| Jul 24 @ 1:30 AM |
Bird watching
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Always_Striving
Posts: 7,598
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signme, bird watching doesn't count if it is angry road rager  , does it?
I've seen plenty of those birds in my time.
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| Jul 24 @ 1:33 AM |
Bird watching |
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youbetcha
Posts: 6,646
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How about the Bees? 
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| Jul 24 @ 8:30 AM |
Bird watching
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Gman762
Posts: 3,291
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Having the annual hummer wars over the feeders in the yard right now. That is neat to watch. Walk out on the deck wearing anything red and the little buggers will come right up to you if you stand still. Can scare the hell out of you at times.
Went out on the lake at dawn yesterday and the eagles were searching for food. It was very still yesterday AM and when they fly nearby you can hear their very powerful wingbeats. There was a lone loon out there as well and he was calling for his mate like crazy. On a peaceful morning or at dusk, the sound of the loons can be almost mystic.
Then there are the eagles that nest in the woods next to the house. They have a sound unto their own that is neat to wake up to once you can sleep with the windows open. Once you hear that sound, it is something that you always look forward to hearing each summer.
My favorite of all have to be the Orioles. In the early summer, they have a mating call that is one of the most pleasant songs that I have ever heard. I put out the feeders with nectar and grape jelly for them and they quickly become grape jelly junkies :)
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| Jul 24 @ 9:15 AM |
Bird watching |
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SaintBacon
Posts: 1,712
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I'm not an avid bird watcher, but we get a variety of them in our garden and I keep a pair of binoculars in my workshop so I can get a better view of them. I live near a lake and so we also get herrings, eagles and even pelicans.
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| Jul 24 @ 10:00 AM |
Bird watching
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Gman762
Posts: 3,291
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Hey bro...herrings are a fish. Herons fly :) I have them right behind the house as well as Sandhill Cranes. 3-4 times each summer we will see American White Pelicans on the lake. 9' wingspan, all white with black stripes near the wingtips and a bump on top of the beak. First time that I saw them I could not believe my eyes. They are becoming more commonplace in WI in recent years.
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| Jul 24 @ 10:04 AM |
Bird watching |
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eastham
Posts: 6,354
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While birdwatching from your backyard is lovely, it doesn't have to be a solitary sport. There are bird walks/watching groups all over the country...even here in the Bronx. Check with your local Audobon Society or even at your local birdfeed store.
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| Jul 24 @ 10:05 AM |
Bird watching
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beckyiv42000
Posts: 12,082
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Wow since I grew up by the beach I was used to seeing seagulls and pelicans sandpipers etc... and then I move to the dang near desert and I STILL see seagulls and pelicans and a crane or two  so seeing your post that yeah DUh they live my bakes makes sense now  but DUH me... there is a LAKE right here just over the little hill... and we are on the flightpath for migration too so we see ducks and coots and all kinda birds ..owls too ... oh and I see two looney birds every day walking thru my house  
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| Jul 24 @ 10:08 AM |
Bird watching |
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Heaveninawildflower
Posts: 15,360
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Yikes - 9 foot wingspans!! I didn't know pelicans got that big! Biggest bird I ever saw was about that size though, a California condor in the Grand Canyon. I have a picture of it that I really need to get scanned in someday. Another thing on my retirement list...we still have some hummers around but not as many as a month ago. What we're seeing are parrots or at least in the parrot family, and there are too many to be escapees, so I think they must be migratory. Light green with yellow or orange heads, but with that distinctive parrot beak. There was one feasting in the pomegranate tree for a solid ten minutes, but my camera decided to act up on me - the only shots I got were pretty blurry...
There's one bird that visited about two years ago that I never got to see, but loved...I was doing a lot of night work in my office at home and he'd serenade me from midnight to dawn. It was an exquisitely varied song that I've never heard before or since. He was around for a few days but I've never heard him again since then...
Hi East  If you're ever out that way in the springtime, you might want to check out the Gateway National Bird Sanctuary - I think it's Broad Channel, in Queens. You get to see more of the migratory birds there - even ones that are migrating from a hillside in South America on their way to their summer homes in Alaska. They have guided tours to help you spot the rare birds that abound there.
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| Jul 24 @ 11:25 AM |
Bird watching
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Gman762
Posts: 3,291
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How could I have possibly forgotten??
