User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 6:23:59 PM EDT
[#1]
I
Every now and again we'll get a Indigo Bunting or a Scarlett Tanager hanging around. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 6:28:33 PM EDT
[#2]
We live in the hills above the Mississippi River valley in a very rural area. Our property is home to a large amount of wildlife. Yes, we birdwatch.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 6:32:38 PM EDT
[#3]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 6:58:22 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: It’s not what you watch, it’s how you watch it https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51686153416_bc16d490ac_h.jpgFlushing Rooster by FredMan, on Flickr I was gonna try to get a colony of pheasant going on my property, but I understand it's darned near impossible to do. Apparently they don't make good parents. I have no idea how they survive in the wild...perhaps only a small percentage survive. We used to see them in Indiana all the time. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 7:18:33 PM EDT
[#5]
Bird watcher since I was young, kept up with it during waterfowl hunting phase. Silby Guide is a must.
Rarest that I have seen? For this region it would have to be an Atlantic Brant that was clearly lost one year. Hung around for a while at local farms and followed the Canada geese around. Also have as many as three Eurasian Collared Doves that hang around the shop at work. Funny, only see them along the gulf coast with Mourning and White Wing Doves. Was loading the truck one morning and heard the calling… I stopped and was like what??? Then saw it… three maybe four years they have been hanging out. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 7:19:55 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I noticed these little guys are all over the place at night. They don't hoot like a normal owl hoot, they sound like a tribble from star trek. LoL I don't know what sub species they are but they are very tiny, about the side of my cell phone. Some kinda weido little midget owls. There are 2-3 of them that sit on my bedroom window sill at night and call to each other for a few hours each night. These things are surprisingly tolerant of me. I can walk up to one and get to maybe 3 feet away from it before it will even turn and look at me. they just don't seem to mind being close to humans. https://i.ibb.co/k88dzdV/IMG-20240616-160226-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/ScYVBDB/IMG-20240616-160230-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/z5L4HpT/IMG-20240616-160235-01.jpg Looks like the Eastern Screech Owl to me. The first night I got thermal I went outside to see the world. First thing I saw was... a bat missing a wing on the ground. I looked around and saw an Eastern Screech Owl sitting in a tree about 50 feet away. I went inside to get a headlamp and a box to pick up the bat for the kids to see. When I came back out the bat and the owl were gone. Nom nom nom! I thought thermal had opened a whole new way to witness nature. I've never seen anything that cool since. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 7:41:57 PM EDT
[#7]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 7:46:19 PM EDT
[#8]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 7:57:51 PM EDT
[#9]
Love birdwatching. I don't bother with feeders. Mostly focus on roadside birds on my way to work-lots of variety if you bother to try and ID them.
Log a lot of miles watching raptors and cranes, I drive to the Necedah wildlife refuge a few times a year to watch the whooping cranes-in terms of population that's the rarest species I have seen. Also saw a gyrfalcon a few miles north of my house that caused quite a stir on am IA bitding forum, and found the first nest of barn owls recorded in my county since at least the 60s(when records began). DNR was more excited than me on that one. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 8:14:13 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There's a guy around the corner from me in central Virginia (between Charlottesville and Richmond) who hosts a huge purple martin colony, and gives seminars on them. Next year will be his 30th Purple Martin Field Day. I've been a couple of times. Website http://www.purplemartinfieldday.org/images/A2-Purple%20Martin%20Field%20Day%20_5739c_Edited_488x283.jpg As I believe someone commented elsewhere, they only exist east of the Mississippi because of the support of people like you. Dude, we’re neighbors. I live just around the corner too |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 8:24:07 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I was gonna try to get a colony of pheasant going on my property, but I understand it's darned near impossible to do. Apparently they don't make good parents. I have no idea how they survive in the wild...perhaps only a small percentage survive. We used to see them in Indiana all the time. They tell me it’s our soils and egg issues. Calcium or something. I have to go to Kansas  Flushing Rooster by FredMan, on FlickrAnd hell, here’s moar birds.  DSC_0448-Geese Getit by FredMan, on Flickr DSC_5157-Osprey Perched by FredMan, on Flickr DSC_9747-Green Heron by FredMan, on Flickr Eagle by FredMan, on Flickr Strut 20170403 by FredMan, on Flickr Heron On Piling by FredMan, on Flickr Osprey with Bass by FredMan, on Flickr Goslings 20180422 by FredMan, on Flickr Low Flying Buzzard by FredMan, on Flickr Hover by FredMan, on Flickr Double Crested Cormorant In Flight by FredMan, on Flickr Strut 20170403 by FredMan, on Flickr Flying Egret by FredMan, on Flickr Immature Baldie Perched Enhanced NR by FredMan, on Flickr Eagle 2022-09-15 by FredMan, on Flickr |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 8:38:36 PM EDT
[#13]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 8:43:23 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryWhat's that yellow guy |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:17:39 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Has anyone used or setup something like a feeder cam? An all weather cam that could send high quality video back to the house right from the feeders would be interesting I think.. There are many options on Amazon. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:29:53 PM EDT
[#16]
My rarest sighted and photographed bird was this totally lost Snowy Owl that decided to spend some time in NE FL at the beach.
