The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: Gator on June 23, 2019, 10:59:35 AM
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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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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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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.
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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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I know the ones in my community. The magpies like me, we have conversations....
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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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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 :)
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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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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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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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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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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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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.
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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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Wow. I guess actual Canadian geese are hardcore ;)
Ours are totally different.
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I like to watch all kinds of wild animals but the birds are watching me. I have these magpies and collared doves come onto my balcony and since that's the only place I have a window front these little creeps love to stare inside making me feel like I'm in a certain horror movie.
One time a huge dove tried to get in all curious. It was sitting in my open balcony door like "may I?" and its vast size was filling out half the width of the door it frightened me a little. I was thinking of the massive poops a panicked bird like that would leave behind so I rushed to the door like in slo-mo yelling "noooooo" and that's my dumb story for today.
I do like birds a lot, tho. My favorites are geese because they are so evil. And I also love ducks and small parrots. We can actually observe wild parrots in Germany thanks to a few of them escaping a zoo decades ago.
I would like magpies in theory but their job is to poop all over my balcony so they are not welcome anymore.
Post Merge: June 27, 2019, 01:17:10 PM
Swans are lovely to look at from afar but they are nasty nasty territorial creatures if you are close.
I never mess with swans. My father was almost killed by one when he was young, so had the swan have had its way I wouldn't even exist today :lol:
Basically, his friend tricked him to paddleboat into breeding swan territory and the enraged couple flew at my dads eyes and neck in tandem, trying to slice his throat with their little raptor claws. Eventually they could leave their territory and the swans backed off. He had blood all over him when they escaped and the friend was just like "lol!"
I also heard geese go for the achilles tendon when you run away and once you are down they go for your throat.
Reminds me of Jurassic Park. Clever girls :lol:
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Yes, I love birds! :D About ten years ago I started to "study" them (basically just learning their names and such), and I've already seen quite a lot of them in real life. I get really excited when I see a "new" bird. We also had baby great tits on our balcony this spring, so adorable. :D
One time a huge dove tried to get in all curious. It was sitting in my open balcony door like "may I?" and its vast size was filling out half the width of the door it frightened me a little. I was thinking of the massive poops a panicked bird like that would leave behind so I rushed to the door like in slo-mo yelling "noooooo" and that's my dumb story for today.
I love your story. XD My mother always claps her hands when there are huge doves in her backyard, she doesn't want them near either. XD
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We have family members who are official "birders" but we just like to look casually and then look them up in books :biggrin:
The best place I went for birding was Ecuador! We were with a "birder" tour group and they were going nuts every 5 seconds
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.
How interesting- I guess the Canada geese in the UK are more relaxed than the ones we get?
During the spring, the Canada geese around here get very aggressive- mostly just around where they are nesting - unfortunately that often means parks... so you could be walking along a path and suddenly a goose will come zooming out at you head low - and they PINCH really really hard!!! They also poop the size of medium size dogs which does not endear them to anyone around here, :lol: :lol: :lol:
Post Merge: June 28, 2019, 11:41:23 AM
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I think maybe it's a territory thing? I know here they got flappy when the council got involved and moved their nests, but one of the pools here has an island and the other has a secluded bank so they nest there away from the paths. So the council had to actively go out to destroy the nests that one year but haven't since and it's been fine.
They do poop a lot, but they sit with their young right by the pathways and don't cause any trouble. If someone sends a dog in after them that's different, but they even have proper road sense. Most of the water bids (Ducks, moorhens, etc) just run madly across roads into traffic, but the geese have a 'school party' type system with an adult at the front, babies int he middle and adult at the back and they cross slowly and carefully and don't panic when the vehicles come. It's required on our road to be aware of them and most people stop to let them cross.
Unfortunately this year we had some nasty person speed through and kill one or two of the babies because they were too impatient to let them cross.
People here were unamused.
The swans would be more in your face if you got in their way or messed with the babies - I heard stories of them trying to drown dogs which came too close - but they were never aggressive unless they were threatened in some way. It's like any wild animal, in my view. They're going to defend themselves. The people who complained about them around here were also always people with dogs off the lead. The kind of dogs who would be condemned if they were jumping all over someone's kid...
