Daily Bird Pictures VOL. 456

It's time to start a new thread. We came from http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1346896/ Go back to see all the great photos, if you missed them.

Here are some of my recent photos. Ack! Wish I didn't have a "headless" photo to start this thread. I was not thinking. Anyway to rearrange the photos after editing???

1. Northern Flicker- the weather we had brought the Flickers back after a long absence.
2. Not a good picture, but most times when we eat at Tasty Taco in W. Des Moines, there's this Red-tailed Hawk looking for its own meal.
3. I just had to get a Western Meadowlark on here. It was so funny watching this one tromp through the snow.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2014 2:56 PM

Nice Fluffy Flicker!

Julie, love the pelican's on the previous thread.

The Carolina wrens are working over the suet feeder now. I have not seen them doing that before. Too much snow around.

Chillybean ,I have seen an American woodcock here 2times....1 time with 3 fledglings...I look for them every year..but we have a little dog now soo I doubt Ill see them again down by the wetlands. Such a beautiful Colored bird..I thought it was injured and walked down to it...got a good look...Long slightly flattened beak...They loved the soft ground on the edge of the wetlands the year they had fledges...this was before I had a digital Camera...

Not sure what this guy really is yet...I need more zoom....

I love Flickers

I saw a greyish bird flying los to the ground this morning. We were in the car on an errand & it had yellow underneath the wings. the only bird of the size that I could think of was a flicker. I don't know if they migrate or not.

Thanks Resin. they are here in the summer so I will wait until then to count.

I can really tell the season is changing
1 Canadian geese numbers are down from hundreds to dozens, Juncos are down from dozens to a few
2 Red-winged Blackbirds are moving from trees back to water. This small group was making an impressive amount of noise.
3 Great-tailed grackles are back. We have always had common grackles in summer, but the Great-tailed have only been in the area 15 years or so.

Yay for season change!!

Here's a lifer: Long-tailed duck. Isn't he handsome

Very handsome, and good photo.

Wow, Marna, he's gorgeous.

He is exciting. Are they migrating?

Yah, they are migrating, but we usually don't see too many here. I see reports along Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. Cornell list them as mostly northeast for migration, but the eBird shows them a bit more prevalent.

Congrats on your lifer, Marna. He's a handsome dude!

How to you reach eBird?

http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

You can view data within the "explore data" tab.

Thank you. I do the Feb. bird count but didn't know how to contact ebird.

I am a winter person, so feel a little sadness at the arrival of the mud season but I am eager to see our bug-eating birds come back, especially the Chimney Swifts. These towers (with attached garage) was built this fall. We saw Swifts over our yard late spring, so have hope we might have some nesting birds.

It is that time of year when our "berry Robins" are coming back. These are the Robins that eat the dried cranberries I throw out. When it warms up, they will rely more on the worms and other bugs.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the swifts. fingers crossed that they find you soon!

Today we had a new visitor, a feisty, leucistic American Tree Sparrow.

Later we saw our first ever Ross's Goose after scouring through many flocks of Snow Geese. We also had some nice looks at American Wigeons, Green-winged Teal and other birds. That was before getting stuck in the mud trying to find some Myrtle Warblers. We saw them in February last year, so went to the same area. It's a little wetter now.

Yesterday, I saw a very strange sight. One of the Western Meadowlarks came into the feeding area, still eating from the ground, but found a peanut in the shell. The bird pounded on it awhile, and was able to eat the nut. I never thought they'd do this. We are still waiting for the arrival of the Easterns, but I really like the Westerns' song much more. :)

What a coincidence, Chillybean! I am posting a leucistic Northern Cardinal that I saw at Lake Whitney State Park in Texas on 3-8-2014:) Love the American Tree Sparrow! Nice lifer, Mrs_Ed! I wish I had that one.

Chillybean - We had a lateseason snow today - about 6", It was pitiful to see a Robin grabbing these shriveled up, hard-as-a-rock berries off of my Red Chokeberry. And the other birds stripped my Callicarpa & Holly bushes weeks ago. I put raisins & grapes out for the fruit eaters, but I have to get out there at either the crack of dawn or sunset so they have a chance; otherwise the bully Starlings swoop in & eat everything in minutes. I even put out bananas during the storm, not sure if anyone would eat them - a bunch of crows & seagulls took 'em! Who knew? Oh well, everybody's gotta eat.

