Look! A bird!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

This afternoon I took advantage of the lovely Spring weather and sat on the porch while writing an article. It's about a musical piece, so I was whistling passages as I wrote. As I whistled, about a dozen birds flocked around, perching on railings and shrubs and looking at me.

They were admiring your Bird accent. You must be very fluent.

[namazu]

One of the two barred owlets on the Wild Birds Unlimited/Cornell Lab of Ornithology Webcam has hatched!


There's another webcam featuring a great horned owl family who've taken over a bald eagle nest in Kansas, which has gorgeous lighting in the mornings.

[nebo113]

Blue birds flitting in and out of nesting box!

[mamselle]

Blue birds flitting in and out of nesting box!

Yea!

When they get older they can be Camp Fire Girls....

M.

[nebo113]

Blue birds flitting in and out of nesting box!

Yea!

When they get older they can be Camp Fire Girls....

M.

I was a Brownie/Girl Scout so I had to google this!

[mamselle]

One of the two barred owlets on the Wild Birds Unlimited/Cornell Lab of Ornithology Webcam has hatched!


There's another webcam featuring a great horned owl family who've taken over a bald eagle nest in Kansas, which has gorgeous lighting in the mornings.

Can't get in on the first, but you're right about the second:

  The light, the wind ruffling their downy baby feathers, and the colors are just gorgeous!

M.

[namazu]

One of the two barred owlets on the Wild Birds Unlimited/Cornell Lab of Ornithology Webcam has hatched!


There's another webcam featuring a great horned owl family who've taken over a bald eagle nest in Kansas, which has gorgeous lighting in the mornings.

Can't get in on the first, but you're right about the second:

  The light, the wind ruffling their downy baby feathers, and the colors are just gorgeous!

On the barred owl cam, you may need to hit play twice for it to "take".  The second barred owlet hatched today.

Meanwhile, I saw one of the horned owlets eat a snake live and whole!

[cathwen]

That's the kind of thing that used to trigger my older daughter to say, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Isn't nature beautiful?" 

[namazu]

That's the kind of thing that used to trigger my older daughter to say, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Isn't nature beautiful?"

Yep.  "Red in tooth [beak?] and claw," indeed. 

[Langue_doc]

A red-winged blackbird sitting on a neighbor's fence. He must be lost or having an identity crisis as he was sitting with a flock of starlings.

[apl68]

Birds singing outside
Invite me as I waken
To join the new day

[mamselle]

A red-winged blackbird sitting on a neighbor's fence. He must be lost or having an identity crisis as he was sitting with a flock of starlings.

Is it near water? The red-winged blackbirds I've known best all liked the reeds near the lake at our Camp Fire camp (interthreaduality).

I love their three-noted cry; almost sounds like a chord being chimed simultaneously.


^ And thanks for the haiku above!

We have those, too (at 4 AM, but I need to be getting up anyway, so it's all good...)

M.

[Langue_doc]

A red-winged blackbird sitting on a neighbor's fence. He must be lost or having an identity crisis as he was sitting with a flock of starlings.

Is it near water? The red-winged blackbirds I've known best all liked the reeds near the lake at our Camp Fire camp (interthreaduality).

I love their three-noted cry; almost sounds like a chord being chimed simultaneously.


^ And thanks for the haiku above!

We have those, too (at 4 AM, but I need to be getting up anyway, so it's all good...)

M.

That was the surprising part, as there are red-winged blackbirds aplenty in the nearby parks (5-15 miles) which are near the water and have plenty of vegetation. This one must have strayed from one of the usual habitats.

[FishProf]

Mixed flocks may indicate a nearby predator.  Especially if it doesn't persist.

[namazu]

A red-winged blackbird sitting on a neighbor's fence. He must be lost or having an identity crisis as he was sitting with a flock of starlings.

Is it near water? The red-winged blackbirds I've known best all liked the reeds near the lake at our Camp Fire camp (interthreaduality).
I love their three-noted cry; almost sounds like a chord being chimed simultaneously.

That was the surprising part, as there are red-winged blackbirds aplenty in the nearby parks (5-15 miles) which are near the water and have plenty of vegetation. This one must have strayed from one of the usual habitats.

I have observed, along the interstate in rural areas in the central US, red-winged blackbirds seemingly posted as sentries along fences paralleling the highway.  I assume that there's good eating in the fields or fallow areas.  One of these days I'll see if there's a periodicity to their presence (one bird every however many m).

Also, in looking up what red-winged blackbirds actually eat*, I just now learned that  the females of the species are not black birds at all, but dappled brown and white with a crimson patch at the shoulder.

*

Red-winged Blackbirds eat mainly insects in the summer and seeds, including corn and wheat, in the winter. Sometimes they feed by probing at the bases of aquatic plants with their slender bills, prying them open to get at insects hidden inside. In fall and winter they eat weedy seeds such as ragweed and cocklebur as well as native sunflowers and waste grains.

(https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory)