Forum birdwatching 2009

[GeeMack]

No ID help necessary. Just thought the readers might enjoy this photo of a regular visitor to our yard. This is, of course, a White Breasted Nuthatch, a year-round resident here in central Illinois, USA...

 

[davefoc]

I would say a Ruddy Duck.
ETA: Male, winter plumage.

As you hinted at, not a duck but a Grebe. My guess a Pied-billed Grebe

I am almost sure you're right. The only problem I had with the Ruddy Duck identification was that the bird looked more ruddy in other images. Winter plumage sounds like a good explanation for the difference.

On the other bird, I might have gotten it sooner except that from a distance it looked so similar in behavior and appearance to some of the ducks that I didn't think about the possibility that it wasn't a duck right away. The picture that I posted was the first time I'd gotten a good look at its beak.

 

[tesscaline]

So, I just recently moved to a place where I actually have wildlife that frequents the "backyard" (read: lawn/treed area outside my balcony and across the street from my balcony), and I've had the pleasure of getting to see some birds whenever I step outside (or even just look out the window). Nothing overly special or rare, but hey, can't hurt to mention them. If they've already been reported, feel free to ignore this... I can't keep track of all the birds in the whole thread

Bellingham, WA 27 Mar.:
House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus (2 males, 1 female)
American Robin Turdus migratorius

I've seen crows, ducks, and some other small songbirds, but I don't remember the dates, so I'll report those when I see them again

 

[sphenisc]

Sinai, Egypt :

12/03/09

House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis
Cattle EgretBubuculus ibis
Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
House Crow Corvus splendens
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Hoopoe Upupa epops
Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Bluethroat Luscinia svecica
White-eyed Gull Larus leucophthalmus

14/03/09

White Wagtail Motacilla alba alba
Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
Buzzard Buteo buteo


15/03/09

White Stork Ciconia ciconia
Redshank Tringa totanus
Greenshank Tringa nebulosa
Spur-winged Plover Vanellus spinosus
Red-Rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica
Black-Headed Wagtail Motacilla flava feldegg
Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe
Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides
Pallid Swift Apus pallidus
Booted Eagle Aquila pennata

18/03/09

Rock Martin Hirundo fuligula
Little Egret Egretta garzetta

19/03/09

Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes

20/03/09

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Little Stint Calidris minuta
Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis
Great White Egret Casmerodius albus
Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei
Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola


21/03/09

Rock Dove Columba livia - (non-feral)
Sinai Rosefinch Carpodacus synoicus
White-Crowned Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga
Tristram’s Grackle Onychognathus tristramii
Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos


22/03/09

Common Swift Apus apus
Sand Martin Riparia riparia
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava flava
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
Shoveler Anas clypeata


23/03/09

Lesser Sandplover Charadrius mongolus
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis
Black Kite Milvus migrans
Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
European Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii
Green-backed Heron Butorides striatus
Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris
Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus = possible 1st for Sinai, 4 or 5th for Egypt, preparing submission for Egypt Rarities Committee.
Curlew Numenius arquata


24/03/09

Wryneck Jynx torquilla

25/03/09

Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus
Brown-Necked Raven Corvus ruficollis

 

[Harpyja]

I had the pleasure of seeing an osprey, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, recently. I walked outside my front porch and discovered a massive amount of feathers on my front porch. I was collecting them and happened to glance up at my roof to see an osprey with a ring-necked dove (Streptopelia capicola). He took off toward my backyard canal with the bird in his talons (I suspect it's a he, because of the wingspan, but it's simply conjecture).

 

[bruto]

I had the pleasure of seeing an osprey, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, recently. I walked outside my front porch and discovered a massive amount of feathers on my front porch. I was collecting them and happened to glance up at my roof to see an osprey with a ring-necked dove (Streptopelia capicola). He took off toward my backyard canal with the bird in his talons (I suspect it's a he, because of the wingspan, but it's simply conjecture).

Where are you? The ospreys don't seem to be back in vermont yet.

I don't know how ospreys compare with other raptors, but I think among buteos and eagles the females are the big ones.

 

[Mercutio]

The starlings are back, too. in force.

I think. I am not one of the bird experts.

 

[davefoc]

Wow, I had no idea we had a raptor around here that looked like this:

Nothing like a 10 to 1 zoom on your camera to see things that you've never seen before. I had a hard time believing what I was seeing when I was looking at the camera display screen. But according Wikipedia article it's a pretty common bird. I think it's eating a lizard.

I think it's an American kestrel

 

[I Ratant]

Things are getting tough out here in the desert!
This l'il guy has given up chasing flowers, and was obviously going after bugs last night!

 

[godofpie]

Last week I saw an indigo bunting. Today I got a close up look at a turkey vulture feeding on something right next to the roadway.

 

[Kestrel]

Wow, I had no idea we had a raptor around here that looked like this:
[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/56649cf0199b3322.jpg[/qimg]

Nothing like a 10 to 1 zoom on your camera to see things that you've never seen before. I had a hard time believing what I was seeing when I was looking at the camera display screen. But according Wikipedia article it's a pretty common bird. I think it's eating a lizard.

