Bird Stories

I see many great pictures here. But, I am sure there are many great bird stories that have no pictures.
Please share your birding experiences.

I will start with mine today.
We have a great place to watch birds over a marsh area.

I always say that you will see an eagle at least once a day here, if you are looking at the right time.
We have a bunch of seagulls this year, and the only thing they seem to be good for is alerting you to an eagle's presence.

I was walking by the window, when I saw the gulls flying about. I looked through the scope and found a large bald eagle, that had just landed with a large fish.

The seagulls relaxed and baldy ate the fish. I was just about to leave, when the gulls were in a flurry again.
This time a golden eagle flew in and was harrassing the bald for his fish.

What a show. I have only seen this once before, and it has been several years.

Baldy won this scrap. That is not the usual case. The golden eagle is much larger.

I just wanted to share my excitement.
How about your story? Did you find a hummer's nest. Have a close encounter with a feathered friend, or see something unusual.
Please share.

Great thread cpart! Thanks so much for starting this!

I don't have anything so incredible to share as eagles but I've had many close encounters w/ Hummingbirds where they just come up to a foot or closer to my face hovering for a while seeming to examine me and sometimes making a few peeps.

This is always close to migration time and the Child in me wants to think they are saying "Thanks for the Plants and Feeders; See you next year".

I know its silly but I always feel very priviledged when they do this.

Call me a dork or a sentimental fool but these little guys really pull my heartstrings at times.

On the opposite end of the size scale we are starting starting to see alot more appearances of the different Hawks; Red-tails, Coopers and Sharp-shinned. I just watched one (probably an SS) go crashing into my apple tree after something. He came up empty clawed but what an amazing performance to watch their bold hunting skills! Nature is Grand!! :-)

Sorry if this wasn't what you were looking for cpart. If not then just ignore my post,lol. Pelle

That must be incredible to be able to see Eagles, Cpartschick! Especially a bald eagle!

I'm like Pelle, I feel special when the hummers come within a foot of me to look at and talk to me for a bit. Kinda lets me know that they feel I'm harmless in "their" yard. :)

My story involves a mockingbird and a cat. We have a cat that was adopted by someone down the street and is an outdoor cat. Special cat, really. Every time his owner takes her two Norweigian Elkhounds for a walk, "Patches" follows. Well, one day, Patches was laying down under one of my Bradford Pear trees in the front yard just minding his own business and enjoying the shade. All the sudden a mockingbird comes out of nowhere and starts swooping down over Patches and then would sit on a tree branch and start "yelling" at him. This went on for about 5 minutes or so. I felt so sorry for Patches because this mockingbird was giving him so much grief. Finally, Patches got up, because he'd had enough, and decided to go across the street and seek shelter underneath a trailerbed the neighbor had parked there. All the way across the street, the mockingbird divebombed and yelled at Patches. Patches got underneath the trailerbed where he felt he would be safer, I suppose, and the mockingbird stood just slightly out of Patches' reach and continued to yell at him.

Talk about a "henpecked" cat!!!

Nice story indiana! I well remember that sight from childhood days.

great thread!
My DH and I were golfing, and he had a shot that was NOT on the fairway. It landed near a marshy area. He started his swing and a red winged black bird started swooping and diving at him. He didn't make the greatest shot - the group told him to re - shoot. He said no way - and got out of there quite quickly!!

Good one debilu! You hear alot of bird stories on the golf courses.

There are, I think, the greatest number of bald eagles in Minnesota in any state but Alaska. As their numbers have increased, and fewer jerks are shooting at them, their fear of people has decreased. I live in the city limits of Minneapolis, near a lake called Lake Harriet. Eagles routinely now visit that lake on hunting trips. A couple of years ago, on a very cold and sunny January day, there was a kite festival on the ice at Lake Harriet, with many participants and spectators. A bald eagle sat on the ice at the center of the lake and watched. Occasionally someone would get too close to the eagle, and he would fly off and settle on another spot. I don't know what he was doing there; maybe thinking that those kites can't fly like he can.

On another occasion, I was in the parking lot of Sam's Club in a very urban area, and I looked up to see a pair of hawks dive bombing a bald eagle. I had to do a reality check to see if my eyes were deceiving me, but they weren't.

