Backyard birds

Nice site, Ka---I've added it to my faves; thanks for posting!

SW & Sally, Yes, they have that coloration around here. Possibly a juvenile or female. The give away is those red eyes! I think they hang around any place there is water...parks,golf courses, and wetlands. There is also a "little green heron" that I've only seen at Bolsa Chica wetlands.
On the yellow bird...it could be some kind of warbler. They're hard to id without perfect pictures and size. Also early in the spring, they may not have as much color as they do in summer. It took me all spring last year to id the "yellow-rumped warbler" that was drinking from my hummingbird feeder, because he didn't have his breeding colors yet. The little beast taught the sparrows to use that feeder and now I've got a mess!
Carol

SW, how big do you think that yellow bird is? Carol guessing a warbler makes me think I'm seeing it as way bigger than it is.

It was probably at least a foot long and maybe bigger those trees are about 40 feet tall. It's really hard to guesstimate. I did not notice a fluttering flight. Was a pretty bright yellow underneath. I really need a better camera or longer legs!
Thanks anyway, just thought it was an unusual bird, and knew I wouldn't be able to get really good pics with my point and shoot.
It might be a warbler, it was singing.
Thanks for the hyperlink OCCarol.
WIB!
SW

I was standing in the front garden area of our home today and two large egrets flew over. The manager of the landscape company for the HOA landscape was at my home going over this weeks work and delivering some free plants he got from a distributor. He noticed them first. They were circling my home and the neighbors. I have a very large KOI pond. So we immediately headed toward the back. They were still circling but flew off when we appeared in the back landscape. I will be out there tomorrow to see if I can get them on film. What are they doing here in the middle of the desert. We live on a golf course and are surrounded by three other golf courses so they probably live somewhere close by. I had a large tree overhanging the KOI pond and hiding it from curious eyes from above until late last year when the high winds took it down. Right now the KOI are visible. . Time to shut off the Las Vegas Buffet.

Sis...I think you're right about that being a kingbird. My book has a Western kingbird with square-tipped tail black with thin white edges. That site is great, and I like being able to play the sounds.

sk....you had egrets and I had turkey vultures. LOL Too high to take a good picture. Glad they didn't get to have lunch.

Here's who came to see me today. (After the vultures left)

It looks like they're having a big party out there, Sally.

Pretty "mystery bird", SW, and thanks for the link, Kathleen...great site!

Sk, those darn egrets have visited my pond several times this spring, and ate half of my fish. They are so, so pretty, but I sure wish they'd leave my little buddies alone.

Here's what's going on here this morning. The waterfall "steps" tend to be a very popular spot.

Time for a little drink...

This is kind of a silly shot

thirsty, thirsty, thirsty

Another frequent visitor:

Sunnyg, checking out that froggie in the lower left corner. No wonder the little birdie has such a cautious look on his face.

Great resource for your garden visitors.

Thx for the pics,
Linda

It looks like a very refreshing place to visit when it's hot out!!

Great shots ! What's not to love about birds?

Looks like they're visiting a spa! A-1 vacation spot!

Great photos, sunnyg. I love the water features with the birds. My old bird bath was destroyed when they had to dig out the leach line. I'm trying to figure out a good place to put my new one where it will be away from stalking cats and clumsy puppies. Not to mention the winds.
WIB,
SW

Thanks! Some birds will share the steps with others, and a few get really possessive and chase off other potential drinkers/bathers. Linda, that frog actually gets perched on quite a bit...it's pretty funny. Everybody from doves to finches seems to like to stand on his head. Here's a not so great photo for an example:

This, I believe, is the reason I'm having egret trouble. This is around 10 min. from my house, and all those white things are egrets...yikes!

Wow, sunny! I've had good luck with a plastic blue heron in my pond, but it doesn't work for everyone. Maybe my egrets are particularly stupid....but we're close enough to each other that they may be from the same gene pool as yours, so it might be worth a try!!!

Hey gardeners, I am in the middle of the desert. ???? Come get your egrets and drive them back to your water. We counted the Koi Monday and then again yesterday. We are down 4. We were over stocked but now it is getting close. All the two to three year old Koi are disappearing. I am getting some kind of cover made for temporary protection. I just said do it and they said "Yes Sir". We have been here 8 years and never had a problem but they have found the pond so the war is on. Sonny G, your photos were great. I do not have that flat of a space but I am sure I can make them. The hummingbirds take baths in the waterfall every morning. I have several nests but have not seen them in the waterfall yet.

SK, we've lost most of our Egrets this winter to other lakes because of the shortage of rain which caused the lake level to go down which in turn caused a shortage of bait fish. Send them back any time, the level is back up now and it's nesting time here.

Here's a Great Blue Heron I photographed yesterday.

Another of him.

They're so beautiful when they're not using my ponds as a sushi bar!

Thanks, I will rent a U-Haul....

