Blackburnian Rambling

Hermit Thrush!

2011-04-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

I was stomping about in the woods today and when I came back, I noticed a bird fluttering about in the leaves near the treeline. I stopped and watched for a moment and was rewarded with the sight of a thrush! :D I was sure it was either a Hermit or a Wood Thrush, but wasn't certain which one. A quick check in the Big Orange Book back at home proved it was a Hermit Thrush. That's a lifer! ^___^

Right next to the thrush was my first warbler of the year - a male Yellow-Rumped! c:

And I saw a towhee in the woods right behind our house yesterday. That's a new closest-to-home record for towhees! c:

The Very Overdue Bird-Count Post

2010-10-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

A while ago - when I made my last post - I promised to reveal all of the details of my Fall Bird Count back on 11 September. Well, here they are now. :D This was my first ever bird count, and I think it went well! There was no trace of the disaster that usually occurs when I attempt to do regular things.

I got up at six in the morning. Yes, six. I don't usually get up until about three hours after that, but it wasn't so bad. I was going to see BIRDS. I could have been dragged out of bed at three in the morning and fed cold gruel and forced to walk to the nature park and I wouldn't have cared.

We got there at about seven, which was the time we were supposed to start. So that was good. :D At least I was on time. We went into the nature centre to gather and get our Mission Briefing - Mum had to leave right away, as two of my younger siblings had soccer games to be at. So she left me my dad's cell phone, which I luckily turned out not to need (apart from keeping in contact with the family, of course).

There were only about seven other people there apart from the guides, so I got a privately guided tour! We took a nice long trail that I've only been on once or twice before. Right away we were swarmed by chickadees who wanted to know if we had any FOOD FOOD FOOD for them. (Unfortunately, we didn't, but they followed us through most of the park anyway.)

We saw TONS of robins. They were flocking up and swarming about and making their funny 'clark-clark kent' calls. (That's what it sounds like to me, anyway.) I learned right off that we weren't supposed to write numbers on the paper while we were still counting! We would tally up and estimate how many birds we'd seen at lunch - after the walk. I'd had no idea how to do this, so it was good to learn. :D

I have my tally sheet somewhere; I've left it hidden somewhere so safe I can't find it. I shall attempt to dig it out, because I can't remember everything we saw.

Oops, it's been about three days since I started this post. I still haven't found my list, but as soon as I do I shall post the numbers!

Anyway, I had a LOT of fun. I saw several lifers! I think we saw three kinds of vireos, at least two of which I'd never seen before. I saw a Lincoln's Sparrow, too! I really want to see more kinds of sparrows and that was very cool. The fine streaking on the breast is so beautiful - like lines made with a very sharp pencil! (Perhaps I ought to draw some, eh?)

And then there were the warblers. This was no Magee Marsh trip, but we still saw good numbers! I spotted four Black-and-Whites - my first four, incidentally - which surprised my guide. (Proudness! ^___^) I also spotted a Black-Throated Blue - also a lifer, though I didn't realise it until afterwards! You see, I've spent so much time paging through field guides and trying to memorise ALL THE WARBLERS that I couldn't remember if I'd ever seen a Black-Throated Blue before! A quick peek at my list back home confirmed that this was a new bird for me.

Oh, the cuckoo! I hadn't realised we even had cuckoos here until a few weeks before the trip. But I got lucky - right at the end, we were watching a few goldfinches and some warblers when a big something flew through my field of vision. The shape was immediately familiar to me, and I think I actually might have shouted about it. (I did get the species wrong, though; my first impression told me Black-Billed and it turned out to be a Yellow-Billed.) I love the harlequin patterns of their tails. :D

We saw about seven geese (flying overhead - we weren't near any ponds or lakes) and one starling. And two blackbirds, I think. What a difference from the boisterous flocks of just a few weeks earlier! Their numbers have dwindled now as they migrate south - although I'm still catching sight of a few immature male blackbirds at our feeders.

I think that's just about it for the Exciting Birding Report. I may discover my list soon; when I do I'll check out the numbers and species to see if I missed anything.

Oh, the juncos have showed up! They turned up about two days after I said 'right, they should be here any day now!' Ah, I'm good. :D These Slate-Coloureds are looking more and more like other subspecies every year, I swear! I may just have to lie in wait and photograph them - perhaps my nature centre can tell me if the subspecies are interbreeding or migrating to new grounds now. Because they're really, really brown for Slate-Coloureds. And it's not just the females.

Next up: Pictures of tiny little birds that I've made from clay and painted! :D Excitement!

