DAILY PICS VOL. 235

Has the look of a Flycatcher, there are so many kinds......I found this old pic of mine this morning...I just liked it because I caught a hawk and a plane in the same shot.

Had a visit from a White Ibis. Here he is trying to balance on the line.

On take-off.

Adel, great photos! I love the colors of the Grosbeak.

Gardenpom, cute one of the hawk and the jet! I can't believe the Ibis shots-nice job!

Lily and Burn, great feeder pictures!

One of our Bald Eagles flew by this morning.

I'm just guessing this is a Red-tailed Hawk. It flew by as I was photographing the eagle so I didn't get much chance to photograph it.

I keep trying to catch all four of my juvie Scrub Jays on the feeder at once, but they won't cooperate.

Once more I tried, then I gave up and wouldn't you know, 5 minutes later when I'd put up the camera, they were all there looking at me!

That Bald Eagle is awesome! I'm getting anxious to see some more Eagles and every other kind of bird....hurry Fall!

My poor cardinal keeps losing his feathers to the feather mites. I feel so sorry for him.

Interesting that the skin on his neck is colored differently from his head.

Interesting theory Resin. lol. Dave, poor 'lil guy! I saw a finch that was effected by mites this summer, but once. It did not return to the feeder since. I hope it fared okay after all.

Here's another shot of him. His head reminds me of the leather caps those World War I era pilots wore, complete with goggles and the round hole at the ear.

Resin: Will his feathers grow out before winter?

Dave

Couldn't find a picture of a cap with the ear hole but here is one of Charles Lindbergh.

Cardinal baldness due to feather mites is another one of those myths repeated in the amateur bird ranks that becomes truth because everyone says its so. Kinda like red dye in hummingbird nectar. The condition really hasn't been studied, but Cornell's best guess is nothing more than molting. It happens in late summer every year, and birds all over the country exhibit the same baldness pattern and grow new feathers with no harmful affects. Nothing unusual about this.

Hi Guys hope you can help me out with and ID on my morning visitor. Sorry these pics aren't the best. The bird feeder he is sitting on is 14inches from peak to the bottom rails. If that helps size him.

And another,

The size and square barred tail looks like a Sharp-shinned. They are also drawn to birds localized to feeders.

We do have Sharp-shinned Hawks in the area. I had been looking at pics of it in my Bird book the tail markings looked right, but it didn't show the lighter color on the head so I wasn't sure. There are quite a few birds of prey in our area. We live within a 1/4 mile of a creek and within 5 miles of the Susquehanna River. There is a State Park only a few miles away that started a Hawk program several years ago and we have seen an increase of those over the years. I just can't ID them very well.

Red, Molting is something I am familiar with but this seems different somehow. This guy is nesting behind my house and he has been losing his feathers since early spring. I see (and photograph) him almost every day and have yet to see any new feathers growing in.

This message was edited Aug 3, 2009 10:28 AM

Dave, perhaps your bird is an exception. I just wanted to point out that this is normal for Cardinals and people shouldn't be too upset if they have Cardinals that look like this. And they do look pretty pathetic. :) I have a pair that visit one of my feeders daily and both of them are going through this. It happens every year.

Interesting debate, Dave, Resin and Red. Very interesting from all viewpoints.

Purple finch at the feeder. Caption: "I wished you wouldn't try to change my diet -- sunflower seeds that're all I wanted!"

Dave, I thought the same thing when I saw your poor Cardinal. The photos are outstanding by the way.

Holly, I can't tell the species of your hawk, but it does look like it's leucistic or part albino. Hope it returns for more photos.

This Oak Titmouse was searching through the rocks for food while I was sitting nearby.

LOL, nice one Resin!

I would be surprised if I got another pic, They do come around from time to time but I don't see them that close often. I only saw one once before actually perch on the feeder. Sometimes I see one in the hedgerow across the lane but he sits back where he can see both my feeders and the open space on the other side of the hedgerow and I usually only see him when he moves. We see them flying over too high to get good pics. I quite often realize that there is a hawk in the area due to inactivity at the feeders. My 6yr old GS is very good at spotting them and can usually tell me what they are. They live a bit closer to the State Park and have had issues with the Hawks. They have 2 acres of semi mowed field and have a lot of small field animals and had lost a few chickens to them until they started to pen them in. He pointed out an Eagle flying over a couple of weeks ago that no one else had noticed and there were at least 7 of us out in the yard at the time.

Resin, I thought your first comment about Cardinal baldness was funny, but when you came back with the picture... that really did make me laugh out loud. Excellent place to interject humor too, BTW. Thanks.

Good one, Resin. I liked that !

Too funny! A pair of Redheaded Woodpeckers:

Nice shots everyone.

Dave, the Cardinal looks like a Turkey Vulture; he looks all beat up

Here's a male House Finch

Here's a couple shots of the Anna Hummingbird

2nd shot

And the Black Phoebe

Here's a Male Goldfinch

Which one of the Cardinals are you referring to Al?

Beautiful shots.

For those who think that squirrels are a problem getting into the feeder.

ROTFLOL...Resin!!

Holy smokes albercat. He or she can have all the seeds it wants.

Hello Margaretk - I am referring to 2ndCousinDave's cardinal


Red-winged Blackbird - Male

This message was edited Aug 3, 2009 8:43 PM

This message was edited Aug 3, 2009 8:45 PM