Birdsters! May is here and we want to see your 'firsts'! :-)

As the old cock crows
The young cock learns

- Irish Proverb

Sorry Tabasco, but the April thread was already past 250 posts. I hope you don't mind. If so, I promise never to do it again :-)

-Julie

This is a pic of a young House Sparrow (not nearly as problematic here as they are in the US!). She was completely unafraid of me, but his Mama and Papa were frantic. They did everything to gain my attention away from the youngster. When I first spotted the family on my patio, they didn't notice me. They were singing and chirping happily, trying to collect as many of the fish emulsion pellets as they could (I'd dropped several of them on the patio earlier today when feeding my fuchsias and epiphyllums). In any case, the instant they noticed me the Papa started chattering angrily, the Mama flew this way and that in front of me trying to get my attention. She gave up, but the Papa never did. He even tried herding the youngster away from me and into the trees. Eventually the little one (I'm pretty sure it's a girl) got the idea and flew up to the tree. Then the Papa continued to chatter his displeasure at me. It was really quite a show! This all took place in less than 2 minutes, so I didn't feel guilty about not just leaving them be. ;-)

Here's the Papa scolding me after the little one was safely away...

OMW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was outside under my cedar trees (the nursery - I keep all my recent transplants there that will be going to the roundup) I was just counting the plants - you know who may Black eye susans to make tags for ect.. it is a chilly windy day. So I am standing about 3 feet form the tree and the Male Downy Woodpecker that has been visiting my feeder FLIES OVER!!!! He clings to the tree hopping around putting on quite the show for me. He climbed up about 15 feet and then came back down to my level -- I got such a good look at him! There is a limb about 8 feet off the ground that runs perpendicular to the ground (the limb where my feeders --BUT not his-- are usually hung) he skipped don that branch as well--- he was soooooooo pretty and friendly- he even talked to me- just one little "cheep". He really didn't seem at all fearful of me (maybe he knows I'm the one leaving him the yummies).

I must have looked like such a fool to the woman walking across the street! I was hunched over holding a notebook (I didn't dare move) and had this huge dumb grin on my face!

HOW COOL WAS THAT!!!!!!!

Heather

Thanks, Julie.

Heather, how wonderful. I'd have stayed put too! Your back must've beenhurting after a while though. I hope your little friend comes back....often! :-)

-Julie

well-- no - the whole thing only lased about 2 minutes so I didn't mind -- Dh just smiled when I told him about it. I just really like this little woodpecker and think it is very cool that he seems to like me too....lol!

Yep, the prior thread, was a tad long and gettin' a bit 'winded' while loadin' .. (hee) ..

(*hee*) Juls .. The next time, that one of these lovely endearing lil sparrow species wander by here: I'll be sure to mention a 'ticular spot in Israel, that is in dire need of their presence .. where he and his comrades can flock on over to! .. LOL .. (* know that I am still merely luvinly teasin' ya hun!*)

I can imagine, that they are quite the comics .. where they are not already well established nuisances!!

Heather .. so glad you shared your wonderful 'rondi-vuu' with the lil Downy, with us! Even without photos .. your details provided ample enuff info .. to picture such, in our minds 'eye'!!

No doubt that more of us will attest - that, we believe that our feathered friends .. learn rather quickly; the hands and faces of those that provide the feed and seed for them!

We can take our feeders down to go clean and refill them - I swear there are certain Chikadees and Nuthatches, that will lite right nearby, on the logs .. as if to inquire, 'how long we gonna be' before we get back with the feeders. And the Titmice, that verbally announce .. 'yay, fresh grub is on the way!' .. and sometimes beat us back to the logs the feeders sit on, to await the return! Then, there's about 5-10 minutes of loud ruckusy announcing goin' on .. with them all being delightedly happy and celebrating!!

