Birding

[Drip Curl Magic]

I recently took a trip to a national wildlife refuge.

 

it was very cool.

 

It is probably the most beautiful piece of land within 50 miles of my house. (I live in the middle of no where)

 

I was shoked at how beautiful flat grasslands/wetlands can be.

 

A whole bunch of cool birds roaming around as well.

 

Northern pintails, Ross' geese, Lesser Sandhill cranes, cackling Canada geese, green-winged teal, shovelers, gadwalls, mallards, and I'm pretty sure we saw an egret of some sort.

 

it was so beautiful.... seeing such a large community of birds living together in the same marshlands. I wish wish wish wish I had brought my camera. I'm definately planning on going back there sometime very soon. Amazing place.:hihi:

[Cedars]

I recently took a trip to a national wildlife refuge.

 

it was very cool.

 

It is probably the most beautiful piece of land within 50 miles of my house. (I live in the middle of no where)

 

I was shoked at how beautiful flat grasslands/wetlands can be.

 

A whole bunch of cool birds roaming around as well.

 

Northern pintails, Ross' geese, Lesser Sandhill cranes, cackling Canada geese, green-winged teal, shovelers, gadwalls, mallards, and I'm pretty sure we saw an egret of some sort.

 

it was so beautiful.... seeing such a large community of birds living together in the same marshlands. I wish wish wish wish I had brought my camera. I'm definately planning on going back there sometime very soon. Amazing place.;)

 

Marshlands are so great! One of my favorite birding areas is 30,000 acres of marshland. There are so many diverse birds attracted to these refuges. Sounds like you have a winner near you!

[Cedars]

This week, the eagles were acting as though they are thinking about producing some eggs. The female was in the nest most evenings on my drive home. She appeared to be making sure the nest is in fine shape to hold her babies this year. The male was close by watching over her. Each morning the birds were gone. Leaving the nest at the first approach of light. I have not seen these two in their mating rituals, due to the limited amount of time I am able to observe them on my way home.

 

Once I did get to see eagles mate. High above our pasture I watched the two birds soaring higher and higher, circling each other. Pinpoints of dark high in the sky became one and they spiraled down towards the ground locked in the grips of each other. Near the ground the two would break apart and begin their accent again. I watched this for 3 complete turns. Then they flew away towards the south.

 

A pair of red tailed hawks appeared along the freeway south of the eagle nest by about 3 miles. I think its the pair that hangs in this area. Reclaiming their territory. Occasionally I have to beep my horn at one of these birds crossing the freeway too low (in my opinion). Its fun to watch them turn upwards sharply as fast as they can, their wing beats becoming stronger and faster. My hope is this helps the birds to avoid cars when hunting.

 

And to end my work drive for the week, last night as I neared my last turn to home a Kestrel was perched on the electric lines feasting on a vole freshly caught.

[Turtle]

Cedars, you have some very good fortune with the raptors & I enjoy your well writ accounts. Thanks as always for that!

 

When I finally put out the daily cup of seed today - and late at that - I no sooner shut the door than at least 8 Red-winged Blackbirds mobbed the scene. Racoon coined the phrase 'hive' of Chickadees earlier, & we have 'murder' of Crows, and 'covey' of Quail. So, letsss seeee...rats! Earlier I thunk up the perfect name for the group of Red-wings & now it has slipped my mind. Oh bother! :lol:

[Turtle]

___Ace caught a glimpse of a new bird at the feeders; an American Goldfinch.

[Racoon]

Excellent Photo and Observation Turtle-san!

 

When I Travel to Downtown Portland, I sometimes (and Used to always) bring a bag of Bulk purchased Sunflower seeds. about $1.19 a pound, and feed the Pigeons with about 2 pounds of sunflower seed.

 

When I took the Bus to work to UPS, I would feed the pigeons at the Transfer area!

It got to the point, that when I got off the bus, they would recognize me right away and swoop down for some hearty seed! :) :)

They loved it, and I came to recognize the different personalities of the Pigeons. :Crunk:

 

There was one I called "Whitey" 'cuz he had a weird white head! He was my favorite. :Crunk: He's probably dead now, but I loved how he used to coo the girls and how affectionate he was with me! :doh:

 

Hmmm... I could bring a tear to my eye thinking about him! :xx:

[Cedars]

___Ace caught a glimpse & a photo of a new bird at the feeders; a Female American Goldfinch. Here she is:

 

My goldfinches have disapeared again. They seem to cycle in a semi nomadic lifestyle in the winter months. Appearing infrequently in my yard checking out the area, to disapear again until it warms up. Next time I see them, the males should be mostly yellow again with a trace of their winter plumage.

[Cedars]

It got to the point, that when I got off the bus, they would recognize me right away and swoop down for some hearty seed! :lol: :eek:

They loved it, and I came to recognize the different personalities of the Pigeons. :)

 

There was one I called "Whitey" 'cuz he had a weird white head! He was my favorite. ;) He's probably dead now, but I loved how he used to coo the girls and how affectionate he was with me! :D

 

Hmmm... I could bring a tear to my eye thinking about him! :)

 

 

You need to get some feeders up! Your a birder by nature! Stop fighting it!

[Racoon]

You need to get some feeders up! Your a birder by nature! Stop fighting it!

 

I've thrown in the towel!

I can't fight it. Got some Suet up! ;) The Stellars and Scrubs like it..

