Bird watchers?

[Jaymes]

Have we got any bird watchers at RF? I don't devote nearly enough time to it to call myself such, but I do try to keep my eyes open whenever I'm outside.

What are some common birds in your area? We have robins all OVER the place! And chickadees. I love those little birds, they're so cute. The brown thrasher is our state bird, but I haven't seen too many of them.

We have a pond right across the road from us, and almost every day there is a very lovely crane waiting for fish or frogs in it. I can never get over how sleek and elegant it looks. We also have Canadian geese visit our ponds every once in a while.

We also have wild turkeys! I got such a kick out of seeing about 7 or 8 in a field near the road on Thanksgiving morning.

Okay, enough of my rambling. Any of you have any bird-related stories, jokes, etc?

 

[QTpi]

I love bird-watching! I can see a wide variiety of birds every day as we live in a very rural area. Not too long ago Pah and I saw two bald eagles. Magnificent!!! On a more regular basis we have the usual birds (robins, crows, sparrows, wrens, cardinals, bluejays, mockingbirds, etc) , but also a lot of others. There are goldfinches, bluebirds, indigo buntings, turkey vultures, and hawks to name a few. We had a family of quail living in the woods on our property. When I was coming home from school one day, the mama bird was running across the driveway with her little chicks running in a line behind her and into the woods. It was so neat to see them. We also have quite a few Canadian geese that visit the area.

 

[Jaymes]

Oh, I totally forgot about birds of prey! I see red-tailed hawks almost every day. I see others, but I don't know enough species to identify them. The quail mother and babies sound so cute, QT! Reading that made me think of the cute little scene in Bambi with the quail.

We also get lots of crows. Everyone else seems to dislike them, but I love watching and listening to them.

Strangely enough, we've been getting seagulls lately. I've never heard of seagulls coming this far inland (the nearest beach is several hours away).

 

[QTpi]

I have a few bird stories. When I was still in school (junior high maybe) a friend brought me a baby owl he had found all alone in the woods. So I decided to take care of it until it was big enough to fend for itself. I fed it raw hamburger on a toothpick so I could get it into its mouth. We had it in a huge box with a screen over it. We knew when it was time to set it free. It would keep everyone awake at night with it's noise. It would try to fly and kept lifting up the screen and letting it fall back when it couldn't get out. That weekend we went back to the woods where my friend had found the owl and released it. It took off just fine. One rescued owl returned to the woods!

 

[QTpi]

We get seagulls in town (south of Richmond, VA). You can see them all the time in the parking lots at McDonalds and a few other places. People feed them french fries and buns. It was really surprised the first time I saw them there.

 

[painted wolf]

I'm lucky enough to live in a place that is triving with wildlife. I have seen almost one hundred species of bird in my area.

we have a flock of aroung 30 turkey vultures that cover the area, keeping it cleen.
I have a Great Blue Heron fishing in my back yard.
A Pileated Woodpecker, who is quite big lives in the town I work in, he has flown over me a few times.
naturally Crows, a couple of Ravens, Robins, Sparrows, Cardinals, Blue Jays, several kinds of Hawks, Black and Mallard Ducks, Canadain Geese, wild Turkeys, Ruffed Grouse, Grossbeaks, Ceder and Bohemian Waxwings formed a flock of almost 80 and moved en mass through town.

I could go on and on.... I love birds!

wa:do

 

[Lightkeeper]

In Australia isn't "bird watching" girl watching? I do some of that.

I get out in nature as much as possible. Washington's state bird is the Willow Goldfinch. We have robins, sparrows, woodpeckers, bluejays, chicadees. We have some swamplands closeby and I love the redwinged blackbirds. I've spotted Great Blue Herons. We also have some Bald Eagles. I've seen some hawks. We have mallards, Canadian Geese and crows.

 

[michel]

In Australia isn't "bird watching" girl watching? I do some of that.

I get out in nature as much as possible. Washington's state bird is the Willow Goldfinch. We have robins, sparrows, woodpeckers, bluejays, chicadees. We have some swamplands closeby and I love the redwinged blackbirds. I've spotted Great Blue Herons. We also have some Bald Eagles. I've seen some hawks. We have mallards, Canadian Geese and crows.

I wondered who would come up with that! yes, I too have done the odd bit of 'bird watching' in my youth!

We are lucky, living by the coast, and with such an abundance of forrestry all around us - we see a whole range of birds - I'm not too fond of the seagulls, I must admit (I once wanted to put a notice on the roof of our car saying "Please don't mess on my car, your 'droppings' can actually eat through the paint" lol!

