DAILY BIRD PICS VOL #376

Nice shots everyone!!

Dang this thread flies,hard to keep up.thats good ... Snow geese WOW and egrit

Burn, Belted Kingfisher,seems like they like those high wires,thats where mine hangs out up high across the road,we had almost a nesting pair ,maybe 2011 they will try again

Rose,I have both Hairy and Downy, Ive never seen them not get along ?? I`ll be watching Now !!! might get some good action shots..Ha

Great shots from everyone! Thanks for making my early morning!

The Red Bellied stood his ground,he was giving them the buisness .

I think we have had some Hairy Woodpeckers, but I can't tell them apart from the Downy, you could put them side by side and I could not tell them apart. They both look the same to me. I hope we can get our Downy to trust us again this summer, he would come down and drink out of the nectar feeder for the hummingbirds while we were sitting out. Hopefully he will do it again this summer. Gonna be kinda hard to find suet for the wp that don't melt this summer. I'm going to have to put pure cap on the bird feeder, they can't eat the seeds on the platform so they have been going to the feeder and while I don't think they can chew through the metal, I can't afford to find out the hard way. Everyone have a good day. Is this a HW or a DW?

Great pictures everyone. I really enjoy seeing all the different birds from different areas. Have not seen either a Downy or Hairy WP here this winter. Only N. flickers. Hasn't been very cold the past 2 weeks, but I see it is very foggy this morning. Keep sending your wonderfulbirds along.

Donna

Hey rutholive, I'll make you a deal, I will send you some of our little wp if you send me some northern flickers. How's that for a deal?

Teddy not sure from that shot which WP that is. There are lots of great NO MELT suets to use in the summer. What I have trouble finding is a HOT PEPPER one to use during the winter that doesn't get too hard in the cold.

I think Downy's & Hairy's are very easy to tell apart once you have seen them both near each other.

Female Downy Woodpecker

This message was edited Jan 25, 2011 11:14 AM

Lily, cute cardinal. Hope that sun is bringing some buds to your trees.

Teddy, your hubby did great with the cardinal pic.

Pelle, hope it warms up for you soon. Your titmouse is adorable.

Nanny, I like that photo of your wp too. Glad you're still looking for the pine siskins.

Burn, cute photos of all your birds. They look so cold.

VA, love that wren! Cute photo of the ice and the chickadee. That wp sure is adorable.

Hugger, glad the wp stood his ground-sweet shot!

Some more photos from the refuge-a Red-winged Blackbird. Too far away to get a clearer photo.

A few of the many Greater White-fronted Geese. The sad thing for me was we could hear the duck hunters shooting just a short distance away from us. How can they call this a sport when the guys were so close to the refuge?

I think this is a Black-crowned Night Heron. There were about 5 of them close together in the brush.

An accidental shot of a Belted Kingfisher going down to the water. Wish I could have gotten more like this.

A pair of Northern Pintails.

Pintails in flight.

And one beautiful Cinnamon Teal-again a good distance away.

A first for us this morning, especially in January - 7 Robins at the birdbath at once! Sorry it's so dark - cloudy w. snow today.

aww, great pix of the robins. can't wait until they are all back at my pond/stream.

Duc, that is very cinnamon-y!!


I worked a good deal on this pix because I botched the exposure. Pity as the position is so nice. Still, was fun to see the Jays find the peanuts I stashed in the christmas tree.

Duc, The Geese really look on alert! Great catch of the Kingfisher! The Northern Pintails are one of my favorites, the males are one of the most handsome of all ducks to me.

Michael, Good to see so many Robins!

Good one Mrs Ed!

Nice shots all!

Duc, love all your pictures. Mrs. Ed. What a creative way to entice your Blue Jay! That's pic. is worth a thoughsand words. Here is my though "I'm on top of the world!" or "The world is my peanut!" lol,lol.

Red Bellied Woodpecker.

Mockingbird.

Grackle looking a little perturbed.

duc, very cool catch of the Kingfisher!

Been seeing groups of Robins here getting berries off the various trees around!

Very cool pose Mrs. Ed!

GP, like your birds and your bright blue skies & sun!! You can keep the Grackle...lol!

If you are of mind, please take a look at the thread I started on my new birds!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1151494/

Thanks!

Mrs_Ed: Great Woodpecker pics...I'm envious of your Red-Bellied one, and an awesome Blue Jay pic!

Huggergirl: Love your tree stump feeder!

Duc: Beautiful Bald Eagle pic...Wow! The only one I have ever seen up close is the one in our local park that is caged up because he has an injury which he can't recover from in order for it to go back in the wild...tears my heart apart seeing it like that :(
The Belted Kingfisher is pretty cool too!

Pell: OMG! I'm envious of your Tufted Titmouse. Nice pic despite the background...

Teddy: Cute Woodpecker pic! As for the differences between Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker, I'll post 2 pics for you showing the differences between a male of each :)

Michael: Lovely Robin pic! Oh, it warms my heart and can't wait for our female Robins to return. I miss their company and feeding them!!!

Garden: LOLOLOLOL...Love the perturbed Grackle!

VA_Wild: I adore your pics...especially the Wren...Soooooo cute!

The 1st 2 pics I'll post will be the 2 pics Woodpecker pics for Teddy (and anyone else interested) ...

This 1st one is the male Downy Woodpecker (note the size difference/length and the red feathers on it's head compared to the next pic)...










This message was edited Jan 26, 2011 12:10 AM

Here's the male Hairy Woodpecker...
About 1/3 longer in length and instead of a solid thick red area on the back of the Downy's head, this Hairy has 2 separate smaller red areas on the back of it's head. As for the females, you'll just have to gauge the length when they are nearby or on the feeders. Sometimes you can tell by the outside tail feathers, but it's hard.

One of a pair of White Crowned Sparrows...

A Song Sparrow in our Garden...

Two Harris's Sparrows...

Preening after dinner...

An American Tree Sparrow...

Nice pics GP!

Hi Susan, Good to see you! Very nice pics!

Love the pics Duc. Susan, nice to see all the sparrows

I took this pic of a group of Kelp Gulls this morning - 3 juv's and 2 adults

African Black Oystercatcher

Water Thick-knee/Water Dikkop

They were a bit far for my camera - but at least I got some sort of a pic. I got a similar pic of them more or less a year ago at the same spot.

Red-knobbed Coot - pretty common here

Red Bishop - in breeding color - this one can make my camera go "what?!" - for some reason I always struggle to get nice pics of this beauti.

Nice pics Rian! I love those Dikkop's!! Of course the Bishop is gorgeous!

It's interesting to see your Red Knobbed Coots, Rian. Others are so very interesting too. About the Kelp Gulls, 2 adults, those that have the bright yellow beaks I gathered?

SusanLouise, thanks for showing the differences b/w the Downy and Hairy. The latter is much more longer than the former? You've more variety of sparrows! Nice.

Michael, the 7 Robins at the birdbath is wonderful.

GP, love your Mockingbird shot. Although they're common here, but seldom do I get a pic. op of them.

Michael, love all the robins in the bath.

Mrs Ed, fantastic catch with the jay.

GP, awesome closeup of your red-bellied. Love that look the grackle is giving you.

VA, your birds are beautiful.

Susan, great examples of your wps. Cute pose of the hawk too!

Rian, great shots of the gulls and oystercatcher. That red bishop is a beauty.

I still have a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds here.