Daily Bird Pics. Vol. 460

Pollen ~ I'm inclined to agree with you about the post looking like it would leak. It wouldn't take much to drain any water and the Mom would probably also keep most of the water out, anyway.

That "beak up" is something I've also seen, though I can't remember the reason she was doing it.

Hello everyone. I'm so glad that spring has arrived for you all. Autumn is here and is most welcome after another long, dry, hot summer. I've been lurking but have had nothing to post for such a long time. Here are a few of our birds from recent times.

Little Corella.
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (adult)
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (juvenile)
A small section of a large group of Little Black Cormorants.

An extreme close-up of a juvenile Australian Raven. It was about to try and swallow my iPhone. This huge bird has adopted us and our resident raven, but I expect it will disappear once the new breeding season arrives. We've named it Bomber as it flies at us when we walk outside, brushing us with its wings. It jumps all over us or lands on our respective heads, shoulders and if we make the mistake of sitting down outside, it tugs at shoelaces, the pockets of my jeans or anything that we happen to be holding. It was looking really ratty when I took this photo. It's now a glorious, glossy magenta black.

Margaret, it's so nice to see you post, and share those unique birds from where you're. Bomber sounds playful. But oooh his/her beak! Ayeah!!! Enjoy Autumn in Australia. :)
N.A.N., PG, CB, thanks for sharing your experience with Robins nesting. I have not seen them in person. But, it never ceases to amaze me how those birds' protective instinct toward their young. Ahhh, my Red-headed wp returned yesterday. I'm delighted.

Margaret ~ Beautiful and unique (at least from where I live) bird pics, as always! I love your story about "Bomber".

It's such an exciting time of year - in the last few days we've had ORIOLES, HUMMERS, & INDIGO BUNTINGS show up!! Amazingly, the Orioles & Hummers arrived the same exact days as last year. The Indigo Buntings were a couple of days earlier this year.

Also this year the I.B.'s have discovered one of the suet feeders. In the past they'd forage on the ground or visit our nyger feeders. I know they eat insects, but I've never seen one at the suet feeders.

Here's a very exposed male Mourning Dove on his nest. We can see right into it from an upstairs window and at eye level I can see some of the bird, but don't get close. They are very patient, probably quaking though, when I stand outside the back door watching for birds.

One very suspicious mama cardinal!!

Beautiful pictures Chillybean and CBH. Just last week I saw a Northern Cardinal Fledgling. Papa Cardinal was hovering overhead calling when I spotted his baby. Such sweet parental instinct. I love spring time!

Yooohooo, I came home from a week being away from home to find baby chicks chattering from the Tree Swallow gourd bird house! Only I couldn't get a good pix for the light wouldn't cooperate with my camera. :((

The parents are seen back and forth feeding these little babies. :))

Spring is a lovely time to see birds in the garden. I'm happy all woodpeckers are back. Northern Cardinals chasing one another, which is a good sign. I love spring.

Hah, this is just sharing some fun pix. It must be my year with Pelicans. So I thought I'd get one for my own, and placed it on my floating pier this summer. lol.

Too funny. Those fake birds have been the bane of us. We're driving along at whatever speed when we see something, so turn around to get a better look.... Grrrr.

I thought I posted this here, but I couldn't find it.

We have two Kestrels now and one of the children thought he heard begging type sounds from the box. What do begging Kestrels sound like? :)

Here's when the male caught a meal for his mate. I was very surprised what it was, but she took it and flew off with him tailing along.

How funny -- but truth. Those babies do make begging sounds. I know my Tree Swallow babies do. Early this morning, though I could not hear them, I assumed they were chattering while both Mamma and Papa birds taking turn flying in and out feeding them. On the "double take" while driving -- I may need to reposition my Pelican where it won't distract boaters. Thank Chillybean for the head up. ;)

Great news about the Tree Swallows, Kim. I LOVE the pelican.

The kestrels are beautiful, Chilly. I hope you can follow the journey of the youngsters.

Thanks all for viewing, thanks Margaret, I'm glad you like MY Pelican.

