Look! A bird!

[apl68]

The large pond/small lake at the city park was almost all frozen over yesterday.  While walking past a large unfrozen inlet I startled a couple dozen wood ducks.  It's the first time I've ever seen so many there at one time.  They must be having trouble finding open water in this unusual icy spell.

I've also seen lots of delicate bird tracks in the snow here and there.

[nebo113]

Forgot to include the dove mating dance and culmination on my porch railing yesterday.  They walked back and forth, nipped a bit, did the deed with a flurry of feathers.....then he dismounted and she walked over to the feeder and had a snack.  Wonder if that's the avian equivalent of a cigarette?

[cathwen]

Nebo, when I read about all your wonderful bird sightings, among which was a kestrel, I realized that it had been a very long time since I'd seen one.  Today, walking to the car, a crow-sized bird flew in front of me and up to a branch in a tree.  I quickly realized it wasn't a crow, and took a close look...it was a kestrel!  It made my day.

[mamselle]

Aww....I always wanted to see a kestrel.

Cool!

In other bird-related news: Several Condor eggs have been laid at the Oregon Zoo:

   https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/16/us/california-condor-eggs-laid-at-oregon-zoo-trnd-scn/index.html

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

There was a flock of red-winged blackbirds in the neighborhood today. I haven't seen them in awhile.

[nebo113]

Nebo, when I read about all your wonderful bird sightings, among which was a kestrel, I realized that it had been a very long time since I'd seen one.  Today, walking to the car, a crow-sized bird flew in front of me and up to a branch in a tree.  I quickly realized it wasn't a crow, and took a close look...it was a kestrel!  It made my day.

It had been years since I'd seen one, too.

[nebo113]

Finally saw the roseate spoonbill.....a juvenile.  Way north of the usual range.  He was hanging out with a couple of wood storks and a snowy egret, with a bittern in the background.

[apl68]

Struggling through snow
I see geese flying over
Against a grey sky

[nebo113]

Struggling through snow
I see geese flying over
Against a grey sky

smiling.....

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

A few days ago, what I think was a Cooper's Hawk, landed on my front sidewalk, grabbed something (a worm?) off the ground and flew off with it.

[apl68]

The large pond/small lake at the city park was almost all frozen over yesterday.  While walking past a large unfrozen inlet I startled a couple dozen wood ducks.  It's the first time I've ever seen so many there at one time.  They must be having trouble finding open water in this unusual icy spell.

I've also seen lots of delicate bird tracks in the snow here and there.

More open water
More wild ducks than days ago
The word must have spread

[paultuttle]

Cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and some smaller gray birds that I don't recognize are all around, every day, all day.

They probably like the feeders the neighbors have set up right next door.

[Langue_doc]

Saw a couple of mourning doves on the neighbor's roof. Common birds in these parts, as are starlings which are quite noisy.

The doves reminded me of a relative's child, then five, who announced in an aggrieved tone of voice that there were mourning doves on the tree in the backyard. It turned out that the child had assumed that the bird was a "morning dove", so named because of its habit of coming out during the morning hours. She was upset that the bird was not behaving as expected, and was out during the afternoon hours.

[Thursday's_Child]

Yesterday morning I saw a Carolina wren with nest material in its beak!

Since most of my birdhouses are a bit battered I splurged on two more - one for wrens and another for downy wps.  Not sure where the downy box will go, but I've spotted a hopefully perfect branch (visible from the house but not too close to everyday activity) for the wren house.

[Charlotte]

Saw more geese than I have ever seen in my life flying overhead in several sizes of V's. (I'm assuming they were geese because of the V shape but I'm not good with bird identification!)

They kept coming in wave after wave, singing loudly as they flew north. It was a beautiful thing to see and I stood for several minutes watching them fly, then group up and circle (allowing others to catch up?), before pressing on North.

It was a blissful moment. Looks like the birds say winter is over!