 DSC_5030crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" /> DSC_5027crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" /> DSC_4964crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" />
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:33:38 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My rarest sighted and photographed bird was this totally lost Snow Owl that decided to spend some time in NE FL at the beach. https://live.staticflickr.com/5473/11918946885_43e48adadf_h.jpgDSC_5030crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/5473/11918946885_43e48adadf_h.jpgDSC_5030crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/3785/11919404144_a1713a6e32_h.jpgDSC_5027crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/3785/11919404144_a1713a6e32_h.jpgDSC_5027crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/2854/11919821886_41fb17aaf5_h.jpgDSC_4964crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/2854/11919821886_41fb17aaf5_h.jpgDSC_4964crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr That's awesome man, I'm not on your level |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:37:00 PM EDT
[#18]
Friendly reminder looking at wildlife is fun
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:37:16 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryAll of those are awesome Fredman but that hummer is my favorite. So very well done! |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:38:01 PM EDT
[#20]
My favorite birds are;
1 Wood thrush 2 Yellow Chat 3 chimney swifts Indigo buntings Cardinals scarlet tanagers Mocking birds Phoebes Wrens i don't have many that I don't like but cowbirds are at the top of that list. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:40:59 PM EDT
[#21]
Not as a serious hobby but I do like to keep an eye out. Rarest bird has been the California Condor.
Navajo bridge, Az. 2023  Attached File |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:41:34 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That's awesome man, I'm not on your level I think maybe you meant to reply to Fredman. If it was me you indended to quote, you are too kind. It was simply a matter of being lucky enough to learn of it being out there. I'm not really happy with the pics but the atmospheric distortion that day was pretty bad. I regret not going back for another try before it decided to move on. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:46:13 PM EDT
[#23]
Lifelong birdwatcher here.
We spend a lot of money here every year doing habitat manipulation for ground-nesting birds (turkey and quail) and migratory songbirds. I also kill lots of house sparrows and European starlings and other invasive/harmful birds. We usually host a few woodcock every winter and get to watch their sky dances in late February. We’ve had them successfully hatch woodcock chicks here. My favorites are cedar waxwings and woodcock in winter. Summer and scarlet tanagers in summer. Quail and turkeys any time of year. We have doves nest in our cedar thickets. Indigo buntings and blue grosbeaks in the spring. We’ve had wood ducks nest in the box on our pond. Killdeer and nighthawks in the yard. Yellow-billed cuckoos in the trees around us. Brown thrashers in the back yard. Kingbirds and Kingfishers around our pond. Eastern towhees around my deer stand every evening during deer season. Goldfinches destroy our sunflower patches. Carolina wrens share my deer stand with me. We allow barn swallows to nest under our porch and they raised 5 chicks there this spring and have a second nest going now. We see tons of robins in late winter and early spring. We have turkey and black vultures that sit in one certain tree almost every day. Two weeks ago I sat and watched a red-tailed hawk move from fence post to fence post hunting mice. We have mockingbirds here now and blue jays seasonally. Most years a few house finches nest in our flowers. Yeah, we like birds. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:47:55 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's that yellow guy Quote HistoryQuoted: What's that yellow guy Meadowlark, one of my favorites. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:48:50 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My rarest sighted and photographed bird was this totally lost Snowy Owl that decided to spend some time in NE FL at the beach. https://live.staticflickr.com/5473/11918946885_43e48adadf_h.jpgDSC_5030crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/5473/11918946885_43e48adadf_h.jpgDSC_5030crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/3785/11919404144_a1713a6e32_h.jpgDSC_5027crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/3785/11919404144_a1713a6e32_h.jpgDSC_5027crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/2854/11919821886_41fb17aaf5_h.jpgDSC_4964crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/2854/11919821886_41fb17aaf5_h.jpgDSC_4964crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr Never heard of one making it that far south. Awesome! |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:49:46 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My favorite birds are; 1 Wood thrush 2 Yellow Chat 3 chimney swifts Indigo buntings Cardinals scarlet tanagers Mocking birds Phoebes Wrens i don't have many that I don't like but cowbirds are at the top of that list. Got lots og chimney swifts in my town. Very fun to watch! |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:52:24 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I out out sunflower seed for them, nothing special. Every now and again we'll get a Indigo Bunting or a Scarlett Tanager hanging around. I miss the scarlet tanagers. They would be in the very top of trees making "Picky tucky tuck tuck tuck" chatter. Not the best pic but out in WA I will spot these western ones sometimes. A lot of them are dull yellow / green and look kind of like female painted buntings, but get the right male and they are pretty bright red from thefront  Attached File |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:52:29 PM EDT
[#28]
 Forgive the potato quality picture. Bald Eagle in Swan Creek last week. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 9:55:54 PM EDT
[#29]
Some absolutely fantastic pictures in this thread!!
