A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum This mornings birds

I missed pics of the red-bellied woodpecker again. I also missed a great shot of a pair of bluebirds, but here are some others.

Goldfinches


This one looks like he has a crest.


These two are keeping an eye on me and Taboo.

Downy Woodpecker

Pine Siskin

It seems awfully early for the goldfinches to be molting into their summer plumage. I think the other two are House Finches. That or Purple Finches


Chickadee with a sunflower seed.

A well appointed feeder. Don't forget, the next four days are The Great Backyard Bird Count. Take those pictures and send them in! I'm recharging my grandson's camera right now!

Terry

Gorgous..photos.......The feeders too
Did you make the ones with wire?

Ready to show your colors guys.

Those are FANTASTIC pictures!!! What camera do you use?

And here I was going to share my pathetic picture of American goldfinches that I managed to take through double-paned glass...

How do you guys do that? Anytime I go outside all the birds fly away. This is all I could manage.

That's a great shot, Sheri!

My picture was taken through a double-paned sliding glass door in my kitchen using the zoom on my camera. I usually cannot catch any birds either - they fly away as soon as I move in the kitchen!

Is this a streaked rock sparrow?

Thanks!

I bought the wire suet feeder's from Kroger and the squirrel proof feeder came from Lowe's I think.




I have a Canon S5 IS. It's my first digital camera. I love it!!!

You're picture is great! It's really clear. It's tough taking pictures through glass.



I believe it's a Chipping Sparrow

OMG! I just noticed my new moniker, "The Jedi". Bill, did you do that, or Cindy???

Thanks!! That's cool!! I love Star Wars.

Thanks Bill!!!

No birds today?

I didn't have much time for bird-watching today. I don't think they were that busy anyway as it was kind of a rainy day.

rained here today too.

WooHoo! Check out these Purple Finches




Here's both a Purple Finch and a House Finch.

This is the female Northern Cardinal I was photographing when the Grackle flew into the scene. The other bird is a Carolina Chickadee.


Here is a Mourning Dove finding a soft spot to rest on the row tunnel protecting a bed of onion plants I planted last August.


A White-Throated Sparrow in my variegated weigela.

I finally got some decent pictures of a Blue Jay.

Also, the Pine Warbler on my suet feeder.



Wow, I didnt' notice this till I was posting. I caught the Pine Warbler, just as he was getting ready to fly off.

so beautiful.

Mean looking Grackles:


Here you can see the irridescence that shows up when they're in the sun.

I'm still trying to get a good closeup.

Grackles and Red-Winged Blackbirds.

I LOVE to photograph Grackles! Here are some I took a couple of years ago.






SPOOKLE!

Wow! I they're both great, but I really like that first one. You caught a lot of color in that one!

Okay, I now have some Grackle closeups.

Here are a couple more.



This next one is the very rare, Gray-Feathered Iwanna Grackle

i especially like the iwanna grackle, but would he know what to do with it if he caught one?

I didn't get any pictures yesterday. I was too busy cleaning house so I could go bicycling on the Parkway. The weather had turned warmer, and I noticed that there were less migratory birds around. The Pine Warbler and the Fox Sparrows had left, and I saw only about half the Red-Winged Blackbirds and no Grackles.
This morning I saw 4 Grackles, but the only other birds I had were locals.
There is a brisk south wind today, so the migratory birds are using it to head farther north.

They're calling for rain tomorrow and tomorrow night, which will bring them back down to stay for a short while.

Todays birds are a Mourning Dove and a Song Sparrow:

Hold on, that's not a Song Sparrow.

Actually, I think it's a new Fox Sparrow.

Looks lika a Song Sparrow to me. It's not orange enough to be a Fox Sparrow.

I saw a new Pine Warbler today also, but by the time I got my camera, it was gone

Okay, it came back.


I was trying to get another shot, but it flew. This one looked more slender like the ones I'd seen at Fairystone Lake.

Here's a picture of a Song Sparrow.


The Fox Sparrow fooled me earlier because it has 3 splotches on it's chest also.
This is the most Fox Sparrows I've ever seen in one season (3). I'd seen 2 different individuals on 2 other occasions. Usually, I just see one.

Yeah, it's not a Fox Sparrow. They don't have the 3 splotches on the breast. They just have streaking. I don't see anything else in my book with the 3 splotches besides the Song Sparrow, but the side of the head in my picture looks grey with no eye stripe. And the legs and bill are pink. ?????? Also, the streaking and the splotches seem to be a different color. The pattern of the streaking on the breast is also different in comparing the 2 pictures.

Yesterdays birds.

Here's some more of the House Finch taking a bath.

I have a yard full of black birds lately and all they do is make a bunch of noice

they are noisy buggers, I agree. And arent they huge/

I see blue jays in my yard now .They are noisy!

Back to the Fox Sparrow/Song Sparrow debate. I've changed my mind again, and decided that it really is a Fox Sparrow. They DO have 3 splotches on their breasts like the song sparrows, only they're a reddish brown color instead of the blacker color of the Song Sparrows splotches. They also have pink legs and bills like the one in the picture with the Mourning Dove.

Also, I checked on Wickipedia, and there is much variation in Fox Sparrows. There are 4 different subspecies, though only one is in the east. All the subspecies though, have considerable variation among themselves.

I saw 2 more Fox Sparrows this morning alongside some Song Sparrows, and the Fox Sparrows are much bigger.