Daily Bird Pics (and conversation) #445

Linth, love the photos of the assorted birds, but especially enjoyed the quote by Robert Brault. I'm with n.a.n. Love that photo of the cormorrant on its own "little island".

Oh yes the chickadees love to drink from the moat on the Hummzinger! Have never had the finches do it.

Here are a few more recent photo encounters .....

1. Great Egret
2. Great Egret
3. Eastern Towhee
4. Gray Catbird
5. Great Blue Heron

Hi all, hope you don't mind me chiming in.
My husband saw a bald eagle Monday right down the road from us. That is a rare site around here in fact I have only seen one here in my life. Hopefully that means their range is expanding? Anyway I'm going to keep an eye out for it.

pestee42, I have provided a link that will provide you with a Bald Eagle Nest locator for the state of Florida. Florida has the most active Bald Eagle nests of any of the lower 48 states. A 2011 survey showed that Florida has more than 1,400 active nests. As the demand for new nesting sites increases, their territory is bound to expand. That is a welcome sight. There are a few Bald Eagle nests in Escambia County. I have never seen a Bald Eagle from my property but I can drive 60 miles up the road and see 100+ during their wintering season. It can be worth the ride to visit a site where they are known to frequent. Another 2 months and I will be "up the road" every week for at least 10 weeks just to photograph Bald Eagles. Hope you see them more frequently in the future.


https://public.myfwc.com/FWRI/EagleNests/nestlocator.aspx

linthicum, I can't thank you enough for this site. I had no idea there were nests so close. The DH and I will be exploring this for sure. I'm so excited! I will check out the site tonight. I'm at work now and break is over. Thanks again!

Love your little Nuthatch, Nanny. I had one visit my yard a few years ago, and found out, they were very friendly little bird. I too wish to see some again this fall.
Linth excellent photos of the shore birds.
Margaret, I can't get enough of your colorful birds, I'd love to be surrounded by them.
Duc, lovely photos of the Brewers Blackbird.
Lily it's wonderful that you can see the GBH so close by.
I'm still watching for Warblers Mrs-Ed, I saw a Kinglet yesterday. Couldn't tell if it was the Golden crown or Ruby. Camera wasn't with me at the time.:(

I'm trying to train this Blue Jay to accept peanuts from my hand. He come within a foot of me and grab one on the plate in front of me. And the Chickadees are very friendly too.

Burn, Good luck with the Blue Jay.....reminds me of another member we used to have here. I have always wanted to try it myself!

Thanks Nanny, was the member's name Trois? I remember some of his photos he took.

Yes!!! That is him....such a great guy and I was so thrilled to find someone that loved the Blue Jays like I did!!

Actually got a few warblers over the last few days!!

A Tennessee, an American Redstart(barely!) and a Bad shot of a Black-throated Green Warbler thru the dirty sliding door! Also a hummer at the Phlox.

I have seven bluebirds that come to the feeder every morning and evening and a few other birds that frequently show up also, including a couple of cardinals. It is not unusual to see the female cardinal feeding alongside the bluebirds. Tonight, just before dark I was surprised to see a fledgling cardinal as well. It has turned very Fall-like here and it seems very late in the season. All the other birds have finished nesting for the year, most of them finished more than a month ago.

It's amazing how much goes on in just a few days on this thread when you haven't had time to visit!

Cute hummers, nanny, on the Hummzinger and Phlox! Congrats on the Warblers!

Linth, fabulous pics of the Egrets, Towhee, Catbird and GB Heron, but the first (black & white) Egret is totally awesome!!

Welcome, pestee42! Congrats on your Bald Eagle sighting! How lucky you are...that's really special!!

You're so right, Resin. The Bald Eagles are definitely expanding their range and it's so wonderful! Many years ago, when I lived in very Northern California, there was a Bald eagle family that used to sit in the trees and watch everybody as we rigged our sailboats to race weekly. It was fun because we could see them right above our heads totally unfazed by us being there.

There are lots of Bald Eagles on the Western edge of Illinois, along the Mississippi River, but it's a many hours drive from home so we've never seen them.

Burn, although all the Nuthatches are friendly, I think the Red-breasted Nuthatches are especially friendly. I once had one land on one of my upside-down suet feeders...while I was filling it!! It just sat there patiently about an inch from my hand looking at me.

Your Blue Jay pics are super! Love your little Chickadee as well. With a little patience, Chickadees have been known to land on people's open hands full of seeds or nuts. I've never tried, but one of these days I will.

Dave, beautiful Cardinal shots! Cardinals can have several broods per year, some of them late. We have juvie Cardinals and Goldfinches all over the yard right now.

Wow, I really got behind. Too many wonderful photos to mention each one but great job everyone!

Here's a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds, a female Red-winged Blackbird, a Northern Flicker, a White-crowned Sparrow that just arrived a few days ago and one of three Yellow Warblers that showed up this morning.

Dave, I, too, hope we can get to meet each other some time this Fall. I'll get in touch with you once the season starts. I understand that there is some action there already. I usually go on the weekend, or a Tuesday, or Thursday. One prerequisite is a reasonably clear day. I have been following (GPS) one Bald Eagle (Hudson) for a number of years and he left his summer residence in northern Quebec and has already arrived at his wintering grounds on the New York - Pa border, i.e. unless freezing weather ultimately drives him farther south. He is now an adult.

duc, beautiful images, as always.

1. Carolina Chickadee
2. Juvenile Female Peregrine Falcon
3. Common Yellowthroat - Thanks, Resin !
4. Little Blue Heron in Flight
5. Little Blue Heron - Eye to Eye !

Nice pics everyone, kinda slow around here. I have some pics in the cam, but haven't worked them up yet.

Hack

Found a lot of pics on the cards in my cams. Here are four of them

1- These two female House Finches are enjoying the big feeder.

2- Carolina Chickadees are regular visitors.

3- Can't help but admire the look of this Cardinal male - beautiful.

4- I guess I won't be seeing my Ruby-throated Hummers much longer, but I did get one good pic.

Hack

Linth, love your photos, especially that falcon. That "eye to eye" is so cute.

Hack, love your birds too. Nice catch on the hummer. I've tried getting one like that but no luck so far.


The Northern Flickers have arrived to enjoy the berries.
Here's a pair of the flickers with their eyes on the neighbors fruit trees.
While I was taking this third photo of a flicker, one of the Anna's hummingbirds landed just above it. Guess they're not afraid of the big guy.
Here's a Lesser Goldfinch.
And I had to add this one of another Anna's hummingbirds-I'm feeding 22 of them right now and there's never a dull moment.

Just wanted to say you all have some nice pictures.

This photo was taken on Wednesday.....we still had 2 hummers yesterday...but none today.:(

Beautiful birdies, everyone.

This is a female Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. It deeply saddens me to see these birds in the metropolitan area as they've been forced here by habitat destruction in the forest they call home. This one is eating the seeds off a Cape Lilac tree (from South Africa). Even in the metro area they can't find enough native food to thrive.

It's sad that there isn't enough food available for those Cocaktoos, well wishes being sent from me, Margaret. Duc, your pics. of the Northern Flickers, male and female deserve to be on "Birds and Blooms". They're so beautiful. Sorry Nan about your hummers that left to migrate South. May the season will fly by and speeds up their return. I'm still seeing them hummers daily down here.

It's heartbreaking, Kim. Here's another one from this afternoon.

But at least something that they're learning to exploit non-native plants. Maybe they'll adapt enough to thrive well before long?

Resin

I sure hope you're right, Resin.

The Trumpeter Swans have been late in arriving at Patter Marsh this year. A break in the stormy weather started yesterday and now they are starting to arrive in good numbers.
I’ve been too busy to do much bird photography recently. The nursery business is over for the season, and I finally have some free time.

Beautiful Gary!!

I have a hummer that flew in for today. It is rainy here so I don't think it will be going any where today. Had one on Sunday that I only saw once.

Yay...Bird Watching doesn't require a paid subscription!!! I thought I was going to be out of luck for awhile!! Adding 3 people to our household over the summer has increased our expenses and I thought I was going to be out of luck.

This message was edited Oct 2, 2012 9:09 AM

Down the windy ocean this morning I saw a large bird with brown wings when viewed from above. At first I thought it was an osprey. The wingspan looked to be about the same as our birds, but it turned out to be an immature Pacific Gull. First shot, it was being pursued by an Australian Raven,itself a large(ish) bird. Next a top view and then the third as it flew by. Next, a Pied Cormorant, and last, a Silver Gull

To finish, a couple of shots of Crested Terns enjoying a spot of fishing.

Nanny, I hope you see more hummers as they come through your area.

Margaret, sorry to hear about the cockatoos, your photos are all so beautiful. You sure find lots of waterfowl.

Gras, love the swans too. They're so beautiful in flight.

Here's one of at least 40 bushtits that came through the garden.
The northern flickers are here every day and really enjoy the berries.
This starling looked so cute sitting out in the open and watching other birds.
Here's a hermit thrush taking off with a berry.
And a warbling vireo waiting for a turn in the birdbath.

Duc that the best shot I've seen so far of a Warbling Vireo. I also admire how you got the shots of the flicker, showing it's massive strong bill. Beside the berries, it seem he has been digging for bugs as well.

Hope those Black Cockatoo can make the transition and survive. It would be a shame to loose them.

Gary so good to see your post again.

Blue Jay in the ring, Song sparrow, White-throated sparrow.

Neat shots duc and burn!!

I put out a large suet last week to announce that the winter suet station is now open. It wasn't long before this male Hairy Woodpecker showed up!!

Burn, I love that peanut ring with the jay. Your little song sparrow and white-throated sparrows are adorable.

Nanny, glad your wp arrived already, what a great picture. Thanks for reminding me to put suet cakes on the grocery list.

I have had two flickers here but this morning this intergraded flicker arrived.
A lesser goldfinch.
A scrub jay.
And a white-crowned sparrow.

Great shots everyone! Thought you might enjoy this video of Rescued Ducks who had never been in water before this video was shot.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/rescued-ducks-encounter-w_n_1943208.html

LOL....not too impressed at first!!

Least Bittern in my Crepe Myrtle early this morning. I hope this one is OK. I have never seen this type of bird in my yard before.

COOL!!

Blue Birds and a Gold Finch enjoying the bird bath.

Pelle, that video was so cute. The poor little babies sure caught a break when the rescue center took them in. Thanks, I love a good ending.

GP, what an awesome bird to find in your yard! Love that second "eye" shot-wow!!

Nanny, your birds are so cute enjoying their baths too.

Here's a scrub jay, a northern flicker up close, a cooper's hawk and a warbling vireo.

Great shot of the Vireo duc!!

I had a Cooper's here yesterday afternoon....it chased Gus(dog)!!

Have had lots of Yellow - rumped Warblers the past few days in the yard...just can't get any good photos tho!!

No hummers the last 2 days either. :(