Daily Bird Pics (and conversation) #446

Beautiful pix of my Favorite Australian bird! GP, I think that probably orioles would be interested in your honeysuckle, if they stayed around. I have a firespike in a pot for the hummingbirds, but it always blooms after they are gone. Maybe I will try to put a blanket over it next year to simulate shorter daylight hours.

the first junco showed up this morning. Juvenile gold finch is here so there must have been a nest. tons of tufted titmice. I suspect a couple summer families.

Lily, cute photos of the egrets and herons. Glad you found some kingfishers-I haven't seen one here yet this year.

Burn, great bunch of birds you have there. That hanging jay was so cute and determined to get some seeds.

Margaret, beautiful photos of the white faced heron and that honeyeater with the blue eyes is just gorgeous.

Iris, glad your juncos are beginning to arrive.

Here's the white-crowned sparrow I missed last time-thanks Lily to telling me.
This bald eagle is continuing to arrive at the same tree every morning.
The ruby-crowned kinglets have finally started to arrive.

[quote="MargaretK"]Thanks, GP. I was think of what other birds I've seen in the Cape Honeysuckle and can't think of any other than the New Hollands.


The Hummingbirds love the Firespike, even preferring it nowadays to the Firebush. The only bird I ever caught at my Cape Honeysuckle was a Cardinal, picking the blossoms off and enjoying the nectar.

I had 2 Bald Eagles fly over the house the other day....sure wish I had known they were coming by so I could have had the camera ready!! lol

Downright inconsiderate of them not to have given you advance warning, nanny. I mean, really, just who do they think they are?

The person who could invent an "early-bird" warning system would certainly make birdwatchers happy.

^_^

groan.

Hurricane coming up the east coast will bother the birds especially the migration through Cape May NJ.

Meanwhile I am peeved with the downy woodpecker which works on the house. We have plenty of trees.

Great shots everyone! Margaret I love that White-faced Heron!
Well it turns out we have about 50 Pine Siskin here now; trying to keep feeders filled till the storm comes (glad I'm not near water; feel bad for those that are at this time).

We got a lot of wind and rain from the storm today, but I imagine you folks up North will see much worse.

Wonderful pictures everyone. This morning the birds had emptied the feeders and I was greeted by a beautiful male cardinal looking in my window. Just gorgeous. The feeders are now full as we await Frankenstorm. Hope it misses us.

Nanny, at least you got to see the eagles.

I do hope everyone will be safe from the hurricane.

Last night I was sitting near the window when a dove flew at it full force. The bird died instantly but a Cooper's hawk grabbed it and took it off our deck. I can only assume the dove had been sitting somewhere close as they always do and was trying to get away from the hawk that's been around for several days now. It wasn't easy to watch but there was nothing I could have done to save the dove. Sometimes I dislike Mother Nature.
The hawk stayed long enough for me to run and grab the camera. I suspect it was trying to figure out how to pull the bird over the railing wire.

With the high of only 49 degrees yesterday I saw several more Juncos and had a Carolina Wren at the suet along with a couple of Brown Creepers!

This is another picture of the northern flicker, I am sorry it is so dark, I tried to lighten it up and did not do it. So if someone can lighten it up a little it is beautiful.

Here's your photo lightened up , emptyeyes.

Lovely shots of your white- faced Heron and Honeyeater, Margaret. It always fun to see your birds.
Duc very nice shot of the White-crowned Sparrow. Sorry the hawk got your Dove.I know that's their way of survival and it doesn't upset me as much when an hawk get a bird, but when a neighbor's cat does, it's another matter. I had a neighbor's cat snatch a Pine Sisken of the platform feeder, while I was on the deck. I didn't see the cat, because I had my back to him, but my sister did, and she tried to stop it. It got away with the bird. He was here again this afternoon, and I used the water hose to shoo him and another cat..

Pelle I worry about you, hope your in a safe place, and Nanny and Mrs-Ed also. Let us know how you guys are doing, if you can.
Everyone in the Hurricane path, do stay safe.

I got a very nice surprise two days ago. I saw my first Cardinal at the feeder. It came back today.
And the Bohemian Waxwings thought the crabapples were mushy enough to eat.;) They usually eat them toward the end of winter.

Thanks, Burn. I agree entirely with your sentiments about cats preying on birds. Beautiful Waxwing.

Duc, that's sad about the poor dove. Do you think it might have flown into the window trying to escape the hawk in the first place.

Your Flicker is a stunning bird, emptyeyes.

I'm thinking of everyone in the path of Frankenstorm and sending safe vibes.

Beautiful Burn! I'm high and dry here in Illinois!

Good here in Indiana.

Do hope all our friends along the east coast stay safe.

Need to unload camera and see if I got those creepers! lol

Great shots everyone.

I am deeply concerned over the impact that this storm will have on the Conowingo Dam and the Bald Eagles. Many eagles have just arrived from the north. On my last visit, there were close to 100. I easily counted 50 white heads (adults) sitting on the rocks,about 2700 feet across the river. The tremendous flow of water that will be going through the dam, for some time, will disrupt the Bald Eagles. They most likely will leave and search for their food elsewhere. Actually, one had started to already rebuild their nest in one of the towers.

They are closing the Tydings Memorial Bridge (I-95) that crosses the Susquehanna River, just south of the Conowingo Dam. That bridge has never been closed before today. We still have electricity but I anticipate losing it over night. The winds are really starting to pick up.

