Daily Photo's Volume #303

Elphaba, the formation did not last long.

Margaret, I love that Butcherbird!!

GP, Good pics! Love the White Ibis, Catbird and Waxwings!

Hack, Nice pics of the Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-bellieds and it's especially nice to see the chipping Sparrow!

Lily, Good shots of Great Blue Heron sunning and the Crow!

This is a bad pic but I've been watching the American Robins gathering materials for nest building. They seem to really like the old daylilie fronds.

Long shot taken this overcast morning.

GP, that's quite impressive with the Ibis. Hack thank you so much for the link. Very informative website, and wonderful pics. too. Oh Margaret, only in my dream I'd ever visit your homeland one of these days to see all your wonderful birds and learn of your culture. Wonderful pics. everyone, thanks for your compliments of the great Blue Heron. It was my best because I was practically a few yards from the subject. This one of the Mallards pair is shot through the fuzzy window, but it turned out pretty decent.

Pelle, that is so sweet!

Wish I had a picture to post, but yesterday was really weird. I usually have dozens of birds at each of my feeders, but there were only a few cardinals and cowbirds most of the day and it was eerily quiet. My first thought was a predator lurking, but when I saw my first goldfinch at 3PM and finally heard a phoebe, I could not believe the answer was so simple. I had my camera out for flower pictures, but was so dumbstruck by what I saw I could not get a picture in time. The largest red-tailed hawk I had ever seen took off from the area of my barn (about 200' from my house) and sailed out over the valley.

Pretty Mallards Lily!

Sun, That is pretty neat! There was a Red-tailed Hawk near here yesterday and it scared all the birds and especially squirrels. :-)

Great photos everyone. Margaret that Butcherbird is wonderful!! What fun to hear them.

Here's one of my Bullock's Orioles.

Here's another one.

Haven't seen a Black Phoebe here for a couple weeks and then it returned yesterday.

The Chipping Sparrows are arriving here now. More & more show up everyday!

This American Goldfinch sat still long enough for me to get a decent shot!

I just this girl looked so pretty with all her red highlights....

Last one for now. The girls are coming later for week of Spring Break. So I will just be able to pop in here and there over the coming week. Hope I don't miss anyhting really cool!

Mourning Dove...and I got the gold flakes!

Wow, great job everyone! I sure love seeing the daily photo's of everyone's lovely birds.

Margaret: It would be wonderful to get video and audio of that wonderful Butcherbird! I'd love to have a cd or two with nothing but birds singing!

gardenpom: Are you near the water? Great shot of the White Ibis ... love those birds though I only see them on occasion when I go over to the beachside of town. Your photo of the Dove is amazing! I thought it was a Ringed Turtle Dove because of it's light color, we had one here for a few days a year or so ago and it was so beautiful.

Hack: Great shots as always. I've come to really enjoy watching the little Chipping Sparrows but I've never seen one with it's crown raised like that either. Lovely little Tufted Titmouse, wish I could get a bunch of them to visit! Oh, the Yellow-rumped Warbler has become one of my favorites ... I look forward to hopefully seeing a few again next winter!

Lily: I've never seen Heron's pose like that ... my first thought is it must be drying it's wings but I don't know, looks a bit curious ... maybe a courtship maneuver or possibly trying to assert it's territory?

Pelle: How lucky you are to have Robins nest in your area! I just love Robins and wish we could have them here year round. Isn't it funny how we want birds that others get to see often!

duc: Wow, Love the Oriole ... sure wish I could see an Oriole! My bird book says the Baltimore Oriole is a Spring migrant and can be seen here April through mid May but I've never seen any kind of Oriole in my life! The colors are just so pretty! I've never seen a Phoebe either, what a pretty bird!

Nanny: Great shots. I love the Goldfinches and didn't have a one stop by on migration this year! Pretty little Cardinal and Dove ... I never noticed any gold flakes on them! I'm going to have to look for that!

Morning Mockingbird

We've had a couple of Gray Catbirds around lately. They seem quite shy but I got a picture this morning of one hiding in the bushes. I heard it before I saw it, sounded like a cat screaming, LOL.

nanny_56, I saw our first chipping sparrows last week. They seem a bit late this year. I have had them as early as February in the past few years. Not a great picture, but all I have so far.

