Birds • Page 3

Bird Journal 1/11/24

Nothing really big today. ID'd some Chipping Sparrows at a park I take my daughter to. It's the only place I've seen them.

Only two more days until my bird walking tour lol

 

Bird Journal 1/12/24

Today I read an article about how to differentiate between a crow and a raven. I guess crows caw and purr while ravens croak and scream bloody murder lol

Tomorrow morning is the bird walking tour. Just gonna be me and a bunch of boomers in the cold. Can't wait!

 

As the average age of the chorus user rises, it was only inevitable that a bird thread would appear

I’ve always liked birds. One time we were kayaking around a small island in a lake in NH, and we heard all this crashing rushing through the woods towards my wife and I started screaming to get back because I thought she was getting charged by a bear or moose, but it turned out to be a turkey vulture. We think we must have gotten close to a nest on the island or something because it seemed pissed

 

them things make some scary noises

 

I got big into listening to Cape Cod's NPR station while living there from 18-21 and they had (have) a weekly bird report - that was always fun to listen to and learn about the local varieties.

 

A bit different since it was technically domesticated, but our local tiny zoo had a True Macaw named Chelsea that was a rescue after I think an older lady died and her family couldn't care for it. So it could say a bunch of stuff. But according to the zoo keepers, she was picky about who she'd talk to. One time we were there at the end of the day in the summer, like 4:30 when everyone had already left basically. We were walking on the other side from where Chelsea's cage was looking at the rescue Bald Eagles, and all of a sudden we heard an old school phone ring and "hello?". We turned and looked and saw nobody around and were like what the hell was that. Walked around trying to figure out what it was and as we got closer to the macaw cage again she did it again and we were like holy shit lol. From that day on she talked ot us every time we visited. Which was relatively frequent since like I said it was a tiny zoo that was cheap to go to, cheap for a membership, and free during certain months of the year.

So over time we became pretty close with her. She usually hung out in the back of her cage on the "inside", but the minute we'd step up to her cage and say "hello chelsea!" she'd cock her head and then come scurrying out to the front and do all her show off moves that she learned as a pet. She'd grab the cage, she'd puff her feathers out, she'd bob her head and do a wolf whistle, etc. Would say hello sometimes, but usually she would wait until we'd walk away and say "bye bye chelsea" and she'd start screaming "bye bye!" over and over lol.

But again she was very picky about who she'd come out to see and talk to. So every time we were there and other people were also there they'd be amazed that she came out of the back to see us. One time a newer zoo keeper was sweeping up the goat section next to her cage with a veteran zoo keeper that knew us, and we walked up and started talking to Chelsea and the newer zoo keeper looked up and then went to the other zookeeper "Did she just talk to them?! I've been working with her for over a month now and she won't say a word to me!" lol. We had always joked that we must be special since she would talk to us but that was when we realized wow she really does like and remember us for some reason.

Unfortunately back in 2018 she got a sudden illness and died very suddenly and out of nowhere. She was still relatively young for a macaw and they expected her to live a long time. When we found out we cried like we had lost one of our own pets. We sent the zoo an email recounting our good times with her and they eventually contacted us. The executive director of the zoo mentioned in the email that he had been there for 3 years and Chelsea had never talked to him once. Eventually her zoo keeper emailed as well and they sent us a package that included a letter from her keeper about how moved they were by our story and included a picture of Chelsea and one of her feathers. We got them framed.

I still miss that bird and am forever sad she died before my son was born. He would have been amazed to have a bird talk to him like that.

 

That's an awesome story. Birds bring us all together

 

Also the tour was legit, more notes later

 

Bird Journal 1/13/24

Bird tour was awesome. As I was getting out of my bed on my day off in the darkness and freezing cold, part of me was wondering why I was doing this, but that all faded away when I got there. There were 15 of us, many of us new to the hobby, and they loaned out some binoculars. I got to use a $300 pair (which are cheap compared to the nice ones). Ages ranged from probably 25-60+. The two ladies leading us were super nice and thoughtful and patient with all of us noobs.

We went pretty slow but got to see 25+ different birds. A lot of them are common but several I've never seen before - wood ducks, long-billed thrasher, orange-crowned warbler, etc. Funnily enough there were at least two other people who were led to the hobby by Wingspan, the bird based boardgame, which is what got me into it.

