Ocracoke Waves on Squarespace

New Mayor, Bluewater CoveI take a lot of bird pictures, and I stalk some good sized birds like Great Blue Herons, but until April 26, 2011 I had never been challenged by a bird.

I have spooked birds, and I have seen some mocking birds buzz our cats.  There has even been a time or two when Canada geese thought about challenging me but decided against it.

All that changed on Tuesday, April 26.  I walked the length of our neighborhood's boardwalk and managed to take a few pictures of a young great white egret.  He eventually flew over to our boat ramp, and I circled back around to get some additional photos.  I was just about to step into a pine needle mulch bed and walk behind the egret when I heard a very excited bird.

It took me a minute to figure out that the bird was at my feet and was daring me to come forward.

I was startled enough that the first photo that I took wasn't even in focus which was unfortunate since the Killdeer who confronting me was all puffed up at that time.   The Killdeer basically stared me down, and I changed course.

I still got my other pictures of the great egret, but I also learned that it is best to respect a Killdeer standing its ground.

Having a neighborhood Killdeer is actually pretty neat.  Yesterday after a thunderstorm, I watched as the Killdeer bathed in some puddles.

Earlier in the week I watched her do some test nests, and as soon as I mowed my yard, the Killdeer moved in to see if there were any fresh insects.

I will be on the watch for the new "Mayor" of the neighborhood on my morning walks.  This year they have yielded an amazing number of birds including most recently a beautiful Prothonotary Warbler.

Recently I have seen lots of smaller birds like bluebirds, but in mid-winter most of our visitors were larger birds like pelicans and great blue herons.

I am very happy to live in a spot where I can be enjoying birds even on the way to get the morning newspaper.  Even as weather pattterns change, and summer is  around the corner, I expect that I will keep seeing some neat feathered friends.

Any if things slow down in the neighborhood, I can always head over to the shore.  It's only minutes away.  With all the water we have in the area, you usually can find some birds somewhere.

This weekend we even enjoyed look at birds at the new Emerald Isle boat ramp.  Besides a squadron or two of swallows, we saw a Greater Yellowlegs with a baby and plenty of redwing blackbirds.

The good thing about birds aside from our pushy Mayor is that you never know what you will see when you open the door in the morning.  It is a great treat.

I wonder if I could get the "Mayor" to run for president of the Homeowners Association.  She might make the clowns building next to me clean up their mess.