When we inadvertently let the feeders run out - we get some mitey hostile reprimands from all directions of the yard! Oh heavens-to-betsy .. we are promptly judged and sentenced! Even the red-bellied woodpeckers bang deliberately harder on the sides of the feeders, to arrouse urgent attention to our failures!! Then .. they'll look toward the front door .. jes as if to say, 'ya kinda fallin' down on the job here haintcha?' ... 'shape up, or ship out!' ... As soon as they're filled and back into place, we are jes as quickly fergiven tho' ... and awarded wonderfully vocal ooo's and ahhhh's (in bird language, of course!) .. hee

The lil bird beasts (*hee*) .. have gotten jes about the same way, with the doggone bird bath water too! ...

We've been paying a bit closer attention, to a most unique way that certain of the Nuthatches like to quench their thirsts .. but, until yesterday .. have been unable to capture it on digital! These fellers jes never cease to amaze me! The Nuthatches crack me up with their bossiness and their hilariously 'natural' antics ... Of course, the goldfinches are the 'side-kicks' in the day-to-day skits of bird-life, that probably all of us witness, most every day ...

- Magpye

The Nuthatch fetchin' im a sip or two of water .. still, upside down.

- Magpye

ROTFL! That Nuthatch is a real birdie clown. And the Goldfinch seems to be saying "Hey you! Why don't you just stand up like a normal bird?! Ya weirdo!" ;-)

-Julie

Magpye that second shot of the nuthatch getting a sip is amazing. Going have to set up a piece of wood next to bird bath for them. Pretty cold here still, should get up to seventy on Friday. Has been pretty busy in are yard. There has been a Coopers hawk stalking around are feeders. First batch of baby sparrows in are bird house. Mom and Papa are busy feeding the babies. Will try to get close picture. I think there is three. Saw a big group of Blue Jays in neighbors yard the other day. Hopefully they will stay away from baby sparrows. Have had as many as twenty gold finches on the feeders, fighting for position. And first every sighting of an Eastern Phoebe, which I believe is a juvenile. Was sweeping out driveway and notice little bird sleeping in Lilac bushes. Was able to get camera and snap a few shots. Have never seen a Phoebe before, but pretty sure for books and internet that is a Phoebe. George

Here is another shot of Phoebe

George, that's a great shot! Well done!

-Julie

George (Kruch72) .. some mitey spectacular shots.

I agree, it sure does look to be a Phoebe yunkin, to me also. .. (*hee*) ... Such darlin' lil guys ...

Ahhh, dontcha jes luv it, when these feathered fellers .. give us such wonderful natural poses of preenin', shakin', and stretchin' and 'wonderment' antics .. like these ?!? Ready-made and almost never-ending entertainment !!!!
.. LOL ..

- Magpye

I saw a red tailed hawk yesterday, but I was running the weed-eater and didn't have my camera. It perched high up in a tree over the creek.

Saw the indigo buntings yesterday and again today but they are too quick for me to get a photo.

Sigh.

Here is momma feeding here babies

Another close-up of momma

GREAT shot!

I went back today (one week later) to follow-up on the Killdeer's nesting progress. Last week, there were 3 eggs in the nest. Today, there are 4 eggs. As such, they are at the early stage of the incubation period. The incubation period is 24-28 days.
So, it looks like it will be another two (2) weeks.

And, here are the 4 eggs .....

Saw quite a few Red-winged Blackbirds today .....

Got my first decent photo of a Barn Swallow today ......

Within the last day or two, I have been invaded by the Blue Jays - much to my pleasure.

What's going on here .....

Linthicum, yet again a smashing series of photos! The Bluejay pic is really lovely! Those cardinals look so cute 'necking' :-). And I'm going to be watching with interest as you document the Kildeer and her eggs more! :-) Thanks for sharing your lovely photos with us again! :-)

-Julie

Linthicum great shots, especially of Killdeer. I found a nest of Killdeer on a flat roof with stone covering it a few years ago. The nest and eggs sure did blend into rocks, very hard to spot. I was working on a roof top ac unit and if you got anywhere near the nest the parent would pretend to be hurt and distract you away from nest. Never did see the babies they were gone as soon as they were born. George

My first for this month is our smallest honeyeater the Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris. This is one of the commonest honeyeaters around here, but it qualifies as it was the first bird I saw in the garden this month. These lovely little birds feed mostly on plant nectar, especiially tubular flowers. It often visits our New Zealand Fuchsia Fuchsia procumbens http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/18770/ and also a so-called native Fuchsia, the Dusky Bells Correa mannii http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/10838/ both of which grow outside our kitchen window.
This is our nearest equivalent to a Humming Bird and it does sometomes hover in front of a flower while it feeds, but it prefers to feed from a perch.

