Look! A bird!

[Langue_doc]

Sunday morning, during a drizzle, saw a heron flying over a marshy pond. The heron then met up with another one on a tree top, after which they both flew off. There must be a nest somewhere in the area. Soon after that saw an egret on the far side of a nearby pond.

[paultuttle]

A nest full of baby birds is right outside my father's laundry room window. He has already taken some videos of the little ones being fed by mama, and he's shown those to my mother (who is now in a skilled nursing facility--more on that later). She loved the videos--even saying with a smile that she remembers feeding her sons 50 years ago, but (of course) not with her beak. :)

[Harlow2]

A kingfisher, one of my favorite birds, patrols a creek in a nearby park.  I love his [?] undulating flight, sort of like a swimmer doing butterfly.

[ohnoes]

First batch of goslings!  6-8 tiny little fuzzies.

[Thursday's_Child]

First sets of Carolina Wrens fully fledged; Titmice obviously feeding nestlings; yesterday a male Cardinal left with a beak full of mealworms; Great Crested Flycatchers and Mississippi Kites have arrived

[paultuttle]

A nest full of baby birds is right outside my father's laundry room window. He has already taken some videos of the little ones being fed by mama, and he's shown those to my mother (who is now in a skilled nursing facility--more on that later). She loved the videos--even saying with a smile that she remembers feeding her sons 50 years ago, but (of course) not with her beak. :)

Update: In just the past few days, the baby birds have graduated from standing up and fluffing out their feathers to (apparently) flying away.

(Dad tells me the nest is now empty and the birds nowhere to be seen.)

[Langue_doc]

On the bird walk this morning, while holding an umbrella, I saw various birds. An osprey on its nest, with its mate perched on a pole nearby; mate later flew up to the nest and handed what looked like a fish to the mate who must have been sitting on eggs. Saw another osprey on another nest. Several egrets flew back and forth across the marsh and also a black-crowned night heron. Assorted warblers and flycatchers, a marsh wren, a clapper rail (my first), a willet that flew quite low back and forth, an oystercatcher, and three glossy ibises that put on quite a performance as they circled over the marsh before landing gracefully. What with the rain, the small group (leader and three of us participants), and the leader who I know from previous walks, it turned out to be a very profitable morning outing.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clapper_Rail/id#
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/glossy_ibis
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/marsh_wren
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Oystercatcher

[apl68]

This morning at the city park I saw a small egret and a big blue heron.

[Thursday's_Child]

I have a female tanager hanging around.  She'll peck at the suet (very clumsily...) but doesn't really seem comfortable at the feeder yet.  I obviously need to expand my offerings, but to what?

[FishProf]

I have a female tanager hanging around.  She'll peck at the suet (very clumsily...) but doesn't really seem comfortable at the feeder yet.  I obviously need to expand my offerings, but to what?

Dried mealworms.  And a Birdbath.

It may be a teenager tanager and is just learning to feed on suet.

[Thursday's_Child]

I have a female tanager hanging around.  She'll peck at the suet (very clumsily...) but doesn't really seem comfortable at the feeder yet.  I obviously need to expand my offerings, but to what?

Dried mealworms.  And a Birdbath.

It may be a teenager tanager and is just learning to feed on suet.

TY!

Birdbaths are available - elevated and ground level!  I don't do dried mealworms, but could try putting the live ones on the same pole as the other feeders.

[apl68]

This morning at the park I saw five tame geese cruising across the pond in formation--squawking their silly goose heads off.  Such a pretty sight, such an ugly sound to accompany it.

[nebo113]

Towhee and thrasher grazing about two feet apart on the ground....

[apl68]

I spent Memorial Day visiting the Arkansas Post National Memorial, which I'd managed never to visit before despite living in-state for most of my life.  The park's picnic area sits on a bayou.  I went by there long before lunch, and had the place all to myself.  I sat by the water's edge and took in the scene.  Soon I heard and saw a hummingbird buzzing around the flowers growing in the shallow water.  Then I saw other small birds dipping in and out of the plants.  Can't say what they were, as I'm not that much of a naturalist and my vision is too poor to make out details very well.  I'd be a lousy birdwatcher.

And lots of dragonflies.  And more.  It was a wonderfully tranquil scene on a pleasant late morning.  Lots of opportunity to appreciate God's sheer inventiveness in creating all these creatures (However many eons it might have taken).  I really needed that.

The historic site was interesting too.

[Langue_doc]

A great egret sitting on a rather short bushy tree, preening its feathers for at least 15 minutes yesterday. The same egret slowly and with deliberate footsteps walked its way around the same pond last Monday.

At least two red-tailed hawks were being chased by smaller birds in different areas of the same heavily wooded preserve.