Birders' Nest

Started by Mozart, July 19, 2009, 09:34:22 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 16, 2021, 06:44:03 AM
I'd love to see your owl picture!  :)  And a panther?!  I ended up doing some googling and see that there are such creatures as jaguarundi in Texas.  https://texasnativecats.org/cats-of-texas/  I want to go back to a trail/dog path not too far away.  I spoke to someone a few months ago who told me that she saw a snowy owl there.  I haven't checked the local weather lately (did just put on the Weather Channel a few minutes ago), but we escaped in my area today.  Warm enough at the moment that the rain didn't freeze.

Do you guys have a backup generator?

PD



I can't find the owl yet (it's among hundreds if not thousands of pictures), but here is a Broadwinged Hawk that started off the New Year for us. IIRC, the owl was facing the camera, the hawk is looking towards where the food is. :D  I was driving when I saw the panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount &c.) so no picture. A jaguarundi is really a Mexican native that occasionally shows up in south and west Texas. Panthers were reputedly extinct here, but there is actually a healthy population, they just are very good at laying low.

Yes, we have a generator, but it is only big enough to run the lights and 120 volt outlets, not appliances (except the microwave) or the central heat/air. We are looking at a new one, this one is 12 years old and has been used heavily in that time. Like to go with LP gas so I don't have to keep a huge supply of petrol laying about.

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Gurn Blanston





Still looking for the daytime pic, I didn't tag it with anything, so I can't search for "owl" and hope to find it that way. :-\

This Barn Owl pair was having a nice frolic over the course of a couple of evenings. Can't recall what we had decided they were hunting for, maybe fish.

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 08:31:59 AM


I can't find the owl yet (it's among hundreds if not thousands of pictures), but here is a Broadwinged Hawk that started off the New Year for us. IIRC, the owl was facing the camera, the hawk is looking towards where the food is. :D  I was driving when I saw the panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount &c.) so no picture. A jaguarundi is really a Mexican native that occasionally shows up in south and west Texas. Panthers were reputedly extinct here, but there is actually a healthy population, they just are very good at laying low.

Yes, we have a generator, but it is only big enough to run the lights and 120 volt outlets, not appliances (except the microwave) or the central heat/air. We are looking at a new one, this one is 12 years old and has been used heavily in that time. Like to go with LP gas so I don't have to keep a huge supply of petrol laying about.

8)
Nice photo!  I love it when they are stretching their wings out. :-) Looks like it is perched on a metal fencing stake?  What color was your over-sized 'kitty' by the way?

No generator here--though I've been tempted.  The power goes out on occasion, but (knock on wood) it normally is restored in about an hour or so.

By the way, there's a very helpful app called Merlin which was created by the folks at Cornell.  Some birdwatching friends told me about it a few years ago.  It can help you to ID birds in your area and it's free.  https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/  I also like using their website (allaboutbirds).

Neat owl pics too.  The way that their eyes are shining makes them look like some sort of supernatural creature!
Pohjolas Daughter

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 16, 2021, 08:56:05 AM
Nice photo!  I love it when they are stretching their wings out. :-) Looks like it is perched on a metal fencing stake?  What color was your over-sized 'kitty' by the way?

No generator here--though I've been tempted.  The power goes out on occasion, but (knock on wood) it normally is restored in about an hour or so.

By the way, there's a very helpful app called Merlin which was created by the folks at Cornell.  Some birdwatching friends told me about it a few years ago.  It can help you to ID birds in your area and it's free.  https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/  I also like using their website (allaboutbirds).

Neat owl pics too.  The way that their eyes are shining makes them look like some sort of supernatural creature!

Yeah, I like that one, even though it took me a while to identify him. We have tons of red-tailed hawks here, they are the most common species in East Texas. The are averagely even larger than this guy. It took me a little while to identify him from the back like that. The white patches on the wings were the giveaway though. I will check out that app, that could be very useful. We have so many birds here, you would be amazed. When the birds up north fly south for the winter, this is where they come. I couldn't count all the Cardinals at the feeder yesterday, probably nearly 200! :o 

The panther was a rather darkish brown overall. Couldn't mistake the long tail, that knocked 'bobcat' right out of the equation. Plus, if a bobcat was that big, I would give up and go home! :D

Sometimes when ours goes out, it is a week or more. Hurricanes can be amazingly damaging.

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Szykneij

Quote from: Wanderer on February 16, 2021, 08:24:37 AM
Drone footage from Athens:

https://youtu.be/VNHuGDp9BUo

https://youtu.be/2BW-3XVyAAs

Awesome videos. I'm a kite flyer myself, so I don't know much about drones. Is operating in inclement weather an issue? It seems like it wouldn't take much snow buildup to bring one down.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 08:31:59 AM


I can't find the owl yet (it's among hundreds if not thousands of pictures), but here is a Broadwinged Hawk that started off the New Year for us. IIRC, the owl was facing the camera, the hawk is looking towards where the food is. :D  I was driving when I saw the panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount &c.) so no picture. A jaguarundi is really a Mexican native that occasionally shows up in south and west Texas. Panthers were reputedly extinct here, but there is actually a healthy population, they just are very good at laying low.

Yes, we have a generator, but it is only big enough to run the lights and 120 volt outlets, not appliances (except the microwave) or the central heat/air. We are looking at a new one, this one is 12 years old and has been used heavily in that time. Like to go with LP gas so I don't have to keep a huge supply of petrol laying about.
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 08:31:59 AM

8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh4jRtvSQ0Y


I can't find the owl yet (it's among hundreds if not thousands of pictures), but here is a Broadwinged Hawk that started off the New Year for us. IIRC, the owl was facing the camera, the hawk is looking towards where the food is. :D  I was driving when I saw the panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount &c.) so no picture. A jaguarundi is really a Mexican native that occasionally shows up in south and west Texas. Panthers were reputedly extinct here, but there is actually a healthy population, they just are very good at laying low.

Yes, we have a generator, but it is only big enough to run the lights and 120 volt outlets, not appliances (except the microwave) or the central heat/air. We are looking at a new one, this one is 12 years old and has been used heavily in that time. Like to go with LP gas so I don't have to keep a huge supply of petrol laying about.

8)

Good job IDing that bird by the way.  Normally, I have good luck IDing them using Merlin.  I've even used it (on my old iPhone) to ID birds at the Cornell's feeder cam by taking a screen shot.  Though I didn't have luck when I tried using your photo with it (even though I changed the location and entered your date into it).  You can go about it two ways:  1) take a photo with your cell phone (open the app):  it then asks you 1) where did you see the bird? 2) when did you see it? 3) it then gives you seven different buttons that you can tap on with some images and asks you what size was the bird? 4) what were the main colors (select 1 to 3)? and 5) Was the bird...? asking what it was doing or where seated

...and I entered all that in and it still didn't bring up

You know what, I was just looking at the wing shape and also the number of feathers on the wingtip.  Looks like 5 and squared off or rounded (vs. pointed); wonder if it might actually be a red-shouldered hawk?  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/media-browser/71533401  Any more photos of de bird?
Pohjolas Daughter

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 16, 2021, 10:30:01 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh4jRtvSQ0Y


I can't find the owl yet (it's among hundreds if not thousands of pictures), but here is a Broadwinged Hawk that started off the New Year for us. IIRC, the owl was facing the camera, the hawk is looking towards where the food is. :D  I was driving when I saw the panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount &c.) so no picture. A jaguarundi is really a Mexican native that occasionally shows up in south and west Texas. Panthers were reputedly extinct here, but there is actually a healthy population, they just are very good at laying low.

Yes, we have a generator, but it is only big enough to run the lights and 120 volt outlets, not appliances (except the microwave) or the central heat/air. We are looking at a new one, this one is 12 years old and has been used heavily in that time. Like to go with LP gas so I don't have to keep a huge supply of petrol laying about.

8)

Good job IDing that bird by the way.  Normally, I have good luck IDing them using Merlin.  I've even used it (on my old iPhone) to ID birds at the Cornell's feeder cam by taking a screen shot.  Though I didn't have luck when I tried using your photo with it (even though I changed the location and entered your date into it).  You can go about it two ways:  1) take a photo with your cell phone (open the app):  it then asks you 1) where did you see the bird? 2) when did you see it? 3) it then gives you seven different buttons that you can tap on with some images and asks you what size was the bird? 4) what were the main colors (select 1 to 3)? and 5) Was the bird...? asking what it was doing or where seated

...and I entered all that in and it still didn't bring up

You know what, I was just looking at the wing shape and also the number of feathers on the wingtip.  Looks like 5 and squared off or rounded (vs. pointed); wonder if it might actually be a red-shouldered hawk?  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/media-browser/71533401  Any more photos of de bird?

Thanks. Broadwinged Hawks are very common in the Piney Woods, north of Houston. He also fits the size criterion quite nicely. There are 14 species of hawks which are regular denizens here. This is a very nice site which I use often;

https://birdfeederhub.com/hawks-in-texas/   The 14 species of Hawks in Texas
https://birdfeederhub.com/owls-in-texas/      The 11 species of Owls in Texas

Red-Shouldered Hawks are noticeably smaller than Red-Tails or Broadwings, which are nearly the same size. Somewhere I also have a picture of a Red-Tail sitting on that same fence post, and they are nearly identical in size.

We need to start  bird-watching thread so the meteorologists among us don't blow a fuse... ;) :D

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Pohjolas Daughter

#47
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 11:15:42 AM
Thanks. Broadwinged Hawks are very common in the Piney Woods, north of Houston. He also fits the size criterion quite nicely. There are 14 species of hawks which are regular denizens here. This is a very nice site which I use often;

https://birdfeederhub.com/hawks-in-texas/   The 14 species of Hawks in Texas
https://birdfeederhub.com/owls-in-texas/      The 11 species of Owls in Texas

Red-Shouldered Hawks are noticeably smaller than Red-Tails or Broadwings, which are nearly the same size. Somewhere I also have a picture of a Red-Tail sitting on that same fence post, and they are nearly identical in size.

We need to start  bird-watching thread so the meteorologists among us don't blow a fuse... ;) :D

8)
I've been learning that IDing birds can be quite tricky!  For one thing:  in different parts of the US, for example, dark morphs are much more common.  I also checked out one I believe it was a Peterson Guide video on youtube that also said that not all red-tailed hawks get their red tail....oy!   ::)  And trying to understand the differences between juvies and adults and male vs. female and non-breeding male and so on.

Anyway, thanks, I'll check out those links.  And there is a bird thread somewhere (in Diner).  I'll find it and modify my posting here shortly.

EDIT:  It's called "This bird is awesome" and is currently on page 5 I believe (in the Diner).  Feel free to move whatever there of course.   :)  I had tried to revive the thread in the past, but almost no one seemed interested in participating.  :(
Pohjolas Daughter

SonicMan46

#48
Hi Guys - thanks for all of the wonderful posts & pics!  I'm also a bird lover (although penguins, puffins and pelicans are some of my favorites, the latter seen often on our now postponed visits to the Carolina coast - FIRST PIC though is mine from a recent trip to the Georgia coast) - BUT I do have a fondness for raptors.  In July of 2019, we decided to celebrate our anniversary with a return visit to the Homestead Resort in Virginia (just a 4-hr drive) (first pic below) - numerous activities are available and one afternoon we did the introductory lesson to falconry!  Linda was our guide and of her birds, she selected a Harris hawk (next 3 pics); we all put on the glove and held the bird (just showing the photo of a little boy who looked cuter than me!) - if we return and she (or another falconer is there), the next lesson has the bird fly onto your gloved forearm.

About an hour south of us near Charlotte is the Carolina Raptor Center, a rescue facility w/ outside cages and walking trails - all sorts of injured raptors are on display (last pic) - we've gone about 4 times but have not been back since some rebuilding and renovations have occurred - but will do depending on the COVID pandemic!  Dave :)

 

 

 

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: SonicMan46 on February 16, 2021, 12:21:41 PM
Hi Guys - thanks for all of the wonderful posts, pics, and drone flights over Athens!  I'm also a bird lover (although penguins, puffins and pelicans are some of my favorites, the latter seen often on our now postponed visits to the Carolina coast - FIRST PIC though is mine from a recent trip to the Georgia coast) - BUT I do have a fondness for raptors.  In July of 2019, we decided to celebrate our anniversary with a return visit to the Homestead Resort in Virginia (just a 4-hr drive) (first pic below) - numerous activities are available and one afternoon we did the introductory lesson to falconry!  Linda was our guide and of her birds, she selected a Harris hawk (next 3 pics); we all put on the glove and held the bird (just showing the photo of a little boy who looked cuter than me!) - if we return and she (or another falconer is there), the next lesson has the bird fly onto your gloved forearm.

About an hour south of us near Charlotte is the Carolina Raptor Center, a rescue facility w/ outside cages and walking trails - all sorts of injured raptors are on display (last pic) - we've gone about 4 times but have not been back since some rebuilding and renovations have occurred - but will do depending on the COVID pandemic!  Dave :)

 

 

 
Cool! I knew that there was a reason that I liked you!  8) ;)  A friend of mine said that he almost purchased a falconry class for me as a present; he certainly knows me.  Hope to do it sometime in my life.  And thanks for the photos too.  :)
Pohjolas Daughter

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 16, 2021, 11:54:11 AM
I've been learning that IDing birds can be quite tricky!  For one thing:  in different parts of the US, for example, dark morphs are much more common.  I also checked out one I believe it was a Peterson Guide video on youtube that also said that not all red-tailed hawks get their red tail....oy!   ::)  And trying to understand the differences between juvies and adults and male vs. female and non-breeding male and so on.

Anyway, thanks, I'll check out those links.  And there is a bird thread somewhere (in Diner).  I'll find it and modify my posting here shortly.

EDIT:  It's called "This bird is awesome" and is currently on page 5 I believe (in the Diner).  Feel free to move whatever there of course.   :)  I had tried to revive the thread in the past, but almost no one seemed interested in participating.  :(

I'll have a look for that thread. I have no memory of ever seeing it (but wouldn't be surprised if I was the top poster in it ::) ), but we'll make it happen. I can just cut this whole section and put it into that thread, that should pep it up some.

Quote from: SonicMan46 on February 16, 2021, 12:21:41 PM
Hi Guys - thanks for all of the wonderful posts, pics, and drone flights over Athens!  I'm also a bird lover (although penguins, puffins and pelicans are some of my favorites, the latter seen often on our now postponed visits to the Carolina coast - FIRST PIC though is mine from a recent trip to the Georgia coast) - BUT I do have a fondness for raptors.  In July of 2019, we decided to celebrate our anniversary with a return visit to the Homestead Resort in Virginia (just a 4-hr drive) (first pic below) - numerous activities are available and one afternoon we did the introductory lesson to falconry!  Linda was our guide and of her birds, she selected a Harris hawk (next 3 pics); we all put on the glove and held the bird (just showing the photo of a little boy who looked cuter than me!) - if we return and she (or another falconer is there), the next lesson has the bird fly onto your gloved forearm.

About an hour south of us near Charlotte is the Carolina Raptor Center, a rescue facility w/ outside cages and walking trails - all sorts of injured raptors are on display (last pic) - we've gone about 4 times but have not been back since some rebuilding and renovations have occurred - but will do depending on the COVID pandemic!  Dave :)

 

 

 
Nice post, Dave. That Harris Hawk is super. They occur here, but like all smaller hawks, they are hard to identify in the field because they always seem to be going away from you at 90 mph. The big hawks are generally easier, especially the biggest of them here, the Red-Tail. We have 3 big nests right on our property, and one of them used to be on the top of a big tree at the bottom of the hill we live on, which put it slightly above eye-level from the back porch, great way to watch birds grow up!

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Pohjolas Daughter

Excellent! Thanks Gurn! ;D  So envious of you for having a nest at nearly eye-level!  There's a nest near me, but it's so high up that it's almost impossible to see what is going on in there. Forget being able to watch the chicks.  Thankfully, Cornell has two hawk cams which I can watch.  Recently, the female RTH was caught on camera doing some nest work.  :)
Pohjolas Daughter

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 16, 2021, 12:56:35 PM
Excellent! Thanks Gurn! ;D  So envious of you for having a nest at nearly eye-level!  There's a nest near me, but it's so high up that it's almost impossible to see what is going on in there. Forget being able to watch the chicks.  Thankfully, Cornell has two hawk cams which I can watch.  Recently, the female RTH was caught on camera doing some nest work.  :)

There are benefits to living on top of the highest point of land in the vicinity! 

You remember that Bald Eagles' nest in DC? I used to watch that webcam every day, it was fascinating to see the young'uns growing up!

Did you ever see a hawk "boof" a songbird? Well, it's their job, can't begrudge them the occasional Cardinal. I was looking out the window while waiting for my coffee to brew, and the sun was coming over the house behind me. A Cardinal popped up out of the feeder, and suddenly a small hawk (too fast to see) came right down the ridgeline of the house out of the sun, thus invisible to the Cardinals) and boofed that one in a big explosion of red feathers. It really was interesting, it seemed he was going 100 mph, I'm curious how fast. Then perched on a high branch and ate breakfast. :)

8)

Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

SonicMan46

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 01:16:36 PM
There are benefits to living on top of the highest point of land in the vicinity! 

You remember that Bald Eagles' nest in DC? I used to watch that webcam every day, it was fascinating to see the young'uns growing up!

Did you ever see a hawk "boof" a songbird? Well, it's their job, can't begrudge them the occasional Cardinal. I was looking out the window while waiting for my coffee to brew, and the sun was coming over the house behind me. A Cardinal popped up out of the feeder, and suddenly a small hawk (too fast to see) came right down the ridgeline of the house out of the sun, thus invisible to the Cardinals) and boofed that one in a big explosion of red feathers. It really was interesting, it seemed he was going 100 mph, I'm curious how fast. Then perched on a high branch and ate breakfast. :)

Thanks Gurn for your further contributions - seems like you live in 'raptor heaven'!  :laugh:  In my yard, I see occasional red-shouldered hawks (and probably some others that I don't recognize) - Dave :)


Benji

Great thread! I'm a keen birder these days - we don't get an awful lot of birds of prey here in London though I did have a sparrowhawk making a mess of a pigeon in my back garden three years back.

I have a feeder set up within sight of my bedroom window so I can watch quite a selection over the year - European robins, bluetits and great tits are the every day visitors but I get long tailed tits, coal tits, goldfinches, collared doves, starlings, and very occasionally jays and parakeets. And cleaning up the mess beneath tend to be dunnocks, blackbirds and thrushes.

That's pretty much the full gamut of British garden birds in this part of London so I'm pretty lucky. I would love some sparrows as they're very characterful and I love their chatter but it's like west side story - you can only have the sparrows or the tits, not both, and this is Tit Town. 😄

This weekend was exciting as the local park had some redwings feasting on the winter berries and I got close enough to get a good view. Normally they are so shy you'd be lucky to get within 20 feet but the glut made them brave I guess!

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Benji on February 16, 2021, 03:42:10 PM
Great thread! I'm a keen birder these days - we don't get an awful lot of birds of prey here in London though I did have a sparrowhawk making a mess of a pigeon in my back garden three years back.

I have a feeder set up within sight of my bedroom window so I can watch quite a selection over the year - European robins, bluetits and great tits are the every day visitors but I get long tailed tits, coal tits, goldfinches, collared doves, starlings, and very occasionally jays and parakeets. And cleaning up the mess beneath tend to be dunnocks, blackbirds and thrushes.

That's pretty much the full gamut of British garden birds in this part of London so I'm pretty lucky. I would love some sparrows as they're very characterful and I love their chatter but it's like west side story - you can only have the sparrows or the tits, not both, and this is Tit Town. 😄

This weekend was exciting as the local park had some redwings feasting on the winter berries and I got close enough to get a good view. Normally they are so shy you'd be lucky to get within 20 feet but the glut made them brave I guess!

Nice, I've often wondered what there was for an urban birder to enjoy other than pigeons (AKA - rats with wings). The only ones I've ever heard about as far as birds of prey are concerned is Peregrine Falcons, which nest on building ledges in New York (and I imagine other urban centers).

Over here, at least in Texas, tits is reserved for other uses, but we have an overwhelming number of songbirds which overwinter here, finches of several sorts, grosbeaks, buntings, tanagers, lots of woodpeckers (it's a pine forest, after all), and in summer, a different suite of regulars, after those first ones have headed north for the summer. I never fail to be amazed at the sheer numbers and diversity outside my back door. I always enjoyed birding, but never got a fraction of what I've had for the last 35 years down here.

Do you keep a list/diary/sighting guide, whatever?  I haven't done in the past, but my memory, heretofore superb, sometimes fails me now that the catalog is so large, so I think I will begin to do so. Haven't even mentioned the waterbirds yet... :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Benji

#56
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 03:59:13 PM
Nice, I've often wondered what there was for an urban birder to enjoy other than pigeons (AKA - rats with wings). The only ones I've ever heard about as far as birds of prey are concerned is Peregrine Falcons, which nest on building ledges in New York (and I imagine other urban centers).

Over here, at least in Texas, tits is reserved for other uses, but we have an overwhelming number of songbirds which overwinter here, finches of several sorts, grosbeaks, buntings, tanagers, lots of woodpeckers (it's a pine forest, after all), and in summer, a different suite of regulars, after those first ones have headed north for the summer. I never fail to be amazed at the sheer numbers and diversity outside my back door. I always enjoyed birding, but never got a fraction of what I've had for the last 35 years down here.

Do you keep a list/diary/sighting guide, whatever?  I haven't done in the past, but my memory, heretofore superb, sometimes fails me now that the catalog is so large, so I think I will begin to do so. Haven't even mentioned the waterbirds yet... :)

8)

Once your eyes are open to them there are birds everywhere and such variety. I forgot even to mention the humble wrens that visit my garden... which is unforgivable given it is my niece's name (my sister has the bird bug too, via our father!)

I sometimes keep a log on the British ornithological trust website, which they use to keep statistics so I feel it's helpful for conservation efforts.  Perhaps there is a US equivalent, I'd imagine so. I visited Iowa in 2013 and saw the Cardinals. I understand they are a bit violent but so beautiful! And of course the Mississippi was frozen when I visited but I got to see so many bald eagles fishing through holes in the ice. What an experience!

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Benji on February 16, 2021, 04:29:45 PM
Once your eyes are open to them there are birds everywhere and such variety. I forgot even to mention the humble wrens that visit my garden... which is unforgivable given it is my niece's name (my sister has the bird bug too, via our father!)

I sometimes keep a log on the British ornithological trust website, which they use to keep statistics so I feel it's helpful for conservation efforts.  Perhaps there is a US equivalent, I'd imagine so. I visited Iowa in 2013 and saw the Cardinals. I understand they are a bit violent but so beautiful! And of course the Mississippi was frozen when I visited but I got to see so many bald eagles fishing through holes in the ice. What an experience!

Oh yes, no doubt there, lots more birds than we realize. We have a flock which constitute ca. 60% of the entire and is constituted solely of what we just call "small brown and grey birds". They are the 'background noise' upon which the whole daily avian theater plays itself out. Yet when one bothers to dissect the group and identify the individual species, there are dozens of them which are quite interesting in all but colour.

The Audubon Society nationally keep a census and enlists locals to help count on one certain day of the year. I haven't the skill to join that (many of that lot can do a count just by listening!!), but in conjunction with it they also publish a list for each area of all the birds one can expect to see there. I would like to get a copy of that to keep on hand. Then I can log by their system. As it is, my main book is "Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds of Texas", which easily equals in size "Birds of the Eastern US", and surpasses "Birds of the Western US", due to our unique location we are more or less the epicenter of birds in North America.

Bald Eagles are making a comeback, which is great. I have seen them here, one had perched for a couple of days at the end of our pond in a large tree. We hoped he would decide to nest, but no. Also saw one in Vermont when I went home to visit family. That would have been unheard of when I was a child there. I saw it out the train window as we skirted the shore of The Lake and was thrilled by what it added to the already surpassingly lovely view. :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on February 16, 2021, 01:16:36 PM
There are benefits to living on top of the highest point of land in the vicinity! 

You remember that Bald Eagles' nest in DC? I used to watch that webcam every day, it was fascinating to see the young'uns growing up!

Did you ever see a hawk "boof" a songbird? Well, it's their job, can't begrudge them the occasional Cardinal. I was looking out the window while waiting for my coffee to brew, and the sun was coming over the house behind me. A Cardinal popped up out of the feeder, and suddenly a small hawk (too fast to see) came right down the ridgeline of the house out of the sun, thus invisible to the Cardinals) and boofed that one in a big explosion of red feathers. It really was interesting, it seemed he was going 100 mph, I'm curious how fast. Then perched on a high branch and ate breakfast. :)

8)
No, I have not (re bird cam).  Haven't heard the term "boof" before either (but figured out what you meant by context).

We have way too many squirrels around here; I'd prefer that any raptors in the area would go after them!

Has anyone here ever been 'buzzed' by a hawk before?  :)

Benji,

It sounds like you have a nice variety visiting your yard?

I have a friend who almost every morning (whilst working on her morning coffee) sits at their kitchen table with a pair of binoculars at hand recording the number and variety of birds that she sees in their backyard for the Audubon society; she's been doing this for decades.  She has a number of feeders set up in their backyard.  They also have a stream running through it.  I remember seeing a heron in it one year when I was visiting them in the wintertime.

Recently saw a blue heron flying along a river landing in a tree--which quite surprised me and the friend who was with me!  And two falls ago, we saw a pair of bald eagles way up high in a tree by the same river--thanks to some other folks who had noticed them first and had stopped to look at them.  Also, early last spring same friend and I were walking around my neighborhood and I happened to notice a red-tailed hawk flying overhead with a stick in its mouth and was able to see where it landed.  And, yup, there was a nest probably about 70' up off of the ground in a tree.  That was a happy day!  ;D

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Pohjolas Daughter

I had posted this elsewhere (in the Pictures you like thread), but thought that I would copy it here.  I loved the story and was very touched by it and these photos in particular.

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 11, 2021, 09:43:41 AM
https://www.today.com/pets/rescued-owl-gives-big-hug-man-who-helped-save-her-t97136




A great story!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter