Birds • Page 7

We have an owl (or multiple) that hangs out in the trees behind our house and that thing can be annoying as hell

 

damn squirrels be trying to get on the bird bell thing I have. I need to quit messing around and get a real feeder

 

Maybe the wrong place to ask but I can't think of anywhere better: Has anyone ever had/installed a bat house? It's something I've been curious about for a while and learning people's experiences with it

 

Never installed them but my old house had them up in the trees. They were cool to have and most nights at dusk you could see them flying around up above. I've been thinking of installing them in my new yard to help with the bugs

 

hm never even heard of a bat house but some of these look cool. love the coffin one lol

 

Bird Journal 3/22/24

Hell yeah I convinced my wife to go to a Migratory Bird Fest tomorrow as an outing lmao. Spun it like a fun thing (which it will be), they have games/live animals/vendors/food etc, but also more species of birds than anywhere near San Antonio. Gonna slip off into the marsh and find some ducks when the family isn't looking

Migratory Bird Fest

 

Bird Journal 3/23/24

Festival actually ruled. My daughter made a little homemade feeder, got a hat, a pair of toy binoculars, and loved the owls from the live bird show. Plus she got a ton of snacks and saw butterflies, it was perfect for her.

I did get to sneak away during story time and walk the trails a bit. Added 6 new species to the list, half of them waterfowl. Best spotting was the pair of Loggerhead Shrikes dive bombing off telephone wires to catch bugs before going back up to perch again.

Place was insane, absolute shame I barely had any time. I blame my family.

My list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S165726485

 

Bird Journal 3/25/24

So much activity in our neighbor's big ass tree today. I'm just trying to enjoy an outdoor book and beer during my lunch break but the birds were going nuts. Grabbed the bins and opened up Merlin and managed to ID two new birds in my very own backyard. Love that about the hobby - wait a few months and some new faces might show up while others disappear for a season or two.

My 78th and 79th birds:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher



Black-throated Green Warbler:



I didn't even know the second one existed, I'd never heard of it. It popped up on Merlin and was listed as uncommon so I didn't think too much of it since Merlin has been known to get things wrong. But then I saw the yellow head and black throat and I knew it was something new. So cool.

 

Threatened in their homeland, feral Mexican parrots thrive on L.A.'s exotic landscaping

Cool story about why parrots native to Mexico have been thriving in the LA area. It's really wild when you see and hear the flocks, it's not something you expect in this area. Basically they were released pets from the 70s and 80s and since developers landscaped all their communities with non-native tropical plants, it basically recreated their habitat.

 

Bird Journal 3/31/24

Hell yeah I convinced my wife to go to this



"Join us for sips, small bites, and of course, birds! You are invited to celebrate fall migration at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center and experience birds and butterflies on the move. Enjoy an opportunity to socialize with fellow Mitchell Lake friends and supporters. This come-and-go happy hour event is free and space is limited, so reserve your spot today! There will be a limited number of golf cart tours available during the event."

Love me a birding event as a date night

 

Bird Journal 4/9/2024

Meant to post this last week but I spent nearly an entire lunch break (I work from home and sometimes I read in the backyard during lunch if the weather is nice) trying to ID an unfamiliar bird noise. I kept hearing it over and over but couldn't get a visual on it. Sometimes I'll just let the Merlin app run and I'll leave my phone on the fence.

The app IDed a Brown-headed Cowbird, but it sometimes isn't accurate. I went through the Cowbird's calls on the app and sure enough one of them was pretty similar to what I was hearing. I played the sample on repeat a few times and noticed some movement getting closer to where I was standing. The females are sort of non-descript and the male is the one that's super easy to visually ID. Spotted two females and finally a male hiding behind some branches.

Still cool that I'm able to ID new birds in my own backyard. Unfortunately Cowbirds are not well-liked because of their parasitic tendency to lay their own eggs in other bird's nests.

Male:



In this video the bird makes the weird call I was hearing at the 5 second mark and the one I used to draw them in:

 

Bird Journal 4/12

The event last night ruled. We weren't sure what to expect from a 'mixer' type event with drinks and food advertised. We sort of planned on snacking and then going to get a proper dinner nearby. But when we got there, they had a full spread - chicken teriyaki skewers, street corn, roasted veggies, chicken poblano empanadas, etc. Also a very small open bar with wine, vodka, and a couple local beers. We helped ourselves to seconds of food and drinks. The caterers came around several times to take our dishes and offer more drinks, and the director of the facility talked to everyone and introduced themselves.

It was held at the Audubon house on the facility:



It's got a wraparound porch where a bunch of standing tables were arranged. It's surrounded by flowers and plants, so the place was alive with butterflies, hummingbirds, huge black fuzzy caterpillars, etc. They also offered golf cart tours around the lake, which took about 25-30 minutes. We went from the house all the way to the lake by the outer basins:



Got to see all kinds of waterfowl! The very first bird we saw was a wild turkey crossing the road, which was super cool. The thing that blew my mind is that Mitchell Lake is one of TWO lakes in the entire state that is natural. There are over 7,000 lakes here! That shook me.

Got to add 9 new species to the list (we were kind of speeding along on the golf cart, otherwise it would have been way more) including the Wingspan bird, the scissor tailed flycatcher!





(picture not mine)

All in all, a great time. Both times we've been there we've enjoyed ourselves. I'm sad it's like 35 minutes away, otherwise I'd go there way more often.

 

Can anyone tell me about this bird?

Dude keeps messing up the siding of my house.

 

that there is a Hairy Woodpecker, I believe. You're in Canada, right?

lmao woodpeckers can be so annoying if they go after your house

 

Yup, I'm in Canada. Gonna look these guys up now. Thanks!

 

Saw a great blue heron today which was fucking sick

 

so fkin cool!!!!!!!!!

 

That is so sick

 

I came here to say "my bird feeder is getting visitors!" and then saw this

 

hell yeah, what kind?

 

One of those used to hang out in the river behind my old house and the first time I saw it was when it flew right over my head and sounded like a fucking pterodactyl flying by

 

This morning it was mostly finches! But there were a few I couldn't ID because I was slow to my phone but yeah lots of finches

What I definitely know is I need a better bird bath to encourage visitors. What are you using and do you have any recs?

 

Some birds from our bird feeder

 

1. White-winged Dove
2. Female Cardinal
3. Male House Sparrow
4. Common Grackle
5. Carolina Wren
6. Male House Finch

 

Bird Journal 4/21/24

Saw the saddest thing today. The Cardinals in the area have been nesting and I've seen some of their fledglings around the yard. Yesterday there was one on the ground in our backyard and I sort of ushered it into the corner where it could escape into the next yard over so it wasn't accidentally hurt by one of the kids (my daughter is 2 and my nephew is 7). There was a male/female couple (mom and dad) who were chirping like crazy whenever I got too close, they were pissed at me lol

Today however one of the fledglings fell out of a bush in the neighbor's yard directly behind us. They have a husky who is nice, but is also, you know, a dog so when it saw the bird it started going after it. Pawing it, biting it, etc. Meanwhile I'm on the other side of the fence yelling his name and banging the fence and clapping, trying to get it away from the chick and the mom and dad were trying valiantly to draw the dog away. The dad in particular would fly a few feet away from the dog and chirp super aggressively and flap its wings to get the dog to chase it - which it did a few times - but the dog always came back. Eventually the husky got bored and went inside. The fledgling was still alive on the ground but it looked pretty beat up and there's obviously no way the parents can safely move it anywhere.

Was pretty sad but that's nature I guess