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

Wow! Finally found this thread! And then got to read it 2 days later!! Yesterday I was watering and praying for rain (which we got today) and I looked up at the pines at the edge of the property near the big field next door and there at the tippy tip was a bobolink singing. So I answered in bird (I can imitate pretty well) and he and I had a 4 minute conversation about how busy we've been lately. I've seen bobolinks in this area but never at my property. A first.

Saturday afternoon Fay and I drove over to Sale and went for a walk along the boardwalk across the Sale Wetlands. It was a beautiful still autumn day, but there were suprprisingly few birds about. One darter too far away to photograph was probably the best I saw. There were quite a few duck about and a pair of Black Duck Anas supeciliosa swam out from under a section of the board walk and I managed a couple of pictures. The name Black Duck is confusing as there is not much black on it at all. The reason is that when duck are flushed in front of you, nearly every species shows some white on it's upper wing surface, but not the Black Duck. It therefore looks entirely dark when flying up in front of you and hence got its name Black Duck. Like many duck it has a brighly coloured speculum in its wing (its secondary flight feathers) and this picture shows off the speculum nicely.

Although called black duck because of the lack of any white on its upper wing, the black duck has a large area of white on its underwing. This black duck rose up for a moment and flapped its wings before settling back on the water. The picture shows the white underside of its wings.

There were a few Black Swan Cygnus atrata about. One pair kept rising off the water and flying low pattering their feet on the water surface. I wondered whether the water was so still that they had difficulty taking off, but they did get free of the surface, but soon landed and repeated the performance. Maybe it was part of their mating ritual. They were never close enough for a good picture, but here is the nearest pair of black swans that we saw:

To show the black swan a bit more clearly, here is a picture I took in Adelaide two years ago:

The only other bird close enough for a picture was a Little Pied Cormorant Phalacracorax melanoleucos. This the smallest of our cormorants is one of the commonest on fresh water lakes and lagoons all over Australia. This one landed on a dead tree in front of a bird-watching hide which made photography a bit easier, although photographing into the light is a bit tricky. After a bit more walking Fay decided to turn back, but I chose to explore a little further. My mistake! I didn't see anything more, but when I caught up with Fay, she had seen a White-Breasted Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster fly over and then she saw one of the most secretive birds of all, one of the crakes walk underneath the board-walk and pause for a moment quite close to her. Looking at the books after we got home she decided it was probably a Spotted or Australian Crake Porzana fluminea but she couldn't be quite certain.
Here is the Little Pied Cormorant

Ken it sounds like you had a good walk despite your missed opportunities when you left Fay to explore more. The black swans are so lovely. Their curly feathers make them even more magical. I remember seeing one for the first time at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem last year. I was mesmerized :-).

The bright teal spot on the Black Duck is beautiful!

-Julie

Those are such beautiful birds. I don't think I've ever seen a pic of a black swan, thanks for sharing.

boojum--your bobolink bird chat sounds like fun! I'll have to try it, too. My kids won't listen to me, so maybe the birds will!

k. the black swan is beautiful--I did not know about them and wish we had some on our pond near here...thanks for posting...

That Black Swan brings back memories! We were in Australia on our way to the UK from NZ at the time. Dad got too close to a nest while trying to get photos of an adult on the water. We were chased for what felt like miles - (I was only 5) by an irate parent with wings outspread and standing on tip toe - boy do they look BIG like that!
Carol

Finally got a shot (through the window) of Wash. St. Bird, Goldfinch.


Viv

My friend the Bobolink was back today so I took these photos from far away.

Here'a another.

Viv - congrats on getting a pic of the Goldfinch. I love watching them, the color on the males is so vibrant! I can't sneak any pics through our windows, all of our feeders are outside of the yard because of the doggies.

Boojum - cool Bobolink pic....I don't think we have any of those around here, I love getting to see everyone else's bird pics and wondering if I'll ever see those in person :-) I'm trying to get a picture of an Indigo Bunting but every time I see one, I either don't have the camera or they spook and fly away!

No Bobolinks around here either. Thanks, boojum!

Vizz, congratulations on getting a visit from a goldfinch! :-)

Boojum, that Bobolink is so cute! I've never seen them before that I know of.

-Julie

"I hear the whispering voice of Spring, the thrush's trill, the catbird's cry" - Oliver Wendell Holmes. I took my first picture of the Gray Catbird this year. They are now busy looking for a nesting site.

I looked up some info on Bobolinks. I have been birding for over 20 years and have only saw my first about 4 years ago. They live typically in hayfields in summer (this pine is at the edge of the hayfield next door) from Quebec down to Northern PA then west across to Northern Idaho. Should be in MI, WI, NY, ND, MN, MT. They winter in S America. At the end of summer the males look like females so it's harder to spot them.

In Texas they are said to be irregular, transient so, we DO have a chance of seeing them! Live and learn.

John

Boojum, Nice shot of the boblink, Hope I get to see one around my yard sometime.
..Linthicum, I got a pair of catbirds here, Got a couple picture's today, But the pic you got is better. I love the different sounds they make! It was cold and rainy today in my area, So I sat out in the garage for a short while trying to get some pictures of the birds at the feeders, A Grey Catbird came into the garage and almost right up to me! I had my camera set for distance or I would have gotten a pic of him, He certainly wasn't shy.
...Vizz8, The Goldfinches are always so pretty, Especially at this time of year
..Ken, Great bird pics! I especially liked the 'Black Swans!!'

Linthicum - great shot of the Catbird, I've never seen one here.

I had a first today but just stood there like a fool with my mouth hanging open and didn't even try to get a shot >:( It was a Pilated Woodpecker, I've been wanting to see one of those so bad and DH told me he'd seen them here. I saw this large bird in the distance fly from one tree to the next and wondered "what in the world was that"...then a few minutes later it flew right across the field and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was flying so slowly that I think I could have gotten a shot if I hadn't been so shocked to see it!!

I also got a first pic of what I believe is a Chipping Sparrow, it's not the best pic but when I blew it up, I'm pretty sure I was able to identify it correctly...what do ya'll think ?
Vicki

Little baby bluebird, fresh from the nest...

:-)

Awwwww! How cute!

Oh what a sweet little thing! :-)

He wasn't flying very well & was sitting right next to an ant bed, so I snapped a quickie before shooing him away from the ants.

The next morning, this little guy was on the back porch. Sorry it's a little fuzzy, but I was trying not to disturb it too much! Look at that face!!

Awww, what a cutie pie!

At last a new one for me - this is, I beleive a female Redwing Blackbird. We have loads of males everyday -well around 6 actually- but this is the first time one of the ladies has visited. Had me puzzled for a while because I though she was an oversized Purple Finch and way out of summer range!!! But I finally got an ID that fits the bird and the place.
Carol

This is one of 'the boys'. We call him Mr Noisy because he never shuts up. He jumps up and down on the roof of the feeder and taps it with his beak if the seed runs out - quite a character.

Today we also had a Great-Tailed Grackle....

and yesterday a Common Grackle - who I believe is the least common variety!! I loved his blue bits.

OOPs can't spell - must remember 'i before e except after c' I wrote it enough times at school !!!!!

This message was edited May 27, 2005 10:55 PM

What a fun bunch of birds Okus :-). Mr Noisy is very pretty even if he might be a headache ;-). I like the blue on the Common Grackle too. :-)

-Julie

If y'all haven't seen this thread, you might want to check it out for information...
Salmonella epidemic killing songbirds
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/514596/