Birdsters! 'Februrary FIRSTS' Pls. Post Here!

Had a lot of fun posting our January FIRSTS--i.e., first bird to our feeder, first spotting, first arrival of the year, first digi pic, first to our life list, etc., that we thought we'd do the same for FEB. FIRSTS.

Kinda helps us keep track of how we're learning and progressing, and the changes and migrations of the wildlife.

I don't have a FEB FIRST yet, but am trying! One First this month, though, will be participation in the Great Backyard Bird Count http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/index.html February 18-21, Think it will be lots of fun.

Snow today, the birds are having a ball--Flickers, Cardinals, Chicadees--it's like a fairy dance of birds out there!

Enjoy the day! t.

Very cute Tabasco! Looks like the bird in the background is trying to do snow angels in the air LOL :-)

-Julie

I had a mocking bird visit my suet feeder yesterday, and that's a first for me.
Dee

TodayI got some decent pics of a pair of Red Tailed Hawks. I saw what I thought was one last fall but today there were two and they posed for photos for a short while! I even got one in flight between perches.

On the move.

Front view of one on a chimney.

Wow, very impressive pictures. They look like rather ferocious birds!

Cool shots! That in-flight pic is awesome! :-) Thanks for sharing and congratulations on seeing (and shooting) the pair of them :-)

-Julie

I saw my first sharp-shinned hawk today while I was out... naturally I didn't have my camera. :(

okus, what good shots. You really have to wait for a while to have them come close enough to shoot.

No picture, but I saw my first robins on Thursday, 2/3!

Julie

Julie--Does your robin sighting mean spring is just around the corner? I hope so!

I am still looking for a Feb First. Nothing yet.

Have a good weekend! t.

ok, this is not showing the birds too clear, however, I think it is funny. It was a rainy day and the goldfinches were feeding heavily. I think my bird watching obsession is catching on here..and yes, I have dust bunnies in the corners of my windows, floors..etc :-)

That is hilarious!

Had a visitor at our feeders today. I believe a Coopers Hawk.

Tried but didn't get anything, but sure did scare the squirrels and birds.

Lisa, those dust bunnies just show that your kitties aren't doing their job of rolling around on the floor enough to get rid of the dust! :-) Besides, isn't it more fun to take pics of the kitties and birds than to worry about dust?!!?!?!?

Kruch, that bird would scare me too if I saw him in my garden eyeing me! What intensely scary eyes he has! Yikes...if I were a mouse I'd die of a heart-attack before he had a chance to even catch me! Great shots and congrats for getting such a cool visitor!

-Julie

Kruch, That is one great shot! My red Tails are still about, while I love the hawks I do wish they would hunt somewhere else - my songbirds have all run away!
Love the cats too!

Lisa, I have similar bird watching companions at s similar window, including the bunnies!

Is the "Hawk Moon" out this month? Those hawks are scary looking.

Great shots!
Lisa is that Spacky and Penny?? How funny
Here's my first for February. My picture is of a White Peacock butterfly. This is the first time I've ever seen one with its wings folded, the first time I've seen the underwings...these flutters (almost, I guess) always land with their wings out flat.

Here's what one normally sees... Notice the tiny flower on the butterfly's wing?

Floridian, that's GOREGOUS! And yes, I saw the flower...pretty cute :-)

-Julie

Thanks Julie.
And thanks Tabasco for these threads...great fun! Your cardinal looks really big compared to the other little bird...what is the little one?
Okus, great shots. You can sure see that red tail!
Beautiful Cooper's Hawk! We hear the bird alert go out when there's a hawk nearby. Quite a ruckus at first, then quiet.

Beautiful hawk pictures, They are getting desperate as the small rodents are tucked away underground.
I would love to be able to get a picture of one, instead of just an ultra high fly-by.

Tabasco, I enjoy your threads so much! This February full moon is not a hawk moon. It is the Snow Full Moon. (Look Out). We have had lots of participation here - above average, but very little snow.
Our last snow is about gone and I guess the birds went back out to the fields.

here are some February firsts for me....

#1 Hooded Crow Corvus corone

#2 Jay Garrulus glandarius

#3 same Jay, different pose

2 Jays and 2 Hooded Crows

Don't you just love that big ragged wingspan on the crows? I'm glad you included pics of your jays. They are very pretty birds and coloration is much different that our.

I heard a woodpecker hammering in the trees off to the side and caught a far-away shot of a Downy Woodpecker.

Thanks Seeds. Yes, I really love the coloration on the Jays here. I'd never have known they were Jays if I hadn't looked them up in my bird book though....all I knew in the States were Blue Jays and they look SO different from these!

I agree about the ragged wingspan of the crows.....definitely untidy and it makes them a bit spooky. Definitely evokes images from Edgar Allen Poe LOL

-Julie

They may be spooky, but remember the crows or ravens - whichever they were at that time in Israel brought manna to those in the desert!

People get upset about feeding birds other than cardinals and the pretty ones. They all have a place in the nature of things.

certainly! :-) Spooky is cool...not bad :-)

-Julie

Salvia--very interesting Jay pics. Also the Woodpecker. What varieties of Woodpeckers do you have? Are they somewhat rare in your area? t.

Tabasco, the woodpecker is Se_eds' pic, not mine. We do have woodpeckers here Dendrocopus syriacus, but I have never seen one. We are at the very southern edge of their range here in Israel. Actually slightly outside of their range. Here's a link with a pic of a Syrian Woodpecker...just scroll down to see the image. http://www.sundancecamp.com/Animals/Birds/Residents/

That said, I never saw a woodpecker the whole time I lived in the States either LOL. I heard them a few times, but never actually saw them.

-Julie

Another first, and another hawk! This one is, I believe, a Sharp Shinned Hawk. He just stopped by to eat his lunch on my yard fence! I took these through the window, which is just as well as he removed himself and his meal the moment i touched the door latch.

Eating Lunch

And finally showing his profile.

Great shots of a beautiful bird. What a great moment to see it feeding so close.

Wowsers!! okus .. (and, as peculiarly awful, as it may sound to some) .. You ol 'lucky' devil you !!

A mite strikingly handsome specimen s/he is too!! .. A virtual 'madonna' of sorts, for struttin' his prowess in posing.
.. Not to mention the mannerisms displayed in such fine feathered dining for ya too.

Thanks for sharing some mitey grand shots with us again ..

- Magpye