Birding

[Reach]

Can any tell me what kind of bird this is? Sat for an hour calling in the top our our tree. Was wondering if maybe it lost its young one?

I'm pretty certain that is a red-tailed hawk. Large bird and dark belly band.

 

[Reach]

I saw a reddish egret in Jekyll Island, GA the other day and finally saw its fishing dance.

It was fun to watch and pretty spastic!

 

[Rocky mtn high]

Thanks for the reply’s. I was thinking falcon too but maybe hawk. I know the picture is not great. Made so much noise for so long that people were coming out their houses to see what was going on.

 

[audreyh1]

Can any tell me what kind of bird this is? Sat for an hour calling in the top our our tree. Was wondering if maybe it lost its young one?

Might be a red-tailed hawk. Looks to maybe have a belly band.

 

[audreyh1]

I saw a reddish egret in Jekyll Island, GA the other day and finally saw its fishing dance.

It was fun to watch and pretty spastic!

That is a great thing to see in person!

 

[socca]

We've had a bunch of Wood Storks .. hanging out here in FL for the past couple weeks.

A wood stork will occasionally stand outside my house and watch me through the living room window while I'm exercising. The bird may be thinking, "Why is this strange animal expending so much energy with little hope of obtaining food, shelter, or sex?" A reasonable question.

 

[Chuckanut]

Bird migration predictions can be found here

https://birdcast.info

“Bird migration forecast maps
Bird migration forecast maps show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset and are updated every 6 hours. Colorado State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produce these forecasts.”

 

[audreyh1]

Bird spring migration is pretty predictable here. Hawks have started migrating now and will migrate in numbers through the end of April. Smaller songbirds flying across the Gulf will can be seen on the coast mostly from mid-April to mid-May.

They do show up during the day and then fly farther inland at night if weather is favorable.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We're on the upper Rock River, which has its source about 20 miles away in the Horicon Marsh, the largest freshwater cattail march in the US. We've been seeing a lot of migrating and nesting waterfowl since the end of February. The giant sandhill cranes arrived about the same time. Turkey vultures have been feasting on roadkill whitetail deer.

 

[audreyh1]

We see sandhill cranes a bit north of here in the winter. And we’ve seen plenty wintering in New Mexico. So I guess they don’t have to travel as far as some birds do.

 

[harley]

We've had a huge amount of snow geese here (MD Eastern Shore) this winter. They usually pass through, but due (I think) to the mild winter they stayed here. It's been fun having them around, but everything is covered in goose poop. I'm expecting a major weed problem this year. The golf course has gotten permission to use guns to chase them away, but the workers have been shooting them for food, which isn't really allowed. But no matter what, they're beautiful and I've really enjoyed them being here.

I've rotated this picture around a few time, but it always posts sideways. If anyone knows the solution, let me know.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We see sandhill cranes a bit north of here in the winter. And we’ve seen plenty wintering in New Mexico. So I guess they don’t have to travel as far as some birds do.

There are different subspecies of sandhills. We have the big birds, over 4 feet tall. A few winter as far north as Tennessee but I think most go to Florida like all good snowbirds. They're fun to watch in flight formation, doing big loops across the sky.

When I was young the cranes had been all but eradicated. Restoration efforts have been quite successful, though. But I used to hear western meadowlarks all the time years ago --now, they're rare here.

 

[audreyh1]

I’ve seen them in formation way up high, alerted by their distant call and having to peer up high above the clouds to get a glimpse. So impressive. Their long necks and special nostrils are designed for high altitude flight, warming the air they breathe.

How far and high can sandhills Fly? They can fly up to 400-500 miles in one day, usually at an altitude of around 6,000 to 7,000 feet, but often as high as 13,000 feet as they migrate through the Rocky Mountains.

 

[aja8888]

We've had a huge amount of snow geese here (MD Eastern Shore) this winter. They usually pass through, but due (I think) to the mild winter they stayed here. It's been fun having them around, but everything is covered in goose poop. I'm expecting a major weed problem this year. The golf course has gotten permission to use guns to chase them away, but the workers have been shooting them for food, which isn't really allowed. But no matter what, they're beautiful and I've really enjoyed them being here.

I've rotated this picture around a few time, but it always posts sideways. If anyone knows the solution, let me know.

Picture is too large. Slim it down to under 1 MB or less.

 

[Skyward1]

I wouldn't consider myself a traditional birder but I am an avid bird photographer. I have a great appreciation for birds and spend a lot of time photographing them. I just got back from a week long trip to Florida that was exclusively bird photography.

 

[Skyward1]

I'm pretty certain that is a red-tailed hawk. Large bird and dark belly band.

X2

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I wouldn't consider myself a traditional birder but I am an avid bird photographer. I have a great appreciation for birds and spend a lot of time photographing them. I just got back from a week long trip to Florida that was exclusively bird photography.

I volunteer as a docent/archivist at a little museum near Madison, Wis., called the Hoard Historical Museum. It has a taxidermy collection of 500 birds, most of them mounted in the 19th and early 20th century -- back in the day when bird enthusiasts liked to turn the objects of their admiration into upholstery.

One of the main contributors to the collection was a Swedish naturalist named Thure Kumlein. He emigrated to the US in 1843 and settled in southern Wisconsin, where he farmed after a fashion, taught at a local academy and collected bird specimens, some of which made their way back to Europe.

He eventually took a job as a conservator at the Milwaukee Public Museum. There, in 1888, he suffered a fatal exposure to chemicals that had been used to preserve bird carcasses that had been shipped from South America for mounting.

Here's a pic of part of the bird collection.