Raptors

2010-09-14T20:46:00.001-07:00

It's been a long, long while since I've reported anything here, so I've got a bit to catch up on! There wasn't really a lot happening from June to August, so there just wasn't that much to post about. But starting at the beginning of September, things got exciting again!

We went to the Renaissance Faire two weekends ago (I think) and it was SO MUCH FUN. There was so much to see! We didn't even look through half the shops, if my estimation is correct, and it was just HUGE.

The highlight of the day - for me, at least - was when we happened to catch a live raptor demonstration. I was wandering about and trying to find something to quench my thirst when I saw a Harris' Hawk fly overhead.

Something wasn't right there. I stared for a while. I think my mouth was open. Then it clicked: we were right by the 'arena' they used for jousting shows and the like. So there was a raptor demonstration, I decided. Forgetting my need for something to drink, I wandered to one of the benches and sat down.

I was so caught up in watching the pretty pretty bird that I didn't fully realise what was going on. The next thing I knew, Mum had prodded me to stand up, had seized one of my arms, and was now waving it about. Was I volunteering for something? Apparently. The woman doing the demonstration waved me over to come down and stand by her.

"Take this lure," she said, and I nodded enthusiastically.

"You have to be a rabbit," she said.

Okay. I can be a rabbit. That'll be fun. :D

"When I say GO, you have to GO, because the hawk knows what I'm saying."

All righty then. Outrun the hawk. That'll be difficult at best.

Then she said GO and I started running. I suddenly realised how hard it was to run on sand. I knew the hawk was right behind me, and I turned; her talons just missed the lure I was jerking about. The falconer called back her hawk, and then we went for Round Two.

It went quickly. I managed to evade the hawk once again, but then I began to tire. Round Three was almost a success, but I slowed and the hawk finally caught the lure.

Then my throat was dry and I was dizzy and confused from all the running-through-sand and making sharp turns. I was thanked for my assistance and went back to one of the benches after a round of applause (hee hee!) to watch the Saker falcons do their part.

After the show, I went back down to the fenced-in area so our friend could take some pictures of me with the hawk (we'd left our camera at home). The falconer told me she'd be doing another show about two hours later and she'd have a Eurasian Eagle-Owl. So two hours later, I ended up back at the arena.

I was confused for a while: there wasn't anyone in sight. Then something in the corner of my eye flapped its wings - huge-normous wings - and I realised she was over near a cluster of food stands.

So I hurried down there. She had an eagle-owl, all right, and there were people gathered around her, watching, talking.

Then she saw me and called me over, and it occurred to me that there were people petting the owl. After confirming with her that this was okay, I reached out a hand to touch the silky-soft wing feathers.

The owl didn't care.

This is the sort of thing I normally only dream about. I was enchanted: I touched her wings and back, admired the talons and fluffy feet (but didn't touch those!) and then I tentatively reached up to touch her head.

The owl still didn't care. She just kept staring into my soul with her eyes like twin harvest moons. Silent, patient, and seemingly all-knowing.

I stroked her head, fondled those beautiful ear tufts - bliss. She just looked around.

We did a lot of other stuff at the Ren Faire, but that right there was the highlight of my day.

Next up: My First Bird Count Ever. :D

New Lifers!

2010-06-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

More lovely birding today. 8D I tried (and failed) to track down the Mysterious Buzzing Bird, saw lots of hummingbirds (actually, probably just the same one over and over again), got eaten by mosquitoes and deerflies, and listened to catbirds doing their spectacular impressions.

Then I decided to wander through some tall grass to the base of a tree surrounded by bushes. This was a good idea, because I ended up seeing a pair of Yellow Warblers and a pair of Common Yellowthroats. :D They were not getting along so well.

As I was watching one of the fearsome battles between Mr Yellow and Mr Yellowthroat, a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER hove into view.

It was just like that, too. It was out of nowhere. BOOM. Blue-Winged Warbler. :D That was super-happy. This one was like a model bird, too. He could have been the photograph from any field guide. ^___^ I got a very good look at him before he disappeared.

I also saw a Field Sparrow! This one stayed around just long enough for me to gather some field marks to refer to later. But it was certainly a Field Sparrow. :3

Then I got distracted. The next few moments went something like this:

(bird in background) drink your TEEEEA!
(me) Hmm...nice birdy noises. :D -watching Yellowthroats intently-
(bird in background) drink your TEEEEA!
(me) Pretty sounds! -watches birds-
(bird in background) drink your-
(me) HMGSH TOWHEE ~ -scrambles quietly to path-
-Green Heron flies over-
(me) -gaping up at sky while trying to shoo away deerflies- Hurh?
-deerflies conspire against me and heron escapes-
(me) Where's that towhee? :o -can't find it-

Now that I'm listening to towhee noises on my computer, I realise I was hearing one right at the start of my trip today. xD I knew it sounded familiar...it was a towhee going 'vreet!' and I thought it was a flycatcher or something.