Yes, Chilly, hope to hear/see more activities with the kestrels. I'm sure we've them around here, except I haven't seen them close - up, in person around here. Just like Quails. I saw one for the first time the other day, and that was such a treat.

Hubby and I took the ski boat out for the first time for the season for a test drive. I took the opportunity to go down the local Dam and found out the community nests that the Swallows made for the year. I wasn't disappointed; there were many a mud nests under the bridge, and the parent-swallows were busy going back and forth caring for their young.

pix #1 & # 3; I bet I'm the ONLY one that saw this occurrence. Well, make that two persons, I and hubby (LOL), a wild hen was 'free lancing' the bridge. Hahaha, she was. Hubby and I had a big chuckle. Hope the free ranging chicken finds her way back home.

Happy birding everyone.

Smart birds. I love the third shot, Kim.

Thanks Marg. :)) Here is my eye opener today. It was a pleasure seeing these Swallows tending to their family early in the morning, while I sipped on a cup of Java and tried to crank up for the Gym routine this AM.

1,2,&3: Tree Swallows couple preening themselves, then returned to the 'house' and tended to their young. 4 & 5: House Finches at the feeder.

Great pics everyone! Looks like lots of family activity going on!

I haven't seen any babies or nests, but lots of courting and birds carrying food off to somewhere. Our nesting fluff is disappearing so fast it's hard to keep up with it.

Have a few pics to share...nothing unusual, though it was surprising to see Pine Siskins at this time of year. They were probably just passing through.

White-crowned Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Chipping Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pine Siskin

Lily_love,
That is one strange place for a chicken! Maybe it was trying to escape the bird flu, or the authorities killing every chicken in that 20 mile (Or whatever the number was) radius of known cases.

Neat about the Pine Siskin, nuts. We had none this year.

Our regular woodpecker visitors are still coming and the Downy and Hairy are really filling their mouths with the suet. Maybe feeding young? Oh and a Red-headed started coming by, but he's not comfortable with us yet, so flees when it notices us at the window.

A picture of the couple from Monday. Dad had left the box and Mom went in.

Wow, N.A.N. those series of your birds are awesome! I've yet seen my Rose-breasted Grosbeak for the year. I did have a female Baltimore Oriole, (during the winter months), that hung around our backyard feeder and ate seeds (not paid any attention to the nectar feeder I set out especially for it) go fiqure!

Chilly, Avian flu? Humm, what case? Did I missed it in the news? Yike! Love the Kestrels nest box. that's quite impressive!

edited for typo


This message was edited May 21, 2015 3:27 PM

First 4 pix. are those of my fav. ducks visiting the backyard. My Swallows still busy bringing foods back to their nest today. At one time during the day, I saw one parent stood guard the nest, while the other flying back and forth bring food for the babies.

How fun, having Mallards visit your yard, Lily_love! :D

It is the nasty Asian strains that are going around. They think it was carried by migratory water fowl. I don't keep up with the news that much, but know we are in a state of emergency. There's those commercial sized chicken houses all over the county and so they're unsettled around here. Signs are posted up in their driveways, "Biosecurity hazard" or some such. My husband said it is a 6 mile radius that they kill all domestic birds.

Here's a link showing wild bird cases.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/downloads/WILD%20BIRD%20POSITIVE%20HIGHLY%20PATHOGENIC%20AVIAN%20INFLUENZA%20CASES%20IN%20THE%20UNITED%20STATES.pdf

