaps in and the roles reversed. It didn’t help the day was long and our exposure triangle was skewed to high ISO and turtle shutter speeds. We eventually got something in the tin and decided it was time to call it a day. Needless to say, the arms immediately went about punishing us for the neglect.
In the end (see what I did there ha), we learned that our late day +2 was really a +1. After struggling to identify Mr. Lime, we asked another birder if they could help. Studying it for … oh, maybe a microsecond.. the birder declared it was a female Painted Bunting (link here), dashing our plans of being able to name this never before seen species as the “Lime Brironan” . In my defense, this specimen was far more brilliant than any of the other females I’ve encountered. Although not a +1 for either of us, it still was the closest I’ve ever been to a Painted. Also means Ron and I will be spared embarrassment in the future now knowing this isn’t a new discovery. Problem is, I do not know what to do with all the shirts we had rush ordered off of Cafe Press – “What’s cooler than a Brironan? – The guys that discovered it”. Oh well, guess they’ll be good for washing the cars.
Life Intrigued 