Ornithamateurs - The Birding Thread

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I wonder if any of the London area based posters will give a picture of the London Parakeets. .

Is this a population that escaped captivity and thrived? We have one such in South Texas as well. They are really multiplying and getting on well here

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[emcwolf13]

Hello!

Just figured I'd drop in. I'm from NC, and I've always enjoyed looking at the plethora of birds we have around here, from cardinals to woodpeckers to the occasional owl.

Forgive me if this is offensive, but it's cool to see that there is something so 'normal' on here! I've been working on getting to where I can identify birds by their calls - the "purdy purdy" of a cardinal is fairly easy to pick out, as is the distinctive "who, who, who cooks for you all?" of a barred owl. A few years ago, we were fortunate enough to have a pair nest in our backyard, and they had an owlet! It was really neat to watch it grow up.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[emcwolf13]

Hey, how dare you call us normal

Welcome, . We don't really talk that much kink, or sex, in the BDSM cafe, just life, with the understanding it might be something that underpins life, or dreams for people here. This new bird thread is wonderful, but we plan meals, and joke, and vent and smile too. . It's why threads like this can be welcome here. Enjoyment of such things is part of a sensory experience of life, is it not? thus, it seems some People who have sensual interests. might be inclined to great indulgence of sensory experiences. .

Hahaha! Thank you for the kind welcome.

I think I get the gist of the Cafe much better now, and I'll definitely have to comb through and see how many other threads catch my eye. Thanks again!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Just figured I'd drop in. I'm from NC, and I've always enjoyed looking at the plethora of birds we have around here, from cardinals to woodpeckers to the occasional owl.

Forgive me if this is offensive, but it's cool to see that there is something so 'normal' on here! I've been working on getting to where I can identify birds by their calls - the "purdy purdy" of a cardinal is fairly easy to pick out, as is the distinctive "who, who, who cooks for you all?" of a barred owl. A few years ago, we were fortunate enough to have a pair nest in our backyard, and they had an owlet! It was really neat to watch it grow up.

I know what you mean about being fortunate enough to have a pair of birds choose your place for their nest. I was living in an apartment complex a while ago and a pair of barn swallows built their nest in the porch eaves right outside my door. I could watch them through the peephole, or open my door a crack. Kitty loved to watch them as well

I came home one day to find a neighbour poking at the nest with a stick. It had eggs in it and I went ballistic on him. He didn't dare bother it again, and I got to watch them raise three chicks I also have watched Eagle Cams, love those!

And welcome to the threads!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Barn swallow, such a beautiful bird and remarkable nest!

http://lemonbayconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Barn-swallow-nest-on-farm-porch-6.10.14-Bill-Dunson-IMG_0877-aa.jpg

 

[AbsintheFather]

Barn swallow, such a beautiful bird and remarkable nest!

Swallows are cool. They have swept back wings and are very agile flyers. When I cut my field it stirs up a lot of bugs and the swallows zip all around me like little fighter jets.

 

[AbsintheFather]

this is the Mama Killdeer. She builds a nest on the ground alongside my driveway every year in the gravel. Her eggs blend in very well. She and her mate are very funny, if you approach the nest, they run away along the ground and pretend to be injured. They even bend a wing funny to look injured. That's how they lead potential predators away from their eggs.

https://40.media.tumblr.com/cb5d4fff29f8fca81741c20b92354f51/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo3_400.jpg

https://40.media.tumblr.com/b559a857bfec16081d7e208a66d50ea0/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo2_400.jpg

When the babies are born they only stay at the nest for a day or two befor being hustled off to a safer place in the field or somewhere. I'm not too sure where, but they are very cute. Look closely for the baby.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/f6378ad833fd95fe93d473e3e1ff670f/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo1_540.jpg

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Dramatic little birdie, so cute!!

 

[TalkToMeInSB]

http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s602/cascadiabnd/FB_IMG_1453151531950_zpsizhyynu3.jpg

Blue heron in Washington state

Girlfriend and I stayed in a local hotel (won the rooms in an auction) on the third floor. Coming back from dinner I looked up and saw half a dozen GBHs flying in one direction. I looked over and saw another half a dozen or more lighting in a very tall tree. It was around sundown and they were all bedding down for the night.

It's not often I see more than 1 GBH in flight... Very cool!

 

[Netzach]

This is my secret nerdery.

My hawk tally is at least one a day. Eagle count usually yields 2-5 a week. Today I wasn't quite sure if I spotted a Juvenile bald eagle or a turkey vulture, I'm leaning toward eagle as the wings weren't quite in that V. This is what happens when my glasses are in my purse.

I'm a raptor/gruidae nut, less quick to spot the passerines, but I usually check one songbird off my bird bucket list every spring. Last spring was a great encounter with a gaggle of redstarts.

 

[Netzach]

Awesome pic! I used to see blues in PA occasionally, in the unlikeliest places.

One of my favorite big birds here are white egrets. There have been times that they have set up housekeeping in the fields behind our house, when it's been heavily irrigated. Not sure what they were after, but they seemed happy for hours.

Our counselor's office complex has a lake beside it. The last few appointments we've seen Canadian Geese and Coots swimming around and hanging out on the grounds. I was shocked to see the geese, I think of them as east coast residents. (Some flocks have migrated and never left!)

There's a great egret in a park near me that is so completely habituated. The park has a stocked pond that people pull god know what fish out of. I've seen people unhook the catch and throw it to the bird, who stands next to them dancing around like a puppy waiting for dinner. Every year I think "he can't be back this year, he's got to be 100 in egret years" and he's back anyway.

