Black Billed Cuckoo

   As I said in the last post, the birding highlight of my three days away was a  Black Billed Cuckoo that was just amazing. I've only seen a handful of Black Billed (and for that matter Yellow Billed) Cuckoos. Mostly, I get partial views of them hiding in trees. The bird deserved its own post

   While walking along the road at Plum Island a group of birders were standing at a road crossing of a trail. One told me that a cuckoo was in the bushes. He showed me where to look and sure enough there it was. It was partially obscured by foliage but a step to the right or left and a slight bend and you could see the whole bird. I was quite happy to see it.

                                                  Below is the view I first got of the cuckoo.

  After a few minutes I decided I'd move off and let others get the same view of the bird. I sat on a guard rail and hoped that when it eventually flew it may land in the tree in front of me. Well, it did. It landed on an exposed branch and sat there about thirty seconds. I started shooting my camera hoping the light was good.  The photos below are what I got. I feel very grateful for the experience

   Below is one of the photos cropped. I prefer to post my photos without any enhancements. Even if I could post a nicer photo if I crop it or edit it, I'd rather post the raw honest photo. However, in this case I figured I'd quickly crop one of the above photos. 

Cropped