We have a bird bath in the back garden; I know nothing about birds, and I'm ashamed to say the only birds I can properly identify are thrushes, robins and seaguls. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying them!

We have foxes that have become so used to us that they have been known to cross the road at the front of our house - even in daylight. Oh yes, and squirrels (Grey ones-I don't care if they are pests, they're so beautiful to watch!) - There was a time, when one of our neighbours would leave his dog on the grass infront of the house during the afternoon, when we would regularly see a dog bisquit thief of a squirrel running across our back yard, to go and hide his trophy!(Big bisquits, in the shape of a bone):jiggy:

 

[martha]

I love birds and thanks to Kreeden and the link he provided on another post, I finally know what one of them is. It is the Northern Mockingbird. I just love to listen to his many calls. I tried to count them once but it was hard. I think I heard about 15 or 20 different sounds. Amazing. I live near the Meadowlands in New Jersey and we have a great many birds. Most people aren't crazy about the big geese because all they seem to do is eat and poop everywhere! We have a lot of seagulls too. Once I thought I heard a baby crying but it was a seagull.


Once in spring time I was walking my dog early in the morning and this bird started divebombing us. This bird wasn't kidding around. I realized she or he must have a nest of babies close by, and was defending them. Dopey me forgot about it and the next morning as we passed the same spot we got attacked again. Don't mess with birds with babies! The little buggers will try to kill you.

I told Kreeden in a PM that I might get a pair of binoculars to see them better in the backyard. With my luck I'll get arrested for being a peeping tom! "Hello Religious Forums, this is the Secaucus police department. We have one of your members named Martha .......?

 

[Lightkeeper]

We have goofy woodpeckers here. I have a woodstove which has a metal chimney that goes through the ceiling and roof. I will be sitting quietly in my livingroom and suddenly I hear a loud noise like a machine gun going off. After I crawl out from under the table I realize it's our stupid woodpecker rat-a-tatting on the metal chimney. Sometimes if I bang on the chimney he will go away, however he comes back when I least expect it. I keep looking for a woodpecker with a flattened beak. I would think it would knock his brains out.

 

[kreeden]

People who don't like Crows ? Why the very though makes Rocky's feathers stand on end ....

I'm not a bird watcher really . Just love our little feathered friends .

BTW I haven't seen a Pileated Woodpecker in ages . Beautiful creatures , and yes PW , they are rather large .

 

[BUDDY]

Now that I am in Alaska and not Texas, I am sure that I will have more opportunity to watch some birds. I can't wait to go see bald eagle and the canadian geese come in for summer. I used to live in the Republic of Panama, when I was in High School, and went bird watching with people from Biology class. IT was amazing how many different beautiful species of birds there were.

 

[Jaymes]

One rescued owl returned to the woods!

Ooo, that reminds me! A few years ago when I was in a Biology class our teacher (who is also a vet) brought a little screech owl to show us. I was delighted! The poor thing had got a glancing blow from a car and was recovering, and was released later.

Dr. Mac let him sit on top of the skeleton in the class while we took notes At one point something startled him (I'm not sure what, though, since everyone was enjoying him and was being as quiet as possible) and he flew around the classroom a couple of times. He flew over my head and I couldn't hear a thing! I can't help but wonder if I've come close to owls at night or had them fly overhead without realizing it.

 

[kreeden]

Now , after reading this thread , chatting with Jensa and Martha , I decided to take my camera with me today . It is snowing , so the light isn't the best , but I'm glad that I did . I'm sure that you all talking about our winged friends had something to do with this picture ... And I want to share it with you all .

 

[Jaymes]

How beautiful! Even though their native range is nowhere near here, I will swear up and down I saw one in a tree when I was about 8.

For such large birds, you really wouldn't think they could make such cute chirping noises

 

[kreeden]

You don't have Bald Eagles in Georgia Jensa ? Their range goes all the way down to Florida and California . They may be rare , but I see no reason why they couldn't be found in your state too ?

BTW this guy was duck hunting . He has a feeding tree by the lake and I hope to get some better pics when the ice is gone . Along with some of the local Osprey . But to catch him in flight like that was pure luck .

 

[Jaymes]

Huh. I had no idea that they ranged that far. Maybe we do have them here. I looked it up in an encyclopedia that said we don't, but that was a very old book...

 

[kreeden]

They are endangered in the southern states . DDT had a very bad effect on them .

 

[Lightkeeper]

Here's a picture of seagulls at the Seattle Waterfront.

 

[kreeden]

I have a pic of some rather loud birds at the Woodland Park Zoo somewheres . Can't recall what they are called but they are loud .

* wonders if he will make it down Lightkeepers way this summer ... *