 

[pensivepoet]

this is the Mama Killdeer. She builds a nest on the ground alongside my driveway every year in the gravel. Her eggs blend in very well. She and her mate are very funny, if you approach the nest, they run away along the ground and pretend to be injured. They even bend a wing funny to look injured. That's how they lead potential predators away from their eggs.

https://40.media.tumblr.com/cb5d4fff29f8fca81741c20b92354f51/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo3_400.jpg

https://40.media.tumblr.com/b559a857bfec16081d7e208a66d50ea0/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo2_400.jpg

When the babies are born they only stay at the nest for a day or two befor being hustled off to a safer place in the field or somewhere. I'm not too sure where, but they are very cute. Look closely for the baby.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/f6378ad833fd95fe93d473e3e1ff670f/tumblr_o4rneqLpTZ1s754npo1_540.jpg

I love killdeer. But I'm amazed they survive as they nest in the worst places possible~mainly gravel parking lots.
I find myself often scolding them out loud for being so careless with the eggs.
Great thread Collar!

 

[pensivepoet]

I love the Texas Blackbirds.
They have a beautiful call, elegant tail, and are very social.
They seem to have evolved. Instead of hunting bugs in a field, they hang out at truckstops, and pick the bugs off the truck's grills when they stop to fuel.
I've seen the mother bird teach the babies how to jump up on the grill to get the bugs.
I really think they're cool!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

This is my secret nerdery.

My hawk tally is at least one a day. Eagle count usually yields 2-5 a week. Today I wasn't quite sure if I spotted a Juvenile bald eagle or a turkey vulture, I'm leaning toward eagle as the wings weren't quite in that V. This is what happens when my glasses are in my purse.

I'm a raptor/gruidae nut, less quick to spot the passerines, but I usually check one songbird off my bird bucket list every spring. Last spring was a great encounter with a gaggle of redstarts.

I love seeing hawks. Depending where I am, I see them daily. I drive a lot, and love it when I come to an area where you see hawk after hawk at regular intervals along fence posts, trees, whatever is there. They seem to have a height at which they like to perch, and once you find a place that caters to their sweet spot they just line up according to territorial boundaries.

I also am seeing a lot more in urban settings. They certainly are spoiled for choice as far as a food source goes in many cities. It's good to see them thriving.

 

[markFL]

Horned Owl

I live out in the country in SW FL. I've got tons of bird photos from here and elsewhere. This guy was sitting in a pine tree at the back of my place one afternoon.


http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/seesbirds/hornedowl1E.jpg

 

[markFL]

Swallow Tailed Kite

this is a Swallow Tailed Kite (elanoides forficatus) It's a migratory species that returns here around the the first of March and heads south around the middle of August. They migrate as far south as Argentina for the winter. I've been lucky enough to have a nesting pair on my place for a few years. They are among the most beautiful and graceful flyers you'll ever see...

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/seesbirds/avatar-Copy.jpg

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I love the Texas Blackbirds.
They have a beautiful call, elegant tail, and are very social.
They seem to have evolved. Instead of hunting bugs in a field, they hang out at truckstops, and pick the bugs off the truck's grills when they stop to fuel.
I've seen the mother bird teach the babies how to jump up on the grill to get the bugs.
I really think they're cool!

Are you talking about. Grackles? I am totally enamoured of them, though they are considered pests by most. They are extremely intelligent. Pack hunters, opportunistic, scavengers, fierce aggressors, very interesting to watch. I have been attacked by a small pack when one of their young was on the ground and vulnerable and I happened too close. I have seen them gang up on and kill other birds I have never seen a nest, though, and I wonder about that.

So glad so many people are enjoying this thread. Beautiful pics, everyone!!

 

[AbsintheFather]

I don't care that one swallow doesn't make summer, it builds excitement, when the swallows return here I am satisfied.

I can also not understand dissuading natural pest control. The birds, bats and other predators here, are part of the team, in fact, I wish they worked harder and had more friends!


On a bird note, I saw a heron today, in flooding off to the left side of the road, I could not take a picture, of course, because I was driving. I had to go on that road four times to day, and it was there each time.

I usually cut my field twice a year. I time the first cutting so that it's after the field birds (especially the Red Winged Blackbirds) have nested and the little ones have fledged.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Netzach]

I love seeing hawks. Depending where I am, I see them daily. I drive a lot, and love it when I come to an area where you see hawk after hawk at regular intervals along fence posts, trees, whatever is there. They seem to have a height at which they like to perch, and once you find a place that caters to their sweet spot they just line up according to territorial boundaries.

I also am seeing a lot more in urban settings. They certainly are spoiled for choice as far as a food source goes in many cities. It's good to see them thriving.

So true. I'm in a city enough for nature apathetics like me, and it's all about the light poles. Once in a while a merlin shows up in my back yard or a coopers' lands on the sidewalk five feet in front of me, gives me a look, and takes off again.

 

[Netzach]

this is a Swallow Tailed Kite (elanoides forficatus) It's a migratory species that returns here around the the first of March and heads south around the middle of August. They migrate as far south as Argentina for the winter. I've been lucky enough to have a nesting pair on my place for a few years. They are among the most beautiful and graceful flyers you'll ever see...

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/seesbirds/avatar-Copy.jpg

Raptor jealous fits here. Wow!

 

[Wife of Bath]

There's a hawk nesting in one of our great big oak tres. I'll try to snag a picture.