And here is the domestic (includes backyard and commercial)
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/sa_animal_disease_information/sa_avian_health/ct_avian_influenza_disease/!ut/p/a1/lZJPc4IwEMU_i4ceMZGA4BH8r6CdOq3KhVkgQKYYHAg69tM3qHXsQWpz293fZt7LC_LQBnkcDiwBwXIOWV17XX-2nKgdG6vT8ao3xNPFx8g1HYMsJ5oEthLoj62JZjgYY81U8XRgTwZGz8V42v1rf4085IVc7EWKtrBPWemHOReUCz9jQQHF6QWX4OdV4cd5WJXnCjjbQeanFDKR3nciVlIoqc94nBe7s4nL-MCA3_hQXBsSyyrKv-BnsRazD1mEtoHai3FXpQoxO6BoYUAU0EFXVD2KoygMDUKMq3n84Fj4KfO_kPHQlsjIeTXmMxXP9SvQ9L5noEHDVoo0HqroaWj1T9ezJ_6EWrh9N5HXgkiVOg20aUzpMr5LCW0aUlrbyJtrZOEktZgkywP5Vdf9W1MKsHhATCmgoDEtaNFO81KgzfF4bFdlBO0kP6D97n1nkpPy-WZiomeJqXijxGq1vgHUeFNC/?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2Faphis_content_library%2Fsa_our_focus%2Fsa_animal_health%2Fsa_animal_disease_information%2Fsa_avian_health%2Fsa_detections_by_states%2Fct_ai_pacific_flyway

Thanks Kim! Love your Mallards.

We have several Mallard pairs that visit us daily every year. It started with one pair years ago and eventually others started coming plus the occasional unmated drake or hen.

This year it's been mostly one of the pairs that we see, but they come every day, usually several times and sometimes they'll take a nap under one of our trees. We always make sure there's some whole corn for them to munch on.

Wow, Chilly, there are a lot of bird flu cases in Iowa! Hope it clears up soon.

Thanks NAN, next time I go to the big box store for bird seeds, I'll be sure to get some treat for the ducks. Speaking of ducks, that will be-friend with gardeners. In the spring of 2012, I think, I had a couple Mallards that nested successfully in one of my flower containers placed on my pier. Unfortunately, something happened to the mother hen. She disappeared at the end of the incubation process. The papa however, kept coming back to my pier, looking for her, his mate....make a long story short. 'Til today; I think the same drake still flying to the area when I am out their tending to my flower. Perhaps, the drake imprinted in his mind that not all human will pose harm to their safety? All I know, every time I see a lone drake I remember the sweet experience of "hosting" one of their nest that spring.

Chilly, thank you for sharing your research on the topic of Avian flu. I hope, like NAN, that the condition improve soon. That just reinforced my awareness of possible transmission of disease via birds/animals in general. I have been careful to wash hands carefully, and often. Many thanks.

Yesterday evening, a Red-headed woodpecker visited. That topped off my evening for a good night rest.
Happy birding everyone.

Wooohooo!!! I finally got a couple pictures of the Tree-Swallow babies. Pardon the blurry for pic. was taken behind a window. These babies appear to be ready to fledge any day now. Aww! I also spotted the Red-headed WP returns today. So I set out more seeds/nuts for it.

This message was edited May 23, 2015 9:36 AM

Very nice Swallow babies and the Red-headed! Those woodpeckers are very special here as we do not see them often.

I heard of a Bluebird trail monitor who caught salmonella, so I try to remember to wash my hands after touching the feeders, but do not always get it done. After all this with the avian flu I've been more diligent.

The whole family witnessed something this morning just before we left. One of the children brought in a Great Horned Owl feather to show me. He found it in the middle of the driveway. I took a picture, wishing I could keep it, but just let go of it near the Tree Swallow box.

Before it hit the ground, the female Swallow swooped out of nowhere and grabbed it. She must not have had a great hold, as it fell to the ground while she went into the box. She flew back out and after a wide loop, grabbed it once more. only to lose hold again. By this point, the Barn Swallows saw the feather and were trying to get it from the Tree Swallow. She was determined to get into the box with it and had to adjust several times. And she made it! We gave a loud cheer!

Chilly, goodness. To catch Salmonella from volunteer work! One needs to have a good knowledge of what they're handling in nature. I hope the worker recovers. I wash hand and will make a point to teach my young grandson to do the same when he's around and wanting to help Grandma feeding the birds. It help establish a habit for these youngsters when they're little.

How cool that the whole family get to enjoy the Tree Swallow and Barn Swallows compete for the feather. I've witnessed a similar antic from the Tree Swallow, in my observation; the Swallow appeared to have plugged its own feather, tossed it onto the air as it exited the gourd house, and then it swooped down to catch it (feather), and tugged it right back into the nest. That was awesome to watch. The thing a parent bird does for his/her brood. Nature is so wonderful to watch up close.

1. A twosome Mallard drakes
2. Swallow babies and visible white feather lining the nest.
4. Another shot of the babies, while I was outside
3. The drakes at close up
5. A fledgling was spotted on the ground while hubby was mowing the lawn. Boy, am I glad that I saw the baby bird before the mower got to her. A lucky day for all!!!

First two pictures were taken through the kitchen window.
1 Scaled Quail - numbers seem to be on the rise this year
2 House Finch, Mourning Dove, White-crowned Sparrow. Mourning Dove numbers also seem to be on the rise - I have seen more of them than the Eurasian Collared Doves lately.
3 & 4 Mountain Bluebird through windshield of car. They look a little different than the Eastern or Western, which both have rusty patches.

Quite a drama played out in front of you, Chilly.

Those baby swallows look so safe and secure in their gourd house, Kim.

pollengarden, the Quails are handsome birds. I saw some western/mountain BB while I visited NM and Calif. they are just as pretty. There are some variances between the Blue Jays here compared to that of S. Jays out West. I noticed the difference b/w the Black Phoebes y'all have compared to our SE Phoebes down here. Most of the time, I'll hear my Phoebes rather than see them. :))

I'm so excited for my little Tree Swallows babies, they may fledge soon.

This message was edited May 24, 2015 2:08 PM

Kim, your baby Tree Swallows are ADORABLE! How special that you're able to watch their progress.

Glad your Red-headed WP keeps coming back. We haven't seen one this year, but even when they do stop by they don't stay long.

Thank Goodness you spotted that little fledgling!! That really was a lucky day!

Chilly, I love your feather story! Those are the special moments you guys will keep in your memories for a long, long time.

Pollen, nice mixture of birds! What a lucky shot of the Mountain Bluebird.

With all the recent comments in this thread about bird flu, it was a quite a coincidence when I just got on the internet that there was a headline about Avian Flu. Apparently scientists are baffled about exactly how it's spreading. They did say that as the weather warms up it will dry out.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/blowing-wind-scientists-looking-everywhere-bird-flu-n363441

Thanks NAN for sharing that informative reading. I'm glad to learn that the virus doesn't stand a chance with the heat. That also explain why we do vaccination during "Flu Seasons". I'm a firm believer of preventive measures, and personal HW. Also, awareness is key.

Could this be the day the babies will fledge? My little grand child was fascinated by these little birds over the Holiday weekend visit.

Well folks! My little darling Swallows brood has fledged, and I felt -- well sad missing seeing them. That was a few days ago. Today, the parents appeared once again, and were busy going in and out of the same gourd house. So perhaps, a new brood is in the making? I'm hoping it's.

My Mallards, especially this lone drake still comes around when I'm out in the garden in the evening. I saw a couple the other day, but apparently they haven't chosen a flower pot to make it their nest yet.

Great news about the babies, Kim. Here's hoping Mr Mallard finds a gal. You have the most gorgeous views.

Thank you, Margaret. Here is a 'brave' parent bird. It perches about 10 feet from where I stood with the camera and preens itself for almost 3 mins. I video it, and will find a way to upload onto youtube once I figure out how to. Have a good evening Margaret. Our day just started here.

Next photo is likely the same parent bird came back to rebuild the nest a few minutes later.

Congrats on the Swallow babies, Kim!! Well, you may be an empty-nester for a while, but it probably won't last long.

Hope your Mallard bachelor finds a lady he likes.

Your brave Swallow probably knew there was absolutely no way you were gonna get up there before he/she flew off. :o)

Chilly, last time I uploaded a vedio clip. I learned that any clip that's 3 mins or less are readily accepted then. I need to relocate my password in the system.