I only lived in the Lehigh Valley for about 7 years. I'm from SE PA.Originally Posted by ronmac
The robins are around in the winter. You don't see them every day. I had about 60 of them in my yard last week and I haven't seen one since.
I only lived in the Lehigh Valley for about 7 years. I'm from SE PA.
The robins are around in the winter. You don't see them every day. I had about 60 of them in my yard last week and I haven't seen one since.
Chad
Yes, but I was talking about the 80s, and West Nile was first found in NA 20 years ago, and it was during the past 20-25 years that I thought I noticed an increase. Maybe I'm just imagining it. BTW, the blue jay song (not the alarm shriek) is one of my parrot's favorite things to mimic.
In the 70's we used to see massive numbers of birds flying up the potomac river, murmeration stretching for miles.
Huge numbers of starlings roosting in the trees. Then almost nothing by the mid 80's
The flyway moved, maybe. The flocks dwindled in size.
I hadn't noticed a Jay decline until the 2000's.
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There is a massive decline in bird populations since the 60s and 70s. Habitat destruction is the number one factor among many. A lot of it is in their wintering grounds in South and Central America.
Yes, but I'm referring to 40 years ago. Now I see them earlier than I ever did before. I've been in in Western PA since the mid-80s, so I cannot say they weren't here when I lived back east.
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So damn cold here. All I see is chickadees and doves (they never leave). Oh, and ravens. No crows, just ravens. We never used to see ravens.
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We had a visit from some turkeys in the fresh snow today.
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The other day I heard a noise from a nearby tree that I'd always attributed to squirrels. I looked and I believe it was a yellow-bellied sapsucker, based on looking up info about various woodpeckers with photos.
Did it sound like a cat mewing?
No, it actually sounded more like the Acorn Woodpecker here https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/...pe/Woodpeckers but I'm not anywhere near that bird's known range, and it looked like the YBS.
So I was watching a vid of the college baseball game interrupted by an osprey losing a fish to an eagle. Went down the rabbit hole and found this video.
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That's amazing! I'd leave a box of fish in the back of my car too, if I thought I could attract a trunkful of Eagles.
An adult bald eagle flew over me on the Connecticut River today. The family nests here all winter. It was likely eyeing the hooded mergansers and eider ducks traveling home on the river.
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I'm hearing this bird call over and over now - not sure how to describe these but to me it sounds like "Cheeew Pip Pip Pip Pip Pip Pip Pip Pip." The Cheeew sound sort of descends, and there are always about 8 or so pips after.
Probably nothing too exotic, but the bugger is sticking around making his sound for quite a while. This is in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York. Any ideas?
Northern Cardinal. They start their "laserbeam" calls in the late winter/early spring.
That must be it. I didn't spot this one, but he was definitely persistent! And I think I hear another.
The Merlin app doesn't have that call.
But per Merlin, the cardinal has a variety of sounds, so Merlin might not be comprehensive.
Regards,
Duncan
Listen to call #4, for your "Cheeew" sound...
Regards,
Duncan
Merlin is cool, but it's not meant to be a true birding guide, so yes, it is not comprehensive. There is a lot of focus on the Merlin ID and Photo ID functionality in there. However, it was certainly a big help to me in Costa Rica since I could download just the Costa Rica module and have only those birds listed.
Go to eBird and listen to the second sound recording for Northern Cardinal, https://ebird.org/species/norcar
screenshot1766.jpg
Yeah, that's definitely the long sound from the beginning his call.
So this morning it was very surprising how suddenly a load of birds had appeared in our yard. Well, not a load but obviously the cardinals and blue jays too suddenly appeared. Then the temperature went up to 71 degrees (!), so I guess the birds knew Spring was in the air. Although it's going back down to the 40s tomorrow. But still, it's coming.
The red-winged blackbirds are making their presence known again. Spring is certainly almost here.
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Grackles all over the place too.
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Funny, I was just going to post the same thing. i had about 20 at my feeder this afternoon. And the tufted titmice(?) are getting pretty noisy.
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Interesting - I've only ever seen Grackles in the South. I've never seen one in the mid-Atlantic.
Regards,
Duncan
^^ Really?
I see them all the time.
grackle.jpg
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