Daily Pics Vol 190

this dove stayed around long enough for me to grab the camera

this is a new visitor to my yard, haven't had them before

not a clear picture, but some other newcomers that we've not seen before this year

Did you know that the White Crowned Sparrow is one of the most studied of and Cornell U had this interesting observation--

A young male White-crowned Sparrow learns the basics of the song it will sing as an adult during the first two or three months of its life. It does not learn directly from its father, but rather from the generalized song environment of its natal neighborhood.
Because male White-crowned Sparrows learn the songs they grew up with and do not travel far from where they were raised, song dialects frequently form. Males on the edge of two dialects may be bilingual and able to sing both dialects.

Which finally has solved a small mystery as why they rarely accept or want the usual feedings that most 'ordinary' birds do and in song unlike the
usual melody "I I I I gotta go wee wee wee now" ; these sing in a I am slightly more intellectual west coast slurr and say (quite clearly):
"latte grande extra shot extra shot no whipped no whipped cream"
presenting our version (up here in Seattle way) of this sparrow,
Zonotrichia leucophrys Starbuckformepleaseus

pretty dove gardn whisperer (cant spell)
In the second picture, is the bird sparrow sized?

This message was edited Mar 9, 2009 10:11 PM

This message was edited Mar 9, 2009 10:12 PM

Looks like a female red-winged blackbird to me in the second pix (after the dove). Can't tell the second, as it's kinda blurry.

Beautiful pictures folks.

From yesterday, a Grackle showing off his pretty colors.

A male Downy Woodpecker enjoying some suet.

Mr. Jay, king of the hill!

American Tree Sparrow?

looks like!
I heard my first redwing yesterday. I now officially declare spring is here!

Good early morning, all. Dirt, that is so funny. And, I thought that our little Sparrows were smart: but, all they can sing is the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth. LOL BTW, Mr. Robin is stirring (and clucking) in the bush by our front door, so I believe that spring has come to Northern Virginia, too. Have a blessed day, Fellow Birders.

Oh, I almost forgot to ask you, Burn: how far is is Grand Falls from Oromocto (Canadian Forces Base Gagetown)? We were fortunate enough to live in New Brunswick while my DH took the Army career course in Canada. It was one of our favorite tours.

Oh dirt your a riot!!

Great pics guys!

yes dirt--sparrow sized or a tad larger

thanks resin

thanks pelle

thanks mrs

Its 22 deg. out this AM--glad I brought in the hummer's feeders.
luvsgrtdanes-- these little guys, Anna's, survive the winters and are year round. If the winters get colder year after year I'm sure they would adjust and head south. Its been colder recently.
Burn- I like how you caught the stripe-ing of the chickadee
GrannyG-I just love the sound of jays first thing in the morning!
gardn whisperer- red wings makes wonderful music-once you hear it you want them to stay-
neighbors built a large pond and had them for several years til a developer bought and covered it up.
wbbird- Beethoven, that's awesome! I hear in Jersey they do springsteen.

It was bleak and dreary yesterday and stalking the hummer, actually walking up and trying to mimic its sound while it looks at this foolish guy and ignores me, I didn't realize I set the cam for B&W and was really saying poor thing till I realized it.
Have a great day all-

How wonderful to have Hummingbirds in winter!

that is neat!

Dirt, your birds are certainly more "hip" than ours. LOL

American Robin. The temp is in the 80s today.

I built a simple bluebird house out of seasoned "southern red cedar" that I sawmilled a few years ago when I had a sawmill. It got mounted last week using some pipe from an above ground swimming pool that someone was throwing away. Over the weekend the bluebirds started building the nest. I got some pics this morning.

The male seems to be just inspecting.

The female is using pinestraw and stealing coconut fiber from the neighbor's hanging basket.

Here's that camera shy Red-tailed Hawk again............One click and it's...............

Adios.

Frank, I'll bet this time your Bluebird house won't be "gone with the wind." LOL I am enjoying this forum so much that I have gotten no chores done today. I have to be like Adelbertcat's beautiful Hawk and say "adieu."

I walked up about a block and found some tall grass and brought some home in case the bluebirds got tired of pine straw. But here she is with pine straw.

wing waving in the wisteria. I hope to catch them there again next week when the wisteria should be in full bloom.

Finding other building materials to offer them is going that extra mile, Frank. Birders are a breed apart, for sure. The Wisteria is beautiful. I hope ours does as well this year.

Congratulations on the Bluebirds Frank!

Love the Red-tailed adel!

An Osprey seen in NJ today!

uh oh no photo

Love the Bluebirds Frank!!

Nice capture on the Red Tail Adel!

wb I used a lot of screws and little bolts on this one. The wood is a full inch thick. Does anyone have a plan for homemade mealworm feeders?

very nice adel

Frank, love the bluebirds!

Adelbert, the hawk shots are wonderful!

Inca dove running away from me like always.

I've been trying to keep the grackles away hoping they will decide not to come here anymore. This one was left behind to call the others back when I left, but I'm on to their games. I harrassed him until he puffed up like this trying to scare me away. Ha!

Collage of crow's flight. For the right side picture, I was using the 'panning' setting. It was taking off with a stick in its beak.

These kites are also making nests in the neighbouring tree. This was perching on an electric pole, then suddenly it swooped down and when I saw it rise up again, it has a stick in its beak too.