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Author Topic: Do you bird?  (Read 8911 times)

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Offline Gator

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Do you bird?
« on: June 23, 2019, 10:59:35 AM »
Anyone here into birding (or birdwatching)? My grandparents got me into it as a kid.  I still have the bird book they gave me.  And I keep a life list, a list of birds I've identified/seen in my life time.

Well today I added a new bird!  A blue-gray gnatcatcher.  Apparently they are summer residents here in Georgia. 

Also, a pair of gray catbirds have moved in.  I've seen catbirds before, but not since I moved here three years ago.  I installed a drip fountain in the birdbath, and they showed up shortly after that.  Its true running water attracts more birds. 

A drip fountain from the birding store or online is almost $60!!!  I bought supplies at the hardware store and made my own for about $15!

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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2019, 09:44:38 PM »
     I love interacting with wildlife and observing animals. While I never got too far into birdwatching, I did get a boom on birds of North America when I was around five. I filled the pages with feathers I’d find on the ground, trying to match the feather with the bird. Little me didn’t know much about ranges of bird habitat, so some might be inaccurate. I’m sure that book is on my shelf somewhere...
     One year, the first year we moved into our current house, a family of finches nested in our hedge. We didn’t know if they’d been there for years before, or if this was new. But the family observed the birds carefully (so many tiny beaks!!), watching them hatch and learn to fly. When they left for good, all that was left was a dud egg and the nest. I brought it in for show and tell in grade one. And the family has kept coming back year after year. A part of me feels honoured that they chose that hedge out of all the possible nesting spots in our area.
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Offline EnaRocketQueen

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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2019, 04:44:00 AM »
I am a very specific birder who specialises in ducks, geese and swans. I have been interested in them for many years and can identify pretty much every type just from looking.

Offline melodys_angel

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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2019, 11:50:08 AM »
We have the typical collection around breeding season.  Including some grackles...which I wish would find somewhere else to nest.

We do get songbirds too, and its always a treat when a hummingbird flies by :)
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2019, 01:55:17 PM »
I know the ones in my community. The magpies like me, we have conversations....
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2019, 03:19:07 PM »
Melodys_angel, I hate when the grackles find my feeders! They're ravenous!  Though their black feathers due have a pretty iridescent purple shine to them.
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Offline Aflame

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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2019, 03:23:16 AM »
I live in the UK and have a flat on the 3rd and 4th floors so I see a lot of weather and birds, at the moment we have red kites ,rock/wood pidgins, great/coal/long tailed and blue tits, starlings, sparrows, robins, jackdaws, rooks, crows ,magpies, sooty gulls and as its summer swifts and pied wag tails :) also have ducks geese and swans flying over to the canal near to us where we also see coots, moor hens and some times kingfishers :)

Offline brightberry

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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2019, 12:44:52 PM »
I live in the UK and have a flat on the 3rd and 4th floors so I see a lot of weather and birds, at the moment we have red kites ,rock/wood pidgins, great/coal/long tailed and blue tits, starlings, sparrows, robins, jackdaws, rooks, crows ,magpies, sooty gulls and as its summer swifts and pied wag tails :) also have ducks geese and swans flying over to the canal near to us where we also see coots, moor hens and some times kingfishers :)
Ah! Amazing!

I don't keep track of too many birds near me.  But, we do regularly attract screech owls, finches, cardinals, blue jays, grackles (quick bring the feeders in!), doves, and a heron in a pond nearby.  And well ducks, but someone put them there so do they count?
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2019, 08:18:24 PM »
I love birds. I may have gotten it from my grandma who also loved birds and also did all kinds of things in her yard to attract them. I have always thought that birds are adorable beyond belief. I, too, had bird books. I don't know what happened to them, they're probably somewhere around.

Nevertheless, I don't really birdwatch, because that would require going outside and it's just not pleasant out for many reasons. I do enjoy seeing them from inside outside the window, though. My parents have a garden, so there are birds often, including hummingbirds.
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2019, 10:43:53 AM »
My parents are quite keen on it and we have a lot of birds in the garden back where they live because they put food out and it's also near a forest area. So they have magpies (not popular in spring), pigeons and wood doves, starlings, sparrows, blackbirds, bluetits, greenfinches, goldfinches, an occasional crested woodpecker, coal tits...and a few other things as well.

