Birdsters! 'Februrary FIRSTS' Pls. Post Here!

Thank- you for the kind words Ken and Magpye, it was quite a moment!
carol

Julie those are beautiful jays. Do they make as much noise as the blue jays here?

Wow Okus, how awesome! I've only seen one and I know how thrilled I was!

Okus, what beautiful photos! Your patience and observation paid off. Thanks for doing this for the rest of us. We certainly appreciate it.

Okus, that's a terrific short series of an incredible moment you got there! Wow! How privileged you must've felt to be able to witness that scene right in your back yard! :-)

Tabasco, I'm not really sure if they make racket or not. So far, I haven't heard them make ANY noise, but perhaps when they aren't so shy of humans, they do. Sorry for not being able to answer your question better. I also think they are very pretty :-)

-Julie

Another first for the month (and a first since the warm weather went south) is this lovely Great Tit Parus major. He visited my garden yesterday. By the time I got the camera though, he had flown down to my neighbor's garden.

I also saw a collared dove for the first time ever yesterday, but it was here and gone in about 5 seconds. Too short a time to get the camera, focus and snap. Oh well. I also saw loads of goldfinches yesterday, but as to be expected, they were far too shy to even let me take tehir photo from the car 20 meters away! The instant I'd stop the car, they'd all fly away. And, talented as I may be ;-), I can't drive and snap photos at the same time LOL.

Here's one little guy that visits my garden regularly but I hadn't seen one this month until now (or at least I think it's the same bird). In any case, I can never get close enough to really ID this bird as so many of the little birds here looks so very much alike. Usually they hide in the plants too...all the while hopping from one branch to the next, making it really impossible to ever get a good look at them. Oh well. This shot is from 2 days ago.

-Julie

Beautiful pictures of your native birds. They are like rare jewels.

Whatcha mean you can't drive and photograph? Have you been practicing? It seems it could be an acquired skill similar to talking on the phone.

Some towns have tried to fine people for using cell phones here in Pa. But they didn't say you can't use cameras!

Juls .. that there lil guy on the top of the white wall there .. sure resembles the lil Carolina Wren. However, it'd have to be the Israeli Wren, for you guys tho' .. (* big ol luvin' grin here*)

With that sharp 'attentive' tail thing goin' on, and that lil short stumpy body otherwise - has jes gotta be some lil species of a wren !! When you do find out .. please let us know .. ok? .. please ..

And the one lil feller in amongst the vertical branches .. looks to be cross between the ChicAdees and a lil yeller warbler of sorts !! .. Such wonderful shots you share, Juls !! ...

Oh my gosh se_eds .. I can drive, steer AND shoot pics .. far better than I could ever 'risk' driving, steering and yappin' on the cell phone !! Has to do with lining up your LCD screen over one eye, and the direction you're drivin' .. in the other. And nope, I haint cross-eyed either! .. LOL ..

Especially when you have that 'hands' thing that's gotta take place, while you're tawkin' to anyone - in person, or, on any phone !! So, needless to say .. the cell phone has long been dumpster paraphernalia !! .. hee ..

- Magpye

This message was edited Feb 11, 2005 2:16 PM

Se_eds and Magpye, thank you :-).

The first pic is a Great Tit Magpye. Very very cute birds and even cuter purely JOYFUL song they have :-). http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Parus_major.htm

The problem for me IDing the little one on the wall is that many of the little birds I have in my bird book have that flipped up tail thing. Graceful Warbler Prinia gracilis http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Prinia_gracilis.htm , Whitethroat Sylvia communis http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Sylvia_communis.htm , Wren Troglodytes troglodytes http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Troglodytes%5Ftroglodytes.htm , Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Sylvia_melanocephala.htm , Garden warbler Sylvia borin http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Sylvia_borin.htm , Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Cercotrichas_galactotes.htm , and finally the Scrub Warbler Scotocerca inquieta http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Scotocerca%5Finquieta.htm . They are all little brown birds with the exception of the Sardinian Warbler and the Whitethroat.

As far as I can tell, our wrens have a pretty short tail compared to the bird in my pic. The little horizontal bands on the tail of the bird in my pic makes me lean towards a Graceful Warbler, but I just can't see it well enough to really put my money on that one.

-Julie

Wellll galsers .. ya know what's jes gotta be done now, then ... ? ...

Jes gone hafta get a good spyball on'at'ar lil guy .. and fetch some more pitters!!

Seems that a mite bit closer stance mite be called fer tho' ... And, he jes mite be one of 'em unique birds ya know! .. (u-nique up on him!) ... hee hee ..

Even with your links above - It's still very difficult (for me also) to try to render some wee bit closer ID of him. I''ll bet you'll manage to get a good'un fetched of him soon tho' ...

Just keep us informed about your progress.

- Magpye

Magpye, I know, I know! But these guys won't let me sneak up on them. They've got eyes (and ears) in the back of their heads! I sware they could see and hear a pin fall in a thunderstorm! I have gotten a wee bit closer to one on one occasion, but that one was hopping about between the twining branches of my Pyrostegia venusta. And the danged camera kept wanting to focus on the leaves or branches as they were clearly the closer object in the viewfield. Ack! You know how stubborn...ehem...determined I am though....so I shall keep trying. ;-)

-Julie

Hi Julie - loved that great-tit - its just like the ones we had in the UK. Magpye they are the same family as Chikadees I beleive, just a different name from a different part of the world.
That Jay also looks like the ones we had in the UK. If it is, they do screech, we had them in the wood behind our house. Beautiful pictures though, I never managed to catch one on Camera. I've had much more luck since we moved here. Or maybe its just I have a better camera and I'm older and have more patience!
Carol

Hi Carol, thanks for all the feedback :-). Yes, the Great Tit's range does extend all the way to the British Isles. And yes, it's related to the Chickadees :-) I'll have to listen for the Jay's screech now :-)

-Julie

Okus great pictures. and Julie yours too as always.

