Friday, April 28, 2017

BIRDERS

          I lead a group of birders every Saturday morning for a couple of hours. There are enough interesting areas in town to keep up our interests. We are fortunate to have many natural areas that were left by past residents who had a great  vision. Very little is being left today as it is being developed.

          So when we go out we generally  find the usual suspects and once in  while we see something very different and interesting.

          Last week we spent our time on a trail between the river and a golf course. We saw: Cormorant, Crow, Canada geese, Mallard, Song sparrow, Red-winged blackbird, Common goldeneye, Raven, Robin, Black-capped chickadee, Red-breasted nuthatch, Bald eagle, Downy woodpecker, Magpie, Boreal chickadee, Greater yellowlegs.

         Now the greater yellowlegs was an interesting find. The bird was on the trail and dead. Some predator had captured the bird and was probably sitting in a tree above the trail when it was disturbed and dropped its prey. Now no gory photos. The head had been pulled off the bird as some predators like to eat the head first.

       The other find was Bald eagles nesting. I knew the nest had been there for a few years but this was the first time I had been out when the birds were nesting. The nest was across the river but Jurgen got a great photo. You can just see  the female's head above the nest.

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25 comments:

  1. Thay bald eagle is so impressive to see.

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  2. Thank you for avoiding the gory! There is too much of that.
    I did some birding from my backyard!

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  3. Good selection to be found. In my area all new development must set aside for trails and parks. I have been watching two eagle nests. The young eagles peek over the top at me.Most birds are on the nest right now so one needs to wait to see them.

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    1. Eagles take some time before they leave the nest.

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  4. Thank you for sparing me the gory pictures, and thank you for the wonderful eagle shot! I can see that head sticking up there, all right. :-)

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  5. Bald eagles have made a comeback in this area, but I've never seen one.

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    1. Even though they are a large bird, you till have to look for them.

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  6. That was a good day of early spring birding. If the robins are back, spring cannot be far behind.
    I had an exciting birding day yesterday, birding from a chair in the sunroom. I spotted a lifer, an Acadian flycatcher gathering nesting materials. They are the only flycatchers that breed in the South and a new bird for me.

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    1. Flycatchers are hard to identify as they all have similar dull markings. Good for you.

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  7. Great picture of this nesting couple.

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  8. That is a long list of birds you were able to see. Some of them I would never see down here. I have now moved a little more south and my variety of kinds has changed. I really should write them down to see what varieties that I do have. I miss seeing morning doves but I don't have my tray feeder out yet. I may see them once I get that up.

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    1. We record as we are a group and they then go into the records.

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  9. That is an impressive list of birds you spotted on the trail. Great photo of the nesting eagles.

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    1. We know there are many more birds but they are hard to spot. My friend Jurgen took the eagle photo.

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  10. I've never thought to wonder whether a dead bird gets added to the list for the day or not, but now I think I have the answer.

    That is a wonderful shot of the eagles and their huge nest. I've seen several robins, so things are moving along here, too. I got another feeder today and some finch and small songbird feed. I'm hoping to encourage those tiny birds to stick around.

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  11. Bald eagles are quite an impressive sight. That is such a great shot of that couple. We had a bald eagle once fly across our backyard when we lived in Kingston. It was such an amazing experience.

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  12. That was a fairly long list of bird sightings. And nesting eagles was the icing on the cake!

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  13. We seem to have doubled the bald eagles on the river and that is a fun find!

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  14. Impressive nests these eagles make. Wonderful to go out birding. So many interesting birds.

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  15. That IS a great shot! I had to look up a greater yellowlegs -- I didn't know that bird before. Too bad the poor guy lost his head. :(

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  16. A little late commenting, but I love seeing the nesting Eagles. I was wondering if the Eagles nest is used over and over again.

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