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Topic Summary
Posted by tod2 on Dec 12, 2011, 6:22pm
Oh yes! I have one wall which is a glass sliding door and open it right up in the morning if the weather is nice. Woolly hangs out on the step and pokes around in my flower pots or continually bangs on the glass with his 'weapon' of a beak. This morning he got really curious and poked it in the bucket of bird seed near the door, then stepped inside and attacked the electrical cords hanging down behind the TV before giving it a test peck on the screen - which was off at the time! I had to shoo him out as I really did not feel like cleaning up a big bird dollop! I was lying in bed drinking my tea while he got up to his investigations :D
Posted by kimby on Jan 26, 2012, 3:34pm
The bald eagles seem to have abandoned the lake after keeping us company all summer, though we do see some on our way to the lake from the highway which follows the Clark Fork River.

This guy, however, has returned:
[image]
though the photo is from last year.

Looking forward to more "captures" of him this winter if he sticks around. It's a Great Grey Owl, usually found much further north, though in snowy winters they head south till they find shallower snow to hunt rodents in.
Posted by bixaorellana on Jan 26, 2012, 5:38pm
That's exciting, Kimby! You know so much about wild animals & plants.
Posted by tod2 on Jan 27, 2012, 6:24pm
That is one magnificent owl Kimby! We don't get to see too many here. You are very lucky!

Let me introduce you to our NEW BABY!
Our two storks, Woolly and his wifey Woolleen have brought us their new baby! Woolleen disappeared for about a month or two ( we think) but we could have been hoodwinked into thinking only Woolly was coming to feed when the two of them could have been taking turns on the nest???

Anyway, all of a sudden about two weeks ago three storkies arrived together. And here is SCRUFFY!
He squawks incessantly and raises his wings when we throw the chicken pieces out.
[image]

From L to R = Woolly (dad), Woolleen (mom) and baby Scruffy.
[image]

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We called him Scruffy because his hair(feathers) stick up like a crew cut on his head!
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Posted by kimby on Jan 27, 2012, 7:20pm
What a striking family you have, tod!
Posted by bixaorellana on Jan 27, 2012, 8:17pm
Tod, that is absolutely thrilling!

Just think, the last time the stork visited you, all you got was a baby human. This time you got a baby stork! ;D
Posted by kimby on Jan 27, 2012, 9:05pm
(our bixa is SO clever!)
Posted by bixaorellana on Mar 12, 2012, 6:39am
I don't know what this tiny bird is -- some kind of Euphonia, maybe?

Anyway, they're seasonal & elusive, as they like to dart about, usually in the cover of a bush. However, in this yard they've been very bold about coming to the bird bath, sometimes even when I'm standing right next to it. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but I happened to be inside standing next to the camera when I saw this bird visiting the bath, so I quickly shot through the open window.

[image]

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Posted by kimby on Mar 16, 2012, 8:01am
I am enjoying the birds in my sister's California garden. Some are old friends from when I lived in CA 28 years ago, but their names have been changed. The plain titmouse has been split into oak titmouse and juniper titmouse, and the brown towhee is now 2 species: California towhee & canyon towhee.

Her back yard was dripping with birds today. And rain!
Posted by kerouac2 on Mar 16, 2012, 5:53pm
Wonderful photos from both Tod and Bixa -- I had not seen this thread for awhile.
Posted by nycgirl7664 on Mar 17, 2012, 4:11pm
What a bunch of beauties!
Posted by kimby on Apr 4, 2012, 10:51pm
This is not exactly a garden, but the entrance to my sister's office building. However this is a wild and wonderful Canada goose:

[image]

When I took the gander's photo, I didn't notice the goose sitting on her nest behind him!

[image]

They now have eggs, but I don't have a photo....
Posted by tod2 on Apr 8, 2012, 2:30pm
Aw, that is so dear! And she is a most magnificent Canada goose :D
Posted by tod2 on Apr 8, 2012, 3:06pm
It may be autumn here down south but my garden is ablaze with the Wild Dagga plants.
Sitting quietly for quite some time my photographer (I'm the assistant apprentice ;) ) got these shots of Black Sunbirds sucking the nectar from the tubular petals. The brown ones with flecked feathers on their breasts are females. We only saw one male.

