BS: Birdwatching 2010

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 08:51 AM

They came! Finally! This morning I saw a flash by the kitchen window and realized that a flock of chickadees have finally figured out that this mysterious hanging thing is a food source! They've been back and forth all morning.

The cats have also discovered that the birds have discovered the feeder. Fortunately, due to all the nasty predators living in our woods, these are permanently indoors cats, so they can enjoy the show from their perch and the birds will soon figure out that they are no threat!

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 10:02 AM

I may have had a chiffchaff... it flew away before I could get a closer look but it was definately not one of my usuals.

The result of my inability to find the good bird book to identify it quickly means I went out yesterday and bought myself a much better and bigger bird book... the RSPB guide to British and European birds - a steal at a third of the marked price! So now, no LBJ (Little Brown Job) is safe from identification!

The gulls are going mad up and down the street outside the front right now, I guess it's a bit chilly down river.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 12:18 PM

We've had a whole load of redwings and fieldfares visiting our garden (Oxford, England) since the snow, and finishing the berries on next door's tree. Yesterday at a friends' house we put some food out for the birds and were waiting for some takers when a male sparrowhawk flew down and perched on a nearby tree stump.

I've seen red kites overhead three times this year so far, though I wouldn't dsecribe them as a "garden" bird....

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 01:54 PM

I stopped by a neighbor's back yard pond yesterday with my camera and took photos of the ducks walking around on the ice. One end was open, so they had a choice, but the family feeds them every day so they were hanging around on the end near the food. Mallards, Wood ducks, and a few Shovelers. They are so funny when they land on ice and slide and slither to a stop!

I suppose they're sliding and slithering in my back yard also, down on the creek, but I have to go look over the bank to see them and at my place they aren't used to being fed so they exit when they hear me coming. Can't get close enough for photos.

Links later.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 11:56 AM

hot summer over here no ice or snow to think about seeing a lot of Tui, Bellbirds, Pheasants, Morepork hear him every night, skylarks, fantails, putting out lots of fruit and have lots of watering holes for the birds now. Kingfishers are nearby as well

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 01:23 PM

See if this shows up properly (I loaded it to my TwitPic page):

Ducks standing on an icy pond near my home. It may not be a durable link.

I'm going to load some of these and put in links later, but it was just perfect lighting for these beautiful birds. Even garden-variety mallards look fabulous when they're well-lit!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 02:09 PM

Excellent pic., thanks SRS (one minor thing, maybe you could trim a bit off the right hand side..?)

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 02:20 PM

ragdall - Date: 03 Jan 10 - 08:11 PM

I suspect sommat like that. Perobably a mid-air fight knocked the trout loose.

Dunno if it is the SAME robin, but I like to think so.

We are bound to get some cold temps soon. -6 daytime today, sunny.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 04:43 PM

the Redwings are in trouble here, one was rescued today and put in my conservatory where it was given bread crumbs and a hot water bottle, it eventually revived, but we have had snow here and the worst frost for 25 years[5 days running, water supply frozen too], and the poor old Redwing cant find any worms.
liz the squeak, glad your tits are alright.
did you say you had blue tits? or long tailed tits?

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 05:59 PM

Symmetry, like rhyme, isn't all it is cracked up to be, WAV. That ice is pretty interesting looking and is part of the photo, not just the ducks. But I do have a bunch of photos in the set and I will be focusing in on some with specific bird activities. I think I caught a couple of shots where you can actually tell that the ducks are sliding across the ice as they land.

My bird feeders on the edge of the driveway are hopping with all sorts of bird sizes. In the past I had a lot of sparrows and finches, but I have a more conspicuous thistle feeder out and the tiny birds are turning up also. Some are very pretty with their colors. Must get out the bird book.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 05:15 AM

Dried mealworms make a great rescue food for insect-eaters.

My fearless Blackbird, who eats from my hand, has now acquired an impatient streak. If I don't feed him as quickly as he would like he flies up into my face!

