Daily BIRD PICS VOL. 455

Love the Tufted Titmouse and meadow lark ......Hello Margaret

Bluebirds! I'm so happy to see them. Took so many pictures, but here are a few of my favorites. They came because of the 4 inches of snow and ice.

OH Beautiful Blue Bird Shots...I soo love them...I missed taking photos of several at my heated birdbath last week ... I thought oh they will be here now...haven't seen them since...and it seems the birds have flown the coupe around here the last few days ??? I have the basics and they are eating like pigs....But my eastern Towhee and no more Blue Birds...haven't seen them : {

beclu727, such lovely Bluebirds. :)

Thank you for the nice comments, huggergirl and MargaretK. I did submit the two photos to the Iowa Ornithology Union for their quarterly magazine.

Our little rolly-polly WEMEs (Western Meadowlarks. I like their alpha code. ) are still here. But when trying to submit them for the GBBC yesterday, the count was considered too high for my area and date. I don't like messing with that, so I just deleted the list. My area is underbirded, so things like this need to have a reviewer look at it before approval. :( I used to take time to include the photos and comments, but it is a pain.

Here is one of our odd Juncos. Maybe some of you know I like to figure out their subspecies, but this one is a mystery. The little one has been here all winter.

The birds may be there in spite of date. I was told last year that purple finches were not listed in our area. No one told the finches. they were not house finches, slimmer, no marks on the breast etc. The bird count is supposed to give them information. With the way the weather varies who knows when the birds arrive.

Junco subspecies. Oy, now THERE is a project. I just say Oregon or Dark-eyed. I'm lazy that way.

But here is something fun.
http://juncoproject.org/

Beautiful bluebird pictures! I've seen a few in our yard, but never that blue!

Thanks so much for the comments. Glad you all like the bluebirds. This is the first time I have seen them so close, thanks to my suet feeder. I had 7 at one time but couldn't get a picture. They are still coming back. Did get one with 4, may be 2 pairs.

Love the BB.... I just made more suet cake...The Eastern Towhee is back...and we are waiting for More Snow today

Just popping in and enjoying all the photos. I am less steady with the camera these days so we will see what happens as far as sharing photos.

huggergirl, I live in Putnam county and I have always spotted a towhee or 2 here in February.

I have seen a juvie Bald Eagle again. I have seen a group of wild turkeys in the same field twice now on my way to the school. And there are so many Horned Larks it is ridiculous in the corn fields out by our schools here!

Nice shot everyone. This year has sure been one, where unusual birds has been reported as out of their range. Some have seen a Painted bunting up here, and a European Goldfinch. An Harris Sparrow and Bonaparte Gull has also been seen and a White-crowned which I have here, are not winter birds for our area.

White-Crowned, Dark-eyed Junco, Snow buntings, and the Snowy Owls coming back to the same spot to rest.

oh nice Snowy Owl...how beautiful...

Nanny we will be going to watch Bald Eagles along the river down around Marion Indiana here in a week or so , they come here to winter and we now have a few pair of year round now...We have even seen them up here in Whitley county.

I haven't been birding much lately, but I was able to pick up a lifer, a crested caracara. I have a trip next month to South Africa, so I should have many new lifers.

Weather and other obligations have been keeping me indoors. Pueblo Reservoir did freeze over for the first time in almost 20 years. And I did have my annual windstorm for the GBBC.
1 Great Blue Heron - my daughter said "anything with legs like that shouldn't perch in a tree"
2 Another Great Blue Heron
3-5 Downy Woodpecker, best of 2 weeks of pictures, it was just too quick for me

Love everyone's pictures! I love the southern birds :)
This is one of my first posts, I haven't been on Dave's for a really long time but I had a feeling I should check it out today and to my amazement there's a birding forum!? So awesome.
I thought I would at least chime in and list the birds we have seen this winter, no pictures right now but I think I have a few on a phone somewhere. We live in Lethbridge AB, lots of birds come here through migration but we travel around allot to places like Beaver creek which is west to us and Elkwater, which is east. Here we saw the greatest number of birds.

