This weather is for the BIRDS!

[Chuck in Indiana]

The western fatfinch 

  Must be. Our Eastern finches are skinny little boogers.

[LowRyter]

More birds today. Some like the Ruby Throated Hummer and Thrasher that I couldn't get pictures and others that I can't ID.

Here's a thinner Finch, Chuck



This guy ain't takin' no bidness




Cow Birds are back and raidin'




What in the heck is this? A blue sparrow?






What is this?  A yellow wing sparrow?



this is Ardell, he got away from Konni


(it's gotta be the male that got away)

Mockingbird?




Not sure if this is a sparrow




Nothing like having a cocktail, cigar and a camera in the back yard.  Shrimp on the barbie.

[Lannis]

I'll share one bit of help that works in Virginia, anyhow, whether it'll work on an Okie cowbird I don't know.

Cowbirds, of course, lay their eggs in other birds' nests, the lazy barstewards.   On the other hand, they DO sing very nicely, with a sort of liquid warble that I remember from my childhood.

So I don't want to slingshot them off of the feeders, but we don't want to encourage them either.

We noticed that cowbirds are the main ones that eat the cracked corn in our bird feeders.   SO, we quit buying bird seed that has cracked corn in it.   A little more expensive (the better type has safflower seeds instead) but it has cut down on the number of cowbirds jostling for space in the feeders ....

Lannis

[LowRyter]

The Cowbirds are raiders, but they travel through and are gone by June.  They might screw up the first brood but the local birds seem prolific.  Over the winter we had 7 pair of Cardinals at the feeder at one time. 

The Hawks don't seem to be starving either.


In the other subject, does anyone know what in the heck that Blue Sparrow is?  The Yellow Wing too?

[Chuck in Indiana]

The Cowbirds are raiders, but they travel through and are gone by June.  They might screw up the first brood but the local birds seem prolific.  Over the winter we had 7 pair of Cardinals at the feeder at one time. 

The Hawks don't seem to be starving either.


In the other subject, does anyone know what in the heck that Blue Sparrow is?  The Yellow Wing too?

Sparrows are tough. There's no blue one, though. I take it that's the same bird underneath it? I'm thinking it's a juvenile.. but not sure what.
The yellow wing? I think.. another juvenile, but maybe a warbler.

Not sure if this is a sparrow

looks like a house sparrow to me.
This evening, I'll drag out my bird books. Thanks for the pix. 
 

[LowRyter]

Chuck,  there are no blue sparrows?   

Are your eyes lyin'?   

That's the picture of a bird that LOOKS like a Blue Sparrow.  No one has id'd it otherwise.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Chuck,  there are no blue sparrows?   

Are your eyes lyin'?   

That's the picture of a bird that LOOKS like a Blue Sparrow.  No one has id'd it otherwise.

See the short tail..immature. A better picture, too. I'll look tonight or tomorrow.. there are some blue birds, but not sparrows as far as I know.

[LowRyter]

I don't know what the Blue Sparrow is.  But I doubt if they are juvies, since we are so early in the season and the cowbirds are stalking. 

But now I have a pair of Yellow Wings.  Maybe Johnny will know what these are?

[Chuck in Indiana]

Juveniles. The cowbirds don't get em all.. thankfully.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Good picture.  Had to watch the Colts clean up at the NFL draft last night, so didn't drag out the bird books until this morning.  Peterson's Western birds field guide says these are Pine Siskins.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, the blue one. I *think* it's a purple finch. Immature. Young birds are tough to identify.
Western birds sez:
Like a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice. 
immature: heavily striped, brown, similar to a female house finch, but note the broad dark jaw stripe, dark ear patch, and broad light stripe behind the eye.
That's my best guess..

[LowRyter]

Thanks Chuck.

Bev just chimed in and said the bird food actually is supposed to attract those birds.   Here's an adult Red Finch that I photographed last week.

<not a great shot>

[Chuck in Indiana]

Male and female purple finch. Maybe that's mom and dad.. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Speaking of weather for the birds.. we have a freeze warning tonight, and things have just finally started to bloom. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Around here, it's *not* a good thing..

[LowRyter]

My American Elm leafed out in mid March, maybe 3 weeks early.  Usually the Chinese elms come out first, but didn't. 

Freeze got it.  Leafed out out again this week, right about normal.

Dunno why.

For such a cold and late winter, many birds and plants got an early star here.

Dunno why.