On my little drive this morning I saw a pair of horned larks, had my cameras but they just flit around so fast that I couldn't get a shot of them. My first sight of them this year. donna

I have been watching and enjoying this thread, especially the close-ups of birds of prey, but have not seen anything new or special in the bird line this month over here.
On Saturday however I did have a first for our garden, in fact only the second I have ever seen and the previous one was in Tasmania, 20 years ago. Fay was reorganising all the potted plants on our patio and as she moved each pot she checked underneath for any hiding snails. One did not have a snail tucked into its base, but this Red-back Spider Latrodectus hasselti. She let me have the chance to photograph it before it was destroyed and then proceeded to check all the other pots very carefully indeed! The Red-back is a very close cousin of the American Black Widow Spider, and is sometimes reckoned to be the same species. It is just as poisonous, being one of the most deadly spiders, matched only by the Sydney Funnel-web Atrax robustus.
Needless to say, this was not a welcome visitor to our garden, although I must admit to having been delighted at the chance to photograph it. This is the female redback, the male is much smaller, has no red mark and is apparently not dangerous.

Has the same general form as our black widow. She can make you very ill but, people seldom die from her bite. Her mate always dies!!

Hi, Birdsters, have been enjoying the pics of the evil looking 'falconiformes' and the petite and cute 'paridae' and picturesque 'corvidae'. Also the nasty looking 'arachnida'. Even though I don't have a new First (yet) I have added some new words to my vocabulary!

Now that Feb is half over and I still don't have a first, I have taken desperate measures and mixed up a batch of 'Bluebird Banquet' with extra currants and a gourmet batch of Woodpecker Suet with extra peanuts this morning. Am hoping to lure the first BB of the year and the first Ivory Billed Woodpecker of the past century before the end of the month. Could be a long wait!

In the meantime, we are gearing up for the Great Backyard Bird Count that starts this week. Have made a big chart of all the 'little grey/brown birds various' for quick ID-ing with extra big print! Maybe we have a rare sparrow here and we don't even know it!

I am keeping my camera charged and handy and my three sets of eyeglasses nearby just in case!

According to the Patuxent Bird site, the spring migration is starting, so maybe we will start getting some Spring Arrivals to report...

Have a good week and Happy Valentine's Day! t.

Great pics and info! I enjoyed them all! Just love that cardinal picture on the opening post! I'd like to add some myself if you all don't mind ... Chickadee...

This message was edited Feb 17, 2005 6:37 AM

Two more...

Close-up...

Tufted Titmouse.....

Cardinal...

Downy woodpecker...

Lovely little Chickadee...I wish we saw more of them.
Nice spider Ken LOL Glad we don't see more in our area! In three years in this house I have yet to see a Black Widow. Maybe they like to stay in the woodsy areas and not in the house. This is a good thing!

Nuthatch.....

Bluejay...

Red Bellied Woodpecker...

Flicker...

I really like this pic of a titmouse so added it even though I posted one allready....

Junco...

Screech Owl....

Closer View...

I just can't leave out the squirrels, So here's a couple pics of them too....

One more....You can tell that they are doing (eating) quite well! LOL! I had a few more pics I wanted to post but just dont have the time, Maybe I'll post them later.
......

Floridian, The chickadees to me, Are one of the cutest little birds!! And I just love the sound the make! I fortunately have quite a few here and just love watching them while I have my coffee!

Iris, I really enjoyed your pics....you've got a really nice variety of birds visiting your garden :-)

So far in my own garden I've noticed Sunbirds, Great Tits, Yellow-Vented Bulbuls, House Sparrows, Mourning Doves, White Wagtails, Palm Doves, Goldfinches, Rock Doves, and some sort of little brown bird that I think is one of our many warblers. And I've got Kestrels that fly overhead now and then. Some of these never hold still long enough for me to actually get a pic of them though.

-Julie

Salvia-lover, Thankyou, I've got quite a few different kinds but hadn't gotten a chance to add more pics ( Besides that, I don't want to be a post hog and add a ton of pictures LOL) I hope you get a chance to catch a few pics of the birds in your garden Julie, I'm familiar with the mourning doves, Some Warblers, And the Kestral ( I love Kestrals, but dont get to see them very often) But the other birds you have listed I am unfamiliar with and would love to see pictures!

Nice shots Iris, especially the Screech Owl. I have had a Flicker for the first time this year at my suet feeder, but every time I see him and get the camera he is gone. Nice shots of the titmouse also, I have only seen them a few times. Amazing timing Okus on your pics. They don't stick around very long. It's been pretty cold here lately, not much to do except keep the feeders full and watch out the window. Great shots everybody, keep them coming. George

Thanks George! Is the suet feeder too close to the window that the flicker gets skitsy when you get your camera? I put my suet feeders close enough to see them good but far enough that they don't get so skitsy when I try to get a picture.
It's the same here for me George, Cold and gloomy, But the bird sights help put some drama into the day, They are always a joy to watch!

A few more shots of the flicker and red bellied woodpecker....
Well, Looks like only one got loaded ~ Don't know why.

This message was edited Feb 18, 2005 5:10 AM