We went to Arizona for 5 days and had one of the most memorable and exciting times ever. I lifed 63 birds, and these photos don’t even scratch the surface of the birds and scenery we saw. Click the photo for the full album. We highly recommend our fantastic B&B – the Casa de San Pedro (www.bedandbirds.com) – run by our wonderful hosts Karl and Patrick. We can’t say enough about them and their B&B…except that we will return again and again.
I spent about 7 hours at the Hook on Tuesday, much of it on the hawk watch platform. I also forgot to put sun block on my hands, which now look like lobster claws. We saw lots of good birds, including an Osprey who had landed on the nest with a fish (this nest was on the building at the Garden):
There were a lot of Turkey Vultures around and a few Egrets:
Here’s a Barn Swallow chillin’ on a wire:
And a cute White-breasted Nuthatch who sat close to us in a tree at the hawk watch:
All in all, it was a great day, and I tallied 77 species.
Garret had a good number of migrants today, including lots of Pine and Palm Warblers, 1 Parula, a few Yellow-rumps, and a Louisiana Waterthrush. We saw at least a dozen Phoebes, lots of Winter Wrens and Brown Creepers, 1 Hermit Thrush, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Flickers, both Kinglets, and more. Click on each photo to view more. Click on first photo for complete album:
And one friendly Mallard – quack!!!
Today I went to find the gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker at the Ridgewood Duck Pond. I arrived and right away I noticed the bird dive-bombing a Red-bellied Woodpecker and totally harassing it. The male Red-bellied WP was alternately fighting with and then seemingly courting a female Red-bellied WP. They kept making their way up a tree together, but then the Red-headed WP would swoop in and annoy them. Then it would sit and sun itself for a few minutes. Click on the photo to go to the full album:
I was lucky enough to life two individual Long-eared Owls today. They were on private property. I watched them for almost 10 minutes as they sat quite visibly in a pine tree. Apparently, a third bird was also around but had flown off beforehand. They are absolutely stunning birds! Click this picture for all photos:
Yesterday, John, Doug, and I drove down to the North Shore of New Jersey. Although it was extremely cold, the wind was not too bad and we got to see a lot of great birds. We stopped first at Seven Presidents Park, and within minutes, we had both RED and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS! Click on photos for all pictures:
After that, we continued on to various ponds that still had a bit of open water, and also to various ocean lookouts that produced many goodies like Black and WW Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loons, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Purple Sandpiper, Sandering, Great Cormorants, and others, including:
We then headed back for DeKorte Park, where John got Doug and I our lifer ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (light morph). We saw a Gray Ghost and female Harriers, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks, and some White-crowned and American Tree Sparrows.
Then to really top it off, I had my second-ever (for the yard) American Tree Sparrow at the nyjer feeder when I got home…the photos are through the window in bad light, but still:
It was a great day – thanks RUBL Tours 😉
Today, a very small Sharp-shinned Hawk was hunting in the yard. The bird sat for almost one hour in this spot, and it sunbathed while waiting for all the small birds to come back to the feeders. When they did, the Sharpie swooped in but didn’t manage to get anything on that try.
About a week ago, a Northern Mockingbird came to visit three days in a row. Here are those pictures, plus some other winter scenes:
…except mine wants a BBQ. Today a huge Red-tailed Hawk caught a very unfortunate squirrel and decided that he’d like to have it grilled, please. (Click for all photos.)
Today was very rewarding. I went to Central Park to try for two great birds – the Yellow-breasted Chat and the Varied Thrush – and saw both! I had seen the Varied Thrush last week but wanted to try for pictures. The Chat was actually more cooperative and closer than the thrush, so I got better photos of it. I located the bird on the path next to the Boathouse at first, and then two other women refound it in the parking area, even though a huge Red-tailed Hawk was lurking in a tree above. Here are some photos of both birds (click on each photo for all pictures):
What can one really say about a Fork-tailed Flycatcher being seen in the area? For the past few days, Cove Island Park in Stamford, Connecticut, has been a temporary haven for this amazing beauty, and today Rob and I (and many others) were able to watch it for almost 3 hours. I was actually lucky enough to see it fully flash its yellow crown at a Mockingbird that came too close. The bird was fly catching – we actually saw it in flight many times – and eating berries from some trees. Here are some photos of it in action (click photo for all pics).
