DAILY PICS Vol. 293

Had a very pleasant surprise at lunch time today. This extremely handsome male Pileated Woodpecker came to visit and try out some suet!

Brrrrrrr. Poor birdie in the Alabama snow this morning. At least he's eating.

Julie, it snowed heavily for a couple of hours here too, but thanks goodness for the temp. was too warm for the snow to stick. Most of the birds sensed something, they started feeding like craze since before sun rise. I saw most of the residents today, including my lone Baltimore Oriole, except the Blue Birds which haven't shown up yet. This pic. was taken yesterday.

Fantastic piliated wp. Bought a suet feeder with a long tailboard for them this fall, but no luck.

Red, Very nice Trumpeter Swans!

Nanny, Nice hawks. Aren't they Red-tailed Hawks? LOVE the Pileated Woodpecker!!

Julie, Sweet Goldfinch pics!

Lily, Nice shot!

Great pix everyone. Nanny, can't believe that Pileated. How cool.

Just had an OMG moment. A PAIR of Eurasian Collared Doves showed up. A life list, yard list, and rare for the area.

and just to show the size comparison to the Mourning Dove…

Hi Resin, I went with Prairie Falcon because of the larger size and in my Birds of North America the drawing looked really close to it, and they don't have a very good image of the female kestrel but it shows that it has more color.

Guess birds can be like people...eh...some females are 5 ft. and some are 6 ft.;-)

Your the BirdFiles expert so we'll go with your ID.

Here's another image taken 21/08/09

Yep, American Kestrel again ;-)

Perched in a Subalpine Fir

Resin

Thanks Resin, now I even know the name of my tree:o}

But how can you tell from just the top of the tree showing???

Here is a photo of a female American Kestrel that was being rehabilitated ........ I see way more males than females in the wild.

And here is a link to some nice photos of the Prairie Falcon.

http://www.pbase.com/phiggins/falconprairie

Thanks Linthicum, that's a good photo.

I guess I'm pretty lucky to have both sexes in and around my yard, I see them often. I've been trying to get the male when he's hovering, haven't been successful so far.

nanny_56 - that male Pileated Woodpecker is one handsome bird.

JulieQ - that Goldfinch sure looks cold.

Lily_love - I'd like to see a Baltimore Oriole someday.

Julie and Lily - are you all getting any snow today. Here in Columbus it is supposed to be in the low 30's, snow flurries are expected.

Mrs_Ed - nice looking Eurasian Collared Doves showed up. Did I read you right, this is a Lifer for you?

mcash70 - looks like you have more than your fair share of American Kestrels

linthicum - really good pic of the female American Kestrel being rehabilitated

----------------------

I went to Cooper Creek Park today and saw lots of Robins. This is a sampling. They covered an area about 50 yds by 50 yds, this dense. I mean there was a lot of them.

Hack

Also saw this pair of mallards.

Hack

Way off in the distance I saw there two Ring-billed Gulls. According to one of my books, I think they are in their Breeding plumage.

Behind them are some Rock Pigeons.

In the water, down on the left, is an American Coot.

Hack

Hah Resin!

I checked out the Great Backyard Birdcount results and there were 130 Eurasian Collared-doves reported in this state. Most were in the southern part, but some were up north. In fact, 4 were reported in two different towns (two each) to the north of me. Maybe this pair is headed south, LOL. Sibleys shows lots of green dots where they pop up, but in general out of range here.

Anyway, YES a lifer for me, Hack!

Nice Kestrels! I read that the Prairie Falcon has dark "armpits", distinguishing them from the Kestrel. There is supposed to be one over at Nacusa Grasslands but I haven't seen it yet.

Pelle, you are right about the hawks typed the wrong name.....I corrected it. Thanks!

Congrats Mrs. Ed on the doves!!

mcash....Resin has amzing ID powers of all types! lol

Hack...pretty mallards. I hope to go down to lake tomorrow and see if I find anything interesting.

Hey guys, linthicum started a new Daily Pics thread for us. It is at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1079136/

Hack