Ornithology (Bird) Thread

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Waukonda
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Waukonda »

Thanks, Garry, but I am never 100% sure on Flycatchers unless it is a Great Crested, Kingbird or Phoebe and I guess a Pewee but only if it is making it's namesake call.

Thanks also for teaching me a new word, murmuration, sounds like a cardiac issue. I gotta agree with you on enjoying the "aerial ballet".
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by bighomer »

The photo of the Starlings reminded of a story about the purple Martin's in Nashville. Seems they are congregating downtown at the Schemerhorn arts center and are pooping all over the place. They are getting together for their trip to South America. It must take them a long time to congregate, they left my houses about 6 weeks ago. ::shrug::
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Mumbleypeg »

I’ve seen starling “murmuration” (never knew that’s what it was called). I enjoy creating it - with a 12 gauge shotgun. :lol:

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Waukonda »

Mumbleypeg wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 5:51 pm I’ve seen starling “murmuration” (never knew that’s what it was called). I enjoy creating it - with a 12 gauge shotgun. :lol:

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Dinadan »

Nice flycatcher, Ike. I also find the small Flycatchers difficult to identify.

We are starting to get some migrants in my area. A lot of our summer birds like Cuckoos, Flycatchers, and Kites, have already left, or else are keeping a low profile. Here is a welcome visitor that I spotted in my garden yesterday, a Yellow Warbler.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Waukonda »

Very nice photo of a good looking bird, Mel. Normally, the only warblers that I see much of are the Prothonatary and the Myrtle. There are others around but I suppose I am in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I saw a Cuckoo about a week ago here and was still seeing Blue Grosbeaks earlier in the week but I think they are gone now. Yesterday I counted 18 Kingbirds in a group perched on a power line, so I think they will be moving on right away. Pretty much down to the winter population here. Always enjoy your pics, thanks for your comments.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Paladin »

Waukonda wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:38 pm Very nice photo of a good looking bird, Mel. Normally, the only warblers that I see much of are the Prothonatary and the Myrtle. There are others around but I suppose I am in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I saw a Cuckoo about a week ago here and was still seeing Blue Grosbeaks earlier in the week but I think they are gone now. Yesterday I counted 18 Kingbirds in a group perched on a power line, so I think they will be moving on right away. Pretty much down to the winter population here. Always enjoy your pics, thanks for your comments.
Where are you located, Ike? General location, I mean.

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Waukonda »

Southern Illinois, about 5 hours South of Jerry midway between the Ohio and the Mississloppy, tri state region (Il, Mo, Ky)
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

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Waukonda wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:59 pm Southern Illinois, about 5 hours South of Jerry midway between the Ohio and the Mississloppy, tri state region (Il, Mo, Ky)
Thank you, sir! You know you could add an abbreviated version of that to your profile but thanks for the info.

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Quick Steel »

Mel and Ike, you fellows surely have wonderful birding opportunities being on major flyways. A little envious right now.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by bighomer »

Always enjoy watching the gold finches feed upside down.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Quick Steel »

A fine shot bighomer.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

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bighomer wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:51 pm Always enjoy watching the gold finches feed upside down.
Nice!
I need to get me a thistle feeder. We do have gold finches in our region, but they're not drawn to my tube feeder.
Take care and God bless,

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Dinadan »

Quick Steel wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:02 am Mel and Ike, you fellows surely have wonderful birding opportunities being on major flyways. A little envious right now.
Sounds Ike is right on a major flyway. Me not so much. But this time of year, for the next six weeks, a lot of birds do accumulate here along the Gulf Coast, prepping for the the flight across the Gulf. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are the most noticeable, if a person has a feeder, anyway. We had a feeder up all summer with maybe two stray hummers showing up one or two times. Within the last week we have around four hummers resident in our garden. Cypress vine is blooming profusely, basically covering everything in our garden. It really draws the hummers, more than our feeders, I think, so I usually leave it to bloom until the hummers are gone.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Quick Steel »

Thanks for the correction Mel. I guess my thinking was that the birds who were coming down the coast would cross over to the gulf coast if they were going to make the big hop. Not so much.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Waukonda »

Nice pictures BH and Mel!
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

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Quick Steel wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:34 pm Thanks for the correction Mel. I guess my thinking was that the birds who were coming down the coast would cross over to the gulf coast if they were going to make the big hop. Not so much.
I think that the ones migrating down the Atlantic go down Florida and island hop from there. Not that we do not get a lot of migrants here. In the winter a lot of water birds winter along the coast as well as a lot of song birds. But when I was doing some work along the Mississippi River one fall, I was like: Wow, so this is what they mean by a flyway!
Here are a couple of maps I scraped off the net.
Flyways
Flyways
Flyways
Flyways
Theoretically, I am right on the eastern edge of the Mississippi Flyway. When I was young (say, forty years ago), it was not uncommon to see large, high flying migrating flocks of geese. The ones that are so high I would not even notice them until I heard the honking and started scanning the sky. I have not see one of those for close to twenty years now. Migration patterns have certainly shifted.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by bighomer »

