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Yesterday I saw two large egrets at the city park.  Perhaps a mating pair?  I didn't see them this morning.  It had been awhile since I'd seen any egrets there.  I still see the blue herons now and then.

Saw the roufus hummingbird on the bird walk this morning. The bird has been hovering in this area for a couple of weeks now, so I wasn't sure if he was still around. The bird, slightly larger than a bumble bee, was iridescent green, unlike the mulitcolored ones shown on the bird websites, and kept flitting around the bushes and then around the hummingbird feeder that had been set up for him.

The only hummingbird in northeast US is the ruby throated hummingbird, so seeing a species whose habitat is in the western part of the country is a treat. Scroll down the link for the map.

Saw the egrets again.  And some little wood ducks.  And what looked like a buzzard flailing its way through the trees and brush.  Not sure what it was doing there by the bank of the pond.

Yesterday I saw a buzzard soaring along at high speed in one of the blustery winds we've seen so much lately.  I wonder what those birds think when they get caught in winds like that?

Quote from: apl68 on February 27, 2024, 07:20:35 AMYesterday I saw a buzzard soaring along at high speed in one of the blustery winds we've seen so much lately.  I wonder what those birds think when they get caught in winds like that?

Wheeeeeeee!

Quote from: FishProf on February 27, 2024, 08:56:45 AM

Quote from: apl68 on February 27, 2024, 07:20:35 AMYesterday I saw a buzzard soaring along at high speed in one of the blustery winds we've seen so much lately.  I wonder what those birds think when they get caught in winds like that?

Wheeeeeeee!

You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?  It looks fun.  I wonder, though, whether the bird is mainly irritated at being carried along too fast to spot any yummy carrion.

On a trip to daughter's farmhouse yesterday, I saw crows, various hawks (red-tail, sparrow, chicken), a couple of eagles, turkey buzzards (dining on a deer and a coyote from two separate encounters with cars), seagulls, Canada geese, and several meadowlarks.

While walking in the park this morning, before it started raining, I sat down for a few minutes by the bank of the pond and tried to count how many different kinds of bird song I heard.  I distinguished ten.  Eleven if you count the rooster crowing in the distance.  Twelve if you count the crows that drowned everybody else out after I started walking again.

Birdlife is starting to show signs of spring here. The sparrows still seem to be in their winter foraging flocks, but bird song has picked up considerably, and the cardinals seem to be staking out their territories. The first of the red wing blackbirds are back along the river, but not in large numbers yet.

I passed very close by a bald eagle twice this morning, as it was feasting on some roadkill. Really neat to see such a gorgeous bird up close!

I've been gone for several months over the winter.  Put out suet and bird food this afternoon. In fewer than 30 minutes, cardinal,chickadee, and titmouse had found it. 

How do they do this????

The ospreys are back! Went to one of the usual osprey spots (at least 5 platforms in the area) and was surprised to see first one, and then another on the first platform along the path. I was so excited that I almost hugged the park ranger while showing him the photos of the pair on the platform. More bird reports later.

Quote from: nebo113 on March 14, 2024, 01:43:51 PMI've been gone for several months over the winter.  Put out suet and bird food this afternoon. In fewer than 30 minutes, cardinal,chickadee, and titmouse had found it. 

How do they do this????

My father and I were talking just the other day about how buzzards can congregate from miles around when they locate a rich source of carrion.  I guess the word spreads.

Anyway, congratulations on attracting a more pleasant assortment of birds.  And congratulations to Langue_doc on the ospreys.

Happened to be walking past a storefront this morning when a bird nipped by me and smacked into a glass door.  Didn't seem to be injured, judging from the way it bounced off and flew right back in the other direction.

I had a good look at sparrows when they gathered around me to prospect for crumbs as I was eating a snack. I looked up their identities after I got home (I didn't have a camera with me). One of the group, very attractive, was a male house sparrow just taking on its breeding plumage. The others were, I think, non-breeding/immature males, but I didn't think to check the bill color. Sparrows are so omnipresent where I live (and zip about so rapidly) that it never occurred to me to try and distinguish among them before.

In recent weeks a pair of wild geese seem to have taken up residence on the pond at the city park.  I saw them flying in and lighting on the water this morning.  They stay on the wilder, downstream end of the park.  The tame geese stick to the upper pond, between the highway and the pedestrian causeway.  I wonder what the wild and tame geese think when they hear each other sounding off?

Why do the two wild geese squawk so much, anyway?  Have they become separated from their flock and are calling to them?  Anyway, I've never seen a pair of wild geese hang around that pond for so long.  It's very rare that we see wild geese visit the park at all.