Birds: Interesting and Returning

[peter303]

I have seen eagles at the Arsenal Refuge this year.

[onebyone]

I have seen eagles at the Arsenal Refuge this year.

Just Monday, I saw both golden and bald eagles there.

[cottonmountaineering]

I'm not into birding but the pictures are awesome, seems like a cool hobby

[SunNFun]

When I lived in northern Tampa a few years back these ran wild in the neighborhood

[SunNFun]

Broad-winged Hawk on the deck out back near Atlanta

[kimo]

I'm not into birding but the pictures are awesome, seems like a cool hobby

It is a cool hobby. Watching them is a great way to experience wildlife without leaving home. For years I took them for granted but now they bring the joy.

Here’s a couple more pix. This is our friendly mountain chickadee enjoying a snack in our crab apple tree.

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This is our resident black-capped chickadee doing her thing. She is a fun and flirty bird. We often see her bouncing around the yard with her partner.

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[MtnHub]

I'm not really a real 'birder' at all but do appreciate and find it fun to study them on an amateur level. Our property borders on a green space with a pond, so we see lots of Canada geese and various varieties of ducks all the time, as well as the usual red-winged blackbirds, house finches (what a lovely song they have!), bluejays, red hawks, barn owls, flickers, chickadees (LOVE their little name-song: "chic-a-dee-dee-dee" -- and great shots, Kimo!), and of course, robins. I always thought robins were just common birds of the Midwest until I started hiking in the mountains and was surprised to see them regularly at high elevations! We almost always have a family of gentle-looking mourning doves nest under our deck. Bald eagles have started to thrive in Iowa, and I will sometimes see dozens at a time below the dam of the river when I walk across it.

On hikes in the mountains I frequently come across ptarmigans, Clarke nutcrackers and Stellar jays, and ouzels. This past fall I came across a family of wild turkeys (not quite a vulture, Thorn, but still interesting). And a year ago last fall when I was coming down Mt Katahdin my partner and I walked right by a Franklin spruce grouse, which are supposedly quite rare.

[SunNFun]

I dare anyone to turn this into a virus or political spew. Never mind, many are plenty capable of that, but we don't need it in a post intended to provide good and interesting news...

We live in SLC, UT, and this morning we just saw our first returning Lazuli Bunting! Male Lazulis have beautiful blue heads and backs, with a white chest/belly and orange bib. Wings are sparrow-like. Females are more light tan in general and beautiful in a whole different way. These birds usually arrive back here in April/May and leave again for southern Mexico in Aug/Sep. We try to guess the date when we see our first one, and today was one of my family's pick, so nailed it! A neighbor recently informed that they saw their first hummingbird last week. This is wonderful news to us, especially right now! Just had a Cooper's Hawk fly into and out the backyard yesterday (might have been a Sharpie though).

So, what have you seen, are waiting for, or anything else interesting in terms of birds? No rules or guidelines here, just nudging the bird lovers out there while celebrating a little bit of good news.

I live in northeastern Georgia just outside Atlanta and have a deck out back of my house that I put bird food down on the railing. They fly in daily for the stuff and they will even fly over to my sliding glass door where I will sometimes sit on the couch watching tv and let me know they are there but there is no food. Here is a list of the birds that come here on a regular basis. I wish I could find my camera so I could get some better pics because the cell phone doesnt cut it, things disappear for awhile after you move.

brown thrasher - downy woodpecker - eastern bluebirds - carolina chickadee - pine warbler - House finch - eastern towhee - brown-headed nuthatch - carolina wren - red-bellied woodpecker - tufted titmouse - cardinal - bluejay - red-winged blackbird - and of course the robin.

[kimo]

I won’t forget the first time I saw turkey prints in snow. I did not know what the creature was but due to the large size and three prongs I was certain it also had a forked tongue, reptilian tail, and could eviscerate me with one swipe of its velociraptor-like claws.

We have a friendly downy woodpecker that visits our yard at least once a day. It’s usually in the trees but yesterday it raided our finch feeder.

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Regarding interesting and returning birds: One of the coolest things I have ever witnessed is happening in Hawaii right now. After a winter of nesting, this year’s crop of Laysan albatross chicks are beginning to fledge. The large birds then fly to the Gulf of Alaska to forage on the open ocean throughout summer.

I got to visit their nesting site at Kaena Point Natural Reserve over a four-month period. The nesting site is protected from predators by a 6’ high perimeter chain-link fence. The public is encouraged to enter the enclosure and view the nesting albatross up close. Visitors must remain on marked trails and outside of roped off areas.


This is Kaena Point. The albatross nests are scattered within the short vegetation.



My first visit was in late February. The chicks were adorable.



When I visited again in April, the little chicks were molting into flight feathers with ungainly wings.



And by late May, the chicks were fledging.



They become beautiful soaring birds. It was an amazing process to witness.





Video of a fledging chick spreading its wings...

[greenonion]

Kimo - love the progression of the albatross - thanks! Do you, or anyone else, have anything to share on the Kea bird from New Zealand? Incredibly beautiful AND smart.

[nyker]

Cool thread.

Not terribly recent, but this is the famous mandarin duck that was in Central Park for a short while. I found it one morning with good light for a photo.
Nobody knows how it got there...

[nyker]

Kimo - love the progression of the albatross - thanks! Do you, or anyone else, have anything to share on the Kea bird from New Zealand? Incredibly beautiful AND smart.

here you go from a few years back near Mt Cook