I was followed through the park this morning by two pairs of Jays; they are getting quite tame now and fly down to pick up the monkey nuts I throw for them. I'm going to try and get a photo of them. Also the Nuthatches - there must be a dozen of them.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 06:59 AM

We get lots of fieldfares and redwings every winter. The fieldfares specialise, along with the blackbirds, in polishing off the windfall apples up to Christmas. I tell myself they're fertilising the stand of apple trees I have, and I do get great crops every year in spite of having added nothing by way of fertiliser for 20 years. There are far more songthrushes around than last winter, and lots of tell-tale smashed snail shells - I reckon the thrushes are hunting out the hibernating molluscs. I haven't seen any unusual birds so far but the regulars are desperate for food (and water in the freeze) and are far bolder around me than usual when I'm out filling the feeders. The biggest entertainer is a male greater spotted woodpecker who sounds like a ram-raider trying to get into the house when he's hammering on the window feeder. I had to buy a new one the other week as he managed to completely wreck the previous one. A couple of days ago we had blue, great, coal and long-tailed tits all frenetically together at once on the bird table. We've only been getting long-tailed tits for about three years but now we have a regular mob of seven or eight which visits several times a day. I saw a bullfinch up the lane the other day - not a very common sight around here. There are barn owls around but I'm concerned that I haven't seen one for three or four months now.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 02:33 PM

My tits are coal, blue and great... and they're all fine thanks for asking. My chiffchaff looked pretty spry too.

The strange, mottled bird has decided it's a lady blackbird and she's systematically stripping the berries off my firethorn, getting closer and closer to the ground and consequently more and more nervous as there is frequently a posse of pusses waiting for her to make a false move....

More black headed gulls flying around today, and a disgruntled magpie.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Jan 10 - 03:34 AM

I'm fwustrated and jealous. I've been here in the Sierra foothills eight years, and I've seen an owl only once. I saw them far more often when I lived in the heavily urban Sacramento area.
A friend has been hiking from our house through the woods next door, and she had several owl sightings last week. She thinks they were Great Horned Owls. We live here - why don't we see them?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 07:52 AM

The snow is bringing birds that I don't normally get to see at my feeders. One has me completely bumfuzzled. I think it is a sparrow. It is a little smaller than a fox sparrow. Dark bill. Head and back of neck are slate gray (looks like a hood) and the rest of the back and tail are brown, streaked with black and a little white. Breast is heavily streaked and the the streaking under and arround the throat is a buff-yellow. No white throat patch. Groundfeeder, going after the sunflower seeds I broadcast, ignoring the millet. If I see it again today I'll try to get a picture.

I really don't see anything very close in my Peterson's fieldguide. Wondering if it might even be a junco/sparrow hybrid - but if so, it is not a cross with a white-throated sparrow, I don't think.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 08:06 AM

Also seeing bluebirds and pine warblers at the suet feeders. I only see them in the coldest weather, or on the rare occasion, like this weekend, when we have significant snow.

A flock of starlings moved in on the suet and nugget feeders yesterday. The wrens and mockingbirds are pretty brave in facing them down. Don't normally have a problem with starlings.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: olddude
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 08:48 AM

Hey what is that little tiny hawk that keeps chasing the little sparrows around my back yard. This guy is small, about the size of a robin and for sure a hawk with the talons and curved beak ..

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: maeve
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 09:24 AM

Your little hawk is likely a sharp-shinned hawk, Dan. Take a look here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sharp-shinned_hawk/id
Another small hawk is the kestrel (sparrowhawk) but it's much less likely to be found around yard feeders. http://www.pbase.com/wes242/kestrels

We have often watched a sharp-shinned hawk in our yard at home, chasing chickadees who always escaped. They are beautiful birds.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 09:35 AM

Don't have a garden myself, but I heard the RSPB just held their annual bird-count for those who do - I think volunteers had to tally garden visitors for an hour..?...anyone take part?

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: gnu
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 10:19 AM

Here another site with some good info.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: EBarnacle
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 01:25 PM

Joe, they appear where they wish. The first time I saw a Great Horned Owl, I was driving down a road in Maine and saw a lump on a branch. I pulled over and walked back and there it was, just sitting there and watching the road from about 50 yards out.

Lady Hillary and I were on our way to Annapolis on Friday and, as we crossed the Bay Bridge, we spotted a Bald Eagle, just flying across the Chesapeake Bay, minding its own business, obviously not hunting as there were waterfowl plying the air parallel to it and near by. [I wonder how they know when they are safe from the big boys.]

Lady Hillary believes she spotted a wood stork [believe it or not] on a chimney that trip...And yes, we know it is off the maps that the bird books provide.

