What I saw over Christmas vacation: Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
not sure how rare the eastern bluebird is, i know that last time i was in monterey county ca. i was astonished at how many western ones (Sialia mexicana) i saw, as common as sparrows are here! that kingfisher however is amazing. just beautiful. all i saw over the hols besides the same 8 or 10 species i see every day was a few chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs); very far from rare, but the mild weather hasn't brought any other finches this way yet.
Got a great view of a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) on my run yesterday. I stopped in someone's yard and watched it for a few minutes. Standing in some stranger's front yard staring at their trees would cause some consternation.
Good spot. Many birders walk the trails where I run. I've often thought that I see more than they do. Nothing like having a pack of oldies standing under a nest to scare shit off. They get annoyed with the runners and bikers (even though we built the trail) because they say we scare shit off. They ignore us because we pass by.
I've seen two the entire 20 years I've lived in PA. I've seen significantly more of these guys, but not for a couple of weeks. Had one of these guys in my back yard a couple of times this fall. Didn't tell my landlord, because he hates them.
That looks like a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) You mean you have seen 2 Eastern Bluebirds in 20 years? I saw 4 or 5 that day. Not that I am bragging* *I'm gloating
Don't mean to threadjack but I saw a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) on my 8 mile run today. The kicker. It was next to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Didn't expect that pleasant surprise.
two years ago i had a pair of these (Dendrocopus major) dropping by my garden for a couple of months which was pretty thrilling for me since if they're far from rare, seeing them in my urban environment doesnt happen very often.
i think expanding the thread to other wildlife siting is fair game, it's common on birdwatching fora as well (though it drives the anal-retentives crazy, and the proportion of anal-retentive birdwatchers is pretty high). and it gives me an excuse to talk about my Thaumetopoea pityocampa problem. they're processionary pine caterpillars and though they look interesting on documentaries : this is nothing : i've seen lines 30m long with 1000's of the beasties they can wreak havoc on your pine trees and their hairs cause such an itching and swelling that they can kill cats or dogs who play with them. here they are building a winter nest. every year i have to cut out nests like these from my pine trees. a good year only 4 or 5, last weekend i had 28! and they're a bitch to get out!
Wanna trade a few bluebirds for a Pileated? Been one of my favorites for a very long time. I've only seen a few of them, from way back when I used to live in south central Indiana. By the way, this bird won't turn a lot of heads: But, last summer, I happened to be sitting in my back yard drinking coffee one morning, when a huge flock of them (which I believe is referred to as a "plague") gradually started working its way through my neighborhood, southeast to northwest, "island-hopping" its way through mine and my neighbor's trees. Grackles are a loud bird. As the Wikipedia entry says: "This bird's song is particularly harsh, especially when these birds, in a flock, are calling." Well, they were calling, what appeared to be hundreds of them, a grouping that took a full half hour to move through my area. It was scene I'd normally have missed, and it was a fascinating show. Like being witness so some sort of odd, yet benign, invasion. The wave of birds just kept coming and coming and coming, squawking and bellowing away to each other as they scavenged there way across the landscape. Very cool.
On a side note, Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) are starting to become an issue. In Latin America (Nicaragua where I learned this) they are brood parasites. The lay their eggs in other nests, usually spreading their clutch among several nests. Then the host care for a rears the cowbirds. Sometimes the parasite will remove the host eggs when they lay one of their own in a nest. Or sometimes the chick will grow faster! There is some evidence that the Cowbird may have evolved an egg coloration mimicking a number of their hosts! I know that the Cowbirds didn't mess with the Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma). Oropendolas nest in trees where hornets are found. Hornets apparently keep Cowbrids aways. Oropendolas, in turn, protect the trees from bees! Nests
I know there are a few in the Aspen Hill/Matthew Hensen trail. Just didn't plan to see one next to the Reflecting Pool chillaxing. Any factors for the population growth?
I like birds but don't really watch them. but this doc on HBO about Central Park birdwatchers was good: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/birders-the-central-park-effect/index.html
Came across this video today. There are few words better formed than murmuration. Even if they are pest birds, they're neat to watch.
that's fabulous. and i want to say that they are considered as pests but what harm do they really do? crap on cars? well, they also ate half my cherries last summer, but it would be well worth it to see these kinds of murmurations again, which used to be common here in lyon (though i never saw one this big) but the likes of which have become very rare in the last 10 years.
Beautiful (though I hit my Pachelbel Canon quota some decades ago). I've never been fortunate to see anything of this scale. Occasionally, I'll encounter a much smaller, short-lived formation while I'm driving. It's so damned mesmerizing that I have a hard time remaining on the road. Last weekend, my Pileated Woodpecker drought ended while on a trip to western North Carolina. I was staying at a friend's house outside of Boone when a pair - very loudly calling to one another - moved through my area (the house is on a ridge top in a heavily forested zone - with a drop dead view of Grandfather Mountain). I grabbed my binoculars and was fortunate when, a short while later, one perched for a while in a tree, at eye level, about 50 feet away. It was snowing lightly. I had a perfect view. Stunning birds.
I miss that area. I lived in each of Hickory and Asheville for several years, and nearly took a job in Boone.
I'll check that out when I'm not using the IPad. There's a damn fine book that covers some red tail hawks in Central Park Damn good, though not the best book of urban nature writing. That would be
Pretty sure I saw one of the two on my run last Suday Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) or a Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) Hard to tell without binoculars at a few hundred yards. Hell, it could have been a Scaup.
I didn't get a picture of it, but a couple of days ago, I came across a road-kill hawk in a crosswalk. Pretty flat. That's something you don't see every day: a dead hawk.