In my earlier post in this thread, I mentioned watching peregrine falcons when I was working in one of the downtown skyscrapers. Coincidentally, in today's AJC....... http://www.ajc.com/search/content/living/stories/2008/05/14/peregrines_0515.html Pretty cool story.
Been seeing lots of these The Baltimore Oriole These were once nearly extinct in Indiana, but have made a comeback. They jump 20-30 feet to the ground out of their nests when they are one day old to follow their mothers. The Wood Duck
One of the owls I hear nearly every night is a screech owl. Screech owls have two morphs, a red and a gray.
I can confirm that they hit hard - I was attacked by a hawk a few weeks ago. I was walking on the sidewalk in front of the police station here and got hit in the back of the head - felt like a baseball bat. I was looking all around trying to figure out what the hell happened - I thought maybe somebody driving by threw something at me - when a couple of cops out for a coffee break asked "did he get you?" Turns out they have been watching this hawk defend its nest for the last 2 years and know it attacks people. (No warning signs or anything, and these are the guys in charge of public safety. ) When I rubbed my head I discovered I was bleeding a LOT. When I cleaned up back home with the help of my son, he found 6 or 8 big gashes in the back of my head. Fortunately no lasting damage. The cops wanted to call 911 for me, but I just had a headache the next day. And now they have yellow crime scene tape around the tree where the nest is. As far as birdwatching goes, I look for the bastard every time I drive by the police station, but I still haven't seen him. I guess my advice is to watch out for hawks. Otherwise, I like birds just fine.
I've heard of that happening! It's funny that it was right in front of a police station too--you'll have a good story to tell for years. My grandfather was attacked by a Canada goose when he was an old man, and it tore him up pretty good.
Great, I'll have to tell my wife - she's feeding the Canada geese behind our house and now they'll never go away!
Really? They don't really have a means of tearing - they can fly at you and whomp you pretty good, but they don't really have much in the way of weapons. I have recent first hand experience because we had to extricate some goslings from an enclosed courtyard that had been hatched there by some not so bright geese.
He was in his 80s when it happened, and I think it mostly got him with feet and wings. At my place of employment we now have some ********ing bird...I think it might be a kingbird, that chases people around the parking lot if they get too close to the tree where its nest is.
Growing up along the St. Criox/Mississippi rivers I saw lots of bald eagles. When my mom got sick she used to sit for hours watching the birds in the back yard. We had atleast 3 distinct species of hummingbirds at our feeder. Which is odd because there is only supposed to be one species in that area. (I saw male and female sexes of two of the three.) I have two good bird stories. At my parents old house they had a Robin that would fly into the living room window over and over again one year. And it came back the next year and started doing it again. It would fly from the bird feeder to the window for an hour or so and then come back in the evening and do it again. That went on for about 3 weeks both years! One day my father and I were out fishing the mouth of a small tributary to the mississippi. It was about a half mile walk in to the fishing hole. we were almost out of the woods when 2 VERY large birds took off out of the tree right above our heads. We both hit the ground when the sound hit us. They had wingspans of atleast 8 feet. At the time we thought they were Golden Eagles but to this day we are not 100% certain.
I know of one blue heron rookery near here that is a very surreal place to visit. I believe it is unlawful to do so, but that didn't stop us when we were younger. The area where it is located is among a grove of sycamores tucked between two creeks. The lay of the land prevents much ambient noise from reaching the grove, and you can hear their wings flap overhead. It is not uncommon to have 15 or 20 of them flying over and around at once. Then, if they get perturbed, they'll start shitting on you and at you. That sucks.
I got attacked by a pigeon at the alamo a couple of years back. a good story for me and the hundreds of other people that had the pleasure to witness it. It's a really humbling experience cus when it happens you're pretty helpless. I just put my hands over my head and kept walking. I got owned by a damn pigeon.
If you live in northern California or in the Pacific Northwest, you might be interested in the Winter Wings Festival which happens in Klamath Falls, Oregon on President's Day weekend (February). My daughter and I drove up there last year, then this year my wife and other family members joined in. Besides the workshops and hikes, the absolute highlight is getting up each morning and getting out to a particular location a half hour before the sun rises at which point, over the next hour, every couple of minutes, the bald eagles come out in ones and twos, sometimes a family of three, flying overhead, or over the nearby ridge as they head eastward looking for their morning meal. Each morning we were able to see between 40-75 eagles in flight. What majestic birds! After the morning eagle commute is over, on to a hearty breakfast, then off to the Festival to attend some workshops and peruse the exhibits. At other parts of the day, in Klamath Falls and the surrounding area, there are a zillion places to hike and bird watch several other species. And Crater Lake is only about an hour away! This year, there had been a huge snowstorm about a week before and there were tremendous drifts everywhere throughout the region. Crater Lake was mostly frozen over. It was spectacular! www.winterwingsfest.org www.nps.gov/crla/
I've been seeing more hummingbirds this year than any in memory. Caught a couple of these Rufous Lots of these Ruby-throated And I think an Allen's
I used to live in Costa Rica and the amount of birds was ridiculous. I wouldn't bother turning my head to look for a Toucan when I was there after a few months. Species toucans, Montezuma Oropendulas, Roadside Hawks, Common PooToo -which have a SCARY call when you are out in the middle of the night, Trogons, Scarlet Rumped Tanagers, Antshrikes, Toucanets...sigh I loved going to Monteverde and seeing the Violet Sabrewing Hummingbird We used to release baby turtle hatchlings in the afternoons where I worked. We always had ot look out for the Turkey Vultures. Of course, after the hatchlings made it into the water, the same damn Osprey would come and pick 1 or 3 off. Frustrating!
Last Wednesday I was sitting in my car, warming it up, when a hawk flew by at eye-level, hooked a left over my wife's car, banked to the right and grabbed a sparrow out of the bush beside our garage. I think it was a sharp shinned, or a coopers hawk. Hell of a way to start the morning.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TL8pSFd-hQ"]YouTube - BURROWING OWL HEAD TILT AGAIN & AGAIN[/ame]
One of my favorite clips [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y"]YouTube - Amazing! Bird sounds from the lyre bird - David Attenborough - BBC wildlife‏[/ame]
There have been increasing Snowy Owl sitings in Wisconsin recently [ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/asinkula/6552528065/lightbox/"]Snowy Owl | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
i never even knew this thread existed, but i'm an avid backyard birdwatcher. it surprises my neighbors and colleagues who falsely assume that all you get in town are pigeons and sparrows that i've identified 40 different species in my urban backyard. the most surprising of which might be the sparrow hawk accipiter nisus (much like the cooper's hawk in the OP but a bit smaller), but no real surprise when you think that like coopers they prey on songbirds and that like lots of species, birds of prey are becoming increasingly urban, as yossarian pointed out. blame pesticides for that. i'm convinced they next on one of the apartment buildings behind us because i've seen them several times either hunting or eating their prey right in the garden. to me my biggest sightings have been: first my very favorite bird: the crested tit. these little fellows are just adorable, and just rare enough to make your heart skip a beat when you spot one. my sightings that most impress fellow local birders are of: the pied flycatcher: at least one sighting each summer and usually a pair. they're fairly rare in the region and no one has apparently ever recorded a sighting in town except yours truly. the most thrilling was: the short-toed treecreeper, precisely because these are not supposed to be rare here, because our garden is just the place you'd expect to see them... and yet i'd never sighted one in all these years. the morning i actually saw one me heart was skipping ALL beats. the day i see a longtailed tit my wife will have to call an ambulance.