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BS: Backyard Bird List 2017
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Subject: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 08 Jan 17 - 12:30 PM Although most of the interested parties no longer post to Mudcat, this traditionalist will keep it going. All bird observations welcomed. Rules for your actual backyard list, as originally established by Raptor, are as follows: You can list any birds you can see while standing on your own property/lot, including fly-overs, or birds you can with surety identify by their call that you hear from you yard, even if you can't sight them. If you have a favorite birdwatching spot elsewhere or an office window, can have a list for them also, but the idea is what birds do you see/hear in a specific location/habitat. Last year was the first time in several years I have not kept a backyard list, so nothing to report for 2016. I had to take a hiatus from filling the birdfeeders for several months due to being in a wheelchair, then a walker, then a cane, and simply got out of the habit after that. So for over a year the feeders were empty. Just started filling them again when I retired in December. Started a new list Jan. 1 for 2017. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 08 Jan 17 - 12:34 PM Good for you, Janie. I no longer feel at all comfortable posting to MC, but may try this with you. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 08 Jan 17 - 12:55 PM This morning here in SW Florida off my lanai which backs up to a stand of cypress: Red Shouldered Hawk 5 or 6 Blue Jays |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 17 - 01:43 PM Been stuck indoors with winterly poorliness since New Year's Day so haven't seen much, but my back garden feeding zone has been kept stocked. So here, so far, four miles from Bude, half a mile from the coast: Blackbirds a-plenty Blue tits ditto Great tits One coal tit Robins including one exceptionally friendly one Sparrows Dunnocks Chaffinches Greater spotted woodpecker Magpies Common crows Jackdaws Fieldfares We are bemoaning the absence this winter of long-tailed tits. There will be more little dinosaurs out there but I haven't had much chance to see them yet as my kitchen window on the world seems permanently steamed up! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jim Carroll Date: 08 Jan 17 - 02:23 PM Saw a goldfinch yesterday - hope the feckin' Sparrowhawk stays away Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 17 - 08:25 PM I know sparrowhawks can be a bit of a bugger but they are beautiful birds and they're only being sparrowhawks. Forgot to mention our overwintering blackcap. Until recently you'd never see them staying the winter. Global warming! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 09 Jan 17 - 02:43 AM I am expecting our count to reduce this year as we now have two cats. Having a one acre garden set amongst sheep grazed fields with views for several miles does mean that the area I observe will exceed their territory but I probably won' t see the small brown jobs! Not much to see so far this year: Blackbirds Robins Field fairs Black-headed gulls Common gulls Carrion crows Rooks Starlings Grey Heron Robin |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Rusty Dobro Date: 09 Jan 17 - 03:17 AM Not much yet: Blackbirds House Sparrows Blue Tits Great Tits Dunnock Collared Dove Wood Pigeon Robins Chaffinch Rooks Various gulls (after working in a dockyard for 32 years I tend not to notice them!) My full garden list staggered past the 40 species mark in November with the arrival of a goldcrest. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 09 Jan 17 - 03:42 AM I forgot the Magpies. Perhaps because we usually hear them thumping about on the bedroom roof first thing in the morning and they clear off after breakfast time. We do have foxes in the next field and rabbits and the occasional badger, all seen already this year, it's not all birds! Robin |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 13 Jan 17 - 09:39 AM I'll give it a go, Janie. January 2017 22 species to date: Bluebirds- usually 5-6, but yesterday an amazing flock of 50+ Bluejays Cardinals, Northern Chickadees, Black-capped Crows, American Doves, Mourning Eagles, Bald - At least three individuals Gulls, various Hawk, Coopers Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Goldfinches, American Geese, Canada Juncoes, Dark-eyed Nuthatches, Common Nuthatches, Red-breasted Owl, Barred Owl, Great-horned Ravens Robins, American Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Tree Starlings, European Titmice, Tufted Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 13 Jan 17 - 11:19 AM Drat- forgot to add Turkey, Wild. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 13 Jan 17 - 11:51 AM I much prefer Turkey, Wild to Crow, Old. At CREW Bird Rookery in North Naples, FL on 1/9/17: several Pied-billed Grebes Blue Heron Blue Heron (white morph) Little Blue Heron Least Bittern Green Heron Anhinga (male) Double-Crested Cormorant Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Large flock of Ibis with a few Limpkins Turkey Vultures Red Shouldered Hawk Red Shouldered Hawk (Florida Race) Snowy Egret Great Egret several Mallard Ducks |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Thompson Date: 13 Jan 17 - 12:08 PM Sparrows and various kinds of finches and pigeons in the garden, and blackbirds and magpies and the odd crow, and one happy day a sparrowhawk. Wrens and seagulls of various kinds and herons and occasionally an egret when I cycle down the river most days; my ambition is to see a kingfisher, but I've only ever seen one once, though this river is said to have lots of them. And otters, but I haven't seen them either. If anyone has any handy trick for catching sight of the little blue evanescences, I'd be grateful. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 13 Jan 17 - 04:57 PM So far: Robin, blue tit, great tit, wren, magpie, goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, blackbird, wood pigeon and I spotted one party of long tailed tits. I have seen a carrion crow on the field behind the house. I did see a goldcrest fairly recently but I can't be sure whether that was the tail end of 2016 rather than the start of this year. Heard is the tawny owl. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 13 Jan 17 - 06:17 PM If you know a patch of water where kingfishers are known, get yourself down there on a dry day that isn't windy. Don't bother with binoculars but sit somewhere and keep fairly still and focus on the middle distance with that relaxed feeling you get after making love. Kingfishers sit on quite low branches when they're in fishing mode and make sudden dives when they spot a fish, then back up to the bush. They also dart across the water in very straight lines very low down, very characteristic. In both cases you'll see that unmistakable flash of electric blue. If you're lucky you'll see where they land, then you can get a good view through your bins. They won't let you get too close but they're middlingly bold with people. All this is based on my many experiences of seeing them on Bude canal. I had to simulate the love-making bit in my head. I'm thinking of having it lowered. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Thompson Date: 14 Jan 17 - 12:08 AM Thanks, Steve, I'll try that. When spring comes in and the dawn is earlier, I'll hop off the bike and have a sit for a while, watching dreamily as instructed. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: mrdux Date: 14 Jan 17 - 01:48 AM since the first of the year, in a very cold Pacific Northwest urban garden (this week there's been more than a foot of snow on the ground, really unusual for these parts, so lots of action at the feeders): Bushtit Black-capped Chicadee Chestnut-backed chickadee Fox, song, golden- and white-crowned sparrows Lesser goldfinch Scrub jay Crow Hermit thrush Varied thrush Spotted towhee (used to be called rufous-sided) Northern flicker Anna's hummingbird Oregon junco Golden-crowned kinglet Ruby-crowned kinglet Hutton's vireo and flying overhead Cooper's hawk Red-tailed hawk and a whole mess of Canada geese. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Thompson Date: 14 Jan 17 - 05:35 AM Oh, yeah, geese - a skein of them passed me as I cycled the other day, going by far above, chatting sociably, apparently heading for the Booterstown bird sanctuary. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 14 Jan 17 - 01:01 PM As of today. (And I probably won't see more than a few more species other than these from my yard for the rest of the year.) 2017 Backyard Bird List American Crow American Goldfinch Bluejay Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Chipping Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Downy Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird European Starling Fox Sparrow House Finch Mourning Dove Northern Flicker Northern Mockingbird Red-Bellied Woodpecker Red-tailed Hawk Rufus Sided Tohee Song Sparrow Tufted Titmouse Turkey Vulture White Breasted Nuthatch White Throated Sparrow |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: mrdux Date: 15 Jan 17 - 01:18 AM . . .and today, a downy woodpecker at the suet feeder and a couple house finches on some dried flower heads. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: ragdall Date: 15 Jan 17 - 05:44 AM I'm in awe of most of you and the variety of birds you have at home. My 2016 photo list of birds in my backyard is here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskrX12z9 Others I didn't photograph include, Red-breasted nuthatch and American Crow. So far this year, I've seen: Black-capped Chickadees rags |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 15 Jan 17 - 12:29 PM On a walk through a marsh and a pine flatwood Estero, FL 1-15-2017: 3 Crested Cara Cara Blue-gray Gnat Catchers 2 Red Shouldered Hawk 2 Pileated Woodpecker Pine Warblers Numerous Black and Turkey Vultures Anghingas Double Crested Cormorant Red Bellied Wood pecker Cattle Egrets Great Egret Snowy Egrets Least Bittern Tri-color Heron Great BLue Herons Little Blue Herons Limpkins Ibises Osprey Palm Warbler American Kestrel Carolina Wrens Belted Kingfisher Wood Stork Pied-bill Grebes 3-4 Eastern Phoebes... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 15 Jan 17 - 12:41 PM I should add that this was not a typical morning for me, the birds were out and active and I saw a lot of smaller ones that I couldn't positively ID. Great thread BTW. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 15 Jan 17 - 01:33 PM It seems like we have more pileated woodpeckers this year than in any of the previous 20+ years we've lived in this patch of woods. It's rare to go more than a few minutes without hearing them calling or drumming. Occasionally, we'll actually see one, but mostly we hear them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 16 Jan 17 - 06:49 AM I can add wren, song thrush and three big, fat wood pigeons to my list. The lack of greenfinches and long-tailed tits this winter is a bit worrying. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 16 Jan 17 - 06:51 AM I keep forgetting to mention starlings. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: ragdall Date: 16 Jan 17 - 09:43 PM I forgot to add the Northern Shrike that was on the cedar hedge along my back fence, Jan. 5th. It appeared to be eating something it had caught. Whatever it had was hidden from my view. My backyard was uncharacteristically silent and birdless at the time. How could I have forgotten that? It was only the second time I've seen a shrike in the yard in the almost 45 years I've lived in this house. It was late in the day, too little light to get a good photo. rags |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 17 Jan 17 - 01:31 PM Adding Yellow Rumped Warbler and American Robin. I wondered why I was seeing the Yellow Rumped Warbler - then changed my suet feeder out for a caged one. Still no pine warbler spotted - could be just because I have missed it or could be because I have had to take down a couple of tall white pines in the past year. Robins are a mystery to me. Many of them stay here year-round according to what I read on local birding sites, but generally speaking, I don't see them from late November until mid January - not in my yard or anywhere else locally that I travel, and when I start seeing them in January, is on warm days when the soil is damp and probably some earthworms are stirring. Where are they lurking in the meantime? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 17 Jan 17 - 01:39 PM Janie, robins need soft protein and fruit. If you'd like to try to cater to their needs, there are some good notions here: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/unpave/robinwinter.html |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 17 Jan 17 - 03:48 PM Down here in South Florida Robins show up in late winter/early spring and then are gone. You'll occasionally see them in flocks rooting around in yards but rarely solo or in pairs which is how we used to view them up north (MD, VA, DE). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 17 Jan 17 - 04:06 PM Probably been commented on most years but our European Robin is quite a different creature to the American Robin Ours, where I am in the UK are an all year round bird. They can be associated with winter but also can for example be known later in the year keeping an eye on a gardener in case a nice morsel is dug up. I believe they can be quite territorial so while you might see a group after fledging you'd not expect to see a gang of invaders (like our long tailed tits) Individuals can become quite bold and develop some sort of "friendship" with people. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 17 Jan 17 - 04:24 PM We used to identify our general geographical location for that reason, Jon. Janie and I are talking about the same critter. I do also enjoy the wee European robins when I'm in their territory. I should add not only turkeys, but also American robins (thrush family) to my list. One of the mature eagles cruised around over the orchard this afternoon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 17 Jan 17 - 04:32 PM And one of the immature bald eagles just cruised down low over the orchard. Mourning doves had gathered and now have scattered. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 18 Jan 17 - 05:14 AM We rarely (here in Ascot UK) see a thrush, except in very cold winter but there have been a pair here this week taking advantage of our extra food. Although we can nearly always see a red kite or two soaring overhead we haven't been able to add them to our BTO survey data as they haven't been in the garden. We were please yesterday when one, mobbed by jackdaws, settled in one of our trees for a few seconds, so counted as a Garden Birdwatch sighting. RtS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 18 Jan 17 - 05:53 AM The UK gets a considerable influx of robins from colder eastern European areas in winter which could explain their association with Christmassy times. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 18 Jan 17 - 05:56 AM A few months ago I spotted a red kite whilst stuck in the M62 roadworks near Manchester. When I checked on it, I found that it doesn't often turn up in that area. Maybe it's spreading. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Rusty Dobro Date: 19 Jan 17 - 03:51 AM Definitely spreading, Steve. They're now a regular sight in Suffolk, joining the buzzards which have become widespread in the last few years. The rooftops of my semi-suburban village are currently being visited by a grey heron, which adds an exotic touch and sometimes brings traffic to a standstill. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 19 Jan 17 - 05:01 AM My neighbour spotted a red kite up here in Rossendale last year so they are heading north as well. Robin |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 20 Jan 17 - 06:35 PM Ah, I'll look out for kites next time I take me mum for a drive through Greenmount (stopping at the Red Lion for a bite, as we do) up over Owd Betts! Got our first long-tailed tit today. They usually pile in as a little mob so maybe the others will show up soon. A huge great pheasant was scoffing all the bird food I'd thrown out too. He tried to hide behind a bush when he saw me coming but forgot to hide about a foot of his tail, silly bugger. Don't you just love 'em! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 21 Jan 17 - 05:45 AM No redpolls or siskins yet this year. RTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 21 Jan 17 - 06:19 AM Male Saw-whet owl has returned to claim his breeding territory. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 21 Jan 17 - 08:23 AM On a bike ride around King's Lake on Thursday: 3-4 eastern bluebirds (not a common siting for me) white-eyed vireo pine warblers Numerous herons, American coots, mallards, gallinules anhinga white pelicans osprey |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 12:16 PM Long-tailed tits are back in numbers at last today. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 21 Jan 17 - 12:30 PM Our first House sparrows at this location- not welcome here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 01:19 PM House sparrows are extremely vulnerable in the UK. They are now absent from many urban areas. Up close they are very attractive birds and are interesting to study. We call them "the mob" when they show up in numbers, about once or twice a day, and we love 'em. We wouldn't let the builder seal off our eaves as we wanted them to carry on nesting in our roof. This afternoon a great fit swooped in on a peanut feeder and physically knocked a coal tit clean off it. Bully! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 01:20 PM Great tit! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 21 Jan 17 - 02:14 PM I know, Steve, and I wish we could send you those that were released and have reproduced like the proverbial rabbits over here. They kill bluebirds, and that we won't allow. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 21 Jan 17 - 02:31 PM Behind our village shop is a small garden where the lady has lots of bird-feeders hanging from a long line. A huge privet hedge runs beside it and it's absolutely awash with house sparrows. Lovely to see! Do birds flying OVER the garden count? If so, we saw four beautiful swans with their long necks outstretched, followed by a large group of geese honking away, heading for our string of lakes. Then at the back was a large, tatty-looking heron with its legs dangling down. They always look like worn-out umbrellas. Norfolk people call them 'harnsers'. And leaving the village across the bridge we noticed a little egret (white thing like a small heron) down by the river. (Steve, sorry to hear you've been poorly. Hope you get better soon. Eliza.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 02:56 PM Thanks, Eliza. Mrs Steve and I have both been afflicted by this chesty bronchitis job. I'm a lot better now but still headachy (could explain why I'm so nasty to guests and Teribus 😂) Mrs Steve drowns out the telly when she has a coughing bout - completely RUINED my enjoyment of Graham Norton last night...NOT! Sparrows killing other birds?? Blimey, I'm just off to look that up. All they do on my patch is eat seeds me cost me money! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 02:58 PM ...and cost me money! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 21 Jan 17 - 03:13 PM Oooh, I had that a few weeks ago. I called it The Haunted Lung Disease. Only one side was affected, but the wheezing all night sounded like a cartoon ghost. (Sorry about thread drift) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 21 Jan 17 - 03:18 PM Cor, you do seem to have a problem with our house sparrows. They are not native to the US and that's the source of the problem. This end, they are in balance with our other birdlife. Thanks for prompting me to educate myself, maeve. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: keberoxu Date: 21 Jan 17 - 04:00 PM Yes, whenever I think of English sparrows coming across the Atlantic in the rigging of the ships, it reminds me of Captain Jack Sparrow and the fact that he won't stop making films. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: maeve Date: 21 Jan 17 - 04:15 PM No rigging involved: House sparrow history in North America Steve - Thanks for looking into the House sparrow conundrum. Yes, they are invaders, deliberately introduced- to our loss. They are not related to any native North American sparrow species. Senoufou - Welcome. As Janie stated in the first post, "You can list any birds you can see while standing on your own property/lot, including fly-overs, or birds you can with surety identify by their call that you hear from your yard, even if you can't sight them. If you have a favorite birdwatching spot elsewhere or an office window, can have a list for them also, but the idea is what birds do you see/hear in a specific location/habitat." First post for 2017 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: punkfolkrocker Date: 22 Jan 17 - 10:34 AM I just looked out the back kitchen window at what at first glance I thought was a mouse climbing inside a dead wall clinging bush.. it was a wren. Seldom ever see any birds in our back yard because this part of town centre is infested with cats and dominated in the air by seagulls and crows. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 04 Feb 17 - 11:04 AM Pine Siskins! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 04 Feb 17 - 01:12 PM Saw a solitary goldfinch this morning on our birdbath. Hope its mates are around somewhere, as we had a nice group of them last summer. We always chuck out scraps for the birds on to our back lawn, and are getting all the wrong birds coming down. Today it was about twenty huge and rather dominant seagulls. They aren't used to gardens at all, but hovered like drones until they plucked up the courage to land and grab stuff to swallow whole. They fiercely chased off some tatty-looking crows and three skinny starlings. After they'd gone, a robin and a male blackbird hoovered up the remaining scraps. Our conservatory windows are now covered in huge blobs of seagull poo, as is our car. Thanks guys! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 04 Feb 17 - 08:46 PM Bought a bag of "finch seed" from Wilko. Hey presto, it worked a treat. Within two minutes of throwing a handful on the ground we saw the first goldfinches we've seen in our garden for years. Our chaffinch count zoomed too. No sign of any greenfinches so far though. 😟 On the day of the RSPB garden bird count we had a visit from a bullfinch. That's just the third time in thirty years! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Rusty Dobro Date: 05 Feb 17 - 04:38 AM Apparently Japanese scientists have discovered that great tits can converse in joined-up sentences. This came as no surprise to me - every year at Great Garden Birdwatch time, they say, 'Right lads, off to the woods for a couple of days until it's all over.' |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 05 Feb 17 - 06:41 AM Rusty, I've heard that birds have 'local accents' and their sounds vary from one region to another. I wonder if Norfolk birds say, "Are yew oroit bwoy?" to each other? I often smile when I chuck food out for the birds. There's a group of crows hanging around and they seem to shout "Food! Food!" It's quite distinctive. My husband says I'm mad. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Thompson Date: 06 Feb 17 - 06:33 AM Lots of Brent geese around here at the moment; they flew in with all the latest gossip from Canada and Scandinavia. Unfortunately our neighbours in France and Britain are suffering a severe outbreak of avian flu; a few cases have been found in Ireland in whooper swans, which migrate from Iceland. Was watching the English (and increasingly British-nationalist) programme Countryfile last night; a lot of domestic fowl are now having to be reared under cover to keep them from wild birds, and they were theorising that bird flu might be becoming endemic in Britain, and that vaccination, which they said was currently forbidden in stocks reared to provide food to the public (not sure if they meant eggs or meat or both) might be a solution. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 06 Feb 17 - 07:10 AM On an early morning walk through the fog yesterday at Corkscrew Swamp, Immokalee, FL I snapped both an adult and a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron and a couple of large Pileated Woodpeckers along with lots of the usual subjects. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Steve Shaw Date: 06 Feb 17 - 07:23 AM A male pheasant, who we've named Phil, seems to have taken up semi-permanent residence outside the back door (where all our bird feeders are). Every time I go outside he affects to dash off into the bushes to hide, but most of his arse end is still sticking out! As soon as I chuck a few peanuts on the ground he's perfectly happy to come right up to my feet. Very endearing, and after all he's a very handsome chap. He can eat peanuts like they're going out of fashion though, and they're not cheap! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 06 Feb 17 - 08:39 AM In our last house (open fields and quite isolated) we had a phemale pheasant called Phergie. She too was tame and came up to our feet (should that be pheet?) in spite of our three cats sitting watching. We also had Mr Magniphicent, a superb male pheasant with shining copper/golden plumage, but he never seemed to phancy Phergie. I turned Countryfile over Thompson, as it upset me to see the poultry squashed together in cages and pens. I try to source local free-range eggs from our neighbours, but I suppose they too will need to watch out for avian flu. Sad state of affairs isn't it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 19 Apr 17 - 02:23 PM The Gray Catbirds are back. No common grackles yet but have seen a few Cowbirds. The Juncos headed north a few weeks ago as well as most of the White-throated sparrows, though a few of them stay year-round. That FB feature that shows posts from the past displayed a photo from 2 years ago of a red-headed woodpecker at my feeder. A rare sight. Had a juvenile who wintered here that one season and caught a picture of it just after it molted to mature red head and just before it moved on. For a couple of years a lone Rose-breasted grosbeak stopped over for a week about this time of year to load up on sunflower seed before continuing on it's way. No joy so far this year. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 26 Apr 17 - 07:54 PM Interesting. Still no grackles. Maybe because I have changed the suet feeders I use such that they can't get to the suet. The starling have apparently moved on to greener pastures. Hurray. My hummingbird feeder is lonely, but I really don't have other flowers planted or blooming in the yard that might attract them. Also moved it this year and the location may not be good. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: punkfolkrocker Date: 26 Apr 17 - 09:18 PM No penguins as of yet... But did see a black bird on the wall outside our kitchen window a couple of times last week.. which is a particularly exotic sighting in this part of the town centre... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 26 Apr 17 - 09:18 PM Today I noticed sparrows, cardinals and robins all band together to attack a Blue Jay that notoriously lays its egg in another bird's nest where the blue Jay chick murders the other chicks in that foreign nest. It was a multi species alliance against a common foe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 20 Jul 17 - 08:46 PM Pied wagtail round the back the other day. Also a blue tit in the living room. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 21 Jul 17 - 02:50 AM I was surprised and pleased to see about six tree sparrows in our front garden yesterday evening. And even more in a large privet hedge near the village shop. They're getting almost rare now, but here in Norfolk, they seem to be on the up and up! Jon, however did a blue tit get into your living room? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 21 Jul 17 - 03:18 AM Trough the patio door, Sen. We have had it wide open for hours on some of the warmer days. This one decided the way back out was through a skylight so we opened that for it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 21 Jul 17 - 07:02 AM Glad it got safely out again Jon. Our neighbour over-the-road has a 'tame' and cheeky blackbird. She offers it all sorts of good things, and it boldly comes into her kitchen and demands more. Now a robin has followed suit. Luckily she has no cats! But they do leave a bit of a mess sometimes (maybe a 'thank you' message?) The house martins are all over the place in our street and the close opposite. They zoom around at dusk hoovering up flying insects. Their young are now flying too. Hope they all make it safely back to Africa (in spite of the rotten 'sportsmen' with guns who pick them off en route!