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Post by callipygias on Mar 15, 2010 16:58:04 GMT -5
I've been meaning to re-start a birder's "life list" for years, maybe this is the place to do it. I used to have a notebook, but it's long returned to nature somewhere in the Columbia River Gorge, right after I saw my first (and only) hermit warbler. BIRDS SPOTTED AT MY FEEDERS (including beneath):American Goldfinch American Robin Bewick's Wren Black-capped Chickadee Black-headed Grosbeak Bushtit Chestnut-backed Chickadee Dark-eyed Junco Downy Woodpecker European Starling Evening Grosbeak Golden-crowned Sparrow House Finch House Sparrow Lesser Goldfinch Pileated Woodpecker Pine Siskin Red Crossbill Red-breasted Nuthatch Ruby-crowned Kinglet Sharp-shinned Hawk Song Sparrow Spotted Towhee Steller's Jay Townsend's Warbler Varied Thrush Western Scrub Jay Western Tanager White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler BIRDS SPOTTED ANYWHERE ELSE:American Dipper American Kestrel Anna's Hummingbird Bald Eagle Band-tailed Pigeon Barn Owl Barn Swallow Belted Kingfisher Black-billed Magpie Bohemian Waxwing Brandt's Cormorant Brewer's Blackbird Brown Creeper Brown-headed Cowbird Brown Pelican Bullock's Oriole California Gull Canada Goose Cedar Waxwing Chipping Sparrow Cliff Swallow Common Crow Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Raven Common Yellowthroat Cooper's Hawk Great-blue Heron Great-horned Owl Hermit Warbler House Wren Lesser Scaup Loggerhead Shrike Mallard Mourning Dove Northern Flicker Northern Harrier Osprey Pelagic Cormorant Peragrine Falcon Prairie Falcon Purple Finch Killdeer Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-tailed Hawk Red-winged Blackbird Ring-necked Pheasant Ring-billed Gull Rock Dove Ruby-crowned Kinglet Rufous Hummingbird Tree Swallow Tufted Puffin Turkey Vulture Violet-green Swallow Western Grebe Western Kingbird Western Meadowlark Winter Wren Wood Duck Yellow Warbler Last one spotted was on a freeway offramp yesterday, a Cooper's Hawk (not my pic): Once I get better at identifying raptors and fowl, my list should grow.
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Post by spackle on Mar 16, 2010 7:14:13 GMT -5
A Sharp-shinned Hawk at your feeder? What, are you staking out poor little field mice or something? Nice list. Some friends and I are contemplating a birding trip here, to celebrate how old we're all getting.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Mar 16, 2010 9:15:48 GMT -5
Cool, I can't imagine seeing a Pileated Woodpecker at the feeder. I technically live in their range, but I've only seen a couple glimpses of them once or twice in forests around here. I've had better views of them elsewhere, but I always pictured them as way too secretive to show up at feeders.
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Post by callipygias on Mar 16, 2010 13:13:38 GMT -5
Cool, I can't imagine seeing a Pileated Woodpecker at the feeder. I technically live in their range, but I've only seen a couple glimpses of them once or twice in forests around here. I've had better views of them elsewhere, but I always pictured them as way too secretive to show up at feeders. I've only seen two of them, and both were at a suet feeder. I've turned both my dad and grandpa into birders, and they both live in pretty heavily wooded areas, so they get a lot more woodpeckers than I do. A Sharp-shinned Hawk at your feeder? Trying to feed on birds feeding on my feeders counts! It was around Thanksgiving, six or seven years ago, he/she swooped through my alley of feeders looking for a quick meal on the wing (though I told my niece that she was probably curious about what all the other birds were doing there). I ran to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse as she flew away, and there she was sitting on the fence about twelve feet from me. It was awesome -- totally unobstructed view. Not only did she hang out for a good 5 minutes--I actually had time to sneak away and get my binoculars for some real close-ups--every so often she would turn around, like she wanted me to see her from every possible angle. She was the Mae West of raptors. I saw her a few more times over the next two or three days, but never got to see her catch anything.
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Post by callipygias on Mar 16, 2010 13:21:41 GMT -5
Thanks to Groupie for reminding me that I spotted my first Bohemian Waxwing at the coast last year. (How did you possibly remember that?) And though some of you may live in places where ravens are common, I've been really excited to see one hanging around the dumpster here occasionally. Until now I've never seen a raven where there are people nearby.
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Post by solgroupie on Mar 16, 2010 22:19:03 GMT -5
Thanks to Groupie for reminding me that I spotted my first Bohemian Waxwing at the coast last year. (How did you possibly remember that?) dur. i was there.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 17, 2010 4:34:54 GMT -5
I've never seen a single one of these birds in my entire life. See what being stuck in the middle of the ocean will get you? I like this thread, callipygias . It would be great if you could post pictures. I'd love to see what these birds look like. The few here so far are great to see.
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Post by callipygias on Mar 17, 2010 12:13:53 GMT -5
That's not a bad idea. This way I can keep track of what's at my feeders and when. Currently spilling seed all over the ground are about two dozen American Goldfinches -- amazing, since it took me at least 5 years to attract a single one to my garden. And their little pals, the Pine Siskins A pair of House finches A few bushtits, which will disappear soon, till next fall A Spotted Towhee A mess of Dark-eyed Juncos A couple Song Sparrows And a lonely li'l Bewick's Wren That's not counting the pestilent Starlings, House Sparrows, or the less pestilent but even more prevalent Robins. Just spotted today, though they may have been mixed in with the other finches for a while, a Lesser Goldfinch
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Post by spackle on Mar 17, 2010 13:44:25 GMT -5
Beautiful!
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 17, 2010 17:19:18 GMT -5
Agreed. We have our own species here, but not a whole lot of different varieties like you have there. I can see why there are bird watchers now. The only one I recognized was the plain finch, so I guess we do have those.
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Post by callipygias on Mar 17, 2010 17:55:54 GMT -5
The Hermit Warbler. Saw a bunch of these way up in the Cascades overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, they were hovering around the branches in a young pine forest. At that point I'd never seen anything but a hummingbird hover (not counting when raptors hover using wind). My aunt was with me and she's the one who identified it with a field guide. It's just old logging roads up there, and when we left the warblers we drove around a corner and were as shocked as the Great-blue Heron in the road was. Those things are huge. He flew off in a rush, and his wings sounded as huge as they looked. It's so cool how common they are. It seems like every golf course has one in residence. (Golf courses are great bird places to bird watch.)
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Post by spackle on Mar 19, 2010 14:39:37 GMT -5
Calli, is it okay if I "crow" (har har) here about a bird I just saw?
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Post by callipygias on Mar 19, 2010 16:48:06 GMT -5
Absolutely. I'm keeping and updating my list in the original post, so anyone else feel welcome to discuss the hot bird news of the day here. Except Captain Hygiene, of course. In the words of Groupie: NEVER FORGET
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Post by spackle on Mar 19, 2010 18:02:25 GMT -5
^ ;D Love that pic. And thanks for letting me crow. What I want to crow about is this... a Sandhill Crane! I'm lucky enough to see them fairly often, but whenever I do, it's a treat, especially when out walking and not from a car. They are so huge! And their call sounds like a cross between a turkey and a pterodactyl- or so I imagine. What would the guys be saying?
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Post by callipygias on Mar 19, 2010 21:09:24 GMT -5
Your magical hut must be way south if you're seeing them year-round. I've never seen one, but I bet they're quite a sight. Do they allow people to get close, that you've seen? Their average wingspan is even longer than the Great blue Heron, the books say. Well over six feet. Wow. What would the guys be saying? They need to evolve little hats to help with the sunburn.
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