Archive for December, 2008
Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Today was another gray, cloudy, drizzly day, and I didn’t have much time to be outside, but just by chance saw four hawks in the neighborhood – two Red-tailed Hawks, one Red-shouldered, and one Cooper’s Hawk.
The Red-tailed Hawks were in the woods behind our house, which seems a little unusual, but [...]
Eyes Upon Me
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
Ever get the feeling that someone or something is watching you? For some folks this is a spooky feeling to get while traipsing around in remote areas, but it’s a good thing if you are looking for owls like I was on the Bonny Christmas Bird Count held last weekend in Eastern [...]
Cedar Waxwings and Persimmons
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Cedar Waxwings and Persimmons
On a gray, foggy, damp, dreary morning, a flock of Cedar Waxwings filled the branches of an old persimmon tree near the road. There were at least two or three dozen Waxwings, coming and going from other trees nearby and perched in the branches eating the fruit. Along [...]
Merry Christmas
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white…
Wishing you happy holidays and a fantastic 2009. -Bill
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Merry Christmas
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Here’s wishing all of our friends out there a very safe and Merry Christmas!
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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iBird Explorer for iPhone
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I gave myself a fantastic little toy a couple of months ago for my 40th birthday- an iPhone. The multiple communication, navigation, and web features (built-in and 3rd-party apps) already make it an incredible birding tool, but bird-specific applications for the iPhone have seemed to be conspicuously absent until the last month [...]
Goodbye Barbara Doak
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
I received sad news this morning. Barbara passed away last night. We will all miss this wonderful lady who did so much for Bird TLC and each of us individually. I know she was a very special part of my life.
The family has not made any plans for a memorial at [...]
Google Mapping a CBC Circle
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I’ve previously posted about how to use Google Earth to plot out a Christmas Bird Count circle (mainly riding on the coattails of Bootstrap Analysis)- a great way to virtually scout and see count territory boundaries, etc.
Recently, I had correspondence from Chris Hill who decided to use Google Maps to set up [...]
Gray Shadow of a Bird – A Cooper’s Haw
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Today was another cloudy, gray day – damp, barely cool, and generally gloomy. Around mid-morning, several small birds foraged in the front yard around the feeders and bushes, the usual suspects – White-throated Sparrows, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Titmice, Chickadees, and four Carolina Wrens singing nearby in the woods. One Eastern [...]
Red-shouldered Hawk and Downy Woodpecker
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Late yesterday afternoon, under gray skies layered with rumpled clouds, I saw a large, indistinct shape near the top of a bare-limbed pecan tree several yards away from where I was walking. Through binoculars, a vividly colored Red-shouldered Hawk came into view, its breast a blur of sunset-red, its wings ink-black [...]
Cold Count
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
The 67th Boulder Christmas Bird Count was held last Sunday, which also happened to be the coldest day of the season so far (with record-setting cold later that night!) I compile the count and was a nervous wreck worrying that we’d get shut down by the weather. The count is traditionally scheduled [...]
Gone for a bit . . . but not forever . . .
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
Hey All,
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted to my blog. I really don’t have an excuse other than life leads you in other directions at times. I haven’t been out birding much at all over the last months mainly because of other things in my life. I’ve got many [...]
Jesses and Leashes
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
The safety of the bird you’re presenting and your audience is very important. It’s only as good as your bird gear. As a possible Bird TLC presenter, you’re required to complete a lot of training and some of that involves making your own bird gear.
Presenting non-releasable wild birds has a [...]
Brewer’s Blackbirds?
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Sunday afternoon a flock of a thousand or more Blackbirds moved through our neighborhood, including many Red-winged Blackbirds, Rusty Blackbirds, Common Grackles – and maybe Brewer’s Blackbirds. These were a brilliant iridescent green that stood out among all the other birds. Their heads showed a sheen of purple, and they had [...]
Detective Work
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
Back in October when I visited the Bay Area in California I was ticked to get some nice photo opportunities featuring Golden-crowned Sparrows. I don’t get many chances at these (they rarely vagrate into Colorado) so seeing them and hearing their vocalizations was very cool. One that was perching cooperatively at the [...]
Welcome Back!
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I was tickled to hear from a friend that the light-morph Harlan’s Hawk (harlani subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk) I found last year was back again on the same winter territory. I had looked along the row of power poles where I saw it last winter a few times without success, but yesterday [...]
New visitors this week
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
The Screech Owl came to us from Whittier. It was found on a barge there that started its journey in Seattle. How much of the cruise he took we’re not sure. He was very skinny and not too alert when he arrived at TLC.
Screech Owls aren’t common in the Anchorage [...]
Rusty Blackbirds
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
This afternoon around 3:00, several Rusty Blackbirds were among a small flock of other blackbirds (maybe 100 at most), including Common Grackles and Red-winged, foraging in yards in our neighborhood. The day was damp and gray and chilly, and a light rain had just begun to fall.
The “rusty” pattern on the [...]
A Robin and a Cooper’s Hawk Submitted by Birding Notes BlogSubmitted by Birding Notes Blog
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Late this afternoon, as the sun was low, shimmering and spilling into a thin lake of gold clouds behind the tree-line, several small birds perched in the tops of trees to catch the last rays of light. It was cold and clear, after a day that began with a heavy frost [...]
Welcome to the Flight Center
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Actually that’s not right. The only people who are allowed there are Bird TLC Staff and Flight Center Volunteers. It’s big and it has a very important role in the rehabilitation of raptors. But it can be very unforgiving.
The Flight Center (FC) was built on Camp Carroll ANG Base in [...]
Birding on a Segway
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Because back problems have kept me from walking as much as usual for the past several weeks, a friend offered to let me try out a Segway – a battery-powered “self-balancing personal transporter” – and it turned out to be a great new way to go birding. It’s amazingly easy to [...]
