Orange-ya Glad!

Do you remember the old joke...

"Knock-knock- "
"Who's there?"
"Apple."
And after repeating this three times the answer becomes-
"Orange you glad I didn't say apple?"

The Weedpicker took a well deserved break from the caterpillar farm today and struck out to Lorain with some "birdy" friends in search for a rare "orange" bird, the Cinnamon Teal.

Here we are, 15 or so avid birders looking for a Cinnamon Teal- without a trace of "cinnamon" on it. We found the little traveller, an Ohio rarity, but it was too far out for my camera's focus. And frankly, it pretty well blended in with the other brown and tan birds in fall-plumage. It was certainly not the showiest bird I have "chased" but it was a great deal of fun to find, none-the-less.


Can you find the Monarchs?
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While wandering around the impoundment, I noticed Monarch butterflies (another shade of orange) streaming into a shallow area protected from the wind. They must have been drafting-off the north wind for their migration flight across Lake Erie. They gathered, nearly undetectable, in ever-growing groups resting from the flight on dried brush and "weeds".

Each time a new one came into land, a quick flash of wings signaled the location of the "flock". Now scroll back up to the previous photo to see if you can pick out those same closed butterflies on the stems.
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THE MOST RECENT Audubon Magazine features a Kenn Kaufman review of R.M. Pyles' new book Mariposa Road (see the side bar photo in this blog) about a butterfly "Big Year." In the article he states, "..monarchs are honking big butterflies, tough and adaptable." And once you see these not-so-delicate creatures flying in from their Lake Erie crossing, you'll understand what he means!

And a Rufous Hummingbird (nearly orange in color) was our last stop of the day. This brilliantly plumed fellow has been visiting a hummingbird feeder near Kidron, Ohio for over a month. Normally a western bird, we are not sure why he is here, unless he just has a powerful urge for "Amish essen".

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So, there was my day full of wonderfully "orange" things. Aren't you glad I shared them with you?