Ducks and geese are back in ND. The biologist at my office tracks the first of season sightings, glanced at the list last week and quite a few species arrived the earliest they have in nearly a decade. We have a lake with open water behind our office so I've been looking out my window occasionally. So far we have Canadas, snows, white fronts, pintail, mallard, widgeon, gadwall, common goldeneye, scaup, and a common merganser. On Friday we had maybe a few hundred geese but smaller numbers of the rest. Apparently today we had around 10k snows show up. Guessing tomorrow morning we could get another big push up from SD.
Are Cardinals like House Finches, in that the red color is a pigment they get from their diet? I saw a Yellow House Finch a few weeks ago, and I read that they lack some sort of protein or something that allow for the red, or their diet is different and that's why they're yellow.
It's my day off, rolled over to the LA river this morning because it rained last night. Saw a ton of shit. Owsley what do you think this Great Egret is eating. I thought it was a lizard at first. Western Bluebird Yellow-rumped Warbler Acorn Woodpecker Red-winged Blackbird
Man, that's awesome. Really cool you got a good picture of the Blue Bird's beak. So cool how it evolved to cross over like that to crack seeds.
Popovio my initial thought was a slug based on what look like optical tentacles, but the curvature of the body is throwing me off a bit. Seems rigid for a slug. Regardless, your pictures keep getting better and better, so please keep posting them! This is actually looks to be the result of avian keratin disorder, which has an unknown cause. If it progresses far enough, it’ll get to the point where the affected bird can no longer properly feed or preen itself eventually causing death through starvation or inability to thermoregulate from soiled feathers.
It was writhing pretty strongly. I have other pictures, but it looks like there are some sort of short appendages or gills a little bit down from the head. Pinkish color on the bottom. He's got a lady friend with him, so hopefully he gets some before he goes out. So is "crossbill" the layman's term for that disorder?
Yeah, post some of the other photos if you don’t mind. I’m pretty curious on this one. I’m not real sure there’s a colloquial term for AKD. Crossbills evolved that way to be able to pick seeds from various pine cones, but no other bits species (around here at least) should have an overlapping beak like that.
Heard from a buddy that it might be a Pond Loach. I gotta rip more pictures from my SD card before I can post them.
So badass. I would love to have a camera that can capture photos in flight. I see Swallows all the time and I don't even bother, those fuckers never land. I ripped some more photos from today off my SD card. The first two photos are what birding on the L.A river is like. Trash and concrete. A Great Egret with 30 Tree Swallows in the background Black-crowned Night Heron with some cup lid. A Brewer's Blackbird communing with Satan. Common Yellowthroat Male Cinnamon Teal
Out and about early this morning and whilst driving on a bridge over a coastal waterway, what I'm 99.9% certain was a Mute Swan flew overhead. Had the orange bill with that huge black bump on its head, all white plumage and black legs. That. Is. A. Big. Bird.
Now, I got someone saying that it's a Gray Flycatcher (which is pretty rare), and that Willows almost never show up in LA before May. Idk what to believe. Welcome to the world of Empidonax IDs.
Put out my hummingbird feeder today. There have been some sightings not too far south of Atlanta, so hoping to welcome my little buddies back this week.
Red-bellied woodpeckers are nesting in our old water oak again. The female’s head is poking out of the cavity pretty much every time I go outside. Makes me happy.
Saw a ton of robins on my walk today. They are our kind of traditional bird of the spring. Ton more asshole starlings are back as well.
Robins have one of the greatest scientific names of all time, Turdus migratorius, aka the migrating shit.
Have had an abundance of birds hitting our feeders over the last 2-3 weeks. Regularly have 15-20 Goldfinch, 8-12 Oriole & 3-4 separate pairs of eastern bluebird visitors... they are tearing through my feed
I just came downstairs, walked to where we view the feeders, and there were 30 birds on it… At least two dozen goldfinch, several wrens & assorted warblers. Unfortunately they must have noticed me moving behind the window and half flew off immediately and the other half seconds later, so I couldn’t even get a picture on my phone. It was pretty nuts
Double to triple the number of goldfinch, foraging on the ground, below the feeder. This shit is insane Spoiler
I'm doing a piss-poor job capturing the frenzy, as a large portion of them fly off every time anyone moves inside. I have some good videos, but they won't upload here.
Get a reflective coating on the windows so they can't see you then collect all the bodies as proof of activity.
Went birding this morning. Saw a Merlin, a Yellow Warbler, another Scaly-breasted Munia, and a shit ton of aquatic birds. Will post pics later.
I'm really happy with today's photos. Allen's Hummingbird Cassin's Kingbird Double-crested Cormorant Yellow-rumped Warbler Gave a Scrub-Jay a peanut.
Owsley is this a Merlin or a Peregrine? The black facial markings make me think Peregrine, but the chest plumage doesn't look right for it.
Color amongst peregrines can be highly variable. It might also not have full adult plumage yet. That mask is a dead ringer though.
Anybody ever heard of Salmonellosis in bird feeders Someone posted something about it on nextdoor and posted an article from a city 2.5 hours away I'm wondering if it is something I should really concern myself with or not
Osprey suck at flying. The wind was up and we watched this dude circle his nest for 5-10 minutes trying to land with a stick.
It’s more common with siskins than any other bird, though you may see it in house/purple finches as well. There was an irruption of siskins (and purple finches) this winter, so this was likely observed in a lot of areas where these birds are uncommon, further raising concerns. Regardless, feeders should be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution monthly. I spray mine down with a hand sprayer and let them air dry overnight. If you see multiple birds that appear to be affected, it’s best to take the feeders down for at least 3-4 days, if not a week. All of the siskins and purple finches we got this winter seemingly left overnight last week.
Saw a mallard rape flight on the pond across the street. Hopefully he got some because he's been screaming day and night over there.
I saw a Pin-tailed Whydah today; it's a bird from sub-Saharan Africa. It does the whole brood parasitism thing, so not good news for California birds. Got some other good photos. Spoiler Pin-tailed Whydah blinking Female Phainopepla Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Western Bluebird
Saw a lot of good stuff this weekend. 30 Northern Shovelers, Savannah Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Belted Kingfisher, and a Townsend's Warbler. I think I also saw the Gray Flycatcher again. Birds are going crazy for the insects right now, I was constantly walking through clouds of tiny bugs. Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron Lilac or Red-crowned Parrot nest Townsend's Warbler Gray Flycatcher
Pretty cool experience, over the last few weeks. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds have started to swoop down to a power line, above the feeder, when they see me outside. They watch as I replenish dry & live mealworms, then swoop down immediately when I return the the house & feed