Tarantism Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 on the gulls, the Ring-Billed Gull could be my guy. Another good canidate from the class of Gulls described in my Birdbook is the Western Gull, which is said to frequent the area of California just north of Monterrey, ie. right where other gulls that fit the discription of my Albatross, but they are not quite as common here in the San Jose/Santa Cruz area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 upon further review of my birdbook, the bird that i saw, if an albatross, would have been an infant Layson Albatross. if it were a full adult, the back feathers and wings would have been close to a brown. infact, this bird highly resembled a seagull...if it werent for the pointed wings i would just assume that was it. do you know if seagulls can "point" their wings during flight? that would be half as suprising as seeing an albatross miles from the sea. If by point their wings you mean flying with them straight rather than in a V shape, yes, I have seen gulls flying this way. I couldnt tell you what kinds of gulls do this, only that I have noticed this in some types of gulls during migrations. Looking thru my Sibleys Guide to Birds this morning, it is probably the Herring Gull that I see moving thru here, which I described as HUGE in an earlier post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Birding yesterday was another good day! 3 of us went together, one of whom had never visited this great place that I frequent and list as my very favorite birding area, located in western wisconsin near the st. croix river (around a 2 hour drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul MN). Over the last 20 years, the population of Sandhill Cranes using the meadows has grown remarkably. When I first found this area, they listed approximatly 1,200 cranes passing thru during the spring/fall migration. This year, the man at the visitor center expects between 8,000 and 10,000 cranes to use the meadows as a staging area. I can easily state we saw over 600 cranes this day in various areas before and in the meadows. The man at the visitor center stated there are well over 1,000 birds currently in the meadows area. This is a remarkable number for the begining of their migration. Peak is not for another 2 weeks or so. The lake on the north end of the refuge was covered with ducks. Too far for me to make an absolute identification on species, I can state there was around 1,000 birds floating around on Reisinger Lake. Mallards and Coots and Blue winged Teal were seen in other parts so I would expect the majority of these birds on the lake fell into these species. There were swans throughout the marshes and it seemed each pool of water contains some of these birds. The largest group we saw was 43 birds. Many groups of 5-10 birds and lots of pairs floating together. The peak of swan movement is nearing, but it is not here yet. Large numbers of Marsh hawks (northern harriers) were available to observe. We saw one group of 5 birds all brown so it was either a mix of young birds or a mom and the young. Either way, this large number grouped together indicates an extremely successful hatch for the meadows. This does not include all the pairs and single birds we saw all over the meadows. I should have kept a better count. Thinking back on the day, I can easily say we saw well over 20 individual birds, being as the group of five was surrounded by other singles and pairs floating around in the distance over this one meadow. One bend in the road that we rounded brought us to a young Marsh hawk feeding on a mouse/vole on the side of the road. We waited and watched as this bird finished the meal and took off. When we approached the spot, we could find not even a paw or a tail left over from this catch. There were several eagles throughout the meadows but their numbers have not peaked yet. Spring is the best time for getting large numbers of eagles on a single visit. One lone osprey sat in a tree near the North fork flowage. There was something out in the marsh, either a blind or a trap (duck hunting is allowed here). I forgot to ask at the visitor center what was going on out there. It could be the osprey is wounded and they are trying to catch the bird (I was surprised to see it this late). It could be a duck blind. Another bird in this area I am not positive on ID but after reviewing my Sibleys Guide to Birds, it is very possible that I spotted my first Brewers or Rusty Blackbird. There were many Juncos here moving in from places north. Large numbers of sparrows flitted everywhere but we didnt stop to positively identify them. Our primary goals were the raptors/eagles (for the person who was on their first trip there). Other things seen included wolf prints in the northeast section of the meadows. An old snake shed of good length (around 3 feet long). Reading over the materials at the visitor center indicates some burrowing owls have returned to this area. I look forward to spotting them sometime in the future. A newspaper clipping from last november depicted a Snowy Owl had shown up there. This is a bird I want to add to my "seen it" list. More information on the meadows has been printed in this months Birders World Magazine http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=738 Near the end of the article, some sound bites from the meadows are available to hear, including the wolf pack howling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted October 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Birding yesterday was another good day! Mmmmmmm....birding....:kiss: I purchased some seed and a suet block this month in the hopes of partially supplanting vicarious birding through the excellent contribors to this thread. It's paying off!! I just peered out and spotted 2 Goldencrowned Sparrows and an Oregon Junko at the feed station. I may have to wash the windows afterall.:kiss: :kiss: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted October 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Mmmmmmm....birding....:Alien: I purchased some seed and a suet block this month in the hopes of partially supplanting vicarious birding through the excellent contribors to this thread. It's paying off!! I just peered out and spotted 2 Goldencrowned Sparrows and an Oregon Junko at the feed station. I may have to wash the windows afterall.:hihi: :cup: Window washing can wait till the morrow! I set the camera on the ground for an hour and besides the Juncos & Goldencrowned Sparrows, I caught a Spotted Towhee too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Window washing can wait till the morrow! I set the camera on the ground for an hour and besides the Juncos & Goldencrowned Sparrows, I caught a Spotted Towhee too! Good pics! I wish I had better luck with cameras.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted October 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Good pics! I wish I had better luck with cameras....Thanks Cedars...I wish I had a better camera.:) No new photos today, but a pair of Blackcapped Chickadees has arrived. I now have better hopes for a birding Winter. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted October 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Another new species at the feeder today, a Song Sparrow. I have regained enough enthusiasm to ferret out the camouflage camera blind I built last season when I lived right on the banks of the Columbia. I have in mind to follow Ace's suggestion to attach a feeder board directly to the camera blind and so draw the birds within 8 to 10 inches of the lens to compensate a bit for low pixel count. (To clarify, the camera is a video camera from which I take stills.)I have taken a couple of photos of the blind: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve daniels Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 Hi Turtle I'm still bird watching here in Crete in the Mediterranean. The swallows are just about thinking of going south to Africa for the winter and I've just photographed my 52nd species of bird on the island (a goldfinch). Having said that, birdlife and animal life in general is not as extensive as it should be here. More biodiversity loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Another new species at the feeder today, a Song Sparrow. I have regained enough enthusiasm to ferret out the camouflage camera blind I built last season when I lived right on the banks of the Columbia. I have in mind to follow Ace's suggestion to attach a feeder board directly to the camera blind and so draw the birds within 8 to 10 inches of the lens to compensate a bit for low pixel count. (To clarify, the camera is a video camera from which I take stills.)I have taken a couple of photos of the blind: Yay!!! Turtle Cam is back online! Ace is kinda handy to have around for input. A keeper me thinks. Nice flag :eek_big: * The Birding thread is the first thread to get over 10K views in Earth Science. Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangledup75 Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 I thought I knew why birds hit the windows, and I have tried putting streamers on them. It doesn’t work. A Harry woodpecker just hit a window and perished! I am so bummed out that I could cry! Does anyone out there have any ideas that work? My son just told me to cut out shapes of black construction paper and put those in the windows. Cedars 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted December 16, 2006 Report Share Posted December 16, 2006 Does anyone out there have any ideas that work?Open the window.Wait for a few generations while those who die from hitting the window fail to reproduce.Put a plant in front of the window, or perhaps bars.Shadow the window somehow so the reflection doesn't look like the sun/sky... It's an interesting question really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted December 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2006 I thought I knew why birds hit the windows, and I have tried putting streamers on them. It doesn’t work. A Harry woodpecker just hit a window and perished! I am so bummed out that I could cry! Does anyone out there have any ideas that work? My son just told me to cut out shapes of black construction paper and put those in the windows. It is possible that the individual bird was ill or somehow otherwise incapacitated, in which case nothing you do or did would have forestalled its accidental crash and death. Unless there are a lot of birds crashing into the window, I don't think you need to take any action. As to my birding, the weather has been too inclement for putting the camera blind out. I am content to watch the growing numbers attracted to my feeder, but I have seen no new species beyond what I have recently reported save for a few House Sparrows now in attendance. :doh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racoon Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 I can't seem to identify this bird, and its hard for me to catch it on camera. It has a red throat, and is grey-ish with black speckles on its breast. It has a beak like a starling, but a bit bigger... Here is a photo, and I apologize for the size, but it is necessary to even get a look at it. and even then its not that great....I may have to go dredge up my Audobon book. They aren't uncommon, but much less common than the jays, robins, and finches areoud here http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0101.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0103.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0099.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 I can't seem to identify this bird, and its hard for me to catch it on camera. It has a red throat, and is grey-ish with black speckles on its breast. It has a beak like a starling, but a bit bigger... Here is a photo, and I apologize for the size, but it is necessary to even get a look at it. and even then its not that great....I may have to go dredge up my Audobon book. They aren't uncommon, but much less common than the jays, robins, and finches areoud here http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0101.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0103.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/Jordan_Friend/IMG_0099.jpg Nice catch there Racoon! I'm pretty sure it's a Northern Red-shafted Flicker, a type of woodpecker. :phones: Here's a link to a description:BirdWeb - Bird Details I have a video of one making its call that I took last year. It's slightly too big to put in the Science Gallery so I'm uploading it to YouTube and will post the link as soon as it registers. Edit: Here's the video link>> YouTube - Northern Red-shafted Flicker - Colaptes auratus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHnDyu94R3c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anglepose Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 we have recently had flocks of brent geese arrvive and the canada geese arrive for winter there have been unusual flicks of curlews delving the mudflats out my front door (chichester harbour recognised international area of outstanding beutey ) as well as perigren falcons frequently flying around and the other day on a walk in the hills near where i live i saw a perigren flakon dive which was seriusly spectacular even for people who find bird watching relitively unexiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racoon Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 Nice catch there Racoon! :phones: I'm pretty sure it's a Northern Red-shafted Flicker, a type of woodpecker. :) Here's a link to a description:BirdWeb - Bird Details I have a video of one making its call that I took last year. It's slightly too big to put in the Science Gallery so I'm uploading it to YouTube and will post the link as soon as it registers. Edit: Here's the video link>> YouTube - Northern Red-shafted Flicker - Colaptes auratus I think you might be right Turtle that its a red shafted flicker. I noticed they like Birch trees; That is a nice comprehensive site you included. The one I have been watching is a bit beefier,but very similar. :) and he had a nice sized patch of red, where a mane would be. There was recently a trio of them just outside.. .. birds of a feather flock together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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