Any birdwatchers?

[yowser]

The TLS poem of the week is 'Skeins o geese.'

 

[MrPixel]

I saw my first Sandhill cranes last week! Now those are majestic.

Oh, yes. Twice my wife and I made the pilgrimage to the Platte River Valley in Nebraska to experience the Sandhill cranes during their migration layover. On one trip the snow geese were doing the same and the show was amazing.

On a local note, we have given up feeding. We have an aggressive band of squirrels that raid the feeder nearly the moment it's put out. They throw food everywhere, and then the dog wants to get into the dropped food. We feel especially bad about this because we have two pair of cardinals that frequented the feeder, one female so familiar with my wife that it landed on her shoulder on a couple of instances.

A few years ago we decided we were going to trap the squirrels and relocate them. We moved 40 or so this way, greater than 10 miles away so they wouldn't be back (conventional wisdom is >5 miles or they navigate "home"). Things calmed down the next season, but it quickly became obvious it was a futile exercise. Funniest was once when we set the trap out and it wasn't 10 minutes before a female was sniffing around, and the male stalking her realized she was distracted by the food. She was far enough into the trap to be blocked in by the male, he "went for it", trapping both. We never did get a thank-you note from the happy couple.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Fascinating birds. Saw them on the Atlantic coast in Newfoundland.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Just saw a BIG bird fly past one of my cameras.

Considering it's dark, I'll guess an owl of some kind.

 

[liqueur]

Just saw a BIG bird fly past one of my cameras.

Considering it's dark, I'll guess an owl of some kind.

Yes I think owls are the only big birds that fly willingly at night.

 

[Comentarista82]

Yes I think owls are the only big birds that fly willingly at night.

There's actually tons that fly at night. Here's a sampling of a few with their calls.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think I saw a great horned owl the other night. I'm not sure, because it was dark, and I could only see its outline flying across the night sky and then perching in a nearby tree. But it was clearly a bird of prey, it was large, and the way it was flying at night convinced me it was an owl.

The great horned owl is my pick as the most photogenic bird.

 

[liqueur]

There's actually tons that fly at night. Here's a sampling of a few with their calls.

Right. I was saying, owls DO fly at night. Most other large birds, not so much.

 

[liqueur]

The great horned owl is my pick as the most photogenic bird.

Second only to the snowy owl.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Nine cameras display on a 24" screen off to my side. It was only a brief shadow that caught my eye at first and I thought it might have been a bat. Then the bird flew down from above the camera and out across the yard. That wingspan weren't no Bat.

The camera is mounted on a pole that I've seen other birds perch on during the day, but there is also a large Oak tree right there.

 

[Comentarista82]

I think I saw a great horned owl the other night. I'm not sure, because it was dark, and I could only see its outline flying across the night sky and then perching in a nearby tree. But it was clearly a bird of prey, it was large, and the way it was flying at night convinced me it was an owl.

The great horned owl is my pick as the most photogenic bird.

They have a particular flight pattern, too. Could also have been a barred owl (difference is the call). Didn't realize I'd heard a barred owl before, but I have (twice)--although I never saw it.

 

[boo56]

Not really, but I try to take a walk every day and I do talk to the crows...

 

[old_prof]

We had a barred owl roosting in a tee about fifteen feet from the house. I think I need to reduce the red of the picture to post it here

 

[SimonDoom]

They have a particular flight pattern, too. Could also have been a barred owl (difference is the call). Didn't realize I'd heard a barred owl before, but I have (twice)--although I never saw it.

According to Audubon, barred owls aren't found in this part of the country. I'm not an owl expert, especially at night. Chances are it was a great horned owl, but I can't be sure.

 

[Comentarista82]

According to Audubon, barred owls aren't found in this part of the country. I'm not an owl expert, especially at night. Chances are it was a great horned owl, but I can't be sure.

Then it may have been what you suspected.

When I look at Cornell Ornithology Labs/Merlin, though, I take the ranges as guidelines--although they are largely accurate.

As one example, I had never seen an Eastern Bluebird in TX until 2001, until I heard this very plaintive whistle while fishing. Heard it again and saw it, perched on an oak branch about 30 feet behind me. Looked it up and their range at the time only extended to about Memphis, TN and no migration route anywhere close.

Can't say the same about the White-throated sparrow I've heard like crazy since Oct--never heard that 5-bar whistle before then--yet the range maps put them as nonbreeding all over TX.

 

[SimonDoom]

Then it may have been what you suspected.

When I look at Cornell Ornithology Labs/Merlin, though, I take the ranges as guidelines--although they are largely accurate.

As one example, I had never seen an Eastern Bluebird in TX until 2001, until I heard this very plaintive whistle while fishing. Heard it again and saw it, perched on an oak branch about 30 feet behind me. Looked it up and their range at the time only extended to about Memphis, TN and no migration route anywhere close.

Can't say the same about the White-throated sparrow I've heard like crazy since Oct--never heard that 5-bar whistle before then--yet the range maps put them as nonbreeding all over TX.

I'm not an expert with bird identification, but in my experience one usually is correct to go with the probabilities, based on range and how common they are and the rough size. It was a large bird -- either a large owl, or a hawk that was flying at night, which doesn't seem likely.

 

[Britva415]

I'm not an expert with bird identification, but in my experience one usually is correct to go with the probabilities, based on range and how common they are and the rough size. It was a large bird -- either a large owl, or a hawk that was flying at night, which doesn't seem likely.

Yeah. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

^^ Striped Owls?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Maybe a junco? They live in the arctic in the summer and fly south to the northern part of the US for the winter. In Maine, we call them snowbirds, because they always seem to show up with snowstorms.

View attachment 2588423

Pretty sure I've been seeing them lately too.

My yard sort of looks Arctic like right now.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Beautiful yellow-crested Cockatiels flew around the trees near our flat in Hong Kong. We just loved watching them.