Look! A bird!

[nebo113]

Saw several pileated woodpeckers https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/overview in the nature preserve this morning. They are quite loud, not only with their pecking, but also because the pecking dislodges bits and pieces of the tree which fall down quite noisily.

And they love my log house because of the carpenter bee larvae snugged away in the logs.  Even though I put. Up juice on the house, one day, I will awaken to see the sky🙃

[Langue_doc]

Not a single pileated in sight today, but saw a hairy woodpecker in that spot, and later on, a female in another spot.

[Langue_doc]

Not a single pileated in sight today, but saw a hairy woodpecker in that spot, and later on, a female in another spot.

Saw another pileated the same afternoon in another nature area. I heard the bird long before I saw it. They are loud!

Other birds over the long weekend: a pair of eastern bluebirds in the backyard, flocks of black-capped chickadees in the front yard and also in the trees in the backyard, a few tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees on the feeder at the Thanksgiving dinner hosts' place, a downy, a red-tailed hawk taking off from the road (country road), and in the nature preserve, a belted kingfisher, presumably male because of the absence of the brown band across the stomach, and a cooper's hawk that landed on a tree in the bird feeder area.

[cathwen]

My husband and I went for an afternoon walk yesterday on a near-by trail.  We took our binoculars, even though the time of year and the time of day were not favorable for interesting bird sightings.  But we did see a red-bellied woodpecker, a white-throated sparrow (tan variant), and a red-tailed hawk, as well as the usual black-capped chickadees, tufted titmice, robins, and cardinals.  I keep hoping for another glimpse of a pileated woodpecker—I have seen them on that trail a couple of times. One of these days...

[apl68]

Didn't spot them, but I heard wood ducks out on the pond at the city park this morning.  Guess that makes up for seeing one through the mist but not hearing it yesterday morning.

[apl68]

The owl I've been hearing at the park around sunrise was very talkative this morning.  I heard it hooting steadily the whole time I sat by the bank of the pond watching the morning sky.

Later, after it had gotten lighter, I saw a blue heron light only a few feet away from the park's gaggle of honking tame geese.  I'd never seen a heron that close to the geese.  I'd always supposed that they didn't like the noisy things.  As soon as the heron came down, the geese waddled down into the water and started paddling away.  Maybe it is they who don't like being around the heron.

[Thursday's_Child]

Most years, the White-throated Sparrows feed on the ground.  This year, I have one who likes the elevated feeder.  I think it's discovered the peanut pieces. :)))

[Puget]

A red tailed hawk eating a rabbit right next to the walking path along the river. I got some close-up photos as I walked by--it was not at all frightened of me, but did jump on top of carcass and give me hard glare, just in case I was thinking about trying to take its dinner from it. Nature red in tooth and claw indeed!

[Thursday's_Child]

A whole mixed flock bopping around in the trees this morning!  Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Juncos, Chipping Sparrows, & I'm not sure what all else.

With this impending winter storm, I'm about to go get lots more birdfood!

[AmLitHist]

Late yesterday afternoon, I hung 8 suet cakes, 2 thistle sock feeders, 2 feeders with a mix of cracked corn and sunflower, and a 5-pound feeder of just sunflower seed, in addition to putting out more ear corn for the squirrels this morning.  There were grackles around this morning (and it's OK--they need to eat, too, as cold as it's going to get); saw a cardinal on the sunflower feeder. And the squirrels were already carrying away the corn. I'll have to make sure they have some warm water too over the next few days.

[Puget]

Down in southern Arizona currently-- lots of birds at the feeders, but most notably spotted a road runner yesterday--running on the road of course.

[nebo113]

Down in southern Arizona currently-- lots of birds at the feeders, but most notably spotted a road runner yesterday--running on the road of course.

Envious that you are in my favorite area. 

[Puget]

Down in southern Arizona currently-- lots of birds at the feeders, but most notably spotted a road runner yesterday--running on the road of course.

Envious that you are in my favorite area.

I'm only a very causal bird watcher (I'm more interested in their behavior than IDing them), but my grandmother who I'm visiting is quite the birder. Since she's 95, her birding these days is mostly limited to what comes to her feeders. A few years back I gave her the perpetual gift of a monthly delivery of birdseed to help keep the show going for her.
Frequent visitors this week:
Gila woodpeckers (they nest in a nearby saguaro)
Phainopeplas
Cardinals
Qual
About 3 kinds of doves
House finches
Curve-billed thrashers (make a huge mess!)
Cactus wrens
Various sparrows

[nebo113]

Phainopeplas!  Never spell it correctly when I want to look it up!

[apl68]

Recently we've had a little flock of about a dozen something-or-others flying around the neighborhood.  Between my poor eyesight and my limited bird-spotting know-how, I can't tell you what they are.  Whatever they are, they're close-knit.  I see them flying around or perched on phone lines as a unit.  Yesterday afternoon I saw them making rounds of the street in formation.  It's amazing how they can turn, dip, rise, and all go to ground in unison.  They did have a bit of trouble when they swooped down around the branches of a tree at one point.  Then they got away from that entanglement and promptly re-established the formation.