DSC04233.jpg How about this great bird!
DSC04233.jpg How about this great bird!
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
Thanks Chad, now when are you coming to get themOriginally Posted by Nearfest2
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The older I get, the better I was.
Looks like he got up on the wrong side of the nest this morning.
The older I get, the better I was.
I haven’t gone out with a birdwatching group in years. I guess I’ve reached the part of my life when you can’t get me up that early in the morning unless it’s for work.
That said, I really enjoyed it. I remember how excited I got when I saw a brown creeper for the first time.
For the record, they sound like this, not this! I’ve already ranted about this in another thread.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Bird Watcher: Someone who has an interest in birds and can identify most of the more common species...owns a pair of binoculars
Birder: Someone who has a serious interest in birds and can identify most species, common or not...owns a high-end pair of bins and maybe a telescope and might go on birding holidays
Twitcher (derogatory): Someone who is obsessed with birds, subscribes to services that alerts him to the appearance of rarities and thinks nothing of driving the length of the country to spot a rare vagrant...owns a van to sleep in, camouflage clothing, telescopes, night-vision gear, the works...
I'm a casual bird-watcher and a member of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), which means I get free entry to RSPB reserves and a magazine every quarter...
My cat was a birder, in her younger days. Now she's a canner.
OK then I'm a Bird Watcher.
I have a bunch of feeders and do a little bit of research on which foods attract different species. South Shore of Long Island is probably not the best place for variety - but even this morning I looked out my window and saw
Sparrows
Starlings
Junkos
Cardinals
BlueJays
Pigeons
Doves
and a pair of Woodpeckers
I once bought a feeder to attract humming-birds but all it attracted was a million ants.
One of my weaknesses is sitting on the back porch in the summer watching the birds. We have a pond at the end of our street and I have seen some interesting species that I didn't realize we had in the area.
Nice shots, Mister Triscuits.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
One of the easiest ways to discourage squirrels is with hot pepper seeds and suet. Birds cannot register spicy heat like mammals can . . .
My wife caught this hummingbird on our honeysuckle.
honeysuckle-hummingbird.jpg
I shot this at the local zoo. Sure, it's not birdwatching, but a pretty cool shot.
flamingoes.jpg
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
When i toss walnut shards for the birds, the starlings and sparrows and pigeons are quick and aggressive in snatching up the food;the occasional cardinal wants the walnut but isn't aggressive about swooping down and grabbing it.It hesitates to compete with the other birds for the walnuts.I try to distract the sparrows and starlings away by tossing nuts as far as i can throw them, in order to toss a walnut shard where the cardinal can get it, unharried by the other birds.
Do they ever say "thank you"?.....never.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
I used to have lunch with the local park birds every nice workday.
After a while I was a 'known entity' and they would come around before I got their food out.
It was always fascinating to watch the interaction between the birds, some were bold and would eat from my hand, some always on the periphery...waiting.
They are opportunistic. Their agenda is far removed from ours. So if we are not trying to actively trying to kill and eat them we must just be useful idiots.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Not so much myself, but my father (who has a master’s degree in Zoology) has an amazing knowledge of birds. You name it, he knows it.
I love birds, my two favorites are Chicken and Turkey...!
One other thing i've noticed:Starlings, sparrows, cardinals, woodpeckers;all can use their beaks to peck or chisel off a piece of walnut to swallow.A pigeon doesn't(can't?) do this.From what i've observed, the pigeon either doesn't know how to chip away at the nut to break off a small enough piece to swallow or it doesn't have a sharp enough beak to do it.Countless times i've seen pigeons shake a piece of nut, trying to break off a piece, they almost never succeed.They try to swallow a chunk of nut but can't.They eventually give up and drop the food;other birds and squirrels eagerly snap it up.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
That is also my position - including the RSPB membership. Not a birder, but somebody who goes on walks with binocolulars.
Any well-known musicians known to have an interest in birds (before you start down another path: I mean the winged variety!)?