In any case it's a really common sight here seeing families taking small children to 'feed the ducks' - in this case, that includes geese and swans :)
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Sadly I’m actually terrified of birds. My mom even has a pet bird and my uncle had is it one of those grey parrots? They all scare me, but I do enjoy wildlife where I live. I live on a farm way out in the country. I was actually excited the other evening to see Henry. Henry is an oppossum that has been coming to my house at night for the last five years. I hadn’t seem henry in about a month and then the other day there was not only Henry butna bunch of teenager looking ones as well. I assumed Henry was a boy always being a loner but guess she has gotten used to me enough to feel comfortable bringing the kids this year. I also have owls, bats, raccoons, hawks etc that come and go. There are coyotes as well, but I’m
Notni srky excites about them.
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We have a crow family that nests nearby- I leave leftovers out for them in the yard, so they have come to regard me as a friend. During nesting and fledgling season, they divebomb anyone they don't recognize who happens to walk down the alley behind our house (their territory). It's pretty funny...
They are amusing and clever birds- I like to see them poking around (they like to turn over leaves and stones and moss). When they have a successful fledgling - they show the kid everything he/she needs to know to be a successful city crow.
A couple of years ago we watched "Dad" crow carry a mostly empty Dorito chip bag from somewhere with Jr. in tow- find a smooth/clean patch of sidewalk, and then show Jr how to carefully "shake shake shake" the bag of chips so the crumbs fall somewhere where you can find them... :lol:
Of course there is a downside to having crows around. I looked out my window yesterday and noticed on the neighbor's roof (in plain view from our bedroom window) was a desiccated rat corpse- hanging out right in the gutter... >_<:lookround:
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A couple of years ago we watched "Dad" crow carry a mostly empty Dorito chip bag from somewhere with Jr. in tow- find a smooth/clean patch of sidewalk, and then show Jr how to carefully "shake shake shake" the bag of chips so the crumbs fall somewhere where you can find them... :lol:
That's cute! I used to watch jackdaws during my lunchbreak together with my friends. We have a lot of jackdaws here which isn't common for all of Germany.
They are so funny and I prefer them to crows because they are smaller.
One time we saw a trash can exploding from the inside. Its contents were just catapulted into the air. It was a single jackdaw inside throwing out everything she didn't want. It looked hilarious because you couldn't see the bird, just a magic trash can.
Someone put some of the trash back inside not realizing the jackdaw was in there and got such a shock when the stuff kept flying out again :lol:
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Today I was driving and saw what I thought was a dead bird in the road. But as I go past I realize it has its head lifted up. It's alive! I turn around to go get it and watch in horror as two other cars almost run over it. I get to it. It's bleeding, can't use its hind legs. It was a juvenile European starling, an invasive species here in the U.S. I'm a veterinary technician, but this is my weekend off and I'm not going to work. I took it to one of the local clinics near my house and dropped it off with them to perform a humane euthanasia. Poor little guy.
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Today I was driving and saw what I thought was a dead bird in the road. But as I go past I realize it has its head lifted up. It's alive! I turn around to go get it and watch in horror as two other cars almost run over it. I get to it. It's bleeding, can't use its hind legs. It was a juvenile European starling, an invasive species here in the U.S. I'm a veterinary technician, but this is my weekend off and I'm not going to work. I took it to one of the local clinics near my house and dropped it off with them to perform a humane euthanasia. Poor little guy.
That's so sad :( I'm glad at least you could stop its suffering, even if you couldn't help it.
We have lots of starlings here (I am guessing ones like the one you found). I call them the mafia because of how they hoard around the food stuff and how cheeky and forward they are. They're fun birds, and it's sad to think of a baby being in that state.
I told my Dad this morning about the hostile geese and stuff over the atlantic and he was stunned. He used to go down and film them and spend a lot of time with the swans when he first retired, and he couldn't believe that they could ever be violent. He saw lots of examples of people egging their dogs on or letting their dogs rush at the birds and those were the people who then complained when the swans kicked off and got angry - but as far as he and I are concerned, that was the fault of the dog owners, not the swans.
I dunno what other people's experiences here have been, but I'm glad the ones we had are friendly.
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I casually bird! I like identifying wildlife, and if a bird'll stay still long enough for me to snap a picture of it, then it'll get identified right along with the bugs and plants. I'm also trying to learn to recognize common bird calls this summer!
The geese where I live do have a reputation of being nasty, but mostly anecdotally. People know to stay away from them.
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Sort of? I live in an area with abundant wildlife (though if people keep tearing down the greenspace and building houses, that'll change...). We get so many different birds in our yard; sandhill cranes, woodstorks, ibis of all colors, doves, blue jays, osprey, black and turkey vultures, crows, occasional pelicans and seagulls - there's a lake across the street. I enjoy taking pictures of them :)
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I had some neighborhood magpies stay within 3 feet of me while we had a conversation yesterday.
