Tag Archives: Mockingbird

Another Visit to Amnicola Marsh #Birding #Wetlands

A doctor’s appointment took me out to the foot of Missionary Ridge on Thursday morning, and since I was out in the vicinity I decided to make another visit to the Amnicola Marsh along the Chattanooga Riverwalk.  I was hoping to get a closer look at the Hooded Mergansers we’d spotted a week earlier.  And while those ducks were there, I once again proved that not only am I a rookie as a birder, I’m still a rookie as a bird photographer.  I can get frame-filling photos of birds that act like wildflowers – allowing me to approach closely and spend some time taking several photos, as did the Canada Goose and the Mockingbird shown below.

 

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis by USWildflowers, on Flickr

Canada Goose – Branta canadensis

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Northern Mockingbird #Birds #WingsOnWednesday

The “Northern” in “Northern Mockingbird” (Mimus polyglottos) seems strange for a bird now found throughout the United States, especially since in the past the range did not include the northern part of the country. Turns out, however, that there is a cousin species, the Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus,) found from southern Mexico down into Brazil, so I assume that would be the “southern” mockingbird.

In any case, this bird, full of personality, is one of our year-round residents. This one was on a post at Reflection Riding Aboretum in Hamilton County, Tennessee on January 3 of this year, and appears to be enjoying a meal of an insect.

Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos