Birders' Nest

[owlice]

Does he have the Merlin app on his phone?

K

I don't know.

[Kalevala]

I don't know.

I know one way to find out:  ask.   

K

[owlice]

I know one way to find out:  ask.   

K

Well, yes, but it's not really my business what apps he has.

[Elgarian Redux]

Mostly because a lot of people who like astronomy who know of APOD really like it, so I thought if you didn't know about it, you should!

I have bookmarked the link. Thank you. That Ring Nebula image is exquisite.
 

I would say that's quite scholarly for a young person, and I'm amazed you still have (and could easily find) that notebook.

I found it by accident in a box in the loft a couple of years ago, and decided to keep it available on a bookshelf instead. I don't know why. A reminder of who I once was (or am)?

[Elgarian Redux]

Enough of this off-topic nonsense. Birds. Let us be rigorous. Today's walk was cold, dull, grey, and a bit forbidding. Aslan and Red Cloud stared at us as if we had come from Mars. The birds and butterflies must have thought we were daft, and as far as we could see, no living wild thing made an appearance anywhere.

Negative evidence duly reported.

[Kalevala]

Well, yes, but it's not really my business what apps he has.

Perhaps he doesn't know about it?  I don't know how old he is, but if he doesn't want to answer your question...fine.  Or you can just tell him about it and show how you use yours and how helpful it can be?  And leave it at that (plus also that it's free and a bit about the folks who have developed it).  Besides the photos, it also has various recordings of bird calls and how common they are where he is...probably more helpful than you being sent blurry pictures and, hopefully, he focused a bit on the sounds that the bird was making.    Plus there are options (if photo isn't good) about identifying with the size of the bird (compared to others), what kind of location one finds it in, zip code, main three feather colors, likelyhood of seeing it during certain times of the year, etc.

p.s.  Several folks told me about the app and I wasn't offended; I appreciated the tip(s).

K

[owlice]

Enough of this off-topic nonsense. Birds. Let us be rigorous.

I saw nothing on Friday, but I did hear a White-breasted Nuthatch when I moved my car from the driveway to the street. Here are two nuthatches from other days/times/locations:

White-breasted Nuthatch


Eurasian Nuthatch for those on the other side of the pond

[Elgarian Redux]

I saw nothing on Friday, but I did hear a White-breasted Nuthatch when I moved my car from the driveway to the street. Here are two nuthatches from other days/times/locations:

White-breasted Nuthatch

I've always been hopeless at birdsong recognition, and now, with my hearing slowly fading, I'm even worse. He's a fine fellow.

Eurasian Nuthatch for those on the other side of the pond

Gorgeous! Once, just once, one of these visited us and lingered for a while on the Scots pine at the end of our garden. I live in hope of a second visit ....

[owlice]

Once, just once, one of these visited us and lingered for a while on the Scots pine at the end of our garden. I live in hope of a second visit ....

I hope you get a second, and then a third, fourth, fifth, etc., visit!

~~~~

The answer to the question, "Can I take 200 bad photos in a row?" is undeniably yes. Yes, I can, and did so this morning (probably not for the first time). It was lovely to be out in the brisk wind, walk around sewage ponds, and look for and at birds.

Bad photos may be coming up; you have been forewarned...

[Elgarian Redux]

The answer to the question, "Can I take 200 bad photos in a row?" is undeniably yes. Yes, I can, and did so this morning (probably not for the first time). It was lovely to be out in the brisk wind, walk around sewage ponds, and look for and at birds.

Bad photos may be coming up; you have been forewarned...

Bring 'em on, and we will marvel. You're an inspiration to all those of us who are truly expert at taking bad bird photos.

[Wendell_E]

I've heard owls a couple of times in the last week during my morning walks, which Merlin identified as Barred Owls. Cool, I'm thinking, then I saw this article in a local newspaper.

Multiple Owl-saults reported this week

Owch!

[Elgarian Redux]

I've heard owls a couple of times in the last week during my morning walks, which Merlin identified as Barred Owls. Cool, I'm thinking, then I saw this article in a local newspaper.

Multiple Owl-saults reported this week

Owch!

The link says that we Brits aren't allowed in, sadly. So my imagination is trying to grapple with the idea of 'Owl-saults', without success.

Is there an Owl expert nearby, perchance?

[Kalevala]

I've heard owls a couple of times in the last week during my morning walks, which Merlin identified as Barred Owls. Cool, I'm thinking, then I saw this article in a local newspaper.

Multiple Owl-saults reported this week

Owch!

The link says that we Brits aren't allowed in, sadly. So my imagination is trying to grapple with the idea of 'Owl-saults', without success.

Is there an Owl expert nearby, perchance?

It says that I need to subscribe to read it.  I did find this though on the Audubon's website:

https://www.audubon.org/news/no-barred-owls-are-not-trying-kill-you

K

[Elgarian Redux]

It says that I need to subscribe to read it.  I did find this though on the Audubon's website:

https://www.audubon.org/news/no-barred-owls-are-not-trying-kill-you

K

Thanks Kalevala. Scary stuff - even scarier than greater black-backs stealing one's jellied eels. But even lapwings can be extremely territorial when you walk near their nests. Such a lot of noise and swooping around (though not so intimidating as a 5 foot wingspan would be!).

[Wendell_E]

It says that I need to subscribe to read it.

Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. Here are some quotes:

They're back.

Owls were on the attack again in Mobile this week, with one runner saying she was knocked down and mauled. And another saying he was targeted downtown, an area that has been free of any recent reported attacks.

The new cases mark a continuation in a bizarre trend of violent encounters with large birds of prey, with incidents happening despite the victims being in densely residential areas.

According to wildlife officials, the owls are being territorial and protecting their nests during breeding season. A string of similar attacks began surfacing on the verge of fall 2024 in Ashland Place and the Village of Spring Hill. However, this most recent activity indicates the attacks are now spreading to other parts of town....

Allison Bailey, a Georgia resident who was visiting her great aunt in Mobile, told Lagniappe she was jogging on Wingfield Drive near Spring Hill Avenue, just west of Ashland Place, this past Sunday when she was struck in the head from behind around 7:30 a.m.

"It was something big and heavy and it knocked me over," Bailey said. "I went down on my knee and I remember thinking, did someone throw something at me? Am I getting mobbed or something, cause you know your first thought is never owl attack."

When she looked up, she saw the wide-eyed avian staring her down.

"I see this big, burly owl," Bailey said. "It had made a pass over me from behind and raked my head, and now he was in front of me."

Bailey said the owl reared again for another pass.

"The thing came back at me," she said. "I stopped and I pointed and I yelled, 'No, absolutely not.' Instead of swooping down at me, it sort of soared over me and then landed in a tree. I just backed away while keeping eye contact with him. It was the weirdest thing."

Bailey said she suffered puncture wounds on her head from the owl's talons, but was not seriously injured....

Owls are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, meaning residents cannot capture, relocate or kill them. If encountering an owl, state wildlife officials recommend first making loud noises to intimidate the bird and then quickly leaving the immediate area where it is likely attempting to protect a nest.

[Elgarian Redux]

We chose a slightly different area to walk today - lovely warm day. The odd reed bunting, but curiously very few birds around, apart from a few rooks/crows in a field. I've reminded myself from time to time how to distinguish rooks from crows, but never managed to learn. It just doesn't stick. Presumably I don't care enough?  So I use the old maxim: if there's one it's a crow; more than one, they're rooks. How reliable is that? Anyone know?

[owlice]

... odd reed bunting...

What, pray tell, was odd about the reed bunting? 

[owlice]

Yestermorning, I joined a few others for a birding walk, ably led by a student at the local university and assisted by the recent graduate who initiated these sort-of-monthly outings. Sewage (or if you prefer, waste water) ponds are generally very good for seeing birds, though they may be farther away than one might like.
They were all farther away than one might like.

Here are some of the things I saw.


Look!! Teeny tiny ducks!! Mostly Ring-necked Ducks and Blue Teals


Solitary Sandpiper


Immature Bald Eagle; they don't get the white head and tail until age 5


White-tailed Deer (doe)


White-tailed Deer (fawn)


Northern Harrier showing off its diagnostic white rump


Northern Harriers not showing off their diagnostic white rumps; we theorized that these and the other Harriers we saw were likely siblings


Ring-necked Ducks


The large blurry bird is a Lesser Yellowlegs; the two smaller blurry birds are Least Sandpipers

There were also perching birds, such as Red-eyed Vireos, Cedar Waxwings, Tennessee Warblers, and Savannah Sparrows, most of which I did not get photos of, or in some cases, didn't see at all (looking at, or rather, for you, Tennessee Warblers).

But all in all, it turned out to be a lovely day to be out.