We see goldfinches here in England all the time. But I realised, just as with the robins, they aren't at all the same birds as in America.
We see goldfinches here in England all the time. But I realised, just as with the robins, they aren't at all the same birds as in America.
European Goldfinch... Much prettier than our all-yellow with black wings AMGO.
Chad
Re: Goldfinches, I love them. I haven't seen any yet. My neighbor calls them wild canaries. I correct him every time.
Back to the orioles, when I see them at the tops of my silver maples with the afternoon sun blazing on them, they are fluorescent.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Used to have a mated pair of orioles nesting in the pine tree in the backyard. They would visit the hummingbird feeder, which was hilarious, because the feeder was built for hummingbirds, which are much smaller and lighter. The sight of them landing, splashing hummingbird food everywhere as the feeder swung back and forth, and twisting their head to get some syrup, was a constant source of amusement.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
It's just about that time of the season where it's warm enough to sit on the back porch and watch the cardinals courting. They will be eating seed below my feeder and the male will pick up a nice big seed, walk over to the female and feed it to her. Pretty cool to watch.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Interesting - I'm not far away, and we had no die-off here in central MD.Originally Posted by markwoll
Regards,
Duncan
Speaking of which - Klonk once told me that there's a certain shrub you can plant that is like crack for humming birds, and is guaranteed to attract them en masse. But I don't remember the name ... anyone here know what it is? (If not, I'll ask him...)
Regards,
Duncan
Yeah, we went from flocks of crows and regular jay action to pretty much zero for a couple of years.
The crow population has come back, but no where near the level it had been, Jays are an intermittent sighting in my neighborhood.
I live in a wooded area with abundant cover. Lots of birds, so it was not just habitat removal.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Cardinal flower.
Keep your eyes peeled for ravens too. Larger than crows, wedge-shaped tail and very heavy beak, plus a loud "cronk" as the call.
Thanks - I need to re-landscape part of my yard soon, and will look out for it.
Regards,
Duncan
Just watched one of these guys chasing a blue jay from my feeder.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Not my photo).
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Interesting - cuz blue jays are pretty aggressive at bird feeders!
Regards,
Duncan
For the bird watchers here...
Paul Gallico, The Snow Goose -while listening to the Camel's album it inspired.
Fred Bodsworth, The Last of the Curlews. Very good novel. Will remind you of the period circa 1985 when you felt you were the only person listening to prog in your state or province.
Maybe when they're not outsized.
I was watching two crows trying to bring down a hawk yesterday. What dicks!
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I think the Jays are very aware of the big pointy thing the woodpecker wields.
Woodpeckers are pretty much the bully of the birdfeeder around here.
They are just being horny assholes now, banging on gutters and anything else that amplifies their notice to the neighborhood. I am here ladies!
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
The only bird i've noticed who evinces no interest in the walnuts/peanuts i sometimes throw to the squirrels and other birds around the grounds of my co-op is the robin.Even the occasional pileated woodpecker will shimmy down a tree trunk to grab a shard of nut and fly away.Every other bird grabs what it can, when it can.Robins seem to stick to worms, bugs and flies.Can it be they don't see nuts as food?.Any ideas on the subject.?
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Yep, I never see robins eating at the feeder. I figured they were basically carnivores, like crows. Then again, maybe crows aren't.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Saw some of these today: my favorite shorebird of all time!
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Nice!
When I lived in Africa we were 3 houses up from a small lake, and I could see avocets from my front porch.
Their appearance and behavior was very similar to those in the video except that the front of the neck/head was white, and they had a black stripe up the back of the neck and over the head.
Regards,
Duncan
Robins rarely eat bird food, but they like berries and bugs.
"Alienated-so alien I go!"
I'm VERY casual...but I put a feeder in about a month ago. Here in urban Bay Area, we have house sparrows too numerous to mention. But I've seen a couple scrub jays, and two pairs of Eurasian collared doves apparently nest nearby.
Hummingbirds, too...I have a feeder.
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
You get many more species of hummingbird out there in CA. We essentially just get the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Every once in a while we get a vagrant Rufous or Anna's.
You probably get Stellar's Jays as well as the Scrub Jays.
Stellar's are a bit north of us, usually. I've seen tons in Mendocino County but don't recall seeing any in the Bay Area. Then again, I'm not actively looking.
Took a walk on the Bay Trail yesterday, saw a variety of ducks, geese, other waterfowl I couldn't name, and when I got home a pair of the doves were sitting on the rail of my front porch. They didn't even fly away until I was about two feet from them.
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
The ravens and grey squirrels here in the San Bernardino mountains were severely impacted by West Nile a decade or so ago, but populations are making a comeback. On windy days it's a blast watching the ravens expertly turn the gusts to their advantage. And, yeah, they can sometimes be seen harassing the turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks.
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