Actually, I did see flycatchers. They were tiny and all Empidonax-like. >:O So hard to identify. I will have to listen closely to them~

Forgot to post this earlier, but I also saw a Yellow-Throated Vireo at the nature park a few weeks ago. :3

Four Nests & Banding Day

2010-06-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

We went back to the nature park a few days ago. We had a lovely time and were lucky enough to see no fewer than four different birds' nests! In order of sighing:

-Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher - my second sighting of these pretty little things. They're EXTREMELY little. The nest was on a top branch of a tall, dead-looking tamarack or some sort of evergreen. If we used the binoculars, we could see two fuzzy little baby heads poking out the top! We watched both the parents feed the babies for a while, then continued down the path.

-Yellow Warbler - Only a few moments later, a warbler's sweet sweet song caught my attention. After a few seconds of confusion and poking about, we found a male Yellow Warbler. He had a little caterpillar in his beak! We watched him for a while and then he flew off with the caterpillar. The warbler came back a few seconds later and flew down into some long grassy reeds. He poked the caterpillar into a tiny little nest caught between three or four reeds! His mate showed up a bit later, and they took turns feeding bugs and things to the babies. I couldn't see into this nest because I didn't want to frighten the parents - but at the right angle, looking through binoculars (at the nest a foot in front of me) I could tell that at least one of the eggs was unhatched. It was super tiny. :D Maybe we can go back soon and get pictures!

-American Robin - I've known about this nest for a while now, and today when we looked inside we saw some snuggled-up featherless babies! I couldn't even tell how many there were - they were so crammed together it was impossible to count them. There were five eggs, though, before they hatched, so there can't be more than five babies...right? xD

-Eastern Phoebe - This one is too high up to see into, but it's been there for a while, too. It's actually very close to the robin's nest. If you get too close, the mother will fly to a nearby branch and sit there and stare at you until you go away!

Now I'm watching the banding - LIVE - at the Rochester Falconcam! Excitement! :D

Birds All Gone

2010-05-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Conditions (weather or otherwise) have not been favourable for heading back to Toledo, and somehow I've managed not to get back there since I first went. I've been checking the sightings updates on their Twitter feed (which stopped five days ago - my last connection was gone) and sometimes popping onto their updates and predictions blog.

Today's post was titled something to the effect of "Warblers All Gone. There Are Some Cuckoos Left But Ashira Can't Even See Those Because Even Though She Doesn't Live Far Away She Doesn't Have A Horse With Which To Get Here."

My spectacular warbler species total for my visit was 8. Oh well. It's more than I'd ever seen together at one time, that's for sure! Happy.

It's also probably more than the number that live here during the summer. .__. Not so happy.

I wonder if they'll pile up by Magee Marsh again during the fall migration?

Maybe not.

Maybe next May. Maybe my goal until then should be learning to identify female warblers. Ha.

:D?

Grr. Argh.

More Lifers!

2010-05-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

I did some more stomping around in the woods today and found:

An oriole (making a mysterious noise that I just HAD to identify)
Stinging nettles! D:
-here I went back to get baking soda and my sister's galoshes-
Lots of noises: Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats were singing everywhere, but I didn't see a single one. xD Figures.
A WILSON'S WARBLER! 8D Actually, there were two or three of them.
A robin sitting very still in a tree that had her nest in it. :D
-here I tried to go home but got distracted by bunting noises-
Lots of water.
A FLOCK OF INDIGO BUNTINGS! 8D
-here I went inside and ate half of a sandwich, then went to the softball/birding park-
I heard more mysterious noises. :o
More Indigo Buntings.
I followed a noise and finally found its source: a Solitary Vireo! ^___^
I also heard a sound I couldn't identify - as soon as I got closer, the bird flew away. xD It was small and had yellow on it, and it was going 'dee dee dee dee BZZZZZZZ! dee dee dee dee BZZZZZZZ!' with the BZZ parts sounding just like a cricket. I'm determined to find out what it was later on.

So - two more lifers. :D Wilson's Warblers and Solitary Vireo.

