My Avian Friends

Be the One.

2010-07-22T11:45:00.001-05:00

Be the One. Sign the petition. Restore the Gulf.

New bird!

2010-03-05T21:13:00.003-06:00

Spring is about to spring here in Chicago, but today, I saw a new bird - but one that spends the winter here: a horned lark! Such a cool looking bird, with its little face mask and horns.

The mourning doves started coo-ing 3 weeks early here - I am still hoping that means an early spring!

Go, Downies!

2009-12-30T10:49:00.002-06:00

The male downy woodpecker that has been coming to my house for the past 3 winters found a mate!! He brought his new female friend with him today :)

Go, downies!!

Snowflake on his cap

2009-12-27T18:08:00.001-06:00

It's a black capped chickadee with a snowflake on his cap! :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T10:33:00.001-06:00

May your holidays be safe and bright!

More returning friends

2009-11-14T12:09:00.002-06:00

You saw in my last post that the first dark eyed junco of the season returned a week early on October 18th... well, on November 13th, 3 weeks later, his first friend arrived!

Today (Nov 14th), the Downy Woodpecker made his return to the suet feeder in my yard. That got me thinking about suet...

Check out this video from Sharon Stiteler, the BirdChick, on no-melt peanut butter suet, available from the BirdChick Store on the OpenSky Project.

Dark Eyed Juncos Return

2009-10-18T14:49:00.003-05:00

They left 6 months ago to the day... and today, the dark eyed juncos have returned - 7 days earlier this year than last year. They're so cute, but I am not ready for winter!

It's 54 degrees and partly cloudy. Fall weather kicked in early this year. We didn't have much of a summer, and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with their early return this year. The white crowned sparrow returned last week.

Look Who's Back!

2009-03-07T15:47:00.001-06:00

Look who's back! I love the return of the birds that fled south for the winter :)

Today, March 7th: The robins are back! One day later than last year:

The common grackles returned yesterday, March 6th - 4 days earlier than last year. Also yesterday, I heard a mourning dove coo - 5 days earlier than last year.

The red winged blackbirds made it back WAY early - one showed up Feb 13th! He called for one day, then laid low for a couple weeks, though still visited my feeders. Then, this past week, many more RWBB's showed up, and they all started singing and displaying - right about on time compared to last year (March 2nd).

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Obama Protects Endangered Species!

2009-03-04T01:09:00.001-06:00

HOORAH!!!!!!

President Obama is restoring a requirement that U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine whether their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.

The presidential memorandum issued yesterday, which marks yet another reversal of former president George W. Bush's environmental legacy, will revive a decades-old practice under the Endangered Species Act that calls for agencies to consult with either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on whether their projects could affect imperiled species.

Full article @ The Washington Post - Obama Reverses Bush on Species Protection Measure

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Look at this gorgeous little one!

2008-12-28T23:32:00.001-06:00

I only see the song sparrows in the winter... this one has been around for a few weeks now!

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Bird Photography Weekly

2008-12-24T12:52:00.001-06:00

I've been reading the Bird Photography Weekly posts for quite a few weeks now! Figured I may as well share one of my recent shots. This is of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk during the recent ice storms here in Chicagoland. It was taken in my back yard (from inside the house, where it was much less icy!)

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Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T16:19:00.001-06:00

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New Bird!

2008-12-13T11:21:00.001-06:00

I've got a new bird in my yard today!

A black capped chickadee!

I've always wanted a chickadee :)

The cool thing about chickadees is that they always look fluffy and bouncy and happy. And they hide seeds all over the place and can remember thousands of hiding places. I saw this guy hide stuff in the brush in my back yard - so hopefully he'll be back!

I have really got to clean my windows and remove my screens! I'm missing good bird shots!!

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Comment Craziness!

2008-09-07T11:37:00.003-05:00

Wow - I've just discovered that people have actually commented on this blog! I have no idea why I'd never been notified of comments over the past year, but this morning I was playing around with the Flock browser, and there's an area where I can configure it to notify me of comments to my blogs. Sure enough, this blog has quite a few comments - comments I have never seen before!

So, my apologies for apparently ignoring everybody! I didn't know you were there, I swear!

This should not be a problem in the future (though I still don't know why Blogger did not notify me, as it does for all of my other Blogger blogs, and the settings here are the same).

Strange!

Eastern Kingbird

2008-08-26T13:26:00.001-05:00

I think I just saw an Eastern Kingbird in my yard!!! Darn it, the birds ate all the food yesterday! Must refill! Maybe I've got a new visitor! Woohoooo first new bird of the summer!

Didn't have my camera handy, unfortunately.

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Godspeed, LeRoi

2008-08-19T22:29:00.001-05:00

LEROI MOORE 1961-2008

08/19/2008

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

http://www.davematthewsband.com/

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Molting

2008-08-08T14:35:00.001-05:00

I'm watching some young house sparrows sitting in the tree in my back yard. They're starting to molt and get their grown-up feathers, and it's funny because the young house sparrows all have markings similar to females, so the male ones start to get their adult feathers and you see the male pattern growing in, so they look like half female and half male. It makes me giggle. There are a few new babies too - looks like at least one house sparrow couple did double-duty on the breeding this summer.

There aren't many finches this year. I think they got wiped out with the awful winter, and I haven't seen any finch babies like I did last year. So sad.

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Happy Birthday, Cookie!

2008-06-27T17:35:00.001-05:00

Cookie the Cockatoo turns 75 this month - the oldest animal and the only animal still remaining from Brookfield Zoo's original collection. (The zoo opened in 1934, when Cookie was 1 year old).

Happy Birthday, Cookie!

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Dude

2008-06-12T23:34:00.001-05:00

more cat pictures

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Nonconformist

2008-05-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

10 Tips for Bird Photographers

2008-05-16T19:32:00.002-05:00

This Week in Photography has a good roundup:

10 Tips for Bird Photographers

Disapproving Cardinal

2008-05-16T19:25:00.002-05:00

In homage to Sharon (aka Birdchick) and her Disapproving Rabbits:

Disapproving Cardinal

Springtime

2008-05-02T10:51:00.003-05:00

Spring has sprung here (finally!), and we're starting to get some flowers and buds on trees.

The last of the dark eyed juncos finally left about a week ago. I'll miss you, juncos!

The ducks are back! No baby ducks yet, but I love that the mallards come up to my deck. They're like vacuum cleaners, gobbling up all the seed leftovers that even the mourning doves won't touch.

After the horrible winter here that appears to have wiped out 80% of my backyard finch population, there are a few house finches that are still around (4 is the most I've counted, down from upwards of 30). I have yet to see the goldfinches return. I had 4 that wintered here, but haven't seen them since our last deep freeze.

This week, 4 white crowned sparrows have taken to visiting my feeders. One is out there right now. I had 2 come by over the winter, so I'm really glad to see these guys. A male and female cardinal stop by every so often, and of course the grackles and red-winged blackbirds have returned.

I've cut back on the offering of cheap bird seed, putting it only in 1 feeder now. The mourning doves and sparrows gobble it up, but so do the grackles and brown headed cowbirds. Oy. So I've been introducing safflower seed in one of the feeders. I also have nyger and sunflower hearts and year-round suet, and occasionally I'll put out the fruit and nut songbird mix (though the grackles usually mog that, too). I don't mind the grackles - it's just that they come here and eat EVERYTHING. I have 6 feeders, and filling them all used to last all day - but now that the grackles are back, they'll plow through it all by noon! So I've got to find something the grackles don't like.

I added a couple new birds to my life list a couple weeks ago, with a visit to Renwick Lake and to Lockport Prairie.

I met with double crested cormorants:

and blue winged teals:

Also saw the herons nesting, which was pretty cool.

There's a strange bit of green ivy-like leaves growing as sort of a blanket under the tree in my back yard. It's growing up some of the brush and twigs as well. I just noticed that it's only under my tree, and not all along the brush down the creek. A few of the same little leaves have sprouted up under my feeders. It must be something from the bird seed, growing! I wonder if it'll turn into any pretty flowers or anything. They look very green and lush right now.

That's all my news. We've got thunderstorms on tap all day today, so I put out minimal seed. It's been raining all morning, and while the birds had a little bit of a break just now, the rains are back and they've flown for cover in the tree. They're still singing, which is so nice to hear!

Well!

2008-04-10T20:22:00.000-05:00

Funniest Cardinals Ever

2008-04-08T18:32:00.001-05:00

Cards, originally uploaded by firemaine.

Found this through a bird watcher thread on DPS: