For the Birds!

[Brdofpray]

As we sit and look out our windows, or sit on the back deck contemplating all of the financial machinations we need to go through to stay FIREd, I wonder if we all take the time to enjoy the natural world we live in.

Towards that end, what birds are you seeing, right now, in your backyard?

Currently, I am watching a pair of red-headed woodpeckers carving a hole in a tree snag. A pileated woodpecker made an appearance and the two red-heads just chased him from the area.

 

[braumeister]

At this time of year, I can look out the window towards the feeders almost any time of day and see:
Cardinals
Goldfinches
Chickadees
Downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers
Tufted titmouse
Nuthatch
Dark-eyed junco
Eastern towhee
Mourning dove
and lots of various kinds of finches and sparrows

Frequently, there will also be:
Cooper's hawk
Sharp-shinned hawk
Kestrel
Pileated woodpecker

Others stop by at other times of year, but most of the ones mentioned are year-round.

 

[HFWR]

None, right now...

Regular visitors are sparrows, blue jays, cardinals, blackbirds, and doves. Less regular are juncos, crows, and the occasional hummingbird or hawk.

 

[Lsbcal]

I'm seeing:

1) Mr. & Mrs Wren - seem to be much more in view at this time of year
2) Robins and Cedar Waxwings - striped our red berry bush of buckets of berries and now pretty much all gone
3) Scrub Jays, California Towhees, Anna's Hummingbird - year around inhabitants
4) Oregon Junkos
5) Oak Titmouse - distinctive call
6) Goldfinches - they love the Rosemary
7) Turkey vulchers - always gliding over the hills
8) Ruby Crowned Kinglet - occasionally I identify one of these guys
9) Golden Crowned Sparrow - beautiful call, kind of sad sounding though

 

[Brdofpray]

Mr. & Mrs Wren - seem to be much more in view at this time of year

Awesome birds! What kind of wren?

 

[Brdofpray]

Chickadees

Again, great list! What kind of chickadee?

 

[jebmke]

At this time of year, I can look out the window towards the feeders almost any time of day and see:
Cardinals
Goldfinches
Chickadees
Downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers
Tufted titmouse
Nuthatch
Dark-eyed junco
Eastern towhee
Mourning dove
and lots of various kinds of finches and sparrows

Frequently, there will also be:
Cooper's hawk
Sharp-shinned hawk
Kestrel
Pileated woodpecker

Others stop by at other times of year, but most of the ones mentioned are year-round.

Get these too, except Kestrel.

Eagles
Turkeys
Red Tail Hawks

Carolina wrens darting around too.

 

[Lsbcal]

Awesome birds! What kind of wren?

Ot-oh. Don't remember. Will visit my birdbook.

Let's see ... my National Geo. seems to indicate it's a Bewick's Wren. Here is the picture I'm looking at: Bewick

However, our Wrens seem to have distinctive blotches on the breast area. That is not shown in the Wren illustrations I've seen.

 

[braumeister]

Again, great list! What kind of chickadee?

I believe they're mostly Carolina chickadees, but I think we also get black-capped chickadees.

Oh, and I almost forgot the pine siskins.

 

[Avalon]

I always enjoy seeing new and unexpected birds for the first time. In the summer of 2010 I had an Indigo bunting and a painted bunting show up within weeks of each other.

 

[Brdofpray]

I always enjoy seeing new and unexpected birds for the first time. In the summer of 2010 I had an Indigo bunting and a painted bunting show up with weeks of each other.

Indigo buntings are very familiar to me from the midwest. The painted bunting was a new species to me this past may. We were at Hunting Island State Park in SC. The painted bunting showed up in the trees. I got a few pics, then gone. What an amazing bird! So colorful!

 

[Brdofpray]

my National Geo. seems to indicate it's a Bewick's Wren.

I have never seen a Bewicks Wren. What is your general location, if I may ask?

 

[Lsbcal]

I have never seen a Bewicks Wren. What is your general location, if I may ask?

Sonoma County, California. We're in oak forested hills. Lots of acorns for the Scrub Jays and squirrels.

 

[Avalon]

Indigo buntings are very familiar to me from the midwest. The painted bunting was a new species to me this past may. We were at Hunting Island State Park in SC. The painted bunting showed up in the trees. I got a few pics, then gone. What an amazing bird! So colorful!

That was the first and only time I've seen either.
Oh, Over the last several years, I've had 4 parakeets show up at the feeders. I managed to trap 2 before the hawks caught them. Didn't need any pets at this stage, but they're part of the family now.

And an immature Sharpie hunting sparrows.