Three Lifers

2010-05-19T19:55:00.001-07:00

I went back into the woods today (this time equipped with my sister's galoshes!) and saw even more birds. :D First I saw the flickers' nest, and the female was at the nest hole watching me warily. Then I saw a Common Yellowthroat with his lovely lady friend. ^___^ Lots of Song Sparrows were singing. And this entire time, I was hearing a noise that sounded sort of like a cross between a killdeer and a goldfinch.

I'd heard it the last time I was in the woods, but I'd never found the bird making the noise. So this time I was determined to identify the source of the Mysterious Squeaking Noise!

I followed it for a long time and finally - when it seemed as though the bird must be right in front of me - I found the source. A flycatchery-thing was fluttering about in the trees, swooping down to grab bugs every so often. I wrote down some field marks - yellowish tummy, short bill, very small, pale throat - and tried to remember to look up the bird in the field guide when I got home.

I found the bird in the book eventually - the photo shows a bird with a whiter tummy, but states it can be more yellowish - and it's an Eastern Wood-Pewee. :D I'd never seen them before! I looked up the song - and sure enough: it was the same one I'd been hearing. Mysterious noise solved!

We went to a park later on - my dad was playing softball, and I came to tromp around in the woods behind all the sporty court things - and I saw two more lifebirds. The first was a towhee! :D (I thought I'd seen one on my holiday in early April, but was never quite sure - this was my first confirmed sighting.) Here's how it went:

Me: *tromping delicately along path so as not to scare off the birds*
Towhee: (sitting in middle of path) BRZHVZH! *flutters into stumpy tree-thing*
Me: *staring open-mouthed* Gh?
Towhee: BRZHVZHVH! *flutters about*

And it was just minutes into my expedition! :D Already excited, I continued on. From a nearby tree I heard something that made me stop in my tracks:

fire!-fire!-where?-where?-here!-here!-see it?-see it?

Thanks to the Birdorable post about Indigo Buntings a few weeks ago, I recognised this song! :D So I watched intently for what seemed like a very long time, but I couldn't see the bunting. Then he must have flown away when I looked down for a split second, as I didn't hear him any more.

I was determined to see the bunting, so I waited for a while, but he didn't return. So I decided to look for warblers while I waited for another bunting to show up. ^____^ I found lots of Yellows and then I decided to take a different path through some pine trees.

I heard a lot of noise coming from up ahead, and dreams of Wood Thrushes or thrashers danced through my head. But when I got very, very close to the noise, I couldn't see any bird. I stood there being confused for a while when a bird flew out of the tree and landed in another one nearby. Now I could see that it was a catbird! It was mimicking all sorts of other birds - including the Joyful Goldfinch Squeak - but if I listened closely, I could still hear the meowish trill woven in with the songs.

While I was watching the catbird, I heard another bunting! This one, I told myself, I really had to see. So I watched for a while, and then a tiny little bird hopped into view. I thought it was a warbler, but when I looked at it through the binoculars I could see that it was the one singing! I had a bad view - mostly a silhouette - but I could tell the bird was very, very blue. I watched him until he flew away and then resumed my Warbler Hunt.

I didn't see anything else new, but three lifers in one day isn't bad! :D

Common Yellowthroats!

2010-05-17T16:44:00.001-07:00

We went to the nature park today for some reading and schoolwork and I kept hearing a birdsong I'd never heard before. It turned out to be Common Yellowthroats going 'witchety witchety witchety'! I knew they were supposed to say that, but I didn't know what it really sounded like. :3

So I saw my first Yellowthroats and then some more Yellows! :D Fun fun day.

Yellow Warblers & Flicker Nest!

2010-05-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today I was wandering around in some woody fields at a small park near home (looking for birds, of course) and heard the 'sweet sweet sweet' call I'd heard from the Yellow Warblers in Ohio. So I followed it and saw some small yellowish birds. They were fluttering around too much to identify (I hadn't brought my binoculars even after wondering if I might need them) but I went back to find Bird-Crazy Little Sister (a perfect birding buddy!) and then we saw some properly. 8D

There were squillions of them - one flew right in front of us! Others perched in trees and sang to us. ^___^ A lovely day!

When we got home, I tromped around in the woods behind our house and, beside getting my feet/socks/shoes thoroughly wet (Converse = excellent, but not waterproof), I saw the following things:

Singing Song Sparrows
Pretty purple flowers
Flicker near/at/in nest cavity!
Fat frog with yellow tummy
Olive-Sided Flycatcher
85% percent certain Hooded Warbler! 8D

I only got a bit of a look at the warblery thing before he left, but he was tiny and yellow and had a black hood. :3 I will have to look for him on further expeditions into the woods.