We also believe we saw an immature broad-winged hawk on the trip.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 01:59 PM

I've been enjoying the large redtail hawks and great blue herons around the neighborhood this winter, and I got some great photos of several varieties of ducks on a frozen pond in the neighborhood back in early January. This afternoon I have a bunch of finches, various types, on my feeders. A couple are quite rosy in color. And there is the little guy who gets on one feeder in particular and dredges out seed to drop on the ground, then flies down and joins others eating it from below. And of course, there are some dopey doves bopping around out there also.

:-)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: gnu
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 02:06 PM

Blue Herons... official bird of New Brunswick. At my buddy's cottage in Shediac you can see dozens at low tide. Amazing birds.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 04:05 PM

Maeve
Kestrel, you nailed it thank you , that is what that little guy is. boy he is intent on catching one of those little birds for sure. Just sits there and watches and waits

Thank you
Dan

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 05:08 PM

They're heeeeeeeeeeeeere!! Two downy woodpeckers have found the suet feeder, as have the nuthatches. Lots of chickadees and a rare junco. We hear owls at night, and see hawks in the trees along the road, but it's so nice to have the birds right outside the kitchen window at last.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 10:19 AM

Terrific, Animaterra!

After looking at bunches and bunches of images on-line, I'm about to decide the unidentified sparrow is a fox sparrow. (still not absolutely sure.) Didn't realize there was so much variability in their plumage.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 10:27 AM

From my kitchen table this morning I see chickadees, 5 blue jays, a few finches, one large Rhode Island Red rooster, a white rooster and one white hen. There is also a fat squirrel sneaking about....all of them shining in the sunlight.

I love to watch the birds.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 03:32 PM

And a yellow-rumped warbler! Thought I might see pine siskins, but no joy so far.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: gnu
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 07:11 PM

We are having cold temps now! -22C tonight. I expect to see the arrival of our winter robin and the Cedar Waxwings soon. They feed in Mum's apple tree... I hope... she enjoys them so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Ferrara
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 09:25 PM

So far we've mostly had the usual winter birds. But there were a pair of Cooper's hawks in a neighbor's tree one morning, that was a little out of the ordinary. And we love the usual winter birds. The Carolina wrens are nesting on the back porch again for the winter.

Last year was a good one for us, I saw 2 species that we only see once every few years & never got around to listing them here. We saw one Ruby-throated hummingbird and a pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Ferrara
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 09:31 PM

Last summer I spent hours and days watching and photographing a nest of yellow crowned night herons along a local creek. Here's the album:
Sligo Creek YC Night Herons

Here's another album the Friends of Sligo Creek were kind enough to put up:
Wood Ducks on Sligo Creek

I don't know how long they will be up, I know they have been archived.
Rita

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 10:02 PM

Rita I'm so glad you are sharing the Night Heron series here. As I told you previously, wonderful photgraphs and documentation of the development of the chicks.


Rita, you saw the hummer in winter? If you see one this winter, http://www.rubythroat.org/OtherSpeciesMain.html, is interested in reports of hummingbirds wintering on the East coast. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for a box with a very pale blue background.

A few years ago, a birdwatching friend who lived a few blocks from me identified a Rufous Hummingbird in her yard in late January. (It was a mild winter, and she quickly put out a feeder for it. It stayed for several weeks.) The Hummingbird folks came out and documented it. It had already been banded and had been down off the coast of South Carolina.

Was it on one of our birding threads or in the news that I read, not too long ago, that it has recently been discovered that Ruby-throated (if my memory serves) have recently been discovered have a second breeding season in Mexico and Central America. The article included ponderings about if this is true of other species that breed in North America in spring and summer, and wondering if loss of breeding habitat in their wintering grounds may account for otherwise unexplained declines in populations of some bird species in North America.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST,LTS on the sofa
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 09:36 AM

Mating season is already upon us...

Saturday, looking out, doing my Big Bird Watch (really must get around to posting my results), there were three male blackbirds sitting in one tree, glaring at each other. The single lady
blackbird was one tree over, watching....

