Look! A bird!

[mamselle]

That's reminding me of the poster formerly known as Barred Owl (who did indeed see and love owls, as I recall).

Wonder what they're doing?

M.

[backatit]

Oh yes, I remember them (they are not me). I agree; hope they are well and getting lots of owl time. And yes, they did come out tonight.

[nebo113]

Oh yes, I remember them (they are not me). I agree; hope they are well and getting lots of owl time. And yes, they did come out tonight.

I live in the country with woods back and one side...and the only owls I hear are across the road near the lake.  I hear them in the wee hours when little canine goes out to pee.  never ever see one.

[backatit]

I think we have a particularly large and active population here (not just in this particular set of woods). Where I used to live was across the street from a nature preserve but it wasn't really that rural (it was quiet though and had a lot of trees) and 4 juvenile horned owls flew into my front yard when I was sitting on my front porch steps on evening. They were trying to to learn to fly, and hopping all over the place quite awkwardly. I've seen a lot of owls, but they aren't easy to see when they are in the trees.

Here are our resident owls a while back https://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o526/backatit123/owls_zpsvfndbdqm.jpg

I sit quietly outside a lot in the evenings, and we have a screened back porch that overlooks the most densely wooded part of our property, so we're pretty well set up to see them (part of the reason this picture is fuzzy is that I'm taking it through the screen).

[Catherder]

I heard an owl hooting last night as a vague grey shape (a rabbit?) fled across the lawn.  But I was distracted by a huge orange half moon rising in the trees across the road.  Until it cleared the treetops I was sure it was a fire, and was ready to dial the local fire department.

[mamselle]

I think they were calling that a "Hunter's Moon," from a headline I saw in passing.

It's been very ashy at the lowest part of the horizon due to some fires and volcanoes in the last month or so, I think, causing more refraction of light in the red/orange range at sundown/moonrise. (?maybe I heard it interthreadually)...

An owl silhouetted against something like that must have been quite a sight.

M.

[nebo113]

Saw either two myrtle warblers....or one myrtle warbler twice.  Have never seen one in these parts.  My guess is that it was on its way to warmer climes.

[Thursday's_Child]

Saw either two myrtle warblers....or one myrtle warbler twice.  Have never seen one in these parts.  My guess is that it was on its way to warmer climes.

Myrtle?  The more showy sub-type of yellow-rumped?  Hopefully it's joined the small flock in my neighborhood.

In other news, I splurged a bit yesterday.  New, but inexpensive, binocs and the 2^nd edition of Sibley!  Binocs give slightly more magnification and field of view than my old ones.  I'll get used to the difference in feel soon - especially since they're not cranky about focusing!  The updated Sibley is worth it.  More birds illustrated, updated range maps, some increase in the useful notes, replaced the green dots showing out-of-range sightings with a gray shading, etc.  The range updates, when compared to the 1^st edition, can be quite stunning - I suspect climate change in many cases.

[mamselle]

Coming home from a dance at 2 AM...

   Nine geese honking, flying en diagonale.

M.

[nebo113]

Saw either two myrtle warblers....or one myrtle warbler twice.  Have never seen one in these parts.  My guess is that it was on its way to warmer climes.

Myrtle?  The more showy sub-type of yellow-rumped?  Hopefully it's joined the small flock in my neighborhood.

In other news, I splurged a bit yesterday.  New, but inexpensive, binocs and the 2^nd edition of Sibley!  Binocs give slightly more magnification and field of view than my old ones.  I'll get used to the difference in feel soon - especially since they're not cranky about focusing!  The updated Sibley is worth it.  More birds illustrated, updated range maps, some increase in the useful notes, replaced the green dots showing out-of-range sightings with a gray shading, etc.  The range updates, when compared to the 1^st edition, can be quite stunning - I suspect climate change in many cases.

I call those little yellow rump/butter butts "Myrtle Warblers."  Perhaps I am not correct??

[Thursday's_Child]

Saw either two myrtle warblers....or one myrtle warbler twice.  Have never seen one in these parts.  My guess is that it was on its way to warmer climes.

Myrtle?  The more showy sub-type of yellow-rumped?  Hopefully it's joined the small flock in my neighborhood.

In other news, I splurged a bit yesterday.  New, but inexpensive, binocs and the 2^nd edition of Sibley!  Binocs give slightly more magnification and field of view than my old ones.  I'll get used to the difference in feel soon - especially since they're not cranky about focusing!  The updated Sibley is worth it.  More birds illustrated, updated range maps, some increase in the useful notes, replaced the green dots showing out-of-range sightings with a gray shading, etc.  The range updates, when compared to the 1^st edition, can be quite stunning - I suspect climate change in many cases.

I call those little yellow rump/butter butts "Myrtle Warblers."  Perhaps I am not correct??

You're correct!  The western populations are called "Audubon's" - I suspect it's one of the cases where they were originally considered different species.

[cathwen]

Yesterday I saw a huge bird swoop past my living room window.  I ran to look and saw it land on the roof of the condo units across the way--it was a great blue heron!  It perched there for about a minute, then took off, presumably for some nice pond or creek. 

We've also had a lot of cedar waxwings; I also saw a red-bellied woodpecker--not really rare around here, but not an everyday sighting, either.

[nebo113]

Yesterday I saw a huge bird swoop past my living room window.  I ran to look and saw it land on the roof of the condo units across the way--it was a great blue heron!  It perched there for about a minute, then took off, presumably for some nice pond or creek. 

We've also had a lot of cedar waxwings; I also saw a red-bellied woodpecker--not really rare around here, but not an everyday sighting, either.

Blue, yellow, red.... a rainbow of birds...

[mamselle]

Cool image!

Am I imagining it, or isn't there an Egyptian tomb painting of a meticulously realized blue heron with a frog dangling from its mouth?

M.

[professor_pat]

Backatit, your yard full o' owls sounds like a wonderful place. When we moved in, we had both screech-owls and Barred Owls. Now it's just a Barred, though I'm hoping a new screech-owl discovers this nice little habitat soon.