Great Egret
Here is him walking around the sanctuary.
More Feathers on Friday Post:
Prairie Birder
Birds in your Backyard
The Cats and the Birds
Have a great weekend and happy birding!
Friday, February 5, 2016
Feathers on Friday for 2/5
Thursday, February 4, 2016
This is My Passion
What is yours?
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| Photo Credit: Magolleh/Creative Commons Wikimedia |
Every birder has a bird that they are passionate about in their life. It may be small, big, strange, beautiful, ugly or number of other adjectives that describe all the unique birds across the world. That bird for me is the Bald Eagle.
I caught the bug for birds of prey early on when I went on my first hawk watch at age 8 or 9. It was run through the local college in my hometown in Central Vermont. We saw many hawks and falcons that day. They actually ended up digging up a bottle of champagne buried until they reached a certain number of hawks seen in a single day. I was hooked.
Vermont when I was growing up didn't have many Bald Eagles at all so it wasn't until I moved to Colorado about nine year ago that I finally got to see a Bald Eagle in the wild. I volunteered for a group called the Rocky Mountain Bird Conservancy now called, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. They have been monitoring Bald Eagle nests since 1986 and have seen the amazing recovery of the population after the banning of DDT. It was an extraordinary experience and I had found my passion bird. There is something special about watching the same pair of eagles raise their young for almost 5 months every year. There were the highlights of watching the power of a female eagle chase off a Red-tailed Hawk, and watching the eaglets fledge every summer. They clumsily crashed into everything. There was the sad day when the winds were so strong that the parents couldn't land on the nest. They ended up abandoning the nest that season. There was maddening day, I watched an old farmer right under the nest shooting prairie dogs with a .22. Luckily, the pair didn't abandon the nest that year and the authorities didn't have to get involved.
It was hard to "abandon" the Bald Eagles of Colorado to move to New York but I quickly saw Bald Eagles near the Hudson and Mohawk River near my new home. I searched for a group in the area that did Bald Eagle nest monitoring but there was none. I inquired with the Audbon Society of the Capital Region and the timing was perfect to help to set up a brand new program in the Albany area. It felt good to be out at a Bald Eagle's nest for the first time in over four years last weekend. Though there was no activity yet it is early and there were eagles in the area. I will share some of my experiences this season on the blog.
What is your passion bird? Share your own experiences with that bird in the comments or the on Facebook page. Happy Birding!
I caught the bug for birds of prey early on when I went on my first hawk watch at age 8 or 9. It was run through the local college in my hometown in Central Vermont. We saw many hawks and falcons that day. They actually ended up digging up a bottle of champagne buried until they reached a certain number of hawks seen in a single day. I was hooked.
Vermont when I was growing up didn't have many Bald Eagles at all so it wasn't until I moved to Colorado about nine year ago that I finally got to see a Bald Eagle in the wild. I volunteered for a group called the Rocky Mountain Bird Conservancy now called, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. They have been monitoring Bald Eagle nests since 1986 and have seen the amazing recovery of the population after the banning of DDT. It was an extraordinary experience and I had found my passion bird. There is something special about watching the same pair of eagles raise their young for almost 5 months every year. There were the highlights of watching the power of a female eagle chase off a Red-tailed Hawk, and watching the eaglets fledge every summer. They clumsily crashed into everything. There was the sad day when the winds were so strong that the parents couldn't land on the nest. They ended up abandoning the nest that season. There was maddening day, I watched an old farmer right under the nest shooting prairie dogs with a .22. Luckily, the pair didn't abandon the nest that year and the authorities didn't have to get involved.
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| Photo Credit: Yathin S Krishnappa/Wiki Media Creative Commons |
It was hard to "abandon" the Bald Eagles of Colorado to move to New York but I quickly saw Bald Eagles near the Hudson and Mohawk River near my new home. I searched for a group in the area that did Bald Eagle nest monitoring but there was none. I inquired with the Audbon Society of the Capital Region and the timing was perfect to help to set up a brand new program in the Albany area. It felt good to be out at a Bald Eagle's nest for the first time in over four years last weekend. Though there was no activity yet it is early and there were eagles in the area. I will share some of my experiences this season on the blog.
