Any Bird Watchers Here?

[SerendipityCrafts]

Thalia_themuse and I have been discussing birds known to our area and it got me wondering if there are any bird watchers here.

I am only what you might call an amateur bird watcher. My Dad got me hooked on it. I like to take note of what I see around and then look it up to find out what it is.

I can't wait to put out some bird feeders and bird houses at our new place! There has got to be a few birdies hiding out in our back yard.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v273/165/122/716941196/n716941196_1116440_1033.jpg

[Scrwballsgrl]

Beautiful back yard Elizabeth! no, I can't say that I actually take the time to sit and watch the birds (all though it would be nice to slow down enough to do so:grinhappy:) but I do enjoy waking up on the weekends to a sunny morning and hearing the birds singing outside. And I love when you hear a woodpecker or a mocking bird. And quail, those are about the only ones I can identify by sound. Sometimes if I see one I can guess at what it is but Im not usually right:)

[SerendipityCrafts]

I don't take the time to sit LOL. I used to compare notes about what I had, with my Dad about what we had both seen.

We both fed the bluejays as well :) They are easily trained in that you can put out peanuts a few days in a row and they will return at the same time and start calling for their nuts LOL

Not very colourful but I also like watching the chicadees in the winter and spotting the first robin of the spring.

[Scrwballsgrl]

I know I love looking out for cardinals (the males b/c they are such a bright red!) and if we see blue jays (they are territorial and don't like the cats:grinhappy:) & just the little wrens & sparrows are so much fun to watch....fluttering around.

[WebLady]

I don't really do any active bird watching; I mean, I don't sit outside with binoculars and don't have feeders and I don't study them or anything ... but I like birds.

My MIL loved birds and they always remind me of her ... I have a bird tattoo on my leg because of her :grinhappy:

This is the bird I have tattooed on me -

http://www.birdholidays.co.uk/tenerife-blue-tit.jpg
It is an African (Teneriffe) "Blue Tit", but it is in the Chicadee family (MIL liked the Chickadee) and has pretty similar markings, just different colors.

Here is a cute pic I had found somewhere online of a Black Cape Chicadee -
http://forums.onewed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3353&stc=1&d=1221660763


We saw this cool bird in Florida on our honeymoon; never did find out what it was -

http://forums.onewed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3352&stc=1&d=1221660374

[Scrwballsgrl]

oh! Brandy I remember seeing those as well. and thought they were so beautiful with their orange feathers!

I'll have to see what I can find out about them.

[Scrwballsgrl]

maybe an orange winged parakeet? thats the only thing I could find that looked remotely like that picture.

very pretty little bird though:)

[SerendipityCrafts]

The chicadee photo is cool :)

That last bird reminds me of the gold finch aka wild canary (we have those too).

http://www.birdingmaine.com/images/gold_finch_closeup2.jpg

We see cardinals from time to time as well. They are beautiful!

Of course it wouldn't feel like a fall or spring in Canada without seeing flocks of Canada Geese flying away or back home again.

Has anyone ever seen the movie Fly Away Home? :) It's a favourite of my daughter and I; a true story about a girl who "adopts" a flock of geese. It was filmed not too too far from where I used to live. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnUDIphGNWA & the trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t0rFTW71xw&feature=related

http://www.paulwilliamsedit.com/userimages/CanadaGeeseCOPR111905_2228.jpg

[Scrwballsgrl]

I like that movie! I had seen it before and introduce FH to it so last Christmas he got me a few DVDs and that was in the collection!:)

[tootsie]

I'm envious of your backyard! I love to watch birds and squirrels. I see lots of squirrels at work; they are so much fun to watch. There was this cat at our previous residence and one day we saw him attacking a birdie. I shooed the kittie away and went towards the bird lying on the ground. I used a towel to grab him, put him in a box, and examined his wounds. He was so scared that he flew away. It freaked me out because he flew away so fast!

[Jacklynn]

I'll leave the bird watching to you all. Unless it is like a bald eagel or something I'm bored :)

[kgvettegirl]

I'll leave the bird watching to you all. Unless it is like a bald eagel or something I'm bored :)
Growing up on the Rappahannock River in Virginia we have a lot of dead trees along the river bank cause it is where the Hawks and fishing eagles like to nest. About 20 years ago the state released some Bals Eagles in our county because it is bound by two rivers, the Potomac and the Rappahannock. We now have 7 nesting pairs of Bald Eagles. I love watching them soar over the river and the fields. My parents have this old dead tulip Poplar at the back of the house. The Eagles will sit in it and talk to my parents when they are sitting on the deck.