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 10:09:01 PM EDT
[#30]
My wife was recovering from a busted leg and dislocated ankle that had her laid up in the house one spring and summer a few years ago. I remembered how much fun my cat had in the country watching a bird feeder I had installed at my cabin, so. I did the same for my wife on our home’s deck, visible from her chair. 10 years and a bout of cancer later, she considers bird-watching, next our dogs, her favorite entertainment. Always has a regional birders guide next to her chair. We get Cardinals, Blue Jays, Finches, Robins, Woodpeckers, and those damned gangsters of the avian world, Doves. We also get some huge crows who always drop off a token of friendship after a meal- so far we have received string, bottle caps and what looked like a charm from a bracelet. They’re friendlier than most of the neighbors.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 10:27:19 PM EDT
[#31]
Two of the funniest bird related things I’ve ever seen are:
A crow hoarding french fires like “all these mine!” And, my wife getting cussed out by a blue bird when she accidentally got between it and a spider it wanted to eat. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 10:36:24 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryClose, however, no other colors than brown. Thanks for the reply. I’ll try to get a picture… I feed them about 2 cups of wild bird seed, 7am & 4 pm. scattered on the ground, near the 3 water dishes. House finches, threshers, sparrows; ring neck, Inca, white wing, & mourning dove. A couple pigeons, sometimes join in. Occasionally, black birds, cardinals, gamble quail and roadrunners. Oh, plus the annoying Mexican grackles. A few mocking birds, one likes to sit under the transformer, in the shade, singing night & day. 3 types of woodpeckers are sucking the life out of the hummingbird feeders. I wouldn’t mind so much, if they didn’t spill it, attracting honey bee swarms, sugar ants, and a variety of other small bees. I actually saw a mud dauber wasp checking it out. Out neighbor feeds the quail a lot of food every day, DH has mentioned seeing over 50 when he feeds them. Of course the other birds join in. Harris hawks, sparrow hawks, ring tail hawks, and a few I haven’t identified yet, know exactly when & where I feed the birds, swooping in for their share. Around dusk, the night hawks fly through the area. Evening to early morning in the spring and fall, screech and hoot owls. They sometimes sit on the telephone pole next to our yard. Also, brown and bald eagles migrate every spring and fall. They nest around Roosevelt, Canyon, Saguaro lakes and the Salt river. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 10:38:37 PM EDT
[#33]
I enjoyed birdwatching when I was in my teens in the 80s. My mom was an avid birdwatcher back then. She voluntarily counted migratory patterns of birds for the National Park Service. I still enjoy watching birds.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 11:14:11 PM EDT
[#34]
I don't take binoculars and head out into the woods to look at birds but I did set up a bunch of different feeders in front a large window outside my living room to watch them come and go.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 11:18:14 PM EDT
[#35]
I’m a millenial but love birdwatching and a lot of other “old man” activities.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/16/2024 11:29:01 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My favorite birds are; 1 Wood thrush 2 Yellow Chat 3 chimney swifts Indigo buntings Cardinals scarlet tanagers Mocking birds Phoebes Wrens i don't have many that I don't like but cowbirds are at the top of that list. Cowbirds are parasitic, meaning that they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds for those other birds to rear. To make matters worse, the cowbird chicks will out-compete the host's chicks at feeding time. The cowbird will return periodically and check to see if its eggs are still there. If the host bird has gotten rid of the foreign [cowbird] eggs, the cowbird will destroy all of the remaining eggs in the nest. They are real bastards. I've attended presentations on being a purple martin "landlord," and one of the things you do is make periodic checks on their nests. If you see cowbird eggs, you don't remove them (for the aforementioned reason.) You "addle" them by shaking them vigorously to destroy the insides, then you put them back in the nest. When the cowbird returns, it sees that its eggs are still there so it won't molest the nest...but those cowbird eggs will never hatch. To some small extent you put a dent in the cowbird population, but the real goal is to protect the eggs/chicks of the host bird. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 12:07:37 AM EDT
[#37]
Birdwatching is gayer than 300BO.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 1:29:19 AM EDT
[#38]
I like birdwatching. Got a double on painted bunting the other day. I never did get a decent shot of them in the sun. They always wanted to be in the shade.