Oh, and I saw our first-of-year oriole in the oak tree this morning. He was singing and I thought he was a grosbeak - but then he hopped out onto a branch and I saw his oranginess :D

The Biggest Day

2010-05-08T16:05:00.001-07:00

So far, anyway - my biggest day for warblers. :D

The weather: cold, a bit wet, and very windy. The birding: fabulous!

I saw:

Scarlet Tanager
Veery
Eastern Phoebe
White-Crowned Sparrow
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

WARBLERS!

Northern Parula
Yellow (lots of these)
Chestnut-Sided (lots of these too!)
Cape May - one good look at one of my favourite warblers!
Yellow-Rumped - the third time I've seen them. :3
Black-Throated Green - a female showed up at our porch last fall, but I'd never seen males before. There were lots!
Palm - two or three of these
American Redstart - a really good look toward the end. Beautiful!

I also saw owls - there was a display by Back to the Wild!

Barn Owl - I'd seen these before, but only at other programmes or displays.
Great Horned - Saw one in the wild last September. And previously at displays.
Barred - again, not the first time. But pretty.
Eastern Screech - one grey, one red. Very adorable.
Long-Eared Owl - for the first time ever! They're WAY smaller than I thought they were. :D So cute! And they have pretty eyelids.

Plus a one-eyed Red-Tailed Hawk and a pair of kestrels. Oh, and a kestrel on the telephone wires on the way there. ^____^

We're planning on going back later next week, and they're reporting sightings of things we didn't even see. So there's still a lot more to find. :D

A Bit Irritating

2010-05-05T06:26:00.001-07:00

I spend so much time perusing my field guides for fun that birds usually end up in my dreams. Unfortunately, as I do spend so much time with field guides, these birds are ultra-realistic and often I am convinced that I'm not dreaming. :C

My sleeping life list:

Wilson's Warblers (recurring theme?)
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Towhees
Pine Siskin
Hooded Merganser

There are more, I'm sure. But it's always so disappointing to wake up and find out I haven't ACTUALLY seen these birds! D:

Oh well. I shouldn't complain; at least my dreams are pleasant.

Can't Wait

2010-05-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Biggest Week: Sightings Updates

My three favourite warblers are there right now. 8D Blackburnian, Magnolia, and Cape May. I'll be there on Saturday. Can't can't can't wait.
I'm going to have to, though. Maybe I could sleep until then! Yeah. :D Okay! Wake me up on Saturday!

Then I'd miss Wednesday, though, my favourite day of the week. Besides, there's something thrilling about waiting. It's a good thing I'm patient. -pats self on back- Between obsessively checking the Twitter updates and obsessively checking my own birdfeeders for summer friends, it'll seem like no time at all!

See, I have summer friends. C:

Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks!

2010-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

I happened to glance out the window a few minutes ago and saw a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak on the new tray feeder! A few moments later, he was joined by a female - probably his mate, I think. They liked the feeder a lot -

OH! They're back! 8D

Yes - as I was writing, I looked out the window again and there they are. C: I got a nice picture the first time and I'll try to put that up soon. ^___^

New Feeder!

2010-04-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

We went to PetSmart today and after petting a lovely and friendly Bernese Mountain Dog puppy (plushie-soft fur!), I found a platform feeder - just what I've been after. It's the Stokes Select brand - great stuff at brilliant prices - and assembly was a snap. I put it out a few minutes ago - filled with a mix of sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, and unsalted peanuts - and I can't wait for the cardinals/jays/doves? to discover it. :D

Notes To Self

2010-04-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

-Fill the birdbath BEFORE putting safflower seeds on the ground. Or put a nozzly thing on the hose.

-Toes get cold when you hose them with water and stand in the near-freezing air.

-Don't leave the seed block cage up overnight. Raccoons WILL get it, even if you try and appease them with crackers instead.

I had to replace the suet block, too. It was fun watching the blackbirds trying to get suet chunks out of the birdbath before I changed the water - they were standing on the rim trying to fish out the floating chunks. Quite entertaining, but probably not very sanitary. I need a better place for the birdbath...

I just found out that Indigo Buntings DO show up here in the summer. Hurr. Took me this long to figure it out?

A Better Look at Ducks

2010-04-20T17:02:00.001-07:00

We went back to the nature park today and I got a much better look at the pair of Wood Ducks! Of course, this time we forgot to bring the camera. D: Oh well. We'll just have to go back soon...