I think it's an American kestrel

Nice photo.

And you did get the ID correct.

 

[Rolfe]

The Great Spotted Woodpecker showed up on my bird feeder again this morning. This is only the second time I've seen him; the first was in the autumn. He seemed to like the peanuts. Unfortunately, by the time I'd fetched my camera, he'd gone again.

Rolfe.

 

[JJM]

The Great Spotted Woodpecker ... seemed to like the peanuts. Unfortunately, by the time I'd fetched my camera, he'd gone again.

Rolfe.

I am amazed how birds identify stuff that is good for them* when they clearly do not see these things in the wild. The woodpeckers with which I am familiar are primarily insectivores; yet they recognize suet (fat) as food when it is hanging in a cage outside my apartment and, if it contains peanuts, they pick them out. Also, niger thistle seeds are tiny and we hang them in fine-mesh bags so the birds can peck them out. Those bags are goldfinch magnets despite not looking anything like a natural food-source.

On the other hand, orioles in the south eat citrus fruits; but I have heard that orioles up north sometimes fail to recognize it as food.

*I figure peanuts are good for woodpeckers because the National Audubon Society endorses peanut-laden suet.

 

[EHocking]

On that thought (and quite the reverse, I guess), I watched a Grey Heron stalk up on a breeding pair of toads today. It only grabbed the toads in the tip of it's bill and promptly let it go. It later appeared to dip the tip of it's bill in the pond to wash it. It definitely wasn't drinking.

My questions are, since they have no sense of taste or smell, what is it that caused the Heron to drop the toads? Slime, I guess, but what in the slime caused it to drop the toad, since it wouldn't be taste. Secondly, why did it try in the first place? The toads were only in an inch or two of water, so the Heron should have been able to identify it, surely? Why try to spear something that is inedible? It's a fairly mature bird, so I'd be surprised if it was the first time it had encountered toads.

 

[bruto]

Nothing new, but as a sign of spring, the peregrine falcons have returned to Mount Horrid. Nothing new, but any place with that name (very apt too, if you've ever cycled over Brandon Gap in the Green Mountains) deserves mention.

 

[davefoc]

On that thought (and quite the reverse, I guess), I watched a Grey Heron stalk up on a breeding pair of toads today. It only grabbed the toads in the tip of it's bill and promptly let it go. It later appeared to dip the tip of it's bill in the pond to wash it. It definitely wasn't drinking.

My questions are, since they have no sense of taste or smell, what is it that caused the Heron to drop the toads? Slime, I guess, but what in the slime caused it to drop the toad, since it wouldn't be taste. Secondly, why did it try in the first place? The toads were only in an inch or two of water, so the Heron should have been able to identify it, surely? Why try to spear something that is inedible? It's a fairly mature bird, so I'd be surprised if it was the first time it had encountered toads.

I have raised toads and frogs on occasion from tadpoles.

Toads are much less shy than the other frogs I've raised. Bullfrogs in particular won't begin to feed if they sense you anywhere near them. It is also somewhat unusual to see a bullfrog in the wild. As soon as you approach a pond with bullfrogs you will hear a series of plops as the bullfrogs hop in to the water before they can be detected.

My theory about all this is that toads have a defense mechanism that works and they don't need to be so shy about avoiding predators. Your observations seem consistent with that.

As to what it is I don't know. I thought it was some kind of poison on their skins but if the heron really doesn't have a mechanism for sensing it I don't have a clue.

 

[EHocking]

Thanks for that. I had a thought this morning - not taste or smell, but irritant.

A nettle will still sting even if you can't taste or smell it?
So I guess there is an irritatn....ah, Google is my friend,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/481.shtml
"Common toads secrete an irritant substance from their skin that prevents most predators from eating them. Unfortunately for the toads, a few predators, such as grass snakes and hedgehogs, do not seem to be deterred by this irritant."

On a second thought about the memory of the Heron, from Googling, I get the impression that Natterjack Toads (much more uncommon now in the UK) don't appear to have this defence, and the two toads I saw were small - within the range of the size of a Natterjack. Perhaps the heron was just covering it's bets and thought these two smaller Common toads were perhaps "edible" Natterjack?

After years of nature programs shoving the "this X imitates a deadly Y to fools it's predators" line down my neurons, it would come as a disappointment that the heron didn't do as expected.

 

[I Ratant]

Yesterday evening I heard some frogs in a really small swamp between the community and the street for the first time in a couple of years.
There's just enough water there now to make a small puddle and mud.
Whatever the frogs are, they're pretty small, and shut up when someone gets near.
I'm hoping for a similar resurgence in the dragonfly population after our very wet winter. The last two years have been notable for the almost total lack of them compared to 2006, when they were all over the place.

 

[mummymonkey]

The local ospreys are back.
http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php

 

[Rolfe]

That bird is in her bed. Very wise.

Nighty-night.

Rolfe.