Bird Watchers

[lunatic59]

MY lord we have a lot of cardinals this year. And I have yet to see a jay. It seems to be either feast or famine with these guys.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Cardinals are all red except for a little black, right?

 

[lunatic59]

The males are. The females only have a little red on them.

 

[Unforgiven]

Cardinals are all red except for a little black, right?

Females are mostly brown with a red tint

MY lord we have a lot of cardinals this year. And I have yet to see a jay. It seems to be either feast or famine with these guys.

I have a lot of jays and cards. My orioles haven't returned yet, but they are dumb and repeatedly fly into my window because they see their reflection.

 

[lunatic59]

It should soon be time for the raptor migrations to begin around here. I haven't seen any other than the local turkey vultures, but we have lots of bunnies around for pit stop refueling.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Pigeons, Starlings, and Sparrows are the main birds in my neighborhood. Canada Geese are seasonal but personally I think they've applied for residency around here.
Huge ass Turkeys around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any Orioles, Robins, or those tiny yellow breasted thingies are an exotic siting for me in Spring aND Summer.

 

[Unforgiven]

Oh, this this little lady has shown up at my feeder a couple times a week.

 

[Clementine_3]

And I have yet to see a jay

Oh, this this little lady has shown up at my feeder a couple times a week.

You can have my Blue Jays, they were trying to raid a Robin nest yesterday. Bad birds!

I haven't seen or heard the turkeys yet that sometimes hang out in my back woods.

 

[Zigman66]

Apparently I am more interested in birding than I realized. I just read the whole thread!
We are pretty infested with turkeys which sucks if you are a motorcycle rider. One can easily take you off the bike and it has happened a few times around here to some riders.
A few weeks ago, just before our repeated ice storms, we had a pair of Kildeer that seemed to think our driveway was theirs. I haven't seen those birds in many years so I was quite surprised. They disappeared tho shortly after the storms. I am in a new (to us) house this year so I am hoping the hummers come around. Quite a few different finches and a pair of cardinals for a bit. This house has a lot of good places for feeders so I guess I am gonna be broke this summer

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Wisconsin!

 

[dontpanicbobby]

A few weeks ago was Winter for me.

 

[lunatic59]

Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as the national bird.

 

[Zigman66]

You betcha!
My grandparents were complete bird nuts. They could immediately identify any bird they saw or heard and the home decor reflected that as well

 

[dontpanicbobby]

He lived in Philly though.

@Zigman66. We're they from Wisconsin?

 

[Zigman66]

Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as the national bird.

Quite true! And he was against the eagle as it was considered an aggressive and ugly bird

 

[Zigman66]

He lived in Philly though.

@Zigman66. We're they from Wisconsin?

The Kildeer? I don't know, to be honest. I used to see lots of them when I was young but I hadn't seen any of them for quite a few years, that's why I was so surprised

 

[dontpanicbobby]

They were identified west of the Mississippi. Prairie birds.
Do you have pigeons? Can I send you some if not?

 

[Zigman66]

You can keep your roof rats. We have tons of the buggers here. I do have at least 5 or 6 mating pairs of mourning doves in the trees around my yard. To give you an idea of how little knowledge I have about birds I only learned a couple years ago that's what the sounds I heard all my life were. I always thought it was some kind of owl I could never see

 

[Zigman66]

I keep hearing the sandhill cranes around but I have only seen a couple so far this year. Farmers hate them but they are neat to watch

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Mourung doves are so pretty, sleek and aerodynamic. I've seen one for real in when i wprked in Cambridge MA and it was... was... Pastel!

For a city boy I live in a diverse ecosystem.

 

[Clementine_3]

I keep hearing the sandhill cranes around but I have only seen a couple so far this year. Farmers hate them but they are neat to watch

A few years ago there were some in a corn field right around the corner. So freakin' neat!! Cool birds for sure.

 

[Zigman66]

Another one we have too many of, especially in the city, is gulls. Oddly enough, while I am out in the country(ish) we will have flocks of them in the fields whenever a farmer is disturbing the land in any way because they go after whatever he kicks up or digs up.
It is fairly common to see a Great Blue Heron around any body of water. For some reason I always think of pterodactyls when I watch them fly. We also get the occasional egret although I have no idea what kind. In our central and northwoods area we get bluejays the size of cows. Well, maybe a little smaller but I swear not much. Also quite a few grouse and occasionally pheasant.
Crows and blackbirds abound. Our crows are the size of fighter planes. I think they are mutants. I also think they are plotting something against me. Lots of chickadees and sparrows but not many starlings in the immediate area. A fair amount of hawks that are decent size and I am pretty sure I saw a falcon a month ago. More turkey vultures than other raptors, it seems.
That's all I can think of at the moment

 

[Clementine_3]

I've probably posted this before but here are my cranes

 

[Zigman66]

Ours are more tan or even medium brownish

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Gulls are city birds to me. I learned their language in elementary school.