Pelle, if you read this, please take care. New Jersey will get hammered around 6 p.m. The center path is supposed to pass about 50 miles north of me but one never knows with these storms. They have a mind of their own. This storm is 800 miles wide and also dumping several feet of snow just to the west in West Virginia. Very odd ..........

This is what I saw when I got up this morning, the winds last night were terrible, I hope all our friends in New York and New Jersey are ok, I also went out and put fresh water in the birdbath. We already had some visitors and I got a good pic of one especially. I don't want snow, not ready for snow, come to think of it, I am never ready for snow!!!

Best I got of the Brown Creepers....Darn it!

Carolina Wren

Downy Woodpecker & Carolina Chickadeee

saw the 2nd cardinal today. Perhaps the same one. It was busy with the spilled seed from the feeder.

My cardinal pair come to the feeder for meal worms every day. The shots of the female were taken yesterday, and the one of the male was taken the day before, while the clouds from Sandy were still overhead. Hadn't seen the moon for a week so I got up early this morning to get this shot.

This message was edited Nov 1, 2012 12:47 AM

Guess who stopped at my suet cake this afternoon? That's right, the pileated woodpecker!!!! I was not quick enough to get a pic but by god he was there! Now all I have to do is try to get a pic, I am so excited!

Exciting about the piliated. Wish at least we would get the red bellied at our suet. Saw the cardinal this morning after the seed dumped by our tube feeder. Usually see it more often, so he must have other sources. Should tell about it to the titmice who are going to be expensive this winter as they clean up.

Male Painted Bunting at the birdbath today.

Beautiful!

Finally got our electricity back yesterday afternoon .........

nice male Painted Bunting, gardenpom.

Excellent shot of the full moon, Dave. I always have a difficult time with a full moon shot especially to get any kind of clarity. I'll probably check out Conowingo this weekend. Right now it is about 6 feet below flood level. I haven't been out but some local birders have been seeing a few unusual sightings resulting from the hurricane blowing the birds inland. I'm sure there will be more ........

I'm always glad to see Margaret's birds. They're so neat. Lot of different birds that I don't ever get to see here. Of those I don't get to see are those that are from the west coast and Florida such as the Scrupt Jay from Duc. The Beautiful Bunting from GP. We don't get to see the Bohamian Waxwings, but thanks goodness we do have their cousins the Cedar Waxwings here during migratory period. Linth, love those fabulous shots of the Eagles-- they're just out of this world! Agreed with you, 2nd cousin Dave does have one excellent shot of the full moon. Whoa! I can even see the craters outlined on that pic. Hiya irisMA. Glad to know birds from your area are preparing themselves for their journey South by 'cleaning out the feeders' on a regular basic. Down here, especially while Sandy was active, I rarely saw one single bird at my backyard feeders? Or it could be Hawks were frequenting the area. I did see a few of those flying overhead while there were no song birds in the backyard. Since Sandy retrieved, my residential birds have returned, I'm so thankful of that.

In order to make up for the lack of birds at the feeders, south bound migratory birds arrived here. By the end on Oct. I saw an occasional American Coots. By the 1st of the month, I finally see 'OUR' usual flock of A. Coots which is a welcoming sight. These will be my regular visitors all through the dreary days of winter to come....

1, one of my first time I welcoming the A. Coots to our area lake
2, zommed out a little of the same group of the 'water chickens'. ^^_^^
3, & 4. Are my Eastern Blue birds; I do put out meallies for them, however, my yardbirds such as Wrens and White-breasted Nuthatches are likely to be the first to find the treats.
5, my final pic. is that of one of the Nuthatches checking out the nestbox, these guys/gals do roost within the shelter when temp. drops too low down here-- I think.

I got behind but have enjoyed catching up and seeing all these wonderful photos.

I'm afraid my one hawk has passed the word that there's lots of birds at our house-we're now seeing three hawks stick around the garden. You'd think they'd move on but no such luck.
Here's a northern flicker, a couple sharp-shinned hawks, a gathering spot below our hummer feeder (I'm feeding at least 30 right now) and a ruby-crowned kinglet.

What's a joy to be able to see those many hummingbirds all at once, Duc. Love pix of the Northern Flicker. And the R.c. kinglet is such a darling! Here I've some Great Blue Heron, a pair of Great Egrets, a flock of Double Crested cormorrants, some were just sun bathing, others are taking some serious bath. It was a beautiful blue sky day.

Beautiful pictures Lily. That first one of the heron sure has the pretty fall colors in the the trees and it looks like the cormorants were having a party.

Here's a golden-crowned sparrow and a california towhee.

I have found a way to keep the squirrels away from the suet cake on the tree, I sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes on the cake and my hubby has a hot sauce called screaming sphincter, and the squirrels don't like it one bit. They see it and go to investigate and shake their heads and twitch their tails and go the other direction! So I say it works quite well, I don't mind if they get the seeds that the birds drop on the ground, but that is all I am willing to do for them. I take a cotton ball and put some of the hot sauce on it and kind of paint the suet cake holder with the hot sauce, it does the job and the birds don't mind it one bit. The pileated came for a bite the other day, he won't come today the squirrels are around, and I don't think they get along too well together. But I will continue to put suet cakes out on the tree and in the upside down feeder and my hubby just bought a 20 pd bag of black oil sunflower seed and the birds have gone crazy over it.

Went to see a late lost Bee-eater today

Resin