Also - we were sitting and reading by a nice little lake and there was another Duster of Clucks. This one was smaller and had only one species - but I've never seen Ring-Necked Ducks before! I got a nice look at them and I'm 100% sure that's what they are - they had pointy crowns, black heads and backs, and even the trademark swirl on their sides between black and white. :D Here's a beautiful picture of a Ring-Necked Duck in case you're not familiar with them:

Not mine, unfortunately - it seems to have been taken by a Rhonda Spencer. Nice job, Ms Spencer. ;D (Click on it to see it larger - it's worth it!)

Duster of Clucks

2010-04-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

...or cluster of ducks, whichever you prefer.

I went to my local nature park with my family on Thursday and we had a lovely walk. :D Saw some chipmunks and red squirrels and LOADS of turtles.

There was also a large mixed flock of various ducks in the middle of an enormous pond. I could make out some details with the binoculars, but I could barely tell what they were. D: There were 5-6 species and my analysis was as follows:

Some unidentifiable ducks.
A possible Goldeneye or two.
98% sure of a Canvasback! :D

I also saw a Wood Duck on the way into the park - a lifer C: I didn't get a good look at him, though. When we parked and walked back to look he had left, but it was still exciting. ^___^ Maybe next time the Elusive Duckflock will be in a better viewing area...

Carolina Wrens are still here!

2010-04-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to fear that my bubbly brown friends had left for the year, but just yesterday I heard one of them performing the signature 'teakettle-teakettle' call! I'm very excited - perhaps they'll nest near my house. :D

On my drive home on Saturday-Sunday, I saw loads of ospreys, a wild alligator, and a Bald Eagle. I miss the willets, but it's good to be home. I'll probably be taking a trip to our local nature park tomorrow - who knows...perhaps I'll be back with some exciting news to report!

Vacation Birding

2010-04-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is the last day of my lovely vacation. D: It'll be really nice to see my cats and cockatiels, though. My vacation has been excellent, with loads of sand and surf and sun, but my favourite part has been the "exotic" wildlife - beach birds!

Here's a list - along with a few observations - of the birds I've seen over the past week:

Great Black-Backed Gull - Pretty sure of this one. He was standing on a telephone pole as we drove past and he was HUGE with a big black back. ^___^

Possible Towhee - Pretty sure of this one, too. It looked very much like an Eastern Towhee and was sitting on a telephone wire - we went by so fast, it was hard to tell, but I saw a grey back, russety sides, and long tail. :D

Laughing Gulls - Very, very cool. Many of my mornings here have been spent tossing bread/English muffins/chocolate-free pancakes to flocks of 30+ Laughing Gulls. They'll catch any crumbs and chunks you throw into the air - diving, rolling, even going over backwards - and whatever they miss (which isn't a lot) goes to the birdies waiting below.

Boat-Tailed Grackles - Absolutely adorable. Their personality really shows. They're a bit different to the Commons I have back home: the males have yellow eyes, enormously puffy heads, and really, really shiny blue-and-purple plumage. The females are brown with some yellowish washing below. It's really fun to watch them, too. The males get all showy and loud when they see the pretty girls, and the way they walk is hilarious. Wish I could kidnap them and bring them back home. D:

Northern Mockingbirds - My first fully-realised sighting! :D I haven't seen mockingbirds since I was really little and I don't remember them. I'm supposed to have them back home, too, but I've never seen one where we live. These guys are fun: they'll sit in the scrubby-bush things and sing, and sometimes they chase the poor crows away and make hissing grating noises. I saw one of them stomping around in the sand, and every few seconds he would stretch his wings - seemingly with some intent - and peck something off of the ground. It looked like when herons shade the water with their wings, but I don't know what he was doing.

Willets - In winter plumage. These are fun, too. They skitter around on their spindly legs and eat the misfortunate mole crabs (also cute). I've seen them in groups of twenty or so, and sometimes they steal food from each other. Some of them can be quite tame - they stand still while Mum is running past them. When I pull out the binoculars, though, they take off. Go figure.

Double-Crested Cormorants - Literally thousands. No exaggeration here. There were thousands. I saw at least a hundred in one flock alone, and they amass themselves in ENORMOUS numbers going over the ocean. Wow. I also watched them diving for fish - cool!

Pelicans - I think they were Brown Pelicans. Saw four or five flying overhead on the way here and lots more going over the ocean fishing. :D

Sanderlings - Also in winter plumage. Really, really adorable. I want to squeeze them (gently, of course). I saw them on the fourth or fifth day running about with the Willets in a big mixed flock. They like to hide in the dunes and dips of the sand and look cute. I actually saw them running sideways a few times!

Then we went to a little wildlife refuge:

Eastern Meadowlark - Singing! I'd never heard them singing before, even when they're in the field next to my house. They sound a little like their blackbird cousins, and definitely resemble them in profile.