Out by the cabin there are whippoorwills. The first few times that I have the windows open at night...they are great to hear! After a while (like when you want to sleep) you start looking for the shortgun to scare them away to the neighbor's land :) They make more incessant noise than any other bird...
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| Jul 25 @ 10:40 PM |
Bird watching |
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signme
Posts: 9,590
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I loved the killdeers when I lived up north. Also saw some loons on the lake, and mallards.
I didn't see the hummer wars this summer. I had to take my feeder down as bees kept swarming it.  I didn't want to hurt my hummers.
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| Jul 25 @ 10:55 PM |
Bird watching
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katydid438
Posts: 6,785
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I miss my cardinals since I moved to Deep River
Hummers Sign? 
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| Jul 25 @ 11:00 PM |
Bird watching |
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signme
Posts: 9,590
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Hummingbirds, Ms. Katy!!
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| Jul 25 @ 11:02 PM |
Bird watching
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katydid438
Posts: 6,785
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| Jul 26 @ 12:05 AM |
Bird watching |
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Jankia
Posts: 9,166
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Gman- I have them right behind the house as well as Sandhill Cranes. 3-4 times each summer we will see American White Pelicans on the lake. 9' wingspan, all white with black stripes near the wingtips and a bump on top of the beak. First time that I saw them I could not believe my eyes. They are becoming more commonplace in WI in recent years.
They are something arent they,those White Pelicans.There is a flock thats been hanging around here on the river all summer.
Never saw them here before.Huge birds,the first time I saw them flying,they looked similar to snow geese until they got closer and were far larger.
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| Jul 26 @ 12:16 AM |
Bird watching
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SunBabe
Posts: 12,251
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I have to admit that "formal" birdwatching holds about as much interest for me as does...golf. (hint: zilch. ) I've found squirrel watching much more fun and definitely entertaining. 
That's not to say that I don't recognize and even sometimes look at random birds (especially red-tailed hawks  ), but I'd never go out of my way to watch or hunt down specific birds on purpose. I leave that to those who have a genuine interest.
But I did hang a hummingbird feeder, just in case... and if nothing else, it's pretty all by itself.
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| Jul 26 @ 10:20 AM |
Bird watching |
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eastham
Posts: 6,354
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Someone wrote about parrot populations...there are two large populations of parrots in New York. They are in monk parrots in Brooklyn (at Green-Wood Cemetery) and Quaker parrots in the Bronx at Pelham Bay Park. There are also green parrots in Black Rock State Park in Fairfield.
And how you ask, did these birds get to these far flung places? Automobile accidents! Trucks with parrots bound for pet stores were in fender benders and the birds escaped.
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| Jul 26 @ 10:41 AM |
Bird watching
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Gman762
Posts: 3,291
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Bounced around in a boat on Lake Poygan yesterday. Saw plenty of American White Pelicans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_White_Pelican
Didn't catch many fish however. That is another story for another thread...
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| Jul 26 @ 10:47 AM |
Bird watching |
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Gman762
Posts: 3,291
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Signme, place some hornet traps around the yard as well as some cups with Mt Dew and a shot of dish soap in them.
One sting can kill a Hummer as you know and the Hummers won't go near food with bees by it. Use the traps and the soda mix. That should give the Hummers some relief at the feeding stations.
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| Jul 26 @ 2:56 PM |
Bird watching
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beckyiv42000
Posts: 12,082
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This morning as I was making breakfast I was looking out my kitchen window and was wondering where all the little ones where  then two little sparrows,, juveniles.. I think .. landed and were searching for food out where I put stuff out.. then they both ,in unison, turned and stared at my window then hopped up on my car outside my window to look in at me as if to say "got any goodies lady??" yeah softy that I am I called to my son to put some scraps out for them... 5mins later the yard is FULL of the little wonders  guess I was LATE with breakfast its so cool I have never BOUGHT bird food ..they always just eat scraps or stale bread etc  amazing what they WILL eat too.. they devoured the potato skin peelings the other day even a few larger birds showed up for that .. altho the horde of little ones shooed them off with their barrages of dive bombing the big crows
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| Jul 27 @ 5:06 AM |
Bird watching |
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oceanlover734
Posts: 177
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One day years ago I noticed that blue jays love scrambled eggs!
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