Feathered vistors

[Sterling]

This weekend hubby was able to capture some of our native birds hanging around and enjoying the sun and bird bath. The camera he used is my Canon Rebel with my zoom lens. I'm tickled that we can catch some of these pics with the birds far away and all the way in the treelined property lined woods! Makes it all up close and personal!

Blue Jay enjoying it's bath

And coming up for a breather (I love his little head)

Male Cardinal

Have no idea what this little guy is?

 

[Lisa]

Very nice pics!

The unknown bird looks like a Flycatcher to me, perhaps an Olive-Sided Flycatcher or an Eastern Phoebe (though I'm more leaning toward the Olive-Sided). Very pretty!

I saw my very first cardinals last week in Ontario! I was very excited!

 

[Mona]

GREAT pics Cheyenne!! Blue Jays are my all time favorite birds!!

 

[Jill]

Those are awesome photos, Cheyenne! I love the blue jay's head, too

 

[Mona]

Cheyenne, I don't mean to hijack your thread but I had some pics on my camera and your thread remoinded me of them so after I posted I downloaded them and resized them to post here. A couple just to share, but also there is one bord I have never seen here before, and wondered what it is. Maybe someone can help to identify it??

This is what I call a "canary", although I really have no idea what the real name is...

Then there is this bird...this is the one I have never seen before. It is kind of pretty with his red breast markings.

And finally a pic of a couple Blue Jays that were walking on the lawn. I had it zoomed in as close as I could and still had to crop most of the outside of the pic off to capture just the birds.

 

[Lisa]

Mona:

I think the "Canary" is a Female American Goldfinch.

The other unidentified bird is a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. You can tell Grosbeaks by their beak. It's very distinctive

There is a great site I go on when I can't identify a bird. It's whatbird.com

 

[Sterling]

Thank you!!! I'm glad you all enjoyed the pics!

Mona your pics are nice and clear and close! Thanks for sharing those with us!! I'll have to see if I can get any closer with my zoom lens ...have to ask hubby about it. I also thought the gold "canary" was a Goldfinch. And had heard of the Grosbeak, but did'nt put 2 and 2 together until Lisa mentioned it. I just love their vivid colors!

Lisa, thanks for identifying the Flycatcher for me. Had n o idea!! These little guys keep trying to build a nest in my barn, and as fast as they build it, I take it down. They poop all over the place and even in my horse's water buckets. VERY messy!!!

 

[Lisa]

No problem! I love watching birds and trying to identify them!!! It's one of my greatest hobbies!

 

[Mona]

Thanks Lisa and Cheyenne for the info on "my" birds. I am going to have to tell hubby he was right! When I showed him the pics earlier today, he said Grossbeak and I told him no, as I have never seen that species of them here before. We have the red Pine Grossbeak, and the yellow Evening Grossbeak, but have never seeb this variety. Even the others usually come around in the Fall and are here through the Fall and Winter by not usually this time of year. Hmmm, intersting!

Since we're still on the bird topic here, I had a couple other visitors early this evening. These Mallards decided the puddles remaining on my lawn after the storms we had yesterday would be a good pond to swim in!

 

[Lisa]

I've never seen that version of Grosbeak in anything but a book myself! We have Pine Grosbeaks here quite often. They are very pretty!

I love Mallards! We have several "welfare mallards" who have decided the free meals they get in our barnyard are much better than finding their own food!

 

[Sterling]

Those Mallards are beautiful! I'm surprised they have'nt come around toting their little babies yet. They look so big to me...lol...I'm so used to my little Call ducks. I have one boy who is about 16 years old ...has somewhat mallard coloring...but in looking at the Call duck site, they call it something else (can't think of the name right now.) Where your mallard boy's body is gray, my Call duck is like a buff color.

 

[Mona]

They still have not hatched yet around here. The other day while cleaning dead trees and branches from the bush in the pasture, I came across a killdeer nest with 2 eggs in it. They are so camouflaged with their brownish spotted eggs, I was afraid I would not see them and step in the nest! There is definately no shortage of birds around here!

 

[River Wood]

Mona.....

It's interesting that you posted the photo of the bird with the red breast....I just found one dead below my window just a few days ago....I am assuming that it hit the window.

I had never seen it before.....I looked it up and had found that it is a Rose Breasted Grosbeak which I had never heard of myself.

I was going to add to.....that when I went to move the bird (with gloves on) I noticed that it had a lot of red under its wings as well. Don't know if you got to see that.

 

[Mona]

I was going to add to.....that when I went to move the bird (with gloves on) I noticed that it had a lot of red under its wings as well. Don't know if you got to see that.

No, I had not noticed. That is good to know though! The pics were taken right out the window where I sit at my computer. There are branches hanging down right in front of it, so I like to get pics when one lands there. The Blue Jays and Mallards were also taken from the same window, but were a long ways away out in the yard.