Assorted Terns - Royal or Caspian, Sandwich for sure, probably Common or Least. I was silly and didn't get a picture, but they were all in a mixed flock (twenty? thirty?) and then I saw some diving for fish by our rented house. :D Actually, one Royal/Caspian was fighting a Laughing Gull for a tasty tidbit of some fishy sort. It was really cool to watch - they were about the same size, and it was a neat Epic Sky Battle.

American Coots - In a flock of ~10 near a little island shore. I love their white foreheads. Through the binoculars I could tell they weren't all black - their heads and necks are black, and the rest of their bodies are dark, dark grey.

Snowy Egret - Finally in BREEDING PLUMES! I'd never seen the cresty breeding plumes before, and it was really neat to see. I never saw his feet - just his legs, as he was wading - but according to my field guide they're bright yellow, even though the legs are black.

Tundra Swans - Also a first sighting, I think. A magnificent pair of them were circling...and circling...and circling the lake.

Little Brown Sandpipers - Not sure on the actual species here. I didn't get a good look at them. But they were cute. :D

Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher - ! Very cool. White eye ring, black eyebrow, very tiny. We got pictures, but he's hard to see.

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS! - My second warbler sighting EVER. I saw a cluster of them in the bushes at the refuge (only got a good look at one, though - there could have been other species, but I didn't see them) and then another pair on our neighbours' fence and deck chair. The pair I saw seemed to be one male and one female: I got a nice look at the male, and he looked moulty - probably moulting into breeding plumage. His yellow rump (perfect field mark) and crown streak were there, but his yellow shoulder patches were seemingly absent. The rest of his body was pretty - blue-grey and streaky. I'm absurdly excited about this - being somewhat crazy about warblers, it's a nice surprise. The only other one I've seen would be the female Black-Throated Green that turned up on our porch last fall.

A nice long post! Hopefully I'll have some new birds up soon - spring migration should be coming up. And the Biggest Week in American Birding (Toledo)? I'm going. 8D

Song Sparrow!

2010-03-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

For the past few days I've been hearing some lovely Song Sparrow song outside the window while I use the computer. Today I finally saw what may be my first realised Song Sparrow on the deck!

As soon as I got the camera, he flew away. Because, y'know, photography is the leading cause of death for Small Pretty Birds. (That and binoculars. ;D)

If I get pictures, I shall put them up. ^__^ How exciting!

I haven't seen the wrens in a while...hope they're still around. The bluebirds are everywhere, though!

Spring Friends!

2010-03-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's no longer winter, and while I welcome the warmer temperatures, I'm going to miss my winter birdie buddies.

The American Tree Sparrows are some of my favourite sparrows, and they're still hanging around - but I know they'll be gone soon, along with the Dark-Eyed Juncos. I haven't seen many White-throats at all, and only one Red-Breasted Nuthatch, but I'll miss them too.

I've got some new spring friends, though: the enormous flocks of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Brown-Headed Cowbirds are arriving, and the Kildeer are running through the roads once more.

But what I'm looking forward to the most this year are the spring migrants: warblers, hopefully, and possibly some tanagers. I'm hoping to be in Toledo for the Biggest Week in American Birding - I'm really looking forward to that. :D Warblers galore!

Unfortunately, I haven't really got much more to say. Oh well. Perhaps soon something exciting will happen.

Oh, actually - something did happen today. I was listening to bluebirds with my little sister and one of them flew right in front of us. :D I was really surprised at how blue he was. It looks like they're staking out my neighbour's birdhouse as a potential nesting site!

Cardinal Rule

2010-02-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

Note: The below story has a happy ending. :D No need to worry.

I feed safflower seeds to the Northern Cardinals, and it has them flocking to the deck. Yesterday I counted ten cardinals on the deck at one time. Wow.

A few hours later, my two younger sisters were watching the birds while I was playing RuneScape in the computer room. Suddenly a cardinal hit the glass door, and they called me out to the kitchen.

The cardinal had hit the door and fallen into the foot of snow below, where he was almost completely buried. I had to dig him out with my hands. D: It was scary because I didn't want to crush him, but with enough gentle brushing of snow I managed to get him out before he froze to death or something.

I pulled him out carefully and my throat went cold: he was bleeding from his beak and making sad grating noises. Sure he was about to die, I felt helpless.

But the seconds ticked by and he kept breathing. I took him inside and Mum grabbed a cardboard box and a towel. We stuck him in the box and I waited while Mum called the vet. The vet gave her a number to call to get another number. So she called the first number - and as she was talking to them, the cardinal popped to his feet with a startled squeak. She told them, and they informed us we didn't need to do anything.

