Owls, and Crossbills, and Hawks, OH MY!

My regular birding report has really been lagging behind and it's my own fault. I hope my "Creepy Bird of the Week" series is a good filler, it's certainly fun for me to dig up the ugliest birds I can find.

I've been out birding a lot since my last report, even finding some new areas to explore that have yielded interesting sightings. A few weeks ago I was looking for Green-winged Teal in a new area I had been exploring for several days in a row. There are pools of water throughout this area and the water is brackish there with pockets of sun shining through the dense forest like spotlights, which makes the teals look like the are in black water. It's a very neat look, and I had shot a hen in that water which turned out really great. So I went back to try to get the drake in that same type of scene. Well, in my search for Teal, I heard a Robin giving off some alarm chirps perched on a branch

Creepy Bird of the Month #2: Potoo

Welcome to another installment of Creepy Bird of the Month. This week we're going to take a look at a truly grotesque bird, the Potoo. Now this creeper looks like something straight out of a muppet horror movie. With it's big yellow, bulging eyes and gaping mouth, it just might take flight in your nightmares. And if that wasn't disturbing enough, it's got a seriously eerie, spooky call to accompany it's ghoulish looks.

Creepy Bird of the Month #1: The Shoebill

Welcome to the first installment of what will be a weekly blog post. The Creepy Bird of the Month takes a look at some of the truly ugly and sometimes, downright evil looking birds from around the world.

The creepy bird to have the honor of being the inaugural post is the Shoebill.
The Shoebill (Balaeniceps Rex) also known as Whalehead or Shoe-billed Stork, is a very large, Stork-like bird from Africa. This creeper is truly wicked looking. With a HUGE bill and mangy body, this thing looks like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock classic.