Forum birdwatching 2009

[Aerik]

Oh it's good this thread was on the forum index front this morning.

The other day I heard either an owl or a bird whose call I keep mistaking for an owl's hoot. This got me excited because a nice little wooded area just across the street was gutted to put in two coldesacs meeting in the middle almost. I used to hear this owl (or not owl?) a lot coming from that direction, but hadn't heard it for a couple years thanks to this damn sprawl.

Anybody know any birds of the midwest I might mistake for an owl based off the call?

 

[Aerik]

But not a mourning dove!

 

[Rolfe]

Well, there were one or two sparrows where I was in Michigan. What's wrong with sparrows? Didn't see any starlings, and the only pigeon-thing I saw was a mouning dove (or six).

Is the Americans will just come over here and take back their squirrels (every single last one of the bloody things), then we might consider repatriating the starlings....

Rolfe.

 

[Fiona]

I haven't managed to be out and about much at all since autumn but I did go to Caerlaverock this weekend. Didn't see anything not already recorded for scotland but for what it is worth?

sparrows
robins
chaffinches
great tit
yellowhammer (flock of about 20)
blackbird
thrush
rooks
greenfinch
whooper swans
grey lag goose (I think - not good on the geese with pink feet)
tufted duck
teal
widgeon
barnacle geese (hundreds of them)
moorhen
mallard


I also heard an owl but I didn't see it

Pace Holulele, but include some links to pictures:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/3282068649_aff9d41455.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3282074367_9701b2b5c4.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3282948894_1b9791b390.jpg?v=0

 

[Fiona]

Sorry for the double post but I just wanted to pursue the magpie discussion. I have really noticed a big decline in the small birds in my part of Glasgow and a concomitant infestation of magpies: they used to be quite scarce and they are now ubiquitous. I do not know if the two things are related. I would be glad if anyone can shed any light on why there are so many in the city now

 

[Rolfe]

The yellowhammer(s) seem to be sticking around in my garden. I got a picture of one today. Though the only time I saw the flock was three weeks ago. The tree creeper hasn't been back that I noticed.

There are a couple of magpies around quite a lot, but the small birds don't seem to avoid them.

Rolfe.

 

[geni]

Eh 3 what I think are bluetits flying around together. Only managed to photo two together though.

 

[jj]

More common crows than you can shake a stick at every day since the new year.

Bald Eagle, yesterday morning, being persued by a whole lot of extremely noisy crows. For a fish-eater, the crows really don't like them much, do they?

Some kind of Raven, more soaring than a crow, a lot bigger, but not close enough for definitive confirmation.

Red-tail hawk, last Sunday (week ago) ditto the crow comment.

Canada geese in every lake every day. (just in case nobody got there first)

(for some reason all the birds around here are big. I haven't heard/seen the Owl yet this year, but I will, I suspect. WHoooooo!)

 

[Fiona]

Eh 3 what I think are bluetits flying around together. Only managed to photo two together though.

Yes, blue tits. I got a good picture of one last year for comparison, Geni

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/3263086470_b64f7afa3e.jpg?v=0

 

[sphenisc]

OK, this is sad.

It looks like my little bufflehead is all by himself, sort of.

My daughter and I looked very carefully at the pictures of his two female companions last night. They are ring-tailed duck females.

Interestingly, they form a tight little threesome. At times the ring-tailed females even dive and surface in synchrony with the bufflehead but it is very clear that they are not bufflehead females. Now I'm wondering if the little guy isn't injured and his group has left him behind.

The range of this species is amazing. I just wouldn't have guessed that such a little duck could fly such vast distances. Now that I think he might be injured I'm wondering if he's going to spend the summer in the Clark Park pond.

Did you mean ring-necked duck? I can't find anything else to match the description.

----
Angus Scotland 15/02/09

Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus
Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides
Red-legged Partridge Alectoris rufa
------

Loved Fiona's barnacle geese!!

 

[bruto]

It's still snowy and cold (about 25 F), but something in the air is feeling a bit like spring. More bird songs in the distance, etc.

Anyway, a new bird this morning, a House Finch, Carpodacus Mexicanus. Not very exciting or rare, but they look nice against ths snow.

 

[Kotatsu]

Almost finished now, just need to add the family names for all records so far... and add my own records from this year in England and Gothenburg... But that'll have to wait until tomorrow, as I am making a cake^^.

Some comments:

Large Sparrows? (the markings are sort of ubiquitous even when I peruse my Bird Book.) A Red Tailed Hawk regularly sweeps through.

Any more details on that sparrow?

Hmmm... over the past few days, not much.

Lots of juncoes, chickadees, a few blue jays, a few robins, a pair of cardinals, one yellow throated vireo (I think). Canada Geese overhead.

The vireo apparently winters in Venezuela and the Caribbean. Is this another bird that would be likely to stay North if the winter is mild, or is it more likely to be something else?

Another odd sighting the other day. A small hawk, that I would have sworn is a sharp-shinned hawk, largely because it doesn't look like anything else. But it should not be here, or even anywhere near here, at this season. It's so far out of range, and my small hawk spotting skills are so marginal, that I'm not making it an official sighting. But if I saw a light-breasted, dark topped, short tailed, pigeon sized hawk with wings that do not look like those of a falcon, flying over me in January in Vermont, what would I be seeing? I dunno.