A really thrilling sight is a winter visit to Lake Pepin. This is a wide area of the Mississippi river that does not freeze, and so it attracts dozens of eagles who fish there. There is a eagle center there, and here is a link:
http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/index.htm

And my final eagle story is that there is reported to be an eagle nest that is reused yearly, and is in clear sight of a suburban freeway where thousands of cars pass every day. I haven't seen it for myself, but it would be fun to look at it in the spring.

Susan in Minneapolis

I remember about 30 years ago driving home with my baby in the snow. As I neared my home I saw the yard in the back full of birds! So many! They must have been thinking, "ok lady put the baby in the playpen and feed us now!" I will never forget that sight. And one spring I went freshwater fishing (catch and release) with my SE. Launched the boat, and there I was standing knee deep in the water holding it when I look up "wow what a beautiful heron!" and plop! He pooped on me! Luckily I had a hat on! Last but not least, this past spring there was a nest of 3 baby catbirds in the woods behind my pool. I watched them while I swam and played. Every day. But the one time I drive up north to visit my sister, I was gone a long time. And when I got back they had fledged! The one time I leave and all the action takes place! The parents took them to my front woods and we all lived happily ever after! :)

These are great stories. I love them.
I also love the humming birds. They sometimes appear out of nowhere, to buz your face and then leave. It is funny.

Sure know what you mean about the hawks. They are something else to watch. And I have seen Herons dropping as they fly. I sure wouldn't want to be under them.

Poor kitty. What did he do? LOL

Seems birds think the golf courses are for them!

A couple weeks ago, the kids came up to visit and we went down the river on tubes and one canoe. We kept rousting an eagle, that would fly ahead and land. I kept saying "look at the eagle!" everyone would look and he would be already gone. They all thought I was kidding, until they finally saw him. He would be by the side of the river, and unfold his wings and take off. What a sight. I am so glad they are doing so well and that people can enjoy seeing them again.

A birding story I posted elsewhere in October, '04

(Turkey Creek is in Palm Bay, Brevard County, FL)

I was at Turkey Creek Sanctuary this morning.....saw an amazing sight:

On the ground in a clearing under some Sand Pines were at least 15 to 20
Pine Warblers very close together, jumping up and down like jack-in-the-boxes.
(?) I then noticed a much larger group of birds on the ground and in the low
brush nearby. This second group was made up of about 90% Pine Warblers-the
rest being a mix of Parulas, Redstarts, Ovenbirds, Black-throated Blues,
Yellow-throated Warblers, White-eyed Vireos, a couple of Yellow-rumps a
Carolina and a House Wren. For the next 10-15 minutes, I consistently counted 50 to
70+ birds- all at once!- within an area of no more than 5X5 yards.

Hundreds and hundreds of termites were emerging and flying very slowly
straight up from two holes in the ground about 10 feet apart. The birds
totally ignored me and gorged on the little white-winged critters; I was within 2-3
feet of this frenzy!- surrounded by birds. They were picking bugs from
leaves, from the ground and catching most of them in the air! It sounded like
being surrounded by a hundred Pistol Shrimp....snapping and snapping all
around me. The birds came within inches of my face, zooming back and forth hawking
termites.

At last the termites stopped coming out of the ground.....it became
silent....all the birds quickly faded into the woods.

I've been birding in Florida for nearly 40 years....never ever saw anything
like this.

I was with someone who was birding for her 1st time...what a beginning!


This message was edited Sep 14, 2007 6:50 AM

These are some wonderful birding stories! Thanks for sharing.

Since we just had Hurricane Humberto nearly miss Houston, but blasting our neighbors to the east in Texas and Louisiana, I remembered how I worried about the migrating hummers during Katrina and Rita (Rita did blast our area pretty good). During the advance of Rita that would hit overnight, my DH took down our glass hummer feeders. The storm came in overnight and we only suffered 60-70 mph winds and lots of rain. I got up early - about dawn and watched the winds whip our yard. At about 6:30 am, I saw a hummer hovering where the feeder should have been. He was holding his own against what were probably 50 mph + winds looking for the nectar. I went to get the feeder and put it back up. The little guy immediately landed on the perch and held on like crazy and drank and drank. Soon a few of his friends showed up and used the feeder during a very windy and rainy day! Later on, a butterfly latched on the feeder and held its own and drank the nectar!

Later that month - October is late for hummers to come through - a hoard of hummers showed up. They had waited out the hurricanes and were migrating in huge numbers. Seems the hummers know what the weather is, and now I don't worry about them quite so much. (not quite, but still I worry about the ones in Louisiana and in the path of Humberto).

Dh & I rescued this Cedar Waxwing who had become entangled in fishing line that someone had thrown up into a tree.
It took him a few minutes to recover and then off it went.

Another

We had a hawk come into the yard a couple weeks ago a take a small bird. I was so surprised & amazed to see one in my yard. I grabed the camera but my movement scared it away.

I knew it wasn't the Broadwinged from down the street that I see from time to time, so who was this mystery visitor?

Walking the dog around 7pm this evening, I was being more observant than I usual, since I haven't seen our neighborhood deer this week, or the BW hawk for a few days. And there it was. Came down and caught something (or tried at least) stayed on the ground for about 2 minutes. I was about 15-20 from it. Up it flew so I could see the underside of it's wings! Beautiful markings!

Did a search when I got back to the house and was able to add Cooper's Hawk to my list of birds. My first one!

This message was edited Sep 13, 2007 11:22 PM

Great thread idea, cpartschick.

Thanks.
I love all these stories. Loving birds, we all can feel we were right there with you experiencing your awe. Amazing stories!

I guess this one qualifies as a birding story -- a few years ago in May, a friend and I were walking around nearby Lake Harriet with my dog. It is a busy urban lake. We came upon a small group of people looking up into a tree. I looked to see what they were looking at, and was surprised to see a yellow cockatiel in the tree. I have lived with cockatiels for years, so I asked the people if it belonged to anyone, and it didn't. I walked over and started talking baby talk to the bird; this is always a good start, birds love baby talk. It came nearer to me, and then it lowered its head, indicating it would like a good head scratch. Most tame cockatiels like to get their heads scratched because new feathers must be itchy, and this is the gesture that invites the scratching. After a bit of head scratching for the bird, I slowly had the bird sit on my finger, and then handed the dog leash to my friend. I was still about 2 miles from home, but he let me hold him against my chest until we got home. Cockatiels can bite hard enough to draw blood, so I was fortunate here. At home, I got him settled in a cage, and saw that he had a band on his leg. It took several days, but I eventually traced the bird to a rather irresponsible owner who lived about 10 miles from me. But the really amazing part of the story is that the owner told me that he had two birds for his son, and that they both escaped in August of the year before. The female was recaptured, but the male disappeared. This meant to me that either of two things happened which were both hard to imagine. The first is that someone found the bird and kept him over the winter, and then he escaped a second time in the spring. Or, he spent the entire winter outside in zone 4, with months of snow cover and temps that may dip to -25 degrees below zero. The probably rather unfortunate end to the story is that the former owner came to my house to retrieve the bird, and, HE HAD THE FEMALE BIRD ON HIS SHOULDER WITHOUT HAVING HER WINGS CLIPPED. He didn't bring a cage or container for the bird. I knew the male was doomed, but I didn't know what I could do about it at that time.

Susan in Minneapolis

I'll bet most of us have been in some type of catch-22 situation regarding an animal. It is very disturbing, but not always alot you can do.....just say a little prayer for the critter. *sigh*

Resin, I just went and checked out the Sharp-shinned Hawk and you are right!!

I used What Bird .com and the sharp-shinned didn't even come up on my list. But the pattern I saw on the underwing matches. It was a juvenile as it was brown & white and the eyes were still dark. So glad I have the right one now. Thanks!

What Bird.com seems to have some short comings.

I was a wildlife rehabber for many years. I received two Pileated Woodpeckers that were only a few days old. Someone cut the tree down that they were living in. The little female died the night, but the male was hardy. I named him Woody. When old enough and aclimated to the area, I released him. I had an old rotting stump that was full of bugs placed near the porch where I fed him. I had a box in a nearby tree if he wanted a place to sleep. Every day around his feeding times, he would come to the porch where I had fed him and "holler" for me until I would come out and bring him some food. He would sit on the stump and peck it, getting bugs out, but he liked what I fed him too. (I don't even remember what the mixture was.) If I came outside and he wasn't around, I would call "Woody" and he would answer me. He would fly in and sometimes land on my head.
One day he didn't come when I called and I was worried about him. I called again and heard him answer from a long way off. I called again and he answered and was a little closer. I called the 3rd time and he answered and here he came, landing on my head, then hopping down to his stump. Then I saw why he wasn't interested in my food. He had found a real treat. There were wild blueberries in the woods, and his beak was stained with them!

Awww, thats such a cool story NanaJo!!

Thanks so much for sharing it with us! Pelle

Very cool story!!

awww... I'm so glad to hear what we humans do sometimes makes a difference. You are a dedicated nature-lover. Thank you for sharing!

That is a great story.
We cut some dead trees down, when they become dangerous, but never, never in the spring. Sometimes people don't think that these could be home for somebody.

Lovely story.

I don't even like to cut brush during nesting season, as I remember when my daughter was young and she found a hummer nest on the blackberry vines she had cut.

On Mother's Day several years ago, my son had arrived to take me to my daughters/mothers place (Mom has an apartment in daughters home) for dinner. Evan called me to the back door to see something, and I was a bit irritated because we were already running late.

Gosh, I wish I'd had a camera back then! Evidently a jay was nesting nearby, and a little gray fox was passing through. The jay would fly and peck the fox on it's little behind! (Or maybe it was trying to take hair for nest lining?) After this happened several times, fox sat and appeared to be ignoring the jay. Jay was not detered at all, and started pecking the poor little fox on the head! Ev and I laughed so hard we cried, and we had quite a story to tell at Mother's Day dinner.

Funny story tiger! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

Oh, that's priceless tigerlily!!!

Great story. Reminds me of some geese.
In the spring we have many geese and sometimes they come up onto our frontage to peck around and leave us little presents.
I was watching as two pairs of geese were hiking themselves up the bank. The first two had no problem, but the third was taking its time. The last goose reached out with his beak and nipped the slow one in the tail feathers.
The goose let out a squawk, and jumped onto the bank. I guess it got "goosed".
I now know where the expression came from. LOL

I'm brand new to the forum and fairly new to birdwatching.
I live a few miles from Massachusetts Audubon's largest sanctuary and we try to go as often as we can. We live in an apartment that does not allow birdfeeding because of mice. Anyways, we always carry sunflowers seeds to feed the Chickadees. We were sitting on a bench near the marsh when one flew to my hand and proceeded to eat the entire seed while sitting on my hand. I'm surprised a hole dweller didn't come and nest in my open mouth I was so in awe! I've also had Titmice take some seed. There was a very curious White breasted Nuthach that never got the nerve up.
I also do quite a bit of Dogsitting at 2 beautiful homes in the woods. At one, they have just a small feeder suctioned cupped to their 2nd floor bedroom window. Plenty of Dee's, Titmice, goldfinch, a woodpecker (not sure which) and my first WB & RB Nuthatches.
At their neighbors home, We heard what I thought was a hawk, but the next night I went "chasing" them (2) and saw that they were actually owls. No pics but i would love to know what kind. They were probably at least 15" tall, light colored with a rounded head. As I said it sounded like a hawk screech but with absolutely soundless flight.

I probably won't be able to post much, I don't have that much bird contact, but I have certainly enjoyed ready everyones posts. This pic is of Me and the Dee.

Welcome Shan71 !!

What an awesome photo!!

Thanks so much for posting the pic and telling us about yourself!

Hope your able to come back soon and talk some more.

I'll let others talk about your Owl.

Thanks again! Pelle :-)

That is a wonderful story and a great picture. Thanks for sharing.
The dees are so cute and friendly. They look so soft. I bet you could hardly feel he was on your hand.

They are light, the only thing that I can feel is their little toenails. The all have different personalities, too. Some will be daring and land in the middle of your hand, while others barely hang on (Those cute little toenails into your flesh!) and flit at the slightest movement.

Here is a close up:
~Shannon

Yes it is one of the most fun things to do, they are practically weightless!

Hi Shannon, How long did it take for a Dee to land on your hand?

How wonderful Shannon!

This is a Wildlife Sanctuary. I (along with hundreds of other people) have been doing this since I was a kid. People I dog sit for said they did it in their yard in the dead of winter and it took a lot of patience but after an hour or so they did eventually get one to land on his hand. They are naturally curious. You'll find that some are pretty daring. Make sure you are standing (or sitting) very close to one of their favorite perches. They like to watch you for a few before they flit down.

The Black Capped Chickadee is the Massachusetts state bird. I'm becoming very proud of that!

Very cute! :)

Mendon Ponds Park in NY is similar - everyone goes, and the Dees just fly to you even without seeds in your hand. My DH hand feeds the Dees at our house in the winter - will stand outside in the cold for a half hour waiting. He even had a titmouse hand feed. I go to the park where there is no waiting.