[LowRyter]

we had to red throats that were dueling back and forth,  They almost got at it in my patio.





not great photos but what I saw today.

[hidn45]

I love a nice bright Cardinal, they have such a lovely song, & they are reputed to be harbingers of angels, but we have one that must be connected to an archangel, or possibly had a rough juvie-hood....

Last spring a pair of red-birds made their presence known in the sandcherry tree outside the front windows of the house.  Later in the day the male started banging on the window, & we attributed it to the somewhat reflective film we had put on the glass the summer before.  It was a cute behavioral quirk, & it didn't bother the dog TOO much, so we thought little of it.

Oddly, the female disappeared & we never saw her again - we should have taken it as a sign...  This cocky little bird became, & continues to be, the very definition of 'incessant'.  Dawn to dark, any weather, every day, the thumpity-thump persists....  One day it was so windy even the crows (who love to play on the wind) wouldn't fly, so the Cardinal fluttered in & latched on to just the right branch so he could ride it back & forth to bang on the window without flapping a wing.  He sits there with the rain dripping on his head from the eaves, staring angrily at himself in the glass.  The dog sits watching him just inside the window with no effect, & I can shout & wave  my arms indoors & am ignored.  He does skedaddle when I actually open the window, but always returns, sometimes within seconds.

We've tried every deterrent we can think of - we hung mylar strips & wind chimes in the tree, pictures of hawks & owls taped to the window only made him more aggressive, he popped the balloons with eyes drawn on them....

So, for the obviously knowledgeable birders here - what is the typical natural life span of Cardinalis cardinalis?

randy

(BTW, beautiful pic's John, & others as well....)

[Chuck in Indiana]

what is the typical natural life span of Cardinalis cardinalis?

Until you finally get fed up with him..   

So Chuck, you have had experience with this  before?
I was surprised when it happened the first time and my gardener friend told me since the trees were not yet bearing fruit and only in bloom that its will be ok and I'll swan...if it wasn't so.

Has happened several times 'cause my place (of almost 40 years) is in the mountains and I have seen 6" of snow in late may (short lived of course.) Didn't effect the trees w/temp in high 20's for a nite.

I wish you and your neighbors luck!

I have a friend with an apple orchard. The last time this happened, no apples. Of course in Florida, they take heroic measures on their fruit trees. (spraying to get ice all over them.. not turning on the deicer boots.. )

[LowRyter]

Until you finally get fed up with him..   

pellet rifle   

[Chuck in Indiana]

heat is much better.

I don't doubt that for a minute.

[hidn45]

pellet rifle   

Chuck, John, I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up....  A spray of crimson feathers drifting across this morning's new-fallen snow may be the only viable solution.....

(Don't worry, all, it would never come to that.....)

And I guess we won't worry about the peach trees just yet.  The only things that have really budded here are the poplar catkins (& who cares if they freeze off... you can't kill those weed trees.  Only good for feeding the grouse & falling over onto cars.)

[LowRyter]

This guy was holding court and whistling a tune

[Chuck in Indiana]

Brown Trasher, my favorite. Dorcia and I sat out on our screen porch last summer and listened to one hooting it up for an hour. When he flew off, we looked at each other and said, "Makes you want to applaud, doesn't it?"
Back in the day, when they were more prevalent, I heard one in SoCal doing "car alarm." 

[JJ]

I saw one of these outside my office window yesterday, in Chandler, AZ...beautiful bird!   Wish I had my camera...too far away for the mobile phone camera...

[KiwiKev]

Brown Trasher, my favorite. Dorcia and I sat out on our screen porch last summer and listened to one hooting it up for an hour. When he flew off, we looked at each other and said, "Makes you want to applaud, doesn't it?"
Back in the day, when they were more prevalent, I heard one in SoCal doing "car alarm." 

We have a magpie out the back of our house who sings his own tune every day. Unlike any magpie song I have heard so who knows where he learned it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fontain25]

[Chuck in Indiana]

Pretty much. First flight of the season for Mouser.. rode the AeroLario a bit. It was good for me.. 

[hidn45]

The Little Woman texted me Thursday & said the Orioles were back & she was putting the jelly cups out.  She made hummingbird food too, "just in case", but she can't reach the hook to hang the feeder.  I hung it out when I got home & it was about 7 minutes before the little buzzers were poking at it.....

Yep, It's Spring.  I've been hearing our woodcock peenting for about 10 days or so, that confirms it.

[LowRyter]

saw this guy today

is he a red throat?



purple throat?



or just hanging  around?