The ravens at work... oh they are fun... they started hiding by the exterior doors and surprising anyone who isn't paying attention with, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" I watched several co-workers get caught out and the reactions were total gold. Meanwhile I always "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" back at them, so they don't harass me. We also have conversations.
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Not in any organised way or actively, but I like to try and identify birds I see! There are some trees right outside our window and as we live on the 2nd/3rd floor, it's nice to watch birds all relaxed. There's also some grassy fields and foresty areas so we have a variety of birds! Pheasants, magpies, hooded crows, ravens, great and bluetits, pigeons, robins, wagtails, sparrows, chaffinches, flycatchers, blackbirds and other thrushes... Then there are a number of small birds I'm not good at identifying, like warblers and such. On the nearby river there are ducks, such as mallards and goldeneyes, and whooper swans (the national bird of Finland!).
Last winter I spotted a white-throated dipper for the first time in my life! That was pretty fun. And when we moved here there was a corn crake nearby, unfortunately I've not heard it again since that first summer. :( Okay the constant croaking was pretty annoying, but still! I hear they get easily killed when hay is harvested.
I haven't met aggressive geese but seagulls oh my gosh. They always nest on top of the university buildings and once the babies leave the nest, the adults get aggressive. Luckily this phase only lasts a few days but still, the moment you spot the fledgling and realise you're about to get attacked in a second... :yikes:
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My parents and brother and sister in law are the beach right now. I couldn't go due to work, but I love seeing shorebirds! Gulls too!
Blackcurtains, when I attended the North American Veterinary Conference in 2006, which is held in Orlando each year, I was excited to see and add the Sandhill Cranes to my list!
Post Merge: July 02, 2019, 06:11:29 PM
Oh my gosh, I just read on the news that in Dublin, Ireland, a swan beat a cocker spaniel to death!
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Blackcurtains, when I attended the North American Veterinary Conference in 2006, which is held in Orlando each year, I was excited to see and add the Sandhill Cranes to my list!
They're quite something, aren't they? One of those birds where you can still see the dinosaur in 'em.
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Blackcurtains, when I attended the North American Veterinary Conference in 2006, which is held in Orlando each year, I was excited to see and add the Sandhill Cranes to my list!
They're quite something, aren't they? One of those birds where you can still see the dinosaur in 'em.
I've been following a couple of osprey web cams for the past month or so, ospreys are some of my favourite birds although I've never seen one in the wild! The nest cams are wonderful to watch and I can't help but think of dinosaurs, especially when they're feeding! https://luontolive.wwf.fi/en/
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Griffin, on facebook, I follow a nest cam for a nest that is near the Atlantic coast here in Georgia, US. When I first started watching, a great horned owl family raised a brood. Then the last two years it was ospreys. The ospreys this year successfully raised three chicks, and they just fledged this past week and a half.
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LOL just my neighborhood crows and all the parrots here in Long Beach.
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I like birds! Although, I am no «birder». The Canada geese are not really popular here either, but not due to agression. Due to their extreme pooping :lol: I’ve never heard of them being aggressive, but since they are not naturally from here they tend to grow quite large in numbers. Since they also are messy, people don’t tend to like having them close by.
I think aggressive animals mainly are that way due to lack of respect and understanding from our side. Yes, swans around here can get a little bitey, but just treat them respectfully and read their language they are usually more than happy with being fed :thumb:
@Taffeta: I get so annoyed with dog owners like that. I am a dog owner myself, and we have a strict law on when it’s okay to have your dog off leash. It’s not allowed from April and all through September, and that is especially due to wildlife. Of course I wish I could have my dog more off-leash, but I both respect and understand why there are regulations like this. It seems like most people believe the leash-control only applies when your in urban areas around traffic and people, when the biggest reason why it excist is to protect wildlife. It is much more important to keep your dog controlled outside of urban areas!
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LOL just my neighborhood crows and all the parrots here in Long Beach.
Aw, I grew up in Long Beach, CA! The parrots are hilarious- and so loud!!! My dad had a parrot when we were kids, I guess some guy gave it to him. He thought that the parrot loved him, he took him everywhere with him. But one day when a gang of parrots was flying past, our parrot shrieked and flew up to join them- never to return.
My dad put the parrot's huge cage up on the roof filled with food (they were worried he would get hungry and not know how to eat real fruit and dates) - but who flew in was some OTHER totally different and VERY HUNGRY parrot - he obviously had escaped from someone else and had not in fact, figured out how to eat the fruits and palm dates... poor thing! I think our family parrot must have figured it out with his new friends. I'm sure he was much happier living in a huge flock of 100 other green parrots just like him...
