Bird Watching: Daily piccies vol 428

and, same tree again... Here's a mid-sized hawk (Cooper's?) from summer

whoops... here's the photo

Whatever the big big raptor is... today he brought a friend! Maybe they are thinking of nesting in our little tree line? The crows were raising an awful fuss, trying to run them off... 3 against 2, and size was not on their side.

Critter,First one looks like a Red-tailed and the second one looks like a Coopers Hawk .

I'd tentatively ID's the second photo as a Cooper's when he showed up... we see him intermittently, and we see some sort of little falcon or sparrow hawk on occasion (haven't managed to get a photo or even enough of a glimpse for me to try to ID him). That big guy, though... how big do red-tails get? I'd guess him at over 20 inches head to tail, maybe even 22, and my book puts red tails at 18... The markings sure do look like a Red-tailed, though. He's definitely got some yellow on his beak and yellow talons/toes, if that means anything.

Aha! I just googled to find the Cornell description for Red-tailed, and they have a range of sizes, with the female getting up to 25 1/2 inches long. That's more like what I'm seeing, so maybe we've just got one of the bigger pairs in the area.

Thanks, pelletory!

I guess, besides size, the other thing throwing me is that red-tailed hawks around here generally have, well, red tails. Our visitor just doesn't! But in looking at an assortment of images, it seems there are bunches of color morphs of red-tails. I'm a little embarrassed, as I thought that was one bird I could reliably ID! Ah well. I'm just happy to see him... I figure it might mean fewer voles & bunnies in the garden this year. Wouldn't it be cool if they nested here? *dreaming...*

Adult Red-tails have reddish tails, but immatures (up to just over 1 year old) have brown (dark brown and pale brown barring) tails. So this one's an immature.

Resin

So glad I checked in with this thread! Wow! Great shots everyone!

Gary, your owl pics are giving me heart palpitations! That Hawk Owl on the spruce is the stuff owl photo dreams are made of. Been dying to see a Great Gray Owl since seeing The Big Year!

Critter, nice hawk shots!

Duc, I agree wrens are just fun and beautiful. Love that Bewicks and the Moorhen. Didn't they change names? I hate it when that happens. They will always be Moorhens to me!

Some Snow Geese.

Cedar Waxwings

Great Blue Heron with a Nutria at his feet.

Canvasbacks -- female and male.

Ring-necked Duck. Seems like it should be called a Ring-billed Duck, but I'm sure there's a reason.

I'll stop with this Anhinga giving me grief from under the pier.

Nice shots Elphaba! You have such a good variety around you.


***burn_2007 will be starting the new thread soon***

This message was edited Jan 20, 2012 10:00 AM

Everybody says it is hard to get a picture of a Chickadee so you can see both eyes, well unless some one can sharpen this one up, this is the best I have gotten. This one is looking right at me as if to say thank you for the seed. It is going to stay cold until next week so I think I will shuffle out there and fill up the feeder again. My hubby went to Wally World yesterday and got two Woodpecker suet cakes, so they will have food to eat. To tell you just how cold it is, I go out and empty the ice out of the birdbath and put warm water in it and by the time I go to work it is frozen already! I looked at the temperature on the weather page and it is only 5!

Thanks, Resin. I'm learning! There was a 2nd hawk hanging around (farther back) the other day, so maybe this one is growing up... ;-)

Great shots, Elphaba! I adore Cedar Waxwings... some of my best bird-memories involve coming across a tree that's just vibrating with them, eating crabapples or something similar and just chatting away with shrill enthusiasm!

Thanks to everyone who have shared their wonderful photos.
Elphaba great pics. Red has posted a photo of the Ring-necked Duck, which is showing the ring around it's neck. I also did wonder why, they had called it Ring-necked, but his photo showed why.


This thread has now ended, follow this new thread link : http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1238666/

Chickadee with both eyes, huh? Hmm, here's the best I have... looking straight in from the window feeder, but all the blowing sliding snowflakes keep it from being a clear shot.

Got a question for you folks, I have a old stub limb that has fallen out of the tree in front, I was thinking(there I go again, thinking)! I was wondering if there was some way I could maybe put some peanut butter on it or drill some holes in it and entice the pileated woodpecker to try it out. I have a jar of crunchy peanut butter just for them and I tried the pine cone treat and the squirrels loved it, the tie was still there but the pine cone was gone! I think I put it in the wrong spot and the furry tree rats got it because it was not in sight anywhere. There is one on the round feeder right now trying to figure a way to get in, he has not suceeded yet. I think I am going to add some red pepper flakes to the round feeder and maybe they will leave it alone, although with the metal grid around it they can only get what falls on the ground and what is on the little tray, mama rb wp is on the upside down feeder.

My dad made a feeder decades ago from a christmas tree stump (and he's still using it)... he made one for us when we moved to Frederick... check out the article I wrote that re-ran recently here on DG: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/467/

Hi Critter and Teddy! Nice pics!

We are onto a NEW THREAD now so please join us over there with your pics :-). http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1238666/