Any bird watchers or birders in the house?

[Balok's Decoy]

I've been a birder for a few years and it's become a major part of my life. I'm obsessed. I'm wondering if anyone else here is a bird watcher, birder, aviphile, etc.

Any other bird nerds? Tell me about your birding! Where do you bird, what birds do you like, do you feed birds, volunteer for bird groups, ever traveled to see birds, etc and so forth?

 

[Velocity]

I have many different feeders in my backyard; suet, seeds (mostly nyger, safflower, and black oil sunflower seeds),hummingbird feeders (I make my own sugar water), nugget and mealworm feeders. And once it gets cold I put peanuts on my deck, attracting bluejays, junco, brown thrashers, cardinals, and wrens. I have seen downy woodpeckers and red bellied woodpeckers on the suet feeder this week. I used to get lots of tufted titmice but they stopped visiting last year. In the winter we get migrating swans and snow geese among others.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I have many different feeders in my backyard; suet, seeds (mostly nyger, safflower, and black oil sunflower seeds),hummingbird feeders (I make my own sugar water), nugget and mealworm feeders. And once it gets cold I put peanuts on my deck, attracting bluejays, junco, brown thrashers, cardinals, and wrens. I have seen downy woodpeckers and red bellied woodpeckers on the suet feeder this week. I used to get lots of tufted titmice but they stopped visiting last year. In the winter we get migrating swans and snow geese among others.

That's awesome! I'm jealous of people who can do backyard birding. I live in Baltimore City, and there's really no bird diversity in my area. I mean, we have a family of American Kestrel who live in the rafters of a nearby church. And I've spotted a Downy Woodpecker on the tree outside my bedroom window. But I'm reasonably sure if I put out feeders we'd just attract the invasive city birds, House Sparrows and Starlings.

 

[Velocity]

I have trouble with blackbirds, but they usually leave safflower seed alone.
There is a sharp shinned hawk that hangs around the neighborhood. He sat on my deck for awhile one day. All the birds hid, but I think he was trolling for squirrels. I've seen him pounce on them before. I wouldn't miss a couple of those.

 

[J.T.B.]

I am not an expert birder or anything but I enjoy observing them and following their activities. We have feeders with a regular crowd of black-capped chickadees, goldfinches, red-breasted nuthatches and house finches, and in the fall/winter dark-eyed juncos and the occasional mountain chickadee. Flickers are always around, too, and robins of course, and today I saw a towhee for the first time of the season. There are also a couple of scrub jays that my son has spoiled with peanuts. We also have about two dozen California quail around, which we feed when it gets cold, but one of them got killed the other day, I think by a kestral, and they have been scarce since. There are also what my wife calls the shit-birds: starlings, magpies and Eurasian collared doves. Mourning doves are around too but since the collared doves invaded they really keep quiet, you hardly ever hear them anymore.

Away from home, we go to watch bald eagles and pelicans once in a while, and almost every winter we go to see a massive snow geese migration. When we go on trips we try to spot birds as much as possible. I used to see golden eagles fairly often but then I went a long time without seeing one, but I did finally see a big one again last year in Montana. But enough about me and birds...

 

[J.T.B.]

Ah, the quail are back. And hungry!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I have one feeder out on my 4th floor patio. Over the summer I set my camera up outside and had the RF remote attached after I saw the woodpecker and other colorful birds.

Red Bellied Woodpecker, plus a bonus female Red Winged Blackbird (a somewhat misleading name)


The male Red Winged Blackbird


Another shot of the Red Bellied Woodpecker (pretty sure it's a male)


Male and female Goldfinches and a male House Finch


I've lived in Lake County Illinois for my entire 50 years and had never seen most of these birds.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I'm loving all of these bird photos and stories. Please feel free to share more!

When I have a few minutes I'll share some of my birding stories and photos too. My gf and I went on a birding trip to southeastern Arizona last summer and had an incredible time.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Not so much as a birder, but at my last apartment complex, next to a different swampy area.


Near my current apartment, I spotted these odd ducks a few years ago. Either Muskovy or a hybrid Muskovy.


A really bad thunderstorm must've blown this guy off course, he stayed around for a couple days.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Not so much as a birder, but at my last apartment complex, next to a different swampy area.
View attachment 3338 View attachment 3339 View attachment 3340 View attachment 3341

Near my current apartment, I spotted these odd ducks a few years ago. Either Muskovy or a hybrid Muskovy.
View attachment 3342

A really bad thunderstorm must've blown this guy off course, he stayed around for a couple days.
View attachment 3343

Nice pictures! I'm curious about those ducks and that pigeon. I'll have to look into that. The pigeon is banded, and sometimes you can track that stuff down.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I like taking photos of local birds. Around here we have forest ravens, Australian magpies, little pied cormorants, sooty oystercatchers, pied oystercatchers, masked lapwings, Pacific gulls, kelp gulls, silver gulls, galahs (introduced in Tasmania from the mainland), New Holland honeyeaters , Tasmanian native hens.

Most of the small birds in my suburb are introduced birds - blackbirds, starlings and sparrows. I think the small native birds were driven out of my suburbs decades ago.

Here is a photo I took of a little pied cormorant.

I can post more pictures I have taken if anyone wants me to

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I like taking photos of local birds. Around here we have forest ravens, Australian magpies, little pied cormorants, sooty oystercatchers, pied oystercatchers, masked lapwings, Pacific gulls, kelp gulls, silver gulls, galahs (introduced in Tasmania from the mainland), New Holland honeyeaters , Tasmanian native hens.

Most of the small birds in my suburb are introduced birds - blackbirds, starlings and sparrows. I think the small native birds were driven out of my suburbs decades ago.

Here is a photo I took of a little pied cormorant.

I can post more pictures I have taken if anyone wants me to

Yes, please do post more pictures!

Birding Australia, Tasmania, and NZ someday is a bucket list goal of mine. Fascinating bird diversity.

 

[Miss Chicken]

New Holland honeyeater

Pacific gull. I do have a picture somewhere which shows the size difference between Pacific and silver gulls. I did have my pictures well organised on Photobucket but need to reorganise them now that I can no longer use Photobucket.

Pied oystercatcher

I will post some more photos later after I go through my Dropbox.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Nice pictures! I'm curious about those ducks and that pigeon. I'll have to look into that. The pigeon is banded, and sometimes you can track that stuff down.

I figured a homing pigeon. The storm that day was epic enough to confuse a homing pigeon.

As far as the ducks, they're similar to but not quite Muskovy's. There's a little farm nearby. I wondered if they may be Muskovy/Mallard, since the one has a white neckband like a male Mallard. They were nice and fat though, probably good eatin' ducks.

 

[M'Sharak]

I'm not really a birder, but I do watch and try to identify ones I see or hear when I'm out in the yard. Besides the usual crows, mockingbirds, sparrows and starlings, I'll see Anna's hummingbirds, goldfinches, bushtits, phoebes, and a couple of kinds of jays. Also Nuttall's woodpeckers now and then, usually Northern flickers in the winter, and sometimes a phainopepla will put in a brief appearance to chow down on elderberries. Also hawks: Cooper's and red-tailed are regulars, plus I'll see a kestrel sometimes.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Tasmanian native hen. It is a large flightless species of rail Endemic to Tasmania, they went extinct on the Mainland about 4,700 years ago.

Sooty oystercatcher. I wish I could have gotten closer but I am too old to be clambering over rocks.

Forest Raven. The only member of the corvid family with a permanent presence in Tasmania though the Little Raven often visits King Island and is sometimes spotted In the far north of the state.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a bird watcher, but I do very much appreciate birds and their place in the world and if something catches my eye, I try to take a picture.

There's a favourite place my Dad and I like to go snowshoeing where chickadees like to gather. If it's on the cusp of being cold, they'll often come out in search of some quick energy. We then stop and bring out some Suet in a little cup. On one particular day, they were so eager, they couldn't get enough of it and couldn't seem to wait for their turns; there were so many around, it was like a bird party. And then one rested on my head:

And around the same area (which is a conservation area), this summer, there was a Sandhill Crane resting by its lonesome self looking quite handsome.

That same day, came upon a mallard looking pretty regal:

I find that travelling is a fun way to see birds you otherwise wouldn't normally see in a living area. On a trip to California, saw this thing:

While hiking at Yosemite and stopped for a lunch break, this little guy landed on a tree only a couple of feet away from us:

While camping in the Badlands in South Dakota, these were pretty interesting:

 

[M'Sharak]

While hiking at Yosemite and stopped for a lunch break, this little guy landed on a tree only a couple of feet away from us:

Steller's jay - they usually stick to the mountains, but we'll see them occasionally down here. They're good at swearing.

While camping in the Badlands in South Dakota, these were pretty interesting:

Look like meadowlarks. Great call they have.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Those steller's jays are lovely birds, the meadowlarks as well.

Green Rosella - another that is endemic to Tasmania - we have 12 endemic species of birds.

Dusty moorhen - I actually took this picture while visiting my sister in South Australia. This bird is found in Tasmania but it is uncommon.

 

[feek61]

I am a birder; love it! Good to see that I'm not the only one here!