I will have a look in my books tomorrow at work, but if any other American could provide input before that, it would be appreciated.

I'm pretty sure all my garden birds have already been mentioned by one or more of the other Scottish posters, but here goes.

How come there are so many Scottish people here, and so few from the rest of those islands? Do the people south of Scotland not care for birds, or not for lists?^^

Also: is it Carrion Crow or Hooded Crow you get in your area?

Anybody know any birds of the midwest I might mistake for an owl based off the call?

I will have a look at this tomorrow as well. In the meantime, is there anything specific that makes you rule out an owl? Also: www.mangoverde.com have quite a lot of bird calls. Compare it with what you hear and see if something matches. I sadly have no literature on American birds at home, so it'll have to wait until work tomorrow.

Eh 3 what I think are bluetits flying around together. Only managed to photo two together though.

Only the one on the right is a Blue Tit, the other being a Great Tit.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Rarely see hoodies south of the Highland border. Even north of there, carrion crows are commoner. (And more adaptable in my experience).

I love crow watching. One of the funniest things I ever saw was in the Algerian Sahara- a water tank was overflowing and a small stream ran off into the sand for thirty yards or so.
A line of crows was crammed into this, shoulder to shoulder, with their feet in the water...not at all daft those birds.

Hmm- there does seem to be a preponderance of Scots here. Why is that?

Fiona- I'm certain the big increase in magpies and the decrease in other garden birds go hand in hand. Whether predation or out competing I don't know.

 

[Rolfe]

I believe I'm seeing both hoodie and carrion crows. Definitely the former - Soapy Sam, I'm not imagining them. There was a rook having a go at the seed feeder too, by standing on the frozen bird bath!

Does anyone think this isn't a tree creeper? It's not the best view, but the shape of the beak and the very white breast seemed distinctive.

And here's my yellowhammer - cleaning up after the snow had melted.

Rolfe.

 

[bruto]

The local birdwatcher who showed me the glaucous gull and explained the Canadian robins also told me that sharp-shinned hawks are not as rare in this season as I had thought, especially where there are bird feeders.

 

[jhunter1163]

I'll need to observe the tit population in even greater detail.

Don't we all?

 

[Kotatsu]

Does anyone think this isn't a tree creeper? It's not the best view, but the shape of the beak and the very white breast seemed distinctive.

Definitely a tree creeper, unless you have Short-toed in your area.^^

 

[Soapy Sam]

I believe I'm seeing both hoodie and carrion crows. Definitely the former - Soapy Sam, I'm not imagining them. There was a rook having a go at the seed feeder too, by standing on the frozen bird bath!

Never seen one in Hamilton , Motherwell or Wishaw. How could any scavenger stay out of those fair toons?

You could be right though- maybe hoodies are simply rural rather than town birds, whereas carrion crows are less choosy?
My copy of "Collins Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe" (1969 edition) shows the range of hoodies as more or less the highlands, but then says "Partial migrant. Vagrant- Iceland , Spain, Balearics. It also says "Voice, habits & habitat as Carrion Crow with which it interbreeds where ranges overlap".
This conflicts with my experience, which is that hoodies are shyer, less inventive and entirely rural.

 

[Rolfe]

Never seen one in Hamilton , Motherwell or Wishaw. How could any scavenger stay out of those fair toons?

Embarrassment of riches?

You could be right though- maybe hoodies are simply rural rather than town birds, whereas carrion crows are less choosy?
My copy of "Collins Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe" (1969 edition) shows the range of hoodies as more or less the highlands, but then says "Partial migrant. Vagrant- Iceland , Spain, Balearics. It also says "Voice, habits & habitat as Carrion Crow with which it interbreeds where ranges overlap".
This conflicts with my experience, which is that hoodies are shyer, less inventive and entirely rural.

Some of the crows around here, it's difficult to tell if they're hoodies or carrion. The hoodie markings are there, but indistinct. I think that fits with the interbreeding theory.

Nex time I see one of the hoodies, I'll try to get a photograph. I'm going away for the weekend though, so it may not be for a couple of weeks.

Rolfe.

 

[Kotatsu]

I understand that there is no correlation between colouration and genetics in the European crows. Apparently they are both reciprocally paraphyletic; that is, a phylogeny of hooded and carrion crows would show some carrions showing up among the hooded, and some hooded showing up among the carrions. I may misremember, as this is just something my supervisor told me ages ago, and I haven't actually seen any trees showing this.

Either way, a gigantic flock -- more than a thousand! -- of jackdaws just flew past my window. The Zoological Institute is placed on a hill, and one of the major migration routes of the area goes just outside the lab window. I used to have time to stand and count them early in the mornings when I was still doing my Masters, and I think I've had about 67 species here in total, including extreme rarities for Gothenburg such as Crane, Spotted Nutcracker, Hen harrier, and Peregrine Falcon. I'm also in second place for the largest flock of Wood Pigeons in the Gothenburg area (something around 4500 individuals, approximately). However, in the winter we don't get very much, so these Jackdaws were certainly nice.