Heres what we saw this fall/winter season:

Blue Heron- early fall, around the canals on farmland
Goldon Eagle-saw a pair a few months ago at Beaver Creek
Red tailed Hawks- always here, this winter they stayed until last month
Falcon Hawks- these little guys usually leave late fall
brewers black birds- in the fall they swarm like black clouds around one tiny swamp area here
Canadian Geese- of course, they make their homes in the thawed parts of the Old Man River, they fly south when the river totally freezes (only about 1or 2 months of the year)
Bald Eagle- we saw two of them in Elkwater in November, only my second sighting but they are magestic!
Snowy Owl- Late winter they sometimes come down here for food, we saw one around town and one in Elkwater
Great Grey Owl- they hang around the farms here most of the year, there is a resident owl near the same swampy lake were the black birds go.
Great Horned Owl- same as greys
Ring Neck Pheasant- they come out around the farms during a thaw, we saw a pair last month
Grouse- not sure what kind but we saw it yesterday
Blue Jay- they show up when it warms up and leave when it cools down, usually late winter. Saw them a few weeks ago but it froze again.

Thanks to the chinooks we get it melts here frequently during the late winter season, we live in a little micro climate protected from most of the hard prairie storms. Cant wait to see the little red Grossbeaks, they are a favorite visitor to the apple trees. Hopefully I can get some pictures out for you guys, most of them will be of hawks, they love to come around for us and are the only few that stay for a photo op.

Red Kite - always nice to see!

Resin

PS forloveford - welcome to the forum! Sounds like you might want to add your list on the 2014 yearlist thread ;-)

Has anyone got any tips for finding Owls? Or is it just luck? Do I wander around in suitable habitat playing their call, and hope to annoy one into answering, or what?

I was so pleased to see a red kite about 8 years ago. Luckily it was perched on a high tree stump so the markings could be seen. It was near Strata Florida in Wales.

pollengarden,
Another idea:
Do you belong to or read your state's bird listserv? I would suggest watching that for owl sightings and go to known locations. Even then it is hard. We followed someone's very specific directions and probably walked right by the owl numerous times. As we were leaving, we knew the owl was watching us look for it. :) Those Long-eareds have great camouflage.
http://birding.aba.org/maillist/CO01

Be very careful about calling any Great Horned Owls though. In one book I read, a man made the calls of a distressed mouse, which brought the bird, but he barely was able to get away without injury. :) Pete Dunne in his book, "The Art of Pishing" discourages ever calling these Owls.

Great Horned Owl is the one I usually see, and the only I have already seen this year. They aren't too difficult in winter when branches are bare, I watch for them at dusk.
During the summer, my sister's terrier got away and stopped to point up an apple tree. I went to see what it was looking at. I got a quick glimpse of an owl looking down. The owl saw all it needed to see, closed its eyes, tucked in its head, and turned into tree bark.
I tried clicking noises, but I never could get it to move or look at me again, so I never IDed it.

Lurking and loving!

Pollen, I have no real experience with Owling. However, when I went with experienced guys for the CBC, we went out really early, went to good habitats and played calls. Didn't work that day though. hhahahah. Then on the spring bird count, POOF, there was a huge Great Horned that flew right in by us! I hear the Barred Owls in the neighborhood sometimes, but can't find them.

a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering why I did not have brown creepers all winter like usual. Maybe too cold here. As soon as I had asked someone local if they'd had any, POOF, like the owl, I've had one every day.

Resin say that I could count the Barred owl if I heard it (& not a recording). not at 1 am.

I hear them often ,but have not seen one in years .

We had 1 that would hang out on a big old dead maple branch...long ago

I have a new Hawk in the woods not sure ... thinking a Coopers Hawk

a few eagles ...no sun and an impatient DH ...We saw at least 15 that was great

irisMA, I count birds by sound alone. I've only heard the Great Horned Owl this year (but should see some later if we find any nests) and last year, I heard the American Woodcocks.

Nice pics all! This thread's over 100 posts now, a volunteer to start #456, please!

Resin

1. Under the birdfeeder . . . more activity than above.
2. Woodpecker at the cat-tail feeder.

Brown pelicans were abundant at Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Wonderful photos, one and all, but like Resin says, it's time for a new thread. :)

Go to this thread to post your photos and bird stories.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1352179/