There's a site called eBird where you can upload all your sightings during a specific visit. Here's everything we saw today:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S158807954

It was 35 degrees when we started but warmed up over time.

Very cool, would totally do again.

 

Bird Journal 1/14/24

nothing really new today, one of the two ladies who led the tour yesterday uploaded all the pics she took to the checklist I posted, super cool to see some of the shots.

my wife sent me a video of a bird on the back porch today that was right up near the sliding glass door (they never come that close) but I think it was just a house sparrow, which are super common. it's the thought that counts tho

 

Saw this guy relaxing in our neighbor’s tree while working in the chicken coop today.

 

Dope pic

 

cardinals are super common here, but man they're pretty. and growing up in SoCal, I never saw any (or paid attention)

 

Bird Journal

1/15/24

Today while driving I noticed a big ol hawk land on top of a light pole. Being the Smart Man that I am, I pulled over to see if I could get a good picture to ID it but it flew away before I could. So yeah now I'm the guy that now pulls off the road to look at a bird, nice. Pretty sure it was a red-shouldered hawk, that's the most common hawk around here. Also saw a black vulture circling, but those are also common.

I went to this store called Wild Birds Unlimited to see what it was all about. Ending up chatting it up with the owner Bill for like 20 mins. Told him I was new, just went on my first tour, and that Becca and Patti (our tour guides) 'sent me' lol. He was super friendly and told me all kinds of cool stuff about hummingbirds and about some of his memorable bird encounters. I looked at the binoculars because that's the very first purchase I need to make if I want to be serious about the hobby. Unfortunately even the entry level pairs are at least $120, which isn't surprising. Just gotta convince the wife that it's for science.

 

Last year a Snowy Owl flew too far south for the winter and ended up in a neighborhood in the next town over. We live in Southern California so it was pretty unprecedented. Tons of people flocked to the neighborhood to see it, I wanted to go, but it got pretty crazy and didn't want to contribute to stressing the animal out.

'Astonishing' snowy owl spotted in Southern California neighborhood | CNN

 

poor owl

 

Bird Journal 1/16/24

I tried my hardest to put out some water for the birds today. Put it in a pie dish in the grass. Then moved it onto a little stand. Kept rotating it with warm water. Added sunflower seeds around it. Then raisins. Moved it around the yard. Then moved it into the front yard.

Despite all this insane behavior, I only saw one visitor the whole day and only for a few seconds. Birds actually might not be real. But I'm determined to make them come.

Tomorrow I try again!

 

@theagentcoma come out to Denver. I want to rent a telephoto lens and go take some pics

 

ugh that sounds fkin awesome. would love to do this!

I tried to sign up for a free owl tour but it had already sold out lol. bunch of bird nerds out there

 

Bird Journal 1/17/24

Some slight success with the DIY birdbath. Had an Eastern Phoebe, and a male and female (separately) Cardinal visit. They didn't stay long, but progress! I visited a couple of pawn shops for binoculars, didn't find anything good. Will keep looking!

 

Bird Journal 1/18/24

A bought a little bird seed bell to hang in the backyard to attract the birds!! It cost $2.36! I've officially spent the first dollars on this hobby. It starts now.



Meanwhile I'm scouring Marketplace and online for binoculars, but I don't just want to get a shitty pair for like $50. So my wife and I made an agreement, if I'm still into this hobby one month from today, I can get nice binoculars. I've picked up and dropped hobbies before, so it's a fair assessment. I have no doubt this one will stick because birds are uh, never going anywhere!!

 

Bird Journal 1/19/24

Success! Had a Carolina Chickadee, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, and Black-Crested Titmouse all visit the bell today. I also had my wife pick up a terra cotta plate to use as a bird bath (been using a pie dish lol). Filled it up and had an Eastern Phoebe stop by for a swim. Things are looking up!

 

this thread needs more pics, these are the three birds that came to the feeder today

Black-Crested Titmouse



Carolina Chickadee



Ruby-Crowned Kinglet



all very common here but cool to see visitors. best $2.36 I ever spent

 

Bird Journal 1/20/24

Busy morning at the feeder bell. Had a Mockingbird (state bird), another Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, and two Cardinals (one male, one female) visit. I need to get an actual feeder because even the Mockingbird looked massive on it, and really only one bird at a time can be on it.

Also I know we've all seen male Cardinals but the female ones look cool too