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Posted by kimby on Apr 8, 2012, 3:52pm
Like hummingbirds that don't hover. Great photos.
Posted by tod2 on Apr 9, 2012, 7:31am
YaY! Many many thanks Bixa for guiding me through the process of putting my little video on UTube!

Kimby, I suppose Sunbirds, Sugar Birds, and Hummingbirds are all of the same species. In my bird book they do not have a listing for Hummingbirds?? I'm positive I have seen these little birds fluttering at a million miles an hour while they hover over a flower but I suspect it is the smaller little birds of the species that do that. The ones we photographed clung on while siphoning the nectar.
Posted by bixaorellana on Apr 9, 2012, 7:59pm
Dazzling pictures, video, & commentary, Tod!

I think we had a brief you-say-tomahto conversation about this once before & determined that sun birds and hummingbirds are the same. Some hummingbirds are fairly large, too.
Posted by nycgirl7664 on Apr 10, 2012, 3:09pm
Wonderful shots!
Posted by kerouac2 on Apr 10, 2012, 4:50pm
The sunbirds are fabulous. With flowers like that, I can see why their beaks have developed that way.
Posted by kimby on Apr 15, 2012, 10:44pm

Apr 9, 2012, 7:59pm, bixaorellana wrote:
I think we had a brief you-say-tomahto conversation about this once before & determined that sun birds and hummingbirds are the same. Some hummingbirds are fairly large, too.


From wikipedia:
The sunbirds have counterparts in two very distantly related groups: the hummingbirds of the Americas and the honeyeaters of Australia. The resemblances are due to convergent evolution brought about by a similar nectar-feeding lifestyle. Some sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird
Posted by kimby on Apr 26, 2012, 4:01am
[image]

This is not our house or yard, but an invasion of snowy owls has occupied a neighborhood in a nearby town this winter and Mr. Kimby got this photo of one of them.
Posted by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2012, 5:51am
What a sight! I wonder if the local conservation department is looking into what caused the invasion.
Posted by kerouac2 on May 1, 2012, 3:14pm
[image]

[image]

(in the Bois de Vincennes today)
Posted by kerouac2 on May 1, 2012, 5:22pm
(also in the Bois de Vincennes)

[image]

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Posted by rikita on May 1, 2012, 5:37pm

Apr 28, 2012, 5:51am, bixaorellana wrote:
What a sight! I wonder if the local conservation department is looking into what caused the invasion.

i'd say another kid got his or her hogwarts letter....
Posted by nycgirl7664 on May 3, 2012, 4:48am

May 1, 2012, 5:37pm, rikita wrote:

i'd say another kid got his or her hogwarts letter....


Ha, I was thinking the same thing. :)

He's a beauty, Kimby.

That peacock is splendid, Kerouac, and those fluffy goslings are so adorable.
Posted by bixaorellana on May 15, 2012, 8:47pm

May 1, 2012, 5:37pm, rikita wrote:

Apr 28, 2012, 5:51am, bixaorellana wrote:
What a sight! I wonder if the local conservation department is looking into what caused the invasion.

i'd say another kid got his or her hogwarts letter....

[image] Hee hee ~~ good one, Rikita!

The peacocks ~~ wow, but the swans ....... magical!
Posted by kimby on May 19, 2012, 7:07pm
A bald eagle flew over my house yesterday. I regard that as a good omen.
Posted by kimby on May 19, 2012, 8:49pm

Apr 4, 2012, 10:51pm, kimby wrote:
This is not exactly a garden, but the entrance to my sister's office building. However this is a wild and wonderful Canada goose (see 161 for photos)
When I took the gander's photo, I didn't notice the goose sitting on her nest behind him!
They now have eggs, but I don't have a photo....


And my sister now sends this...awwwww

[image]

More than 100 people a day pass within feet of this nest.
Posted by bixaorellana on May 23, 2012, 3:27pm
Oh, the darlings! And what a treat to see the next chapter of the pictures you took.

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