and this yellow billed cuckoo let me drive right under it recently. I love the crazy calls those guys make.   |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:05:47 AM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Couple of Ring Neck doves . In laws get an albino Cardinal . Haven't been able to get a picture . https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/47916/20240615_113042-3242853.jpg That would be awesome to see. Keep trying. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:18:18 AM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That would be awesome to see. Keep trying. Winter before last we had a partially melanistic female cardinal here during a cold snap. She was neat to see but I never got a decent picture of her. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:32:15 AM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I miss the scarlet tanagers. They would be in the very top of trees making "Picky tucky tuck tuck tuck" chatter. Not the best pic but out in WA I will spot these western ones sometimes. A lot of them are dull yellow / green and look kind of like female painted buntings, but get the right male and they are pretty bright red from thefront https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/586072/tanager_jpg-3243388.JPG Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I out out sunflower seed for them, nothing special. Every now and again we'll get a Indigo Bunting or a Scarlett Tanager hanging around. I miss the scarlet tanagers. They would be in the very top of trees making "Picky tucky tuck tuck tuck" chatter. Not the best pic but out in WA I will spot these western ones sometimes. A lot of them are dull yellow / green and look kind of like female painted buntings, but get the right male and they are pretty bright red from thefront https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/586072/tanager_jpg-3243388.JPG Those are super cool |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:39:21 AM EDT
[#42]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:44:56 AM EDT
[#43]
I find reptiles and amphibians and record location data, my wife IDs plants and bird watches.
We both think the biggest issue with birding is birders. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:50:56 AM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Looks like the Eastern Screech Owl to me. The first night I got thermal I went outside to see the world. First thing I saw was... a bat missing a wing on the ground. I looked around and saw an Eastern Screech Owl sitting in a tree about 50 feet away. I went inside to get a headlamp and a box to pick up the bat for the kids to see. When I came back out the bat and the owl were gone. Nom nom nom! I thought thermal had opened a whole new way to witness nature. I've never seen anything that cool since. Thanks. I think you might be right about them being Eastern Screech Owls, but I am no owl expert. They look like cute little cuddly things, but from your description of it's behavior it sounds like they are straight up stone cold killers. Nice to know I have them protecting the neighborhood at night from varmints. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:52:39 AM EDT
[#45]
I used to enjoy watching the birds right outside my window. They would build a nest every year. Then the next door neighbor got a couple feral cats and they have killed all the birds that used to live in my bushes.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:59:00 AM EDT
[#46]
Just made a fresh pan of hummingbird food ...
My wife started feeding the birds when we moved to this house 25 years ago. Nothing fancy, just a tube feeder, an open one, a suet feeder and something for the hummingbirds. I may have 20 different varieties of birds come through my yard in a day. Stellar jays, flickers, pileated woodpeckers, redwing blackbirds, crows, hummingbirds, assorted finches, swallows and wrens are all daily visitors. Had crows harassing an eagle over my back yard yesterday. I find it relaxing to go out with my coffee, fill what needs filling, and have a cigarette when done and watch them flock in. They know I'm the food guy. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 10:04:58 AM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/434728/IMG_0269_jpeg-3242663.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/434728/IMG_6720_jpeg-3242665.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/434728/IMG_6542_jpeg-3242666.JPG We focus mainly on bug eating birds as we are in the country. Kingbirds, Bluebirds, and Tree Swallows. We have a squadron of barn swallows that stop by everyday and clean up under the porch and eaves of the house. Nest boxes are easy to build. |
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 11:22:45 AM EDT
[#48]
First bird at the Birdfy (screenshot of the video)
 First visitor is a squirrel who fell of it several times. Especially after he tried the bird seed with Cayenne pepper 
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:09:06 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted: All of those are awesome Fredman but that hummer is my favorite. So very well done! Moar hummers!  DSC_8556-Chitter by FredMan, on Flickr Hummer Hover Wings Forward by FredMan, on Flickr Female Ruby-Throated Hover by FredMan, on Flickr Ruby-throated Puffy Liftoff by FredMan, on Flickr Ruby-throated Tongue by FredMan, on Flickr Singing In The Rain by FredMan, on Flickr Hummer In The Rain by FredMan, on Flickr Lookout by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
|
|
Posted: 6/17/2024 9:16:25 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just made a fresh pan of hummingbird food ... My wife started feeding the birds when we moved to this house 25 years ago. Nothing fancy, just a tube feeder, an open one, a suet feeder and something for the hummingbirds. I may have 20 different varieties of birds come through my yard in a day. Stellar jays, flickers, pileated woodpeckers, redwing blackbirds, crows, hummingbirds, assorted finches, swallows and wrens are all daily visitors. Had crows harassing an eagle over my back yard yesterday. I find it relaxing to go out with my coffee, fill what needs filling, and have a cigarette when done and watch them flock in. They know I'm the food guy. Yeah I don't go anywhere either. I just like watching them at my house or if I'm over at my parents |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
Attached File
Attached File
Attached File
Attached File
Attached File