Off the top of my head I can't think of many bird-themed records in rock, jazz or folk. Bird references are of course common in classical music with Messiaen probably being the most famous example. There is Bert Jancsh's Avocet. But there must be more examples.
Conference Of The Birds-Dave Holland
In the late 50's Jim Fassett recorded bird song/calls and used studio manipulation to construct an album titled Symphony Of The Birds, which came out in 1960(afaik).The Japanese EM label released the album on cd a few years ago and i bought it.Kinda creepy listening, but it has its moments.
Last edited by walt; 03-18-2017 at 06:06 PM.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Birding musicians: Guy Garvey (Elbow). Also (though not exactly well-known) the band Stornoway are into their birds and indeed their album Bonxie gets it's name from the Scottish word for a Great Skua
Birding songs: Blackbird, Albatross, Eagle (ABBA)...there must be hundreds!
It caught my eye because I thought it was music or arts related!Wow. Just when I thought there would be a thread you wouldn't read and post to, Jud.
I'm a casual birder too, I have several field guides and it's always a thrill when I spot a bird that is not one of the "common"birds seen in my area. Some I recall are oriole, ruby-crowned kinglet and hooded merganser (which Mister Triscuits posted a pic of). My favorite duck is the coot, which is only seen here in the NY area in winter. I always get a smile when I see those little guys bobbing in the water with the rest of the ducks, geese and swans.
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
Assuming we're talking about the same bird, coots aren't ducks...they're rails (no webbed feet for example), and extremely common in the UK - you'll see them in every park pond and canal in the country.
John Lees of Barclay James Harvest is a bird enthusiast, hence the many bird-themed songs in their catalogue (“Mocking Bird,” “Little Lapwing,” and so forth). Also, “Harry’s Song” is about the death of a beloved pet parrot.
I understand that flamingos in captivity are fed cayenne peppers to enhance their red coloration.
The original vinyl of this is extremely rare. A friend of mine was so appalled by the musical content, he gave me his copy when I expressed interest.
Out here on the West Coast, too. Coots are extremely common, more closely related to gallinules than ducks. They sound more like chickens than ducks (and exhibit chicken-like behavior, what with their neck-pumping while swimming).
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Although I'm a big fan of nature (and the outdoors in general)I wouldn't really call myself a birder but I have been on a few bird walks and I would say I know more about birds(or can at least identify more)than your average person(I suppose that's not saying much since your average person only seems to know three(typically the bluejay, cardinal and robin and usually not much else imo). I used to frequent the nature center near where I used to live(as coincidence would have it the former director there was a big prog fan).I would go on many walks there and frequent the bird blinds too. I learned just by watching and trying to match the birds on the poster with what I saw(lots of black capped chickadees, white breasted nuthatches, tufted titmouse, red winged blackbird, brown headed cowbird etc). Most of the common feeder birds basically. I am somewhat active with the nature center near where I live now but it's not quite the same. There is no real bird blind. Still, I am a big fan of nature so it's good to visit now and then. I really should brush up on my birds. Most of the bird walks seem to be in the really early morning and I'm not an early morning person so that is kind of an obstacle as far as that goes but I suppose that's no excuse not to learn more.
Also, I want to mention that Hawk Mountain sanctuary is a really cool place to check out but I'm sure you probably already know about it.
Yep. Apparently it's because they are not citizens of Canada. Seriously. This is the explanation I heard. So I'm wondering why the american robin is still called that. Is it a citizen? A bit trivial I suppose but interesting anyway how some get their names. I suppose most people just call it a robin.
I'm a casual birder too, or a bird watcher according to the British rubric given above. One of the cool things is that I saw an actual California Condor on my way home from work a couple years back. I really dwarfed the turkey vultures it was flying with.
My commute has since changed. Now I drive through an estuary on my way to and from work, and get to see egrets (great and snowy) and herons (only have spotted the Great Blue while driving by) as well as various shorebirds on the side of the road.
Yeah, but what if you see them in the Timmy's drive through getting a double-double, or at a Leaf's game? Sounds Canadian to me.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
The indoor bird keeps me pretty busy.
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