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 21 Jul 17 - 07:02 AM Trying to think of other birds. We had what I think must have been a juvenile magpie a few weeks ago. It certainly seemed inexperienced as it tried to fly onto our roof. There were 2 other magpies that appeared to be keeping watch from the trees and "chack chacking" away. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 21 Jul 17 - 10:42 PM The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have finally found the feeder. Having lots of fun watching fledgings of assorted species in the birdbath these days. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 22 Jul 17 - 03:09 AM Oh! Ruby-throated hummingbirds! I wish we had something exotic like that here in UK! I've just looked it up, and they're very bright and elegant. My mother used to spit (just a token one, not really!) when she saw a magpie on its own. 'One for sorrow' and all that. If you spit, it neutralises the curse. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 22 Jul 17 - 10:02 AM On an early morning walk through CREW Rookery swamp here in S.W. Florida saw a Barred Owl. A rare sighting for me. Also several Red Shouldered hawks, both adult and immature. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: punkfolkrocker Date: 22 Jul 17 - 10:14 AM I suspect that bloody ginger & white cat had our blackbird nest... not heard them for weeks... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 23 Jul 17 - 11:20 AM Late summer early fall we have gigantic buzzards sit at the crest of the roof. They are quite attention getting since they are 3 to 4 ft. tall. They don't choose our roof specifically but I noticed them here when a crowd formed in the front yard staring up. Further south I saw a huge white Crane who didn't mind me being just 10 feet away. I once saw a small bird with a needle like beak that looked out of breath. It looked like gills opened on each side of its neck. I dismiss that a bird can not have gills but I swear I could see the neck feathers open and close like breathing. Yesterday at noon I saw a 4 ft fox with a ball of white fur at the end of its tail saunter out of the backyard and cross the street from the side yard. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: punkfolkrocker Date: 23 Jul 17 - 12:34 PM all we have in this part of the UK is bloody cats and seagulls... 😣 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 23 Jul 17 - 12:41 PM I'm so jealous of all these folk from other countries who have such interesting and exotic birds. I'd love a massive vulture sitting on our roof hee hee. On the way out of the village this morning in the car, I 'pretend spat'. (A lone magpie was pecking at a sad pigeon carcass in front of us) My husband always smiles. He thinks white people are bonkers anyway, and this merely confirms it. Great honking overhead this evening as eight large geese flew past. Couldn't make out what type, as they were silhouetted against the evening sun. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 23 Jul 17 - 12:50 PM I'm assuming by the way that a four-foot high buzzard is also called a black vulture, but I'm not terribly au fait with foreign bird species! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 23 Jul 17 - 01:03 PM Down here in S.W. Florida, on the cusp of the Everglades, when you park at a trailhead the vultures sometimes light on your car hood and chew on your windshield gasket and occasionally your tires. The only remedy seems to be to stick plastic bags out your closed doors and hope it's windy enough to make them flap a bit and scare the birds off. Sometimes it works. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 23 Jul 17 - 03:41 PM Its not just one black buzzard, I should have mentioned its a flock of 3 or 4 at a time. We have hawks and eagles here too. I saw a large hawk swoop down and while in flight pick up a six foot snake and fly off with it. Almost every yard has a bunny sitting in it. Birds of prey are their only predator since there are no wolves. I have only seen one coyote here which was one helluva one off. I wish the beavers had right of way but park rangers move them once they start to change the forest to meadow. For a regular suburban street I am merely yards away from Rock Creek Park which was developed by Theodore Roosevelt. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 23 Jul 17 - 06:36 PM Better keep moving, Don, and showing signs of life so those big buzzards don't start getting ideas.