You guys make me LOL! I haven't seen a single gold fish since my visit last week from the Black Crowned Night Heron. I'm not crying because I won't buy koi, just colorful feeder goldfish. I also have turtles in that pond. It was hilarious watching the turtle watching the BC Night Heron.
If I lost some or even all of my fish, it won't be the first time. Although I never saw him catch one, and I have hundreds of photos showing I was out there watching. Of course if they mostly feed at night I wouldn't have seen them get munched. We built hidey holes under the water for the gold fish. My favorite is about a foot long and is silver white in color. I think that she is still there, but now the water lilies are covering almost the whole surface of the pond. This despite giving darling KC so many during the mini RU. Oh well. I can always buy more feeder fish and help out my friends at Wet Pets. LOL!
ducbucin, those are some beautiful photos of the blue heron. That bird is sacred to the Cherokee People. Been a while since I've seen one. Just beautiful . . . .
Thank you so much for sharing them with us!
By the way I had a lot of fun playing in the mud at the spa! Most relaxing day I'd had in a long time.
WIB,
SW

LOL Ima, I agree with your sushi bar comment wholeheartedly. My poor little "pond" is only about the size of an egret, so I'm not sure a plastic heron would even fit. ;-) SW, what a sneaky Black Crowned Night Heron. I've got the hiding spots in my pond as well, and the traumatized fish won't come out at all these days. Last summer they would leap into my hand to eat and nibble on my arms when I would feed the waterlilies or perform other pond maintenance. I can't say I blame them for hiding though...I think I've gone from 6 to 3 fish. Duc, lovely shots of the Great Blue Heron. Sk, I occasionally see the hummers taking baths on the waterfall steps as well. So cute!

I am sooo excited, I have orioles! I moved the flat hummer feeder into the backyard this weekend, and have been bummed that no hummers have been feeding from it. However, I happened to glance out the window a few minutes ago, and saw two different yellow birds on the hummer feeder! Of course I didn't have my camera, so I watched them feed and squabble over the feeder a bit. Next, they started bathing on the waterfall steps. They were hanging out for quite a bit, getting a really good bath, so I made a mad dash upstairs for the camera. I'm guessing I have a male and female stopping by, as they look quite different. There is this weird tinting material on the window which makes photos a bit challenging, but I got a few shots (not the best quality).

another:

Here he is joined by the female...I think (need to do some research)

She was really into her bath!

Here are two other little visitors...I like their pose ;-). Does anyone know what kind of bird they are?

Oh, YEAH! You definitely have a pair of orioles there----Bullock's I think? There are 2 varieties that I know of in CA, and I'm not positive which is which. The other young bathers, I believe, are a pair of purple finches. You seem to have a couples magnet there, sunny---I've never seen my orioles either bathing in any of my 4 watering-holes, or together in the same place at the same time!

Oh, I am SO jealous, youse guys! So jealous!!!

These are awesome!

Lindia

And this is why we dash madly to grab the camera, sunnyg. I am so happy for you and thank you for sharing your experience with us. Glad you didn't get hurt dashing up or down stairs. Great photos, your excitement is contagious.
I'm not jealous, but I am a wee bit envious. I'll get over it as long as you guys continue to share! ^_^
Got to go, but keep the camera handy!LOL!
WIB,
SW

I'm not a wee bit envious.....I'm flat out envious. We don't get orioles. Thank you for sharing yours. And beautiful pictures too!

OK, cute, youse guys!

I mean, we have magpies, jays, doves, finches, hummies and the occasional red-tailed hawk. We have egrets, geese and ducks stopping by enroute north or south annually, with a small percentage staying around and hanging out in our ponding basins nearly year-round. Oh, and there's someone hereabouts who has a resident peacock I hear occasionally and another who has some kind of hybrid (?) chickens-without-clucks, both of which are "illegal," BTW, in the city.

But orioles? Nah! I can't even imagine seeing those here.

So I will console myself with tales (yes, pun intended) about such glorious varieties in your environs and accompanied by the stunning photographs you are sharing with us. Bless you for sending us both. Keep 'em coming!

Linda


Photo of another bird, quite common hereabouts [chuckling]. Look at those pregnant legs! Wonder where her honey is.

Sunny, those are GREAT pics! I agree, I think those are Bullocks. I have some photos from yesterday, but I have to go out this morning, so I'll post them later. We had a flurry of activity the last three days and I finally found the "sports" setting on the camera.

Oh wow Sunny - how fantastic ! I'm so glad you took pics of the purple finches too - I have several that visit here and weren't sure what they were.

Sunny, your Oriole photos are beautiful. They're actually a Hooded Oriole. The Bullock's has a black cap on his head. I have both here so you may too.

Here's one of my Hooded Orioles

This is a Bullock's (also known as a Northern) Oriole.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2009 12:46 PM