What's more crazy to me than the parrots in Long Beach, are the parrots in.... New JERSEY? I visited my wife's aunt's house a couple years ago- and they had parrots causing problems?
I guess they over-winter in the electrical boxes where it stays warm. Now THOSE guys I feel bad for. I wish someone could take them all and set them free again in the jungle ...
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I'm not an active 'bird watcher' as such, but I do love observing the birds on my walks. Here in New Zealand we have some stunning birdlife. I was chuffed to see some Royal Spoonbills the other day (google them, they have these crazy beaks :) ) and I utterly adore birdsong, especially our native Tui.
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LOL just my neighborhood crows and all the parrots here in Long Beach.
Florida has parrots too! They were pets once but released into the wild where they thrive. There's all kinds, including little budgies.
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LOL just my neighborhood crows and all the parrots here in Long Beach.
Florida has parrots too! They were pets once but released into the wild where they thrive. There's all kinds, including little budgies.
I think there are actually some in the UK too now, from escaped pets o.O.
The parrots in the US sound fun :D
Maybe the more mellow geese are the European strain?
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LOL just my neighborhood crows and all the parrots here in Long Beach.
Florida has parrots too! They were pets once but released into the wild where they thrive. There's all kinds, including little budgies.
I think there are actually some in the UK too now, from escaped pets o.O.
The parrots in the US sound fun :D
Maybe the more mellow geese are the European strain?
I’m allergic to Parrots and Budgies. Only bird I’m okay with are canary birds. Then again we do have a Red Kites flying around. Plus we had a hawk.
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I forgot to mention the cave swiftlets that circle around our house every evening. They come out about an hour before the bats do.
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Griffin, on facebook, I follow a nest cam for a nest that is near the Atlantic coast here in Georgia, US. When I first started watching, a great horned owl family raised a brood. Then the last two years it was ospreys. The ospreys this year successfully raised three chicks, and they just fledged this past week and a half.
Ooh I'd love to see a great horned owl nesting! These cams are such a great idea.
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Every other year we have eagles nesting in the mountains around my cabin. When they soar above us it is truly a great sight. My sister had a close encounter with one when she was hiking up in the mountains. They are truly amazing creatures. I’ve also seen a falcon hunt together with it’s two kids. That was right outside my cabin door (yes, my cabin is far up in the mountains!). They were hunting for field mice, and ate them just 50 metres from us. It was scary, and amazing to watch them! I was glad I wasn’t a mouse...
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I just read an article that a seagull flew off with someone's chihuahua in England! Wow...
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I love feeding the birds! We have wild bird seed, hummingbird feeders and just recently started feeding yellow finches. I enjoy watching them! Also one of our neighbors has a pond that Canadian geese that come to raise their young.
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I live near Atlanta, Georgia. The usual egret/heron water type birds are small green herons and great blue herons. As you get near the Atlantic coast, you see more kinds like white cattle egrets and larger snowy egrets. This morning in a pasture near our house, I saw three white egrets. They were too large to be cattle egrets. I wonder if the were great or snowy egrets? I wonder what they're doing out here so far from the coast. Very interesting to see them.
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I love seeing birds! I have a bird book that has the songs of many birds and I love it! It has helped me identify various birds just by their songs, like the Western Scrub Jay. I hear that one a lot. One of my favorites to see is the Steller's Jay.
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Yeah!! I'm pretty new to it as a hobby, but I like reading Birdlife and watching local birds.
My partners mum is super into birding, and all field naturalist kind of stuff. She's a horticulturalist specializing in natives (I'm Australian) so the garden is designed to attract birds. They also live right next to a re-vegetation zone with a lake so its easy to not only see parrots but waterbirds. I'm starting to learn about the migratory birds.
Around the house here we get heaps of grass parrots (Psephotus haematonotus), corellas, galahs, eastern rosellas, mudlarks, blue faced honey eaters, wattlebirds, noisy friar birds, white-winged choughs (Corcorax melanorhamphos) and of course magpies. Nearby you can find spotted pardalotes, butcherbirds, kookaburras, welcome swallows, blue wrens, the beautiful and shy bronzewing pidgeons (Phaps chalcoptera)...
Visiting the lake recently are pelicans, little and greater egrets, chestnut teal (Anas castanea), cormorants, darters, freckled ducks (Stictonetta naevosa)
I've been out to some hotspots with them to watch for the birds that don't like disturbed areas too. I've seen some white browed babblers, shrikes, red capped robins, gang-gang cockatoos! And lots of little ones I can't remember the names of.
We have beautiful birds of prey too. You often see wedge tailed eagles flying around, and square tailed kites. There are a few hawks, kites and little falcons in Victoria.
I'm not an active 'bird watcher' as such, but I do love observing the birds on my walks. Here in New Zealand we have some stunning birdlife. I was chuffed to see some Royal Spoonbills the other day (google them, they have these crazy beaks :) ) and I utterly adore birdsong, especially our native Tui.
How lucky!! I would love to travel to NZ and spend enough time there to see some of the birds.
Royal Spoonbills used to spend some time in the creek adjacent too my grandparents property when I was a child. They're very special too see, I remember watching them in first light among the river red gum wetlands... haven't seen them for many years.
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Does feeding sparrows with french fries on the patio in front of a McDonald's count?
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I love birds and bird watching :biggrin: I live in Sweden and in the spring, when the ice is melting from the lakes, I usually go to these towers that they have placed near the lakes that are for bird watching :) you get a really good view of the area from up there :D
I wish I could feed birds outside my window, but my landlord don't allow bird feeding unfortunatly :cloud:
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Saw a magpie while I was on holiday plus sparrows, starlings, and a robin, plus seagulls (annoying loud mouths).
Took pictures of the sparrows and starlings, and I swear one of the sparrows was posing for a picture.
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My sister threw out a chunk of old ham in the yard. We thought the vultures would get it but a HUGE eagle came and took the whole piece and flew off with it :lol: I think it was a juvenile Bald Eagle but I'm not quite sure.
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My sister threw out a chunk of old ham in the yard. We thought the vultures would get it but a HUGE eagle came and took the whole piece and flew off with it :lol: I think it was a juvenile Bald Eagle but I'm not quite sure.
Well on holiday in Great Yarmouth there was this thing near the market with birds like owls, eagle, and Australian bird (can’t think of the name).
I saw the eagle eat a mouse (luckily my mum didn’t see it otherwise she would of screamed. She stayed away with Honey in her dog stroller because dogs won’t allowed near them).
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We have a lovely variety around here.
Cardinals, Bluejays, Orioles, sparrows, finches, humming birds, robins, pelicans, ducks, canadian geese, pheasants, quails, peacocks, eagles, cranes, turkey's, turkey-vultures, owls... Quite a bit of diversity within miles of my house.
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There was a catbird in the neighbor's tree on Sunday, my husband didn't realize how terrible they sound...
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We have a lovely variety around here.
Cardinals, Bluejays, Orioles, sparrows, finches, humming birds, robins, pelicans, ducks, canadian geese, pheasants, quails, peacocks, eagles, cranes, turkey's, turkey-vultures, owls... Quite a bit of diversity within miles of my house.
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There was a catbird in the neighbor's tree on Sunday, my husband didn't realize how terrible they sound...
Turkey carrying a flag :lmao:
I saw a bird carry socks once
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This was outside my window today! A male Rufus Sided Towhee. One of my favorites. The males have black, and the females are a beautiful chocolate brown.
Sorry pic is a little blurry.
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I had to stop feeding my birds, due to a marsh hawk showing up, and trying to eat them.
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Ruby throated hummingbirds are migrating across North America! After weeks of watching the feeder, had our first guest arrive today in Georgia, southeast United States. So excited.
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Yes I used to like drawing and painting birds a lot when I was a kid and I know can identify most British birds. I'm not so good with bird calls however. I haven't been out bird watching in so long and really miss it.
Post Merge: March 29, 2020, 05:04:33 PM
Well on holiday in Great Yarmouth there was this thing near the market with birds like owls, eagle, and Australian bird (can’t think of the name).
I saw the eagle eat a mouse (luckily my mum didn’t see it otherwise she would of screamed. She stayed away with Honey in her dog stroller because dogs won’t allowed near them).
Was it these guys? They used to send me owl pellets for teaching.
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Gator, Congrats on your first little visitor, and thanks for the reminder! I should get my feeder up soon. I want to be ready :)
This is the first time I saw this thread, but YES I love watching birds! I've done Project FeederWatch, when I used to live in a more rural area where I could have lots of feeders. I only feed a few specific birds now, a Carolina wren pair and a robin pair that are nesting by my house, and the hummingbird feeder. Ah, this is kind of morbid but I also prepare dead bird skins for a museum, so I...know them very intimately... :crazy:
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I haven't done it in years but for awhile when I was 11, my dad and I would go bird watching with the owner of the local wild bird store every Saturday morning.