How lovely! Thanks for posting the photo.

Having selected the spinebill as a first for the month, I then got to see a very special bird last night. 10 days ago I led a spotlight walk in Morwell National Park http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/502827/ and for that walk I borrowed a spotlight from the Park ranger. He rang me yesterday and arranged to collect the light today, so last night I went back to the park for one last explore by night with the spotlight. I saw 5 Eastern Grey Kangaroosa and 2 Swamp Wallabies on the walk, but you can often see these by daylight. My other find was rather special. I managed to spot a Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides sitting on a low branch of a Eucalyptus tree. He was so close that I had a go at getting a picture and this is the result. I took the picture, holding the spotlight on the bird at the same time as lining up the camera with telephoto lens. The exposure is a bit too bright, but the end result is quite pleasing.

The Tawny Frogmouth is a member of the Nightjar order and is something like the American Poor-Will. It is nocturnal like all its cousins and it spends the day sitting on a branch, pretending to be another dead stump. Here is another Tawny Frogmouth that I photographed back in 1982. This one was hit by a car the night before and I collected it. It did not seem to be badly hurt and I released it the following morning. I placed it in a tree and it immediately adopted its cryptic pose for this photo. Wanting to be sure it was OK before leaving it, I gave it a nudge after the photo-shoot and it flew off strongly.
Edited to add:We do occasionally get a tawny frogmouth in our garden at night. We hear this low deep slow call "Ooom..............Ooom.............Ooom......" and go out and scan the trees with a torch and usually find the frogmouth nearby.

This message was edited May 5, 2005 10:31 AM

Wow-- after that -- my robin story will pale in comparison. BUT it involes my kids so I'll bore you all with it anyway. ;-)

I was out in the new expanded veggie garden (it was 12 x 22 -- we enlarged it to 20 x 22). I was moving in the truck tires I will be using for planting potatos in, moving the bricks leftover form our pond, some 200lb+ logs and rocks and junk (YES - little old me- 130 lbs moving these huge slabs of tree with my little boy telllin me what a STRONG MAMA I was!). We had been using the area to store a cut down pine tree and "stuff" until spring.

Soooooo -- after cleaing the debris and spraying the grass and weeds with Round up (no pelting me with anything! lol) the kids and I are getting ready to move on to the next thing (and NO I didn't let the kids even in the garden while spraying). I am picking up the last things and a robin lands on the fence. Now you need to know I had moved a HUGE piece of tree that DH was using as a chopping block 30/36 inches in diameter (about)and HEAVY -- like grunt and yell as you move it heavy (for 130 lb woman who does NOT lift weights other than the kids). so where this thing was was a big circle of dirt in the middle of the new garden area with dirt and worms and buggies of all kinds. Apparently I had opened a new resturant.

The robin leaps down and starts at the worms. No big deal right? the kids and I are less than 3 feet away from him! And get this - I told them to stay still - they did! My son is 4 and daughter is 2 1/2 and for five minutes we stood still and watched the robin eat his dinner. We talked softly about how pretty he was, and what he was doing, and they didn't budge -even the little one. The robin was great - he looked at the kids and chirped at them and downed the worms and grubs. I was so proud of my little ones!

OK- so not a life changing... wait, it was for my kids- they thought it was the greatest. And I am starting them young on caring about the wildlife around us. and BTW-- we found a little blue eggshell not a day and a half ago!

And after all that-- I showed my boy what a strong mama I was and moved 14 cinder blocks! Then we got ice cream. I'm bushed.

Heather

Great story, Heather!

Ken ... it is truly quite wonderful to see the 'cuz' to our poor-wills! The Whip Poor-Wills, started getting cranked up at night, here .. jes a few weeks ago. And to this day, have still not laid eyes on one .. other than in photos! Reckon, yours are jes gonna have to do me for now. And quite well, I may add .. The stance, that the Tawny Frogmouth takes .. is amazing!

More wonderful that you had, and were able to, spotlight him .. to fetch the shot too! Doesn't hardly look like the same bird, when they come 'alive and active' at night ...

Your lil 'honeyeater' looks to be the sweetest lil bird ...

Heather .. see that 'wonder woman' .. is back in the 'spring' of things! .. Sure makes a body feel good tho' .. don't it, when ya master such evils, too .. (hee)
(*jes luvinly teasin' ya bit!*)

And, even more wonderful is, for you and your lil ones to share such an excitingly 'spayshall' moment with the Robin!

Apparently, what you uncovered .. was no run o'the mill dinner: more like 'gourmet' !! .. lol .. And the Robin certainly had no intentions of passin' up the buffet, either!! ..

Such moments .. and your lil folks being able to be right there to share it with you - make for the best of memories imprinted upon yours, and xtree specially grand, for their little minds and precious hearts!

Very much appreciate your sharing such wonderful excitement!!

- Magpye

This message was edited May 9, 2005 7:55 AM

Y'all have had some great close up encounters, Julie with your sparrows and Mysticwill and the Downy and Kruch with the Phoebe and babies...great shots! Love the Nuthatch antics, what sweet little birds!

Darius, I'd love to see a Red Tail Hawk. I know we have them here but we mostly see the RedShouldered...and Indigo Buntings! Lucky thang!!

Linthicum, Glad you are keeping track of the Kildeer, what fun to track the progress of the eggs. Love the fact that we get to be there too. Your whole series of shots are wonderful

Ken the little Spinebill is a pretty little bird but the Frogmouth!! Wow.!! So you go out on night walks with a spotlight and when you hear birds or other wildlife you try to find it with the light? What a great idea! I just happen to have a rechargeable spotlight that I keep in my car...one of the things Paul packed in for me for 'just in case'. Hmm...the possibilities...

Mysticwill, that's a wonderful story and a wonderful moment to share with your children. You're giving them one of the best things (IMHO) a parent can give...the love and respect of nature.

Finally got a shot of this little guy, no expert, but I know he's a woodpecker.


Viv

Here is our ever present Blue Jay.

Vizz8 .. And what a wonderful shot it is too!! ... Yay, fer you!

I haint no 'pro-IDer' either, but I'm thinkin' maybe a Hairy-?-

Ok .. 'bird-sperts' .. whar yall at ? .. (hee)

- Magpye

That looks like a Steller Jay to me.

Our Cardinals come up and peck on the window when they need a refil in the feeder.

Most of our winter birds have gone, but, for the first time, this last week we have a Rose Brested Grosbeak coming to our feeder. Dw and I have never seen one before.

Vizz8, that's a good photo of the Male Downey Woodpecker. It looks as though he may have blinked his eye just as you took the picture ??? I don't recall ever seeing a Steller's Blue Jay. I do see where they reside on the west coast, only. Neat Bird !!!

Ken, thank you for posting the photos. It is always interesting to see the world from the other side of the globe.

This message was edited May 5, 2005 11:12 AM

Wow what a day you all have had! Ken your little hikes always fascinate me :-). Heather, what a wonder filled moment you got to share with your kids! Big big grins from here :- Vizz, those are really lovely shots of your WP and Steller Jay!

-Julie

I saw my first Rose-Breasted Grosbeak today. I moved into my house a year ago Feb. and I'm anxious to see what birds I can attract to my feeders. I have sixteen different species visiting my feeder so far and I can't wait till my landscaping matures a little bit to offer some shelter and protection.