The Great tits are massing too... several large males in the shrubbery were having a spirited discussion about something or other. So it looks like I'll have some baby birds to watch in about 2 months time...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: GUEST,LTS on the sofa
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 09:55 AM

Put my survey results up... I've counted the black headed gull that hovered over the table preparing to land, before it noticed the cat staring up at it between the latticework.... because it was IN my garden and didn't just fly over, even though it technically didn't land.

I'm annoyed that the survey didn't have the option of writing exactly what your other food was - my garden is planted with berry bearing trees and shrubs that provide food if I can't put any out, and there was nowhere to put this information. I think it makes a difference to the birds. We wouldn't have blackbirds in such number if there weren't the berries there to feed them - due to the large cat population in the area, a bird table is not a good idea. Similarly we probably wouldn't have such a large cat population if I didn't encourage small birds for them to chase!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 11:03 AM

Last year I saw a juvenile hawk perched on top of the shepherd's crook that my feeders hang from, apparently hoping to get lucky. Like these little guys are going to throw themselves at his feet. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 03:13 PM

Out and about in South Lincs & Rutland (UK) today, noticed a lot of birds of prey: several pairs of Red Kites (or the same one following me round!), the ubiquitous Kestrel, and two other sizable species, one of which was probably a Buzzard and the other I've no idea! Anyone know what's common in this area?

Pete.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: maeve
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 10:48 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 12:46 PM

Just in case some one might overlook the thread ragdall started thought I would also post the link here. Thanks ragdall!

great backyard bird count 2010

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: bubblyrat
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 02:02 PM

Red Kites are not really "birds of prey",as they are more likely to cruise the skies looking ever downwards ,searching for "roadkill" and other carrion. So they're more like Vultures, although there are now so many (too many) of them around,especially in Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire,that it has been suggested that they may well be "evolving " into something more like a true predator,in order to survive . Fascinating stuff,and and an interesting insight into evolution and its causes ! Hamsters beware !

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 04:00 PM

Still having starlings at the suet feeders, but not so many that they are gobbling all the suet up. Found a suet feeder with a little ledge for perching. The bluebirds have finally figured out how to feed from the suet feeders. They were congregating under the suet feeders when starlings or mockingbirds were feeding because little pieces of suet would fall to the ground then. All last year, and until a week or so ago, they would sit on top and feed when I put in a new suet block, but once the block was 2/3 eaten, they couldn't reach it. Now they are clinging to the sides. Took 'em long enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: EBarnacle
Date: 11 Feb 10 - 12:43 AM

Did a trip to Mystic, CT and Albany last week. Much to my surprise, I saw two birds I never saw before and, when I looked them up, found that I had seen a snowy owl and a gyrfalcon on separate legs of the trip.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: maeve
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 10:24 AM

Refreshed... for olddude and his Red-Tailed Hawk.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/lifehistory

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 01:11 PM

I've gotten some great shots of birds in the snow this week. I thought I posted that remark yesterday, but I don't see it now. Will post links later.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: ragdall
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 05:44 PM

The Great Backyard Birdcount thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: ragdall
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 05:46 PM

OOPs, sorry, that was my post in the thread.
This is

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: ragdall
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 05:49 PM

The Great Backyard Birdcount thread.

Mud elves feel free to delete my previous two posts if this one works.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Feb 10 - 05:00 PM

Black-capped chickadees on the feeder this afternoon. Lovely little things! Is this the same as Liz's tits?

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Janie
Date: 13 Feb 10 - 09:38 PM

Stilly, I'm gonna guess you have Carolina Chickadees rather than Black-capped Chickadees. They are hard to tell apart - the Carolina Chickadee is a little smaller than the Black-capped, and lacks the flash of white on the wing. Their calls are probably the best way to distinquish them. They are known to hybridize, but the Black-capped Chickadee would be very rare in Texas.

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 10 - 12:07 AM

This afternoon I saw a large flock of cedar waxwings in the trees around the house. They are like large versions of the pyrrhuloxia, and they fly kind of the way a cardinal does, with the little dips in the flight.

I have to look up the birds here, the chickadees. I saw them for the first time this afternoon, so I'll study them closer next time they're by and make a better ID.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Birdwatching 2010
From: maeve
Date: 14 Feb 10 - 07:00 AM

Pine siskins, Black-capped chickadees, common nuthatches; seen at the feeders while we took a break from clearing up from the fire. We heard the chickadees' spring song for the first time this year.

maeve