Any birdwatchers here?

chichismom

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One of my favorite things to do, besides gardening
is birdwatching. I just recently (last year) started- so I'm not an expert or anything. I was just wondering if anyone else enjoyed their company? My new favorite would have to be the blue jay who has graced me with his/her presence over the past few days. I have quite a few pics of my birdies, if anyone wants to see them
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by chichismom



One of my favorite things to do, besides gardening
is birdwatching. I just recently (last year) started- so I'm not an expert or anything. I was just wondering if anyone else enjoyed their company? My new favorite would have to be the blue jay who has graced me with his/her presence over the past few days. I have quite a few pics of my birdies, if anyone wants to see them
I have a recliner in a small sunroom that faces out into my backyard where I have a bird feeder. Persi, Alley and I spend a lot of time watching the birds. I have a pair of image stabilized binoculars but I don't share them with the cats.
 

rosiemac

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Me
I never used to be until i got the conservatory built. Gil fixed up two flower basket hangers at either side of the garden with some mixed seed in one, and some fat balls in the other, and it's great watching the birds picking out what seed they don't want to get the ones they do want
 
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chichismom

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Originally Posted by pushylady

Show us your pics!
All right, all right- Don't get pushy lady
sorry, I could'nt resist that one!

I'll start off with the welcome committee- my family of cardinals :-)

Gorgeous papa




His lady




and their kids- I believe they have 1 boy, and 4 girls!!!!! I did'nt think they laid that many eggs! This bunch always hangs out really close together, so I just assume these are their kids
they are definately smaller, and they stay close together. What ya think?

little lady




small guy



I caught him mid-shake lol
Does'nt it look like they are getting their adult feathers in? Or am I just silly?
 

gailuvscats

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Great picks! what length lens are you using?
I love birdwatching and often go to the wildlife refuge with the binoculars and a guide. That is your next step.

Presently, I am watching the antics of the house wren trying to convince the female to use the box I put up. there is another male trying to get her to go with him, or get rid of the first guy. I am spending way too much time, but I can't stop cheking them out.
 

yosemite

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At our last house I had feeders out and they were a joy to watch. A male cardinal flew at a bluejay and "beaked" him in the chest for bothering him while he was trying to eat.
Another day a male cardinal was feeding a younger (smaller) male by taking the sunflower seeds, shelling them and feeding the little one from it's beak.

But, for some reason that I cannot explain, I absolutely love the Red-winged Blackbird. Every time I see one I get this wonderful feeling.
 

gemlady

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If you are putting out seed I recommend black oil sunflower as some of the seeds in the commercial mixes the birds don't like.

Before we wised up on that, I got a kick out watching a cardinal and bluejay arguing who was going to get the last sunflower seed on the flat feeder. Chickadee ended the argument by swooping in and grabbing it!
 

tierre0

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I really enjoy birdwatching as well. My father was a avid birdwatcher and I think I inherited the trait from him. I live right beside a river so there are quite of few species right outside my back door. I have tons of red-winged blackbirds, blue jays, chick-a-dees, a pair of Morning Dove's, lots of starlings, sparrows, and finch's. I also have two pair of Canada Geese and their goslings that spend a lot of time along the shoreline. They are great fun to watch and I am amazed at how fast the little geese have grown.
 

duchess15

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I got into bird watching by accident from a friend of mine. I'd go fishing and he knew the bird calls so after hearing about 100 times what call that was, I started to pick it up. Then I started to be able to find them and pick them out in sightings. Four years later I am finally deciding to get a spotting scope with camera attached (digiscope) to start taking pictures and learning about more shore birds.

I joined our local Audubon society about 3 years ago so I'm still learning.
 
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chichismom

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

Great picks! what length lens are you using?
I love birdwatching and often go to the wildlife refuge with the binoculars and a guide. That is your next step.

Presently, I am watching the antics of the house wren trying to convince the female to use the box I put up. there is another male trying to get her to go with him, or get rid of the first guy. I am spending way too much time, but I can't stop cheking them out.
Thanks! I have no idea- it is a canon powershot A710 IS - I hate to admit it, but I really have no idea how to use the thing! lol I put the setting on auto, and hope for the best


I really need a bird guide! There are so many little cuties that I have no idea what they are

I bet those house wrens are too cute to watch! Those males prob. put on a huge show!

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Me- I never used to be until i got the conservatory built. Gil fixed up two flower basket hangers at either side of the garden with some mixed seed in one, and some fat balls in the other, and it's great watching the birds picking out what seed they don't want to get the ones they do want
Some of them can be so picky! I've concluded that the cardinals will only eat sunflower seeds! And the brown birds(cowbirds?) really like the suet.

Originally Posted by gemlady

You need a good guide book. I highly recommend ones illustrated by Roger Tory Peterson.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/...tersonhome.cfm
The Audubon guides are good, too.
Thanks!!!! Those books look amazing! Got to get me one of them asap


Originally Posted by Yosemite

At our last house I had feeders out and they were a joy to watch. A male cardinal flew at a bluejay and "beaked" him in the chest for bothering him while he was trying to eat.
Another day a male cardinal was feeding a younger (smaller) male by taking the sunflower seeds, shelling them and feeding the little one from it's beak.

But, for some reason that I cannot explain, I absolutely love the Red-winged Blackbird. Every time I see one I get this wonderful feeling.
It makes my heart melt when I see the older birds feeding the youngins
it is so prescious! Have'nt seen the cardinals do it, but my little brown guys do it all the time.
I love the redwinged blackbirds too! We don't have any in the city though
or at least I have'nt seen any. Seen some when I was down in Branson a few weeks ago. They were gorgeous too!