Steve Warden wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:18 pm
bighomer wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:51 pm Always enjoy watching the gold finches feed upside down.
Nice!
I need to get me a thistle feeder. We do have gold finches in our region, but they're not drawn to my tube feeder.
I used the bag feeders you can fill them up several times before they start to deteriorate. The tube feeders seem to get mold in them awfully quick.I about quit feeding niger seed all together, they seem to like the black oil seeds just fine.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by bighomer »

Dinadan wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:49 pm
Quick Steel wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:34 pm Thanks for the correction Mel. I guess my thinking was that the birds who were coming down the coast would cross over to the gulf coast if they were going to make the big hop. Not so much.
I think that the ones migrating down the Atlantic go down Florida and island hop from there. Not that we do not get a lot of migrants here. In the winter a lot of water birds winter along the coast as well as a lot of song birds. But when I was doing some work along the Mississippi River one fall, I was like: Wow, so this is what they mean by a flyway!
Here are a couple of maps I scraped off the net.
Flyway12.jpg
Flyway14.jpg
Theoretically, I am right on the eastern edge of the Mississippi Flyway. When I was young (say, forty years ago), it was not uncommon to see large, high flying migrating flocks of geese. The ones that are so high I would not even notice them until I heard the honking and started scanning the sky. I have not see one of those for close to twenty years now. Migration patterns have certainly shifted.
Man I know what you mean about the geese and ducks of yesteryear. Now we got ducks and geese that live here year around I can look up and see them flying most every day. There's a pond about 2 miles from me and you see geese there all the time.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Quick Steel »

I've heard that many of the Canada geese have become year round residents. And thanks for those maps Mel. They actually show that it is just the western 1/5th of KY that is touched by the Mississippi. My area actually shows all white; no flyway participation at all. Of course we get strays.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Dinadan »

Canada geese are year round residents here along the Gulf, too. Go to any park with lake frontage and they are nesting and raising goslings. It is funny how something so exciting can become so mundane. I see the local flocks of two to fifty flying low as they go from place to place: but that is nothing like those old time flocks of hundreds or thousands, mostly Snow Geese I think, high in the sky. I have heard human wanderlust described as wanting to follow the wild geese, and just seeing those flocks coming from an unknown land and heading to an unknown destination stirred the wanderlust in me!

Regarding the Goldfinches: the ones that show up in our garden really prefer black oil sunflower seed to thistle. I have tried thistle feeders, and they just did not get the traffic that black oil sunflower gets. I never needed to refill the thistle, and the sunflower needed refilling every day. Maybe it was something about my particular feeder.
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

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bighomer wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:23 pm
Steve Warden wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:18 pm
bighomer wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:51 pm Always enjoy watching the gold finches feed upside down.
Nice!
I need to get me a thistle feeder. We do have gold finches in our region, but they're not drawn to my tube feeder.
I used the bag feeders you can fill them up several times before they start to deteriorate. The tube feeders seem to get mold in them awfully quick.I about quit feeding niger seed all together, they seem to like the black oil seeds just fine.
I usually get a 20 pound bag of wild bird seed mix and a 20 pound bag of the black oil seed and mix the two. That gives the higher ratio of black oil, which I know is preferred by most birds. Just not the gold finches, for some unknown reason.
Take care and God bless,

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by bighomer »

Sarge I also guit using the wild bird seed mix, it seemed to me that there was too much waste, I don't know which birds like the millet seed but I evidently didn't have enough of them. It's black oil almost exclusively for me although I'll use the niger sacks some, when I was putting out several of the Niger bags I probably had 25 or 30 pairs of gold finches, I don't have as many with the sunflower seeds, but they don't fight a bad. They are worse to fight than the hummers, they will peck the eyes
out of each other. I walked up on a female on the feeder the other night I could've reach out and touched her. I was on her blind side. What is sad I found her or another one dead a couple of days later. ::shrug::
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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Paladin »

I buy and feed the wild bird seed and I agree about the waste. My birds like the white seed which I believe is highgear (no points off for spelling) and they tend to leave the golden milo. They clean up the sunflower seed pretty quick.

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Re: Ornithology (Bird) Thread

Post by Steve Warden »

Yeah, I've noticed the waste. Next purchase will probably be all black oil seeds.
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