 

Heres another funny pigeon story: :)

 

One summer day I came home from a bike ride.I Went on the deck to water my herbs and have a beer.

On the Deck railing there was a Beautiful Pigeon! :eek: :) just staring at me!

Not the city slicker kind. I live in the Burbs. It had cool purple and green coloring and an Ankle Tag!

It wasn't scared of me. I thought "gee how strange"

So it kept me company while I did my thing in the yard.

Next day there it was again! So I named it "Charlie"

How Strange???

It just stayed in the back yard. :hyper: :)

Next couple days it was still Loitering around the yard. Even chilling on the lawn!

 

So I finally read the tag, the # on it, and Tracked it down.

It was a Racing Pigeon! And the owner wasn't to concerned about it.

Turns out Charlie was a She

So I renamed it "Charlene." :)

My cat never bothered it. And he was a bird-killer...

Charlene kept me company in the yard for about 4 weeks in the summer!.:)

 

Then 1 day she was gone. :shrug:

Flew off to who knows where...

 

I took it as a beautiful sign of something beyond my comprehension. :)

 

I have a picture of her. If only I could scan it on here.

I'm technically challenged...

 

It was so cool! :) ;)

[Racoon]

Looking through the Audubon Society Book

Here are some birds that I would like to see:

 

 

Blue-winged Teal duck - found in marshes and bogs. It looks kinda' cool in the pictures.

 

Cattle Egret w/ breeding Plumage!

 

Vermillion Flycatcher - so little and proud in red plummage!

 

Bohemian Waxwing - up in Western Canada

 

Pileated Woodpecker - Woody Woodpecker :hyper:

[Cedars]

Good idea for a post Raccoon! From the top of my head, birds I would like to see:

 

Whooping Cranes in the wild (can be reintroduced, but must be independent of human care)

 

California Condor in the wild.

 

Prothonatary Warbler (spelling may be wrong)

 

Peregrine Falcon taking a bird.

 

Snowy Owl

 

Scissor tailed Flycatcher.

[Tarantism]

i saw a new one yesterday, spotted it in some bushes to the right while in a passing car, a yellow billed magpie.

 

happy birding!

[Racoon]

Good idea for a post Raccoon! From the top of my head, birds I would like to see:

 

 

Peregrine Falcon taking a bird.

 

 

Scissor tailed Flycatcher.

 

I looked at the scissor tail. Pretty cool. Long tail feathers, found Southwest-Central US ! they like perching on telephone poles..:hihi:

Have seen Peregrine, but only when looking for prey.

Snowy Owls look real purdy..

 

I would like to see a Prarie Falcon! those guys look Bad ***!

 

Any kind of Puffin would be rad to see! (horned or tufted) Weird lookin' beaks.:)

 

and throw in a Black-billed Magpie for good measure...:hihi:

(((Tartanism))) saw a yellow billed Mag !

[Cedars]

This last week I have seen many of the big hawks. Red-tailed and Rough Legged mostly. Then as my travels took me north last weekend the sightings stopped. The hawks seem to be hanging at the snow melt line.

 

I saw a Coopers hawk glide over my house yesterday just above the tree tops. The chickadees were calling out warning shouts like crazy.

 

Big news of the week. The eagle is sitting on eggs. I noticed on tuesday morning she is set firmly on the nest. Sometimes she is so low you cannot see her. When she is visible, it is only her head that can be seen. If there is a cloud cover, you cant see her at all.

 

Life is good.

[Cedars]

___Here is Charlene the Pigeon (temporarily) while Racoon figures out attachment size(s) & procedure(s).

 

 

Its pretty cool when you make a connection between people because of birds. There was a crow in Duluth MN who used to hang around the point eating popcorn. Someones pet, it would let kids pet it, if you approached slowly. We would look for that bird each trip to that city.

 

My neighbor had a big cage in the barn (about 25' by 10') where he kept his cockatiels (sp?). One summer he found three other birds who had escaped and found his birds. They were attracted to this cage because of the songs comming from it. He then snuck up to the barn and closed the doors and was able to capture the birds. We never were able to locate their owners.

 

One bird we were never able to catch was hanging around my feeders one summer. It sang the tune to Mayberry RFD. I noticed this new song right away. I couldnt place the tune until we contacted a local animal shelter and found out the bird had been reported missing. So we gave the location but never found out if the owner managed to catch the bird.

 

A friends cockatiel escaped once. She called me in a panic. I told her to put the birds cage out in the yard. Late the next morning, her bird returned to home and she was able to close the door and bring her back into the house.

[Cedars]

This last week has brought our first rains. With the rains came warmer temps. The canadian geese which had been wintering elsewhere (but close by) returned to our neighbors swamp thursday morning. I could hear them calling out as they found their favorite spots to claim again this year.

 

That morning on the way to work I saw many pairs of geese heading towards their territory. Two here, two there, every mile or two. Another sign of the comming warm weather.

 

Yesterday evening on the way home, there is a small pond that always attracts alot of geese and mallards. There were about 7 pairs of mallards there. Taking off as couples, flying over the road trying to gain altitude, I marveled at the potential of spring once again.

[Cedars]

Heres a good clip of radar use of migration of birds:

 

http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/birdrad/com4f.htm

 

Heres the start of the bird info:

http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/birdrad/comment.htm