Bird Watchers

[Jfalls63]

Got chased back a few yards before I could get my phone out. Walked up on them while I was looking the other way

 

[Zigman66]

I have seen several large flocks of geese heading north in the last handful of days. I would have thought they would have gotten there by now

 

[Jfalls63]

We have about 6 nesting pairs that show up here every spring.

 

[Jfalls63]

We are overrun with Osprey. Almost every light pole near the river and bay has a nest built on it. Even have a thug bald eagle that hangs around some. He will wait for a Osprey to catch a fish and get over land then dive on the Osprey to make him drop it. Lands and gets a easy meal.

 

[lunatic59]

I have seen several large flocks of geese heading north in the last handful of days. I would have thought they would have gotten there by now

I saw a small flock on Monday and thought the exact same thing. Mind you we did have a fairly cool April (one of the coldest on record) while May has been one of the warmest. It all averages out so meteorologists can come up with a "normal" temperature, and then explain why it's never that.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Saw my first Cardinal today. Perched on a branch in a dead tree less than 10 feet away.

 

[Zigman66]

We have a mating pair of cardinals I didn't see until last week. We also have a group of 4-6 purple martins but they are way too fast for me to even try to get a picture

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I didnt even think of a picture... I was so amazed to see that red bird there i almost lost my cool.
You don't do that in my neighborhood.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Pigeons and sparrows mostly but what i haven't seen in awhile are seagulls.
They used to be all over Boston in the 1960s & 70s. I think it has to do with the closure of a dump/incenerator site and the City of Boston giving every househould hard plastic trashcan with really tight fitting lids. I'm sure they're still around the harbor and downtown but you don't see them much anymore in the inner city.

 

[lunatic59]

I found two dead robins in my pond this weekend.

I don't know if the were the victims of a predator (although they weren't eaten) or got into something toxic. Who knows what people spray on their lawns these days.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Well that sucks. If i see anymore dead birds they better had been eaten by predators. Nobody believed me when I said that Hawks had returned to Downtown Boston.
That was in the Pocket PC era.

 

[Zigman66]

I found two dead robins in my pond this weekend.

I don't know if the were the victims of a predator (although they weren't eaten) or got into something toxic. Who knows what people spray on their lawns these days.

Has the west nile virus reached your area yet? Some of our birds around here die from it. You have to be careful handling them because it can transfer

 

[lunatic59]

We've had very few cases of West Nile here and none in the past year or two that I can remember. As for handling the dead birds ... used my pond skimmer and then buried their little corpses. I didn't put up a marker, since their relatives can't read.

 

[zuben el genub]

Pigeons and sparrows mostly but what i haven't seen in awhile are seagulls.
They used to be all over Boston in the 1960s & 70s. I think it has to do with the closure of a dump/incenerator site and the City of Boston giving every househould hard plastic trashcan with really tight fitting lids. I'm sure they're still around the harbor and downtown but you don't see them much anymore in the inner city.

Haven't caught them on camera, but we get a good sized flock of either ringbills or herring gulls flying around all summer. Low level flights, too.
There's enough ponds and lakes around, plus dumpsters.
I think it was a Franklin's Gull that saved the Mormons.
Mormon crickets are nasty. Look like a red grasshopper crossed with a scorpion. They are cannabalistic and they stink. If that's what the gulls ate, I'd give them more than a statue.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Saw a few gulls lately but they've been by themselves.

 

[Zigman66]

Saw these cranes

while driving the other day

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Nobody knows the Grackles I've seen ...

 

[Zigman66]

Nobody knows the Grackles I've seen ...

... nobody knows the sparrows...

 

[Clementine_3]

and friggin' starlings...

 

[lunatic59]

We had a ton of jays and crows earlier in the summer when it was relatively dry, but since the deluge began mid-July I haven't seen much feathered wildlife save for the turkey vultures circling overhead.

 

[Clementine_3]

I put the winter feeders up yesterday before the big snow hit. Let the fun begin. It didn't take long for regulars to start swarming!

 

[lunatic59]

I haven't put out any seed yet. Even with the snow, we've had quite the bountiful harvest seed-wise with the wet summer and fall.

 

[Clementine_3]

I may or may not keep them full yet, depends on the weather. Of course, if I don't they will all just hang out in the trees and scream at me all day long. Silly birds.

 

[lunatic59]

Better than these guys knocking on your window with a sign saying "you need to fill the feeder, slacker."

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I'm watching "The Birds".
Puts a whole new slant on Bird Watching.