Birders' Nest

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Oh yes, we have rock pigeons but I believe these were the domestic pigeons descended from those. The next door neighbours have feeders so the smaller birds go there and we look after the larger ones.

Interesting to read (on Cornell's website) that apparently rock pigeons were introduced to North America from Europe in the early 1600's.

PD

[steve ridgway]

LOL according to the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Pigeons' discrimination of paintings by Monet and Picasso

Abstract

Pigeons successfully learned to discriminate color slides of paintings by Monet and Picasso. Following this training, they discriminated novel paintings by Monet and Picasso that had never been presented during the discrimination training. Furthermore, they showed generalization from Monet's to Cezanne's and Renoir's paintings or from Picasso's to Braque's and Matisse's paintings. These results suggest that pigeons' behavior can be controlled by complex visual stimuli in ways that suggest categorization. Upside-down images of Monet's paintings disrupted the discrimination, whereas inverted images of Picasso's did not. This result may indicate that the pigeons' behavior was controlled by objects depicted in impressionists' paintings but was not controlled by objects in cubists' paintings.

[steve ridgway]

Snapped this Rose-ringed Parakeet after feeding the crows on our walk this morning.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Snapped this Rose-ringed Parakeet after feeding the crows on our walk this morning.

Pretty cool!  Strange to see it though so far north though!

PD

[steve ridgway]

Pretty cool!  Strange to see it though so far north though!

PD

We only started seeing the parakeets here a few years ago but they've been increasing in numbers and spreading further. They're quite easy to spot due to the noise .

[Szykneij]

Came upon a Blue Heron while walking the pups this morning.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Came upon a Blue Heron while walking the pups this morning.

Excellent!  About how far away were you from it and what did you use to take the photo?

PD

p.s.  I've given up trying to take photos of birds (I have an old iPhone).   

[Szykneij]

Excellent!  About how far away were you from it and what did you use to take the photo?

PD

p.s.  I've given up trying to take photos of birds (I have an old iPhone). 

I used my iphone and was reasonably close, but up a river bank. Luckily, my dogs were quiet so the heron didn't feel threatened.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I used my iphone and was reasonably close, but up a river bank. Luckily, my dogs were quiet so the heron didn't feel threatened.

Which iPhone version do you have (if I might ask)?

PD

[Szykneij]

Which iPhone version do you have (if I might ask)?

PD

My phone is old, too. It's the iphone XR, which I think came out right before the iphone 11.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

My phone is old, too. It's the iphone XR, which I think came out right before the iphone 11.

lol  Oh, the joys of technology (pros and cons plus moolah)!

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This story made me laugh/cry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT8P65u1Nvk

[Can't post the video here.]

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Been checking in on the red-tailed hawks at Cornell.  Big Red laid four eggs this year; alas, only two out of the four eggs hatched.  Hadn't seen that one happen before.  Perhaps it might be due in part to her getting up there in years?  She's now about 21 years old.

Happily, though, the two chicks (the "N's" as this round are known) are doing well (knock on wood).

PD

[Jo498]

I just saw a beautiful green woodpecker (picus viridis) in the back garden but before I could get a phone to try a picture it flew away. They are not that rare but not that common either.

[DavidW]

I recently grabbed the Merlin app for my phone and it really works well.  I was taking a walk yesterday morning and recorded like 30 seconds and it identified four different birds.  It is free with no BS run by Cornell.  If you're curious give it a shot. 

It sounds like most of you way ahead of the learning curve from where I am though!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I just saw a beautiful green woodpecker (picus viridis) in the back garden but before I could get a phone to try a picture it flew away. They are not that rare but not that common either.

Oooh!  What a cool-looking bird! Hopefully, it will visit your garden more often. 

I recently grabbed the Merlin app for my phone and it really works well.  I was taking a walk yesterday morning and recorded like 30 seconds and it identified four different birds.  It is free with no BS run by Cornell.  If you're curious give it a shot. 

It sounds like most of you way ahead of the learning curve from where I am though!

That's one of the reasons why I keep on yapping on about Cornell!    I've had the Merlin app for I'm not sure how many years now--and still use it (slow learner re bird calls and IDing them, but I'm getting a bit better).    My phone is fairly old and so I can't upgrade it and thereby be able to use some of the newer features.  The Cornell folks (cornellbirds@cornell.edu) very kindly (and swiftly) replied to an email that I sent them a few years ago (with photos) asking as to what I had seen in my area.  One of the features of that app is that you can download packages of different areas (say that you are on vacation) and want to know what birds are common in that area and narrow down what you are most likely seeing/hearing.

Their website is also very handy:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/

Plus, they host various bird cams...the pond one is particularly cool (especially in the morning and it's on campus.  They fill up the bird feeders there every morning) and the red tailed hawk nest cams (including live chat with mods, if you're interested to do so, so that you can learn about the birds).

PD

[Jo498]

Oooh!  What a cool-looking bird! Hopefully, it will visit your garden more often. 

I have seen ones before and even got pictures but they didn't turn out that well because they are green and camouflaged quite well despite the red head.
They are not exactly rare although the "great spotted woodpecker" is more common. Apparently the green ones rarely "knock" at trees to get insects from the bark but mostly eat ants from the ground or anthills.

As for bird calls I went on a birdcall walk 20 years ago but I don't remember anything.
Yesterday or on sunday there was a cuckoo or more than one really going crazy and cuckooing all the time while I walked through the fields, still pretty close to the village.
(There's a superstition/saying here that if one has money in the pocket on hearing the cuckoo's call for the first time in a year one will never lack money for the rest of the year But it wasn't the first one that spring and I didn't have money on me.)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I have seen ones before and even got pictures but they didn't turn out that well because they are green and camouflaged quite well despite the red head.
They are not exactly rare although the "great spotted woodpecker" is more common. Apparently the green ones rarely "knock" at trees to get insects from the bark but mostly eat ants from the ground or anthills.

As for bird calls I went on a birdcall walk 20 years ago but I don't remember anything.
Yesterday or on sunday there was a cuckoo or more than one really going crazy and cuckooing all the time while I walked through the fields, still pretty close to the village.
(There's a superstition/saying here that if one has money in the pocket on hearing the cuckoo's call for the first time in a year one will never lack money for the rest of the year But it wasn't the first one that spring and I didn't have money on me.)

If I'm not out every day walking around (and listening), there are certain calls that I can get confused ("Which bird?  Is it this or that?").

And, I bet that you had at least a 10 cent coin in your pocket when you heard the first cuckoo of the year. 

PD