On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
It’s Albatrossity Monday! On Tuesday we see Mendocino, this time through JanieM‘s eyes. BillinGlendale will be taking us to Highland Park, but he said something about Chicken Boy, so I’m not sure what to think about that! Get out your climbing boots because Wag is taking us to the Elk Range to close out the week.
Albatrossity
This concludes our series of avian portraits for the spring 2022 season. Stay tuned for some bird images from the Sandhills of Nebraska, which we visited in May 2022, and from the shortgrass prairies of Montana, where we will be heading in late June!
Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra), female in alternate (breeding) plumage
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), female in alternate (breeding) plumage
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchis crinitus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), molting into alternate (breeding) plumage
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), male in alternate (breeding) plumage
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata coronata), male still molting into alternate (breeding) plumage
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) with orb-weaving spider for breakfast
Here’s a hint for what’s to come for the next couple of Mondays. Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata), perched on a fencepost in the Nebraska Sandhills
raven
Intense!
Rob
I’m feeling like the plover this morning
R-Jud
That redstart is just so adorable.
HinTN
So, you can hunt an actual Snipe! The evidence in the picture to the contrary, are they nocturnal?
Great portraits. Thanks
Albatrossity
@HinTN: Yes, you can hunt them in many states, but no, they are not nocturnal. Here is the season information for Kansas.
09/01/2022 – 12/16/2022
I personally don’t know anyone who does hunt them, however. They are small, and have a very twisty flight pattern!
JPL
Who doesn’t want an orb weaving spider for breakfast. yum!
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Makes me glad I made biscuits this morning.
HinTN
@Albatrossity: When I was a Tenderfoot the older scouts organized a Snipe Hunt. This, of course, took place at night and was an occasion for all manner of hijinks. Somehow, we never located an actual Snipe but there was “evidence” that such a creature existed. Snipe Hunt entered the lexicon as an impossible task, perhaps having some anchor in your description of their flying patterns.
Wag
Love the Titmouse. Ready for some breakfast!
Albatrossity
@HinTN: Yeah, those practical jokes with the gunny sacks to catch a snipe were pretty widespread. And it might actually be easier to get one with a gunny sack than with a shotgun; either one would be a challenge. Especially at night!
SteveinPHX
I enjoy starting off my week with these photos. Thank you!
zhena gogolia
Love the vireo!
lefthanded compliment
A lovely way to start the week!
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
All great to look at as always and snipe is my favs!
p.s. Ask the plover to rinse his bill! I want to reach out with a napkin and do it for him. :-)
Torrey
Amazing pictures, as always. I do feel a little sorry for the spider, though. But just a little. Tufted titmice (titmouses?) must keep up their strength. Thank you for sharing these incredible shots.
J R in WV
Does that Wilson’s Snipe even have two legs? I don’t see any sign of the other one at all.
These close-up portraits are so great. Amazing work, thanks again for sharing with us, the few jackals~!!~
StringOnAStick
Gorgeous photos, as always. I’m glad you show so much alternate plumage, that really opened my eyes to realizing how different it can look within the same species.
I got a marginal photo of what turned out to be a red breasted sap sucker near a wild and scenic designated part of the Deschutes river last week. When I looked it up in my Sibley’s guide I discovered that the range maps say they are rare here, so I saw and identified my first rare bird.
Albatrossity
@J R in WV: it’s a yogi snipe, in tree pose.