I'm SO ready for Spring.

carol13,

No birds have eaten from some berry trees we planted specifically for them, so for the Robins I would throw out dried cranberries. But the bags we have are not quite as fresh and the Robins struggled trying to eat them. I actually poured hot water over some berries in a bowl. Then I'd put those out after I drained the water. The Robins were happy.

At this time Starlings are not a problem, and none of the other birds eat them. I wish I had some ideas for you.

thebestmissy, That is a beautiful bird. I hope he's able to find a mate.

Starling just pass through here. I hope that they don't settle in. Perhaps the crows keep them away. I have seen robins work our crabapple tree, but not this year.

Red winged Black birds are back..and Robins too...Went Eagle watching saw 2 adults with 2 juvies down on the Frozen reservoir

I have seen a red winged during a dry south of here. Have not herd them in a local marsh. too much ice, probably.

Hello bird watchers!
I am new to this forum and hope my question is relevant. Here in eastern TN we have a nice diverse bird population and i enjoy watching all of them especially since I am a novice it is very exciting each time i see a new(to me) bird. Anyhoo, I have never seen a cedar waxwing here until yesterday when I found one at a shopping plaza, dead. It was very sad and puzzling since it had not a mark or ruffled feather. I figured it must have struck a window. I moved it out of the walkway and saw a red berry from a holly next to it, then as i looked closer at the poor bird, I noticed there was a split in its neck and i saw at least 3 berries crammed in. Did this bird eat itself to death? Are there berries that may poison these birds? Does anyone know what might have happened? Thanks for any input.

Aww jeez, poor thing. Hopefully the bird was anaesthetized at impact. I know there is a corny moral in here about in flight intoxication, but I cant quite get it there. lol.
Thanks for the quick response Resin.

Love the Long Tailed duck. I live on the Mississippi and have never seen them here! The Turkey Vultures are back in our neck of the woods, so that means warmer weather can't be too far behind...Oh, wait. There's snow in the forecast for Monday! Poor birds must be confused this spring!

Rose

Found a new (old, new to me) bird-watching walk
Double-crested Cormorants
Bald Eagle

Took us awhile, but was able to find the needle in this haystack. A Ross's Goose.

Our Killdeer have arrived and they are already pairing up. They like whatever food they find in our south yard, so are coming most days.

holy cow. it's the Where's Waldo picture of the Goose world.

I didn't see the 'rogue' in the first photo, but enjoyed both photos.

1 White Pelicans - common on inland lakes in Colorado in Summer. What we watch for is the rare bewildered brown Pelican tagging along.
2 Sandhill Cranes - I drove over to the San Luis Valley to see these. I didn't get to see them "dance". Apparently they gather together at dawn and dusk, and that is when they are the most likely to hop around. I would have had to drive in the dark to see that - maybe next year.

We have a new feeder bird...

Chillybean, are those dried mealworms or fresh? I bought a container of dried to encourage eastern bluebirds and for the robins (the hardest working underappreciated birds in America imho) and the worms were totally ignored by all the birds(even bluejays and starlings) in favor of sunflower seeds. I see the bluebirds in my back yard but despite my efforts of worms and houses and water they just don't want to get close. I like killdeer and hope they might come to my yard....there are always 2 or 3 pairs in the field next door to my yard.

scarletbean,

They are dried. I bought a bag on a whim, after not using any for a long time. I've had Juncos, Robins and maybe others eat them, but I cannot remember who. Snow was predicted for later in the day and cold temps for a couple more, so I wanted to see if the Killdeer would even take to them. They've been comfortable coming to our yard area, so I put some out where they forage.

It was really funny watching this Killdeer. He (guessing gender) stared down at them for some time, even picking one up, but dropped it. I think he was confused because these looked like food, but didn't move. Then he took the plunge and ate them up. He would not even let his mate come anywhere near them. (They were really friendly with one another last week, so I know they are a couple) Later when I checked, the mealwoms were all gone. The ground is soft again, so the last batch has been ignored except for starlings and grackles.