Chipping Sparrow & youngin'

I photographed this little Chipping Sparrow and juvenile in our backyard on June 18th:

Chipping Sparrow

Juvenile Chipping Sparrow

Barred Owl again

The birds were in a frenzy again, as seems to be the norm around dusk these days. I think this owl must live nearby and this must be one of his favorite perches. This was from June 16th.

Barred owl

What was interesting this time was that a hummingbird joined in the ruckus frantically chirping about.

I took some more video of it and managed to capture a bird attack it about midway through (1:38) and just before that the hummingbird can be seen if you look closely (keep an eye out just to the left of and behind the owl in the space between the tree at around 1:20).

Eastern phoebe returns!

An Eastern Phoebe made a return appearance in our backyard a few days ago (June 15th) which is a welcome sight after they seemed to disappear after the babies were born. Of course, I'm not sure if it's the same one.

Eastern Phoebe

Also, I saw this Tufted Titmouse on the same day which I haven't seen before:

Tufted Titmouse

(Photos were taken through a dirty window...)

A walk at the park

My wife and I took a walk at Eagle Creek Park on Tuesday. We saw many birds and I managed to capture photos of most of them. Here's what we saw:

Great Blue Heron

Cedar Waxwing

I saw this bird flying over the water, and managed to get a
fairly clear shot of it. It looks like it's a Belted Kingfisher.

Tree swallow

Yellow Warbler

Brown-headed Cowbird (with 2 young ones?) -
this bird lays eggs in other birds nests!

It was a lot of fun to see so many interesting birds. It took forever to get a photo of the yellow warbler as it was moving so quickly without pause, but I finally found one that took a break to pose near the top of a tree.

My first ever "birding" expedition

I went on my first ever birding expedition last weekend. I brought along my binoculars and camera, obviously, and did some hiking at Eagle Creek Park. Not knowing what I'm doing, I more or less just walked around keeping my eyes and ears out for birds. In the woods I didn't see very many. I could hear them, but rarely saw them. I did manage to see one bird in the woods through the binoculars, however, it moved so quickly I didn't get a good look - all I could say is that it was grayish and sparrow-sized - I didn't notice much color. Perhaps a thrasher? I don't know and didn't have time to get a photo.

Out around the reservoir, it was easier to see them due to less foliage. I didn't take many photos, but here are a few that I took:

Female Red-winged Blackbird

I'm not sure what this next one is. It flew by while I was taking photos of the blackbird so I snapped a quick picture of it and was surprised when I looked at it later. I think it looks like an Orchard Oriole, but I'm not certain. I'm also not sure what's in his mouth.

Male Orchard Oriole?

I also saw but didn't photograph: some Cedar Waxwings (I think), and an American Coot. I saw some others, but couldn't get good enough looks at them to identify them or even describe them.

All in all, I'd say it was pretty successful and I enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again.

Eastern Phoebe & babies

This year we were blessed with a Eastern Phoebe nest on our front porch. We watched as Mom sat on the nest and finally four babies were born. Then we watched the parents continually catch bugs all day long and bring them back to the nest for the young-ins. They finally left the nest yesterday.

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe babies in their nest.

I was hoping that they stick around and eat all of the mosquitoes, but I haven't seen them since.

Barred Owl

This Barred Owl has been a frequent visitor to our backyard the past few weeks - when the robins start chirping crazily, we know it's nearby.

Barred Owl

I have some video of it posted on my gardening blog.

Cooper's Hawk

Earlier this year, this Cooper's Hawk was working on building a nest in a tree near our house. I took these photos on March 23rd:

I'm still struggling with determining whether this is a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk. However, using these identification tips, I've been going with Cooper's Hawk because:

1. The tail feathers appear to be rounded as opposed to more square
2. The head seems fairly large as opposed to small compared to the body

Those are the most obvious things to me, however, on the contrary the legs appear to be pretty long, particularly in the second photo, which is more characteristic of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

I did hear the bird make several a short chirps unlike any of the sound clips on allaboutbirds.com, however, this description from the site sounds accurate:

Males frequently make a kik call to tell their mates where they are; females make this call too, but less often.

It sounded very much like this recording from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library.

Baby Robin

I took this photo of a baby robin September 4th of last year.

Baby Robin

It was under the leafs of a large hosta plant. It must have just recently left the nest.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

My wife and I saw this eagle while hiking on August 22, 2010.

At first I thought this might be a Golden Eagle, but after searching around a bit, I think it was actually a juvenile Bald Eagle. The main reason is because the legs don't have many feathers on them. This is one of the easiest ways to differentiate the two according to this forum post on the subject.

I love birds

Lately I've become more and more interested in birds. This seems to have been a slow development in my life which started at a very young age. When I was young, my favorite animal was the Bald Eagle and I probably would still make that claim (although I'm less inclined to have a single favorite anymore). I used to want to be a bird. More recently, I have a thing for Robins - I just love how peaceful and patient they are bopping around waiting to feel a worm move under their feet (which I think is just incredible), not to mention their pretty colors. More recently, I have enjoyed watching an Eastern Phoebe nesting on our front porch, which is another beautiful and peaceful bird. It just amazes me how many different types of birds there are of all shapes, sizes, colors, and with different skills.

Last year my parents gave me a really nice set of binoculars for my birthday. And I have always been interested in photography and just recently have purchased a longer telephoto lens, which has made bird photography more possible (although still requiring a rather large amount of cropping). These tools make this hobby easier and more enjoyable.

So, this blog will be where I post my bird-related adventures as I attempt to learn how to be a "birder" or partake in the act of "birding" as it seems to be called. This is a sister blog to my gardening blog Adventures In Gardening, which has been "cluttered" up with many backyard nature-related posts since it's inception earlier this year, so these posts will be made here instead from now on.

My first posts will be some birds that I have seen/photographed over the past few years. Please feel free to chime in with information or corrections as I am a complete newbie and eager to learn more.

Thanks!