Bird Watching Club

I am guessing, but I think the hummer is a female black chinned hummingbird

she came to visit as well..today

a towhee it is. Not sure of the hummingbird.

There was a hairy woodpecker at our bird bath today and the robins were afraid of him. Wish he would stick around! Fortunately they have just about stripped the palm trees of the purple berries so they are leaving fewer purple stains behind.



I think the Carolina Wrens have a nest in a ceramic bird house near our back door. They have nested there on and off over the past few years. Last year I was up on tip toe with my nose about five inches from the opening peeking in to see if there were eggs or babies and the mother bird came bursting out to both of our surprise. I'd love to look in again but don't want to have another close encounter like that...it scared both of us! But I love the little Carolina wren...so cute.

Chickadee..do the cedar waxwings stay long in your area?  If I am watchful I will see some for a few days here in the late winter/early spring.They will finish off the berries on our hawthorn trees and then they are gone.  Was so excited the first time that I saw them!   I saw a kingfisher last Sat. when I went out for a walk on a bike trail---it follows a creek for a little while and I had seen him several times last year when I was walking more often. 

Do any of the more experienced birders on here have any recommendations for good birding binoculars?   I am determined to see a pileated woodpecker.  A lot of people in our county see them. We don't live near a wooded area so the chance of seeing one in the backyard isn't too good, but there is a beautiful arboretum nearby and much of the bike trail goes through woods. It would make my day to see one up close.

Jaytee - I have Nikon Monarch 8x42 and I see they are approx $250 on Amazon.  They're water proof and durable - I've had mine for about 6-7 years now and they are in excellent condition.  I was on a boat birding tour once and they had some Swarovskis ($2500 range) that the birders could try out and I swear mine were just as good except for right around the very edges of the field of view.  Swarovski is clear right out to the edges and mine are slightly distorted at the edges.  I've never even noticed because I don't look out through very edges anyway.  Excellent binoculars for the price.

Thank you nesw...will check them out.   Where did you go on the birding tour? 

Chickadee...that is funny about the waxwings...maybe they are the businessmen of the bird world..they've got places to go!  Such a sleek and beautiful bird!  I have an aunt who lives on a farm in Pa....I remember seeing a couple there who were right at home around their pond.  Only see them in groups around here as they migrate to somewhere else.

Teka..do the pileated woodpeckers ever land on suet feeders in your yard? Do you see many? 

Also, the wild grape vines grow up the native pin cherry trees next to the old fences.   The pileated woodpeckers have never come to the suet feeders.   Shy!   Usually, I see them in the early morning.

Finally found where I left my Waxwing pics.

Here is one of their staff meetings!

Just arrived in Galveston this afternoon. Have already spotted some ibises and spoonbills and of course the pelicans both brown and white as well as the usual shorebirds. Hope it stops raining long enough to do some serious birding.

A couple of shorebirds from Cape May, NJ. An oystercatcher and an osprey with a fish for breakfast.

Awww....love the picture of the chickadee eating from your hand!  There used to be an ad that ran in Birds and Blooms magazine for a kind of mannequin you could purchase to help train the birds to hand feed.  You would put a hat and a flannel shirt on it, some black oiled sunflower in its hand, and keep it outside for a number of days--then you would put the hat and shirt on and they would come right to you.....took out the having to have patience part!  But maybe the process of coaxing them to come to your hand would be more satisfying.  Anyway, chickadees are probably my favorite bird, I have told my children for years that if I was a bird, I'd be a chickadee! 

Saw these yesterday

Nesw, that is so cool! Ours are very unafraid but I've never tried to get one to land on me.