Photo of the Week: Juvenile Red-Winged Blackbird

A streaky dark brown bird with pale eyebrow and orange/buff spot on the shoulder perches on the gray-weathered wood of the boardwalk, muted cattail reeds and a blurry male Red-winged Blackbird with bright red epaulet on its shoulder in the background.

When it comes to birding and bird identification, I seem to learn something new every day. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about birding, and it keeps me humble.

I saw this beautiful bird at Kensington Metropark, perched on the boardwalk railing as I was searching for the elusive Virgina Rail in the mass of cattails.

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Photo of the Week: Pileated Woodpecker

Large black woodpecker with red-crested white-striped head and heavy gray bill perches on side of brown-barked tree with long claw feet.

It’s not often I’m able to see a Pileated woodpecker close up.

They’re usually flying away from me, as I view white patches on their underwings and typical woodpecker undulating flight.

Or I hear their loud drilling in the tree tops as I peer through shadowed leaves for a glimpse of the almost crow-sized black red-crested bird with white stripes on its head.

This weekend I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

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Photo of the Week: Semipalmated Sandpiper at Erie Marsh Preserve

A small brown and white shorebird with white underbelly, small head, short neck, and dark bill pauses in the shallow water as it forages.

We were into our second hour of birding this week at Erie Marsh Preserve before we found a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Once my birding friend and I found one, we discovered another two dozen (and possibly more!) Semipalmated Sandpipers foraging in an adjacent mudflat at the marsh.

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