 

[NYEXPAT]

As I sit on my rooftop terrace to watch the sunset every night I am always fascinated watching the 11 or so condors who circle the city. They often play with the para-sailors who fly above the cliffs below my penthouse. Up close they are rather ugly ( one recently flew into the cafe next door), but in flight they are amazingly graceful!

 

[Lsbcal]

Avalon - cool shot of the hunting sparrow. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to inhabit a bird body.

NYEXPAT - sounds like you live in an exotic local. Exotic => something I haven't experienced and sounds cool. But then again, NY is rather exotic to me.

 

[Brdofpray]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13534&stc=1&d=1327712010

Here is one of the Red Shouldered hawks that is living in our woods. The squirrels are always on the alert. The slow ones never make it to pass on their slow genes.

 

[grasshopper]

My daily list: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Harrier,Coopers Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Scaled, Gambels, Montezuma's Quail, Eurasian Collared dove, Mourning, dove, Anna's Hummingbird(down from normal 4 winter species),Ladder-backed woodpecker, Mexican Jays(only for water), Cactus wren, Ruby-crowed Kinglet, Curved-bill Thrasher, Crissel Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Green-tailed towhee, Canyon Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Lots of sparrows Chipping, Brewers, Vesper, Black-throated, Grasshopper, Lincoln, White-crowed, Sparrows, Pine Siskin. My yard list is 126 species.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

That was the first and only time I've seen either.
Oh, Over the last several years, I've had 4 parakeets show up at the feeders. I managed to trap 2 before the hawks caught them. Didn't need any pets at this stage, but they're part of the family now.

And an immature Sharpie hunting sparrows.

The parakeet in the top photo looks just like one we had and flew off one day. It's an Indian Ringneck Parakeet. Nice little birds and they are good talkers.

We have alot of Sandhill Cranes, Mocking Birds (the state bird), many ducks, a few eagles and quite a few hawks of vaious species. A while back I bought a couple bird houses made for the Carolina Wren. Haven't seen one yet. Right now there is an African Grey parrot looking over my shoulder.

 

[veremchuka]

I have never seen so many Cedar waxwings as this winter and it is a very mild winter so not sure if that is why. Crows, Blue Jays, Gold Finches, sometimes Eastern Bluebirds and when they arrive there's usually 10-30 of them, Cardinals from time to time, Juncos, Purple Finches, Mourning Doves, Red Tailed Hawk, typically hear Great Horned Owls starting the 3rd week in January but I have never seen one, Robins, I'm sure I am forgetting some.

 

[skipro3]

Turkey Vultures, hummingbirds, wood peckers and a bird I don't know the name of but has a very interesting song. Sounds like he's saying "Cheeseburger" Only long like this;
cheeeeese....burrrger. He repeats it over and over. I hear them a lot around the ski resort.

Then there are the crows and ravens. I love to hear the caw! caw!

 

[MissMolly]

Robins, bluejays, cardinals, house finches, american goldfinches, mourning doves, mockingbird, downey woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, white crowned sparrows, tree sparrows, white breasted nuthatches, thrashers, carolina chickadees, tufted titmouses are our daily visitors along with, sadly, starlings and blackbirds. We have a number of hawks that fly through the yard, but I am not good at identifying raptors. We had a huge flock of cedar waxwings a couple of months ago several times. That was a first for me to see in our yard. Our little yorkie only weighs 5 lbs so we are always on the lookout for the hawks. We have seen them catch several rabbits in our yard - and the rabbits are larger than our dog!

 

[yakers]

At this time of year, I can look out the window towards the feeders almost any time of day and see:
Cardinals
Goldfinches
Chickadees
Downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers
Tufted titmouse
Nuthatch
Dark-eyed junco
Eastern towhee
Mourning dove
and lots of various kinds of finches and sparrows

Frequently, there will also be:
Cooper's hawk
Sharp-shinned hawk
Kestrel
Pileated woodpecker

Others stop by at other times of year, but most of the ones mentioned are year-round.

So it looks like you have set up your bird of prey feeder pretty well

 

[audreyh1]

Today I saw a pair of black phoebes, green jays, greater kiskadees, altamira orioles, white-tipped doves, golden-fronted woodpeckers, a screech owl, a northern beardless tyranulet, a clay-colored thrush, chachalacas, a green kingfisher, a pair of verdins, black-crested titmouse, orange-crowned warblers. I heard several olive sparrows and a couple of house wrens, but I couldn't get on them with my bins.

I walk the park next door and look at their feeders.

Audrey

 

[flyfishnevada]

Wrens, sparrows, finches, etc. all year. Red tailed Hawks, Crows, Magpies and Quail too. Not much action right now. In a couple of months it will get interesting. I love watching the Western Kingbirds on the fence line across the street in the late spring.

DW saw a big owl on the road the other evening. Scared the heck out of her.