Archive for October, 2009
« Previous EntriesPiney Orchard
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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History of a Peregrine
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Image: Dan Haas
Check out Dan Haas’s blog, Nervous Birds for some delightful Peregrine pictures and the life history of our own Annapolis bird.
Warren and I kayaked out and tried (unsuccessfully) all summer to get a glimpse of the pair that hung around the Severn River Bridge, so its nice [...]
Mixed Feeding Flock, #7
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
First and foremost, Lisa just snagged us The Sibley Guide to Trees. It’s amazing. Guess what she’s been doing on Saturday morning?
We’ll post more about this soon. … Elsewhere in the world of birds and nature:
* Over at Nervous Birds, Dan Haas has an amazing essay and photos that tell [...]
Low inventory at the Flight Center
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
We’re down to one bald eagle at the flight center. Captain Hook is waiting for placement. Cindy says it’s tough with him. He has a partial wing amputation and the feathers don’t grow well on the right side of his face. He’s not pretty. Hook has seen eagles come and [...]
Today You are You!
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
That is truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Happy You Day, Cute Husband!
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Owl Banding
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I’ve been to several bird banding stations over the years, but over the last few weeks I’ve finally seen owl banding in action. Master bander Scott Rashid traps migrating Northern Saw-whet Owls every fall near Estes Park, Colorado, and invited me to visit. The trick used by Saw-whet banders is to play [...]
Kingfishers
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
The November issue of National Geographic Magazine highlights the beauty and awe of kingfishers. The story features photos taken by Charlie Hamilton James, who has been photographing kingfishers for over 20 years. You can read the story and see a gallery of kingfisher photographs at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/kingfishers/holmes-text.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Gina checks off on Gus
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Long time volunteer Gina, checked off on Gus the great Horned Owl last Wednesday. They’re now a complete team now that Gus has moved to her home and she has checked off. Now she can do education programs with Gus.
Gina has a great sense of humor and ands a little [...]
Duck Stamp: And the winner is….
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
BC just got back this evening from Virginia Tech, where we had a lovely visit with young Adam, first time we’ve seen him since he went away to become a college man…
As Lisa blogged last week, we were lucky enough last weekend to participate in a Big Sit at Patuxent [...]
Eating it Up!
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
This was the bounty from our first week of participation in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
Basically, we purchased a “share” in a local farm - Calvert Farm - and each week, during the growing season, we get a box full of goodies.
It is completely bonus, as the produce [...]
Magnolia Warbler – Tale of a Tail
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
This morning was gray, very cloudy, damp, cool and misty, with lots of bird activity and some nice surprises. As I stepped out onto the front porch, about a dozen Mourning Doves exploded up from the ground below the feeder, wings whistling as they flew in all directions. Gee. I like [...]
The Smacking Calls of Brown Thrashers
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
A little before 10:30, I started out for a walk, passing a Northern Flicker that flew up from the grass, flashing its white rump patch. Although some Flickers are year-round residents here, at this time of year their numbers increase, as migrants arrive for the winter from further north.
I also passed [...]
Red-shouldered Hawk on a Roof
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
As I came around a group of tall trees at one corner, I saw a big brown shape on the corner of a roof – a Red-shouldered Hawk. It was just sitting there, out in full view, with only the cloudy sky for a background, with its back to me, but [...]
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – First of the Season
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
As I got back home and walked down the driveway, two Chipping Sparrows flew out of the wax myrtles and up into a tree, and one lone Chimney Swift flew over. By this time, the mist had become a light rain. I was just about to go inside when a woodpecker [...]
Big Sit and the Duck Stamp Contest
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Bit Sit and sometimes Big Stand.
Cute Husband and I joined Paul Baicich and a group of newbie birders at the Patuxent Research Refuge on Sunday for the Big Sit.
The Big Sit is an annual event where a group selects a good bird potential habitat, and counts each species that [...]
Birding - You can do it anywhere!
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Thanks to a loan from our friend Paul Baicich, Warren has been reading Joseph Hickey’s 1943 classic, A Guide to Birdwatching, which manages to be engaging, informative and quaint (in the good sense of that word) all at once.
He came across this oh-so-true sentence early in the book:
To the ornithologist, [...]
A beak and pedi
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
The talons and beak of wild birds in captivity grow and they aren’t naturally trimmed as well as in the wild. In the wild they would chew more on bones and such things more than they have the opportunity to do in captivity. Ghost the Snowy Owl’s diet is mainly mice [...]
600!
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Nope not birds seen… but BirdCouple miles on the Appalachian Trail!
The soggy and somewhat non-birdy tale can be found on our AT Blog….
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Digiscoping Workshop this Weekend!
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I’m excited to be instructing a digiscoping class this coming Saturday (10 October) and hope to see many of you faithful readers there! The class is being offered through the South Suburban Parks and Recreation district in Littleton at the Carson Nature Center and South Platte Park- class info and registration links [...]
Hybrid Goose Mystery
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
This odd-looking goose jumped out at both Lisa and I as we surveyed a flock of Canada Geese at the Crownsville Waste-Water Treatment Plant on Sunday morn.
It’s obviously a Canada Goose hybridized with something else. Question is, is it a Canada Goose x Greater White_Fronted Goose or Canada Goose x [...]
Kingbird Confirmation
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
I had the pleasure of birding at of my favorite places on Colorado’s Eastern Plains yesterday, The Nature Conservancy’s Fox Ranch. While this working ranch is closed to the public, Ted Floyd arranged for a small group of us to conduct a bird survey on the property yesterday. Click here for Ted’s [...]
We released 2 today
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Robin Smith & Eric McCallum opened their home and held a release party helping to raise some much needed funds for Bird TLC today. Some of those who attended were able to release two birds back to the wild.
The first release was the Great Gray Owl from Glennallen. It came out [...]
The Man I was Lucky Enough to Call Dad…
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
A little girl needs her Father
For many, many things:
Like holding her high off the ground
Where the sunlight sings!
Like being the deep music
That tells her all is right
When she awakens frantic with
The terrors of the night.
Like being the great mountain
That rises in her heart
And shows her how she might get home
When [...]
White-breasted Nuthatch
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
After a rainy, stormy month, September came to an end today with brisk, sunny, breezy weather, an intense blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and brilliant light. An Eastern Wood-Pewee sang off and on all morning from nearby in the woods, giving its full, sweet, whistled song. The trees are [...]
An Eastern Phoebe’s “Chatter Call”
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
The past few days, each morning has begun with the persistent calls and song of an Eastern Phoebe in the branches of the oaks outside our bedroom windows, and one or two Phoebes have been active around the house all day – even more active than usual.
With its plain gray back [...]