"Just wait," they said. "Wait half an hour and see if you can let him go outside."

We covered the box with a tea-towel and I went back to the computer, box on lap, to catch some more implings on RuneScape. (xD) I checked on the cardinal every few minutes. He looked around and, more importantly, breathed.

After half an hour had passed, he suddenly seemed to come to his senses and decided it was TIME TO LEAVE. He threw himself against the side of the box, and I had to hold the towel over to make sure we didn't have a cardinal flying about the house - which would have been neat, but would also have made things harder.

We managed to get him to the deck door without him leaving the box, and we opened the door and I took the towel from the top. Holding the box out the door, I watched as he took to his wings in a flurry of feathers and made a beeline for the bushes behind the big oak tree in our back lawn. His friends made dive-runs past him, as if wondering where he'd been, and all was well.

I experienced the most amazing feeling as I watched him leave: that of letting a wild thing go free again - of granting the well-deserved freedom to a lovely little bird.

IN OTHER NEWS. . .

The Carolina Wren has survived through the cold, cold winter. (I think it's got something to do with the fat I'm feeding them.) And best of all, she's brought a friend! I saw them both at the feeder for the first time a few days ago, and later I heard them making lovely bubble-and-squeak noises to each other. I hope they'll have little baby wrens once spring comes. :D Maybe I should put nest boxes out?

The crows and ravens continue to stalk us from the oak tree. I love watching them sit in the branches and watch us. I wish they'd go after the fat I put on the deck rails; I've never seen them that close. Although we do have some corvids on our deck from time to time - the beautiful blue jays that make attack runs on the seed blocks. C:

The American Tree Sparrows are swarming in to eat the seeds and suet. And the House Sparrows look so much like the aforementioned that it's hard to believe they're not actually sparrows, but Old World Sparrows - members of the weaver finch family! The White-Throated Sparrows are, sadly, not putting in many appearances, although I did see what I believe was my first-ever Tan Morph White Throated Sparrow late last year.

I almost forgot - the lovely people over at Birdorable have featured some colouring pages from their website that I coloured in and sent to them! Go check out their website - it's adorable. :D

Startling Starlings!

2010-01-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

I discovered last year that European Starlings stay over the winter where I live, and last week I saw some on the porch. I see them at the feeders all the time in the summer, but I'd never seen them on the porch in the winter before. They look enormous for some reason - bigger than they do in the summer - and I had a good laugh watching three of them trying to eat from the Downy-sized suet cage.

Another surprising winter visitor? American Robins! They stay year-round where I live, apparently. And for the six years I've been here, I've never seen them in the winter before...

Otherwise, things are progressing as usual. The Carolina Wren looks sort of fat now, although it's probably mostly fluff. She does look like a baseball. c:

From A Different State...

2009-12-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

Ashira makes a post. :o

I haven't got any pictures, but it was just about time to update my birding blog. :3 And I have got some rather exciting news!

Driving between relatives' houses yesterday, I noticed a pair of large, dark birds circling overhead. On first sight, I thought they were crows or ravens. But as I was watching them, one of the birds angled and flew in front of the sun. Once they were lit from the back, I could clearly see that their heads and tails were pure white.

This excited me, and although I only had a few moments to watch the Newly Realised Eagles, every second was exciting. This is the third time I've seen Bald Eagles in the wild (at least that I remember). Earlier this year I saw a pair circling over a lake behind our friends' cabin, and the year before that I saw a single eagle circling over a forest...on the way to the same cabin. c:

I hope I haven't bored you all to tears with my long descriptions of various things. It's all rather exciting to me.

Still Under Construction

2009-11-28T19:30:00.001-08:00

I know - I bet you're all thinking I've forgotten to post recently.

Well, in that case, you'd be right.

However, I have plans for this blog, and most of the work is being done in my head so far. My two big plans:

2. Find a nice colour scheme. I like the layout, but I want to fiddle with the colours.
1. Take pictures of all the bird species that visit my feeders and put them up in the sidebars.

It sounds simple, doesn't it? :P We'll see.

WELCOME...

2009-11-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

to Ashira's birding blog.

Here's the truth: I'm obsessively enthusiastic about birds. So much so, in fact, that when I'm not eating, sleeping, or writing down things I find witty, I'm trying to educate the general public about birds.

This blog is an extended attempt at that. So over the next few days, I'll be working on getting this blog up and running.

SEE YOU ALL SOON - with loads of things you never wanted to know about birds...