Duc, thank you for those new pics. of the Orioles. I've yet got a decent pic. of a Mockingbird thus far. Lin, right below my post of the Crow (above), Hack did give us the link explaining the Heron "budha pose". It's an informative site, and I enjoyed reading it. Thanks again Hack.

The snow has melted and this dark- eyed Junco seems happy about that.

Northern Flicker (adult male)

Great shots and variety everyone...adelbertcat I believe that's the Oregon Race Junco...nice shot

Methodical.................Yes, most of the Juncos in this area are the Oregon.

Great pics guys!

Duc, I love your beautiful Bullocks Oriole and Phoebe!

Nanny, Good shots of the Sparrow, Goldfinch, Cardinal and Dove!

Lin, Nice ones of the handsome Mockingbird and Catbird!

Sun, Love those Chipping Sparrows!

Adel, Love the Flicker and Junco!

Lin, I do have water all around me, in fact, Melbourne is called "the Harbor City".

I spotted two birds today which I couldn't identify. The first may be a Yellow Rumped Warbler. It had a very ruffled appearence and likes my peanut suet.

Here is the second mystery bird - I couldn't find it in my book, although it has very distinctive markings. Any ideas?

White Throated Sparrow? Cute little one!

pelletory - Quote, "Hack, Nice pics of the Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-bellieds and it's especially nice to see the chipping Sparrow!" Thanks, pelle, I do believe the chippers are gonna be with me year-round. AND for a long shot on an overcast morning the Robin pic is pretty good.

Lily_love - Quote, "Hack thank you so much for the link. Very informative website, and wonderful pics. too." you're welcome, I enjoyed reading the website, too.

sunfarm - I missed my fair share of "collectible" bird pics, too.

ducbucln - your Bullock's Orioles and that Black Phoebe are great.

nanny_56 - your pics are really looking good. Glad to see your bird variety increasing.

plantladylin - Quote, "Hack: Great shots as always. I've come to really enjoy watching the little Chipping Sparrows but I've never seen one with it's crown raised like that either. Lovely little Tufted Titmouse, wish I could get a bunch of them to visit! Oh, the Yellow-rumped Warbler has become one of my favorites ... I look forward to hopefully seeing a few again next winter!" Thanks plantladylin. I'm not seeing as many Y-r Warblers as I used to. They are skittish and don't stay in one place very long. You have to be quick on the shutter button. AND I'm still waiting for a cat bird to appear. Yours was a nice shot.

adelbertcat - Great looking pic of the male Northern Flicker.

gazergirl - That is a White-throated Sparrow for sure. Lily was correct.

Hack

I took a hep of pics and made collages to show them.

Here ya go gazergirl, a composite of the White-throated Sparrow.

Hack

We still have American Coots at Cooper Creek Park, but not as many as earlier.

Hack

Here's a brown thrasher that came to feed.

Hack

I still have lots of Brown-headed Cowbirds around; here is a female and a male. The female is on the left.

Hack

Thanks for the ID everyone. Yes, definite White Throated Sparrow.

Here's my last composite. This Mockingbird caught my attention at the feeder and after getting a treat, flew up to a limb.

Hack

Hack, nice collards! Interesting, Brown Thrashers around here haven't ventured near my bird feeders. I guess location is key? I'll return tomorrow afternoon sometimes with new pics. Good night all.

I knew it! I sure haven't been a very good hostess. The perch for the feathered friends! (Light bulb-flash moment. lol), thanks Hack.

Lily_love - Just so you know, I rarely see a Brown Thrasher at a Suet feeder. It is not uncommon, though, for me to see one on a "seed" type feeder. Most of the time, they're on the ground feeding on seeds that were spilled from overhead feeders. And as for location, I don't think I do anything special. The suet feeder in the composite is only about 4-5 feet off the ground. In fact, most all my feeders can be reached while I'm sitting on my 4-wheeler. I do have a few that are suspended from limbs. I lower them to re-fill 'em.

All my homemade suet feeders have a perch.

Nite, nite.

Hack

This message was edited Apr 3, 2010 10:55 PM

Isn't Spring wonderful! So many great pics!

Here's Pappa Bluebird.

Here's Mamma Bluebird. She was in the nestbox a lot today. Maybe she was laying eggs:)