There's also a couple of large ponds near their home which used to have swans but now have Canada Geese as well as moorhens, coots etc. And crazy ducks. The geese are lovely. When I used to walk the last stretch home from work past them I'd always say good evening to them and they'd always respond. They're great parents as well and really responsible crossing the road. MOST locals respect them. MOST. Not all.

Here in London, I don't have a garden. But where I am now is near the river and there's a lot of greenery around as well. Lots of swans on this river. Very sweet and pretty.

And sometimes I wake up to find a pigeon or a magpie looking in my bedroom window. The pigeons especially like perching on my sill and peering at me. Cheeky critters.

London pigeons are hilarious and watching them is a total other kind of birdwatching xD. I saw one once waiting at a crossing until the lights changed and then crossing with all the confidence of a commuter at King's Cross xD. They also like to spend time INSIDE the station main buildings in the hope of finding food. They're real survivors. They amuse me :)

When I was in Japan I saw some interesting birds that I hadn't seen in the UK, and heard some new calls, but I don't know what they were. One had an unusual call though - it might have been a hototogisu...
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2019, 01:51:11 PM »
It would be amazing to visit another country and add to my life list!  But I'll probably never leave the U.S.  Maybe one day I'll get rich.
Several of you in the UK mention swans.  They must be very common over there.  I think I've seen a swan once in my life at a zoo.  It must be neat to have so many where you are.
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2019, 02:43:02 PM »
Swans are lovely to look at from afar but they are nasty nasty territorial creatures if you are close... like Canadian geese.

Our community has magpies, Robin's, northern flickers (woodpeckers), bluejays, sparrows, chickadees and a few other things. Right now we have a skunk den in the yard so we might have less birds lol. Oh we have crows and pigeons too
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2019, 03:35:46 PM »
In my experience neither mute swans nor canada geese are in the slightest bit nasty.

As a kid we used to go up to the ponds a lot, we'd spend a lot of time right near the swans. They'd eat from your hand and they'd come right up to you, but there was never any aggression.

The geese are even less so because they're flock birds, and thus they share territory more easily than swans do. But swans will attack geese and other birds sometimes. That doesn't mean they'll automatically attack humans.

I think it's more that people don't respect them or their territory and try to force the issue. And also that people misunderstand their body language for aggression when it is often just like a cat warns someone it's done playing. If you continue to push and ignore the warning signs, your cat will scratch or bite...swans are the same. If you respect them they respect you. And if they respect you, you can feed them by hand.

And they are super cute as babies ;)

The swans that are most common here are the white mute swans. I believe they technically still belong to the Queen, thus killing one is treason. That comes from the mediaeval/tudor period when they would be killed for the royal table thus were reserved for the King's meals only...but now of course they're not eaten. They're just protected.

I am not sure how common other types of swan are here - on rivers in general you mostly see the mutes.

I forgot to mention before but we also have herons. They frequent the pools as well. Sometimes apparently they also visit garden ponds, where they are less popular! But the place I saw the most herons was the river Kamo in Kyoto. There were tons of them. I also remember seeing the hawks playing over the river in the spring air currents...and there were nesting swallows in the shopping arcade. I never saw an actual swallows nest until then, but it was so cute xD.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2019, 03:42:22 PM by Taffeta »
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2019, 09:32:46 AM »
Ahhhhhh good to know your geese are same and friendly. I have been charged and bitten by geese too many times since moving to Canada! I dont try to get close, it's just they nest in public places (like building rooftops), then they stand on the sidewalk and attack pedestrians. And once i got attacked at the zoo, so I definitely could not kick it off me!!!! They are protected by federal law so I was most displeased to have to let the goose chew on me until it got bored.
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Re: Do you bird?
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2019, 10:13:32 AM »
Wow. I guess actual Canadian geese are hardcore ;)

Ours are totally different.
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