What is your passion bird? Share your own experiences with that bird in the comments or the on Facebook page. Happy Birding!
Friday, January 29, 2016
Feathers on Friday
Semipalmated Plover
Happy Friday! I saw a lot of these little guys on the beach during our recent trip to Gulf Coast of Florida. It looks like they only have one leg but I guess this is a common behavior. This shot was taken early in the morning right after sunrise. They keep one leg up as a way to conserve heat.
More Feathers on Friday post:
Prairie Birder
The Cats and the Birds
Birds in Your Backyard
Another Day in Paradise
Have a great weekend and happy birding! I will be checking out some Bald Eagle nests in the area this weekend. Stay tune for more details on that. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Feathers on Friday
Red-shouldered Hawk
Happy Friday! I got this shot the other day of one of our resident Red-shouldered Hawks staring down at something on the ground. Happy birding this weekend!
More Feathers on Friday Post:
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Friend or Foe?
The Case of the Red-Shouldered Hawk
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| Chickadees paying no attention to what looms in the woods. |
I think behavior between animals especially birds is fascinating. A lot of the time, what you expect to happen does, but sometimes the direct opposite occurs. Take the case of the Red- Shouldered Hawk, it is known to take birds at feeders. Not as a much as the Cooper's Hawk but it still has that repetition. Though after watching a nesting pair in my backyard for almost three years, as well as their offspring, I have never seen even the slightest bit of interest in taking one of the birds that frequent my feeders. The birds at the feeder don't seem to be the slightest bit scared of the Red Shouldered Hawk either. They go about their business as if there is no sharp beak and talons looming right next to them. The hawks seemed to be more interested in hunting rodents, frogs, and snakes than the birds.
When this Great Horned Owl was in my yard, all the birds were nowhere to be found. It was completely silent not a bird would brave out from their hiding spots in fear of becoming food for this large owl.
This is the aftermath of a Cooper's Hawk's kill of a Morning Dove. You can read more about it here. Every time the Cooper's Hawk appears in my backyard, the yard is a ghost town.
So, why is the response different to the Red-Shouldered Hawk? There must be a enough of a supply of rodents, snakes, and frogs to keep the Red-Shouldered Hawk from hunting the birds. The disinterest of the hawks somehow must be sensed by the birds and squirrels. So, it looks like the Red-Shouldered Hawks are friends to birds and squirrels for now... Have you experienced any bird behavior that made you scratch your head? Share your stories in the comments or comment on the Facebook page.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Which is Which? The Answers
Downy or Hairy Woodpecker?
1.) Answer- Hairy Woodpecker
This one was probably the trickiest and happens to be one of my shots. The long beak that is as long or longer than the head helps to ID this one as a male Hairy Woodpecker. The all black tail with no white and spots on the side(though tough to see) also confirms that it is a Hairy Woodpecker.
2.) Answer- Downy Woodpecker
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| Photo Credit: Magnus Manske/Common Wikimedia |
The smaller beak and white with black dots on the tail feathers along the side help to identify this one as a male Downy Woodpecker.
3.) Answer- Hairy Woodpecker
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| Photo Credit: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren/Commons Wikimedia |
The all black tail and longer beak help to ID this one as a male Hairy Woodpecker.
4.) Answer- Hairy Woodpecker
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| Photo Credit: Cheepshot/Common Wikimedia
The long beak on this one helps to identify this one as a male Hairy Woodpecker.
5.) Answer- Downy Woodpecker
The smaller beak and white side tail feathers help to ID this one as a male Downy Woodpecker.
How did you do? I hope you enjoyed this one and look for more tough IDs in the future. Happy birding!
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Friday, January 15, 2016
Feathers on Friday
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