Originally Posted by gemlady

If you are putting out seed I recommend black oil sunflower as some of the seeds in the commercial mixes the birds don't like.
Gosh! Are'nt they picky!!!!!! The only birds that will eat those commercial mixes are the pidgeons and doves. The pretty birds have expensive tastes! I don't even want to try and figure how much $ I spend on them!

Originally Posted by tierre0

I really enjoy birdwatching as well. My father was a avid birdwatcher and I think I inherited the trait from him. I live right beside a river so there are quite of few species right outside my back door. I have two pair of Canada Geese and their goslings that spend a lot of time along the shoreline. They are great fun to watch and I am amazed at how fast the little geese have grown.
Aww man! you have the ultimate birdwatching set-up! I wish we lived by a river! Canadian Geese the only waterfowl you've seen?

Originally Posted by Duchess15

I got into bird watching by accident from a friend of mine. I'd go fishing and he knew the bird calls so after hearing about 100 times what call that was, I started to pick it up. Then I started to be able to find them and pick them out in sightings. Four years later I am finally deciding to get a spotting scope with camera attached (digiscope) to start taking pictures and learning about more shore birds.
I joined our local Audubon society about 3 years ago so I'm still learning.
I wish I could identify them by sound! Heck, half the time I can't identify them when I can see them lol. Post your shorebirds!!!!! I'd love to see them!
Is it free to join the audubon society? I'd like to join, just never really checked into it
 
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chichismom

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Here are a few more pics :-)

Someone told me what this little guy was- I forgot already





lovey dovey



a couple of my fave pidgies shots




grackle



ok, I need some help here- I don't know what these little guys are





MANY more to come lol
 

jean-ji

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I love the birds in our yard, so do the cats and the dog.


The mourning doves cooing is a favorite, I love their sound. I think it reminds me of the ones I would hear at my grandmothers when I was young. The yellow finch have the sweetest song and I recognize them right away when I hear them.
Woodpeckers are fascinating to watch hammering away. The nuthatches hop down the tree and jump over to the feeder, what sweeties. Birds are so fun to watch and they co-exist with the squirrels at the feeder with no problem. Lately some pigeons have been vying with the doves for the food on the ground, they can be big and I didn't realize they were different in colors.
I think word has gotten around in the bird circles, because I seem to be going through the birdfeed faster and faster.
 

gailuvscats

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OK, not to be a snob
, but you have much to learn about the "good birds" and the "not so good birds". A not so good bird is one that is not native, pushes out the native species and are a dirty nuisance.

Your house sparrow, the last one that is brown with the black throat is hated by many bird lovers because it will take over another birds nest killing all the babies and eggs in the process. In fact I had to make the wren house hole smaller by placing a piece of wood across it, because they were staging a hostel takeover, upsetting the wrens. I was able to intervene in time.
They are hated by bluebird lovers, because they take over their birdhouse thus endangering the species. Many people deliberately try to kill them by shaking them out of shrubs during a snow storm hoping they won't find their way back before they die.

Next nuisance is the brown headed cow bird. These guys are really gross. They will knock eggs out of a nest and deposit their own and then leave. Some birds are wise to this, but many end up raising brown headed cow birds. It is obvious sometimes when you see a little bird feeding a giant chick.

I hate pigeons because they are filthy, pooped in a plant dish with water, which my elderly cat drank from and it almost killed her. Once they decide to nest somewhere, you can never get rid of them year after year. I built a cage under my gutter to keep them from nesting under the overhang.

The red bird is a house finch. He is the male and the counter part looks the same but the color is more drab.
 

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Living in the "country" we have a great number of birds. There is a robin's nest right by the window of my spare bedroom-the 3 chicks have gooten very large in the 10 days since they hatched-I'll probably be sorry in a couple of weeks when the cherries are ready for picking and dealing with the bird damage.
We are lucky to have many predator birds-esp an expanding population of bald eagles in my area. If only that peacock would "disappear!!
I mix my own bird seed using black oil sunflower (60%), safflower seed, cracked corn (winter only wrong birds come to feeder otherwise), thistle or a finch finch seed. Kaytee bird seed is headquartered about 35 miles away.
 

menagerie mama

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Yes that's one of my favorite things too. I love going places and then coming home and going online trying to identify birds I don't know by their sound or color. I do that with a lot of things though, birds, animals, bugs, plants...I love learning about it all!
 

pushylady

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Great pictures! I've been trying for ages to get a shot of the cardinals that come to my feeder, but everytime I move, they fly away.

Right now I have maily chickadees coming as I took down my two big feeders and just put up a finch feeder with niger seed. I was having to fill the other feeders every day!! I can't afford that! Apparently, word got out about the good food and we were inundated with grackles, doves and sparrows. They knock a lot of seed off too, which the squirrels enjoy.
Here's a pic I took of a red winged blackbird while out walking. I love their song too.
 

shopcat

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We have alot of birdwatcing action here on the Florida space coast!

Our neighbor keeps a feeder & water in the yard, & we get the usual mockingbirds, grackles, mourning doves & stuff like that, but we also get red bellied wood peckers, & have also seen a southern flicker, which is another type of woodpecker. I once saw a white ibis feeding in our backyard, which never happened before, although we see those birds alot around here. Once we saw some kind of huge owl on top of a telephone pole, but it was dark, so I don't know what kind he was. I've seen Sandhill Cranes, kingfishers, snail kites, herons, egrets, osprey, least & royal terns, brown pelicans, woodstorks, pileated woodpeckers, waxwings, & even Bald Eagles. Birding in Florida is wonderful, there is always something going on, wherever you go!


Here is a pic of the ibis in our backyard..
 
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