☺️ I used to live in Kensington and bicycle through R.C. Park about 40 odd years ago. Lovely place. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 23 Jul 17 - 09:04 PM I use an electric bike I made. But I need a new one. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 24 Jul 17 - 03:58 AM Oooh I'd love a vulture on my car too! Very cool! But I suppose one doesn't want the windscreen wipers or tyres pecked to bits. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 24 Jul 17 - 07:20 AM Having a big Black Vulture perched on the hood of your car or truck is probably not as much fun as it sounds, Senoufou, especially when they use it for a latrine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 24 Jul 17 - 07:49 AM Yes gillymor, I suppose it could get a bit messy. But wouldn't it be beautifully intimidating for all those tailgaters and dangerous overtakers to see a humungous black vulture glaring at them from the bonnet of one's little Fiesta! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Senoufou Date: 24 Jul 17 - 07:52 AM By the way, when you mentioned Kensington, I thought, "My! Vultures in London!" When I looked it up, I saw there are several Kensingtons in USA. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 24 Jul 17 - 07:56 AM I have to admit that I'd give a Fiesta, thusly appointed, a pretty wide berth. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 24 Jul 17 - 07:57 AM That's Kensington, Maryland in Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, D.C. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 24 Jul 17 - 04:32 PM Kensington has a great reputation for reasons I do not understand . Next is Bethesda then Chevy Chase and if you have well over 100 million dollars you have a place in Potomac. Where it is not gated, there is roaming security. If I were stopped I could tell them I was bird watching and ask "Have you seen any vultures here"? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 24 Jul 17 - 06:26 PM Don, if you asked those security guys in Potomac "Have you seen any vultures here?" they probably thought you were talking about gun lobbyists.☺️ Kensington was a nice place to live but was nothing special, just a bunch of middle class neighborhoods and it's best feature was it's proximity to R.C. Park, IMO, but like I say that was almost 40 years ago. Maybe my departure sparked a gentrification movement.☺️ I was born in Bethesda at Suburban Hospital and grew up in Rockville and Wheaton and later spent a few years, on and off, in a communal house on a horse farm off River Road in Potomac before landing in Kensington. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 24 Jul 17 - 08:57 PM I've done both Wheaton and Rockville. This post is coming from inside your house ! 8^| |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 24 Jul 17 - 09:59 PM Interesting, they turned the old homestead into a halfway house for public exhibitionists long ago. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Donuel Date: 25 Jul 17 - 06:13 PM That's revealing. Anyone know of these birds with neck gill like feathers? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: gillymor Date: 25 Jul 17 - 07:10 PM Funny, vultures closeup on a blustery day with wind-ruffled feathers do appear to have gills. I'm not sure if it's something they do voluntarily. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Jon Freeman Date: 26 Sep 17 - 08:39 PM Sparrowhawk spotted at bird tables by visitor on Sat 23 Sept. Not sure that is why its been so quiet the last few days or whether it is still around. Have had a friendly robin with me on my little bits of occasional clearance round the back, I guess for example cutting some ivy back from a shed has exposed some things of interest... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 02 Dec 17 - 08:31 AM The Dark-eyed Juncos appear to have arrived sometime in the night. 12/1 or 12/2. Pretty much on schedule. I start looking for them around Thanksgiving each year. I wonder where they spent the summer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Backyard Bird List 2017 From: Janie Date: 01 Jan 18 - 11:38 AM Here is my 2017 Backyard Birdlist American Crow American Goldfinch American Robin Barred Owl Bluejay Brown Thrasher Canada goose Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Chipping Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Downy Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird European Starling Fox Sparrow Gray Catbird Great Blue Heron House Finch Mourning Dove Northern Flicker Northern Mockingbird Pine Siskin Red-Bellied Woodpecker Red-tailed Hawk Ruby-Throated hummmingbird Rufus Sided Tohee Screech Owl Sharp-Shinned Hawk Song Sparrow Tufted Titmouse Turkey Vulture White Breasted Nuthatch White Throated Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler |
