Wild Side Ornithology Club

[Spoonman]

we see the blues and the greys more frequently here. I have seen some white but they are few and far between. The great swamp NWR has them. I used to play golf at a course that protruded slightly into the refuge. you'd see them on the course occaisionally

 

[freedombecki]

Be still my heart again. Your herons are just amazing, Spoonman. The one we have that's light is almost a mauve color. They have to be getting crayfish somewhere around here. I've never seen one, but they don't exactly jump up out of their hiding places in the lake, wave a flag, and say "I'm over here!!!" to humans in this part of the world.
We have two or 3 dark gray ones who visit out back (between 30-100 meters from my window, but only one light that is mauve colored. And what a raving beauty the mauve one is. Your light one above is well-formed and elegant.

 

[freedombecki]

My all-time most visited bird identification center is the USGS Patuxent Bird Information Center Complete Links Page. Near the top is a quick-find family link that takes you to the part of the list, so you don't have to sweat running through hundreds of species to find the one you want. The Great White Heron is pictured on the same page as the Great Blue Heron.

Just to show the difference between the Great White Heron and the Great White Egret, Here's the likenesses and differences:

Great Blue Heron Page

"Great White Heron":

Identification Tips:

• White morph of Great Blue Heron
• Large yellow bill
• Yellow legs
• White plumage
• Single white plume extending back from above eye
• Found only in South Florida, rarely north along the coast

Great Egret Page

Great Egret (formerly Great White Egret)

Identification Tips:

• Length: 32 inches Wingspan: 55 inches
• Sexes similar
• Large long-legged long-necked wading bird
• Usually holds neck in an "S" curve in flight
• Long, thick yellow bill
• Black legs and feet
• Entirely white plumage
• Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult

The quickest way to identify them is to look at the color of their legs. Then all else falls into place. The Great Egret is the most graceful feathered creature I've ever seen, and I've seen many. They're top of the echelon, just from the standpoint of their beauty. They could quite literally be the most beautiful creatures on earth,

 

[Ernie S.]

OK Bird brains. I need help identifying my tenants.
I thought they were meadowlarks, but they are missing the v shaped band on their chest. They built a nest in my eaves where wind blew off some flashing. Now they are keeping me company as the nest is 15 feet from my seat here in the gazebow.
Both moma and dad are bringing bugs for the 4 hungry chicks.
Pops is camera shy, but he looks like mom just a bit brighter in color.

 

[freedombecki]

Hi, Ernie. The one on the right looks to me like a tufted titmouse.

Believe me, the Western meadowlarks in Wyoming are 4x the size of a tufted titmouse or more. And the songs are exceedingly complex but the proverbial "music to the ear," which is probably why 6 states have chosen them as their state bird, second only to those whose state imagery is graced by Northern Cardinal, 7 states.

I defer you to Spoonman, who has a perennial tribe of tufted titmice nesting on a wreath of his front door where he lives, and yep, those little tykes are hungry! Check back a few pages and see if that's not true. Your male has a brighter chest, possibly due to mating season their colors become top form, and your weather this spring has been warmer likely.

Thanks for the picture.

I think titmice like the best guys.

 

[Ernie S.]

I know tufted titmice. I've had them eat out of my hand. This guy is roughly the size of a robin. Titmice also don't have the baring on their wings.

Our birds are all in nesting plumage. Even the male cardinals are rather drab.

 

[Ernie S.]

Dogbird for sale.

 

[koshergrl]

Wow I saw that spoonman and thought "kingfisher"...

 

[koshergrl]

I love kingfishers. I don't know if that is one, but I do love them. Kingfishers - Forest Birds (often found near water)

Yesterday, driving home in the evening along the river, I saw a mama wood duck and her babies trying to cross the road...I didn't see any carcasses this morning, going back along the same way, so hopefully they made it:

 

[Ernie S.]

I found him! Great crested flycatcher.

 

[koshergrl]

Awwwwww....

 

[freedombecki]

I found him! Great crested flycatcher.

Oh, the Great crested flycatcher is nice, Ernie. We have scissor-tailed flycatchers here (State bird, Oklahoma) that stick to the front pastures and I hope like heck they also eat grasshoppers! We have them buzzing around everywhere. Some of the critters that look like grasshoppers seem to fly. Bugs are weird.

 

[Spoonman]

well our brood of finches flew from the nest. a week later......

6 more eggs

yesterday

 

[Spoonman]

here's a clearer picture. you can still see on unhatched egg at the bottom

 

[koshergrl]

Did I tell you guys? I took the kids and dogs out to the marsh last weekend, and we saw 14 osprey hunting! It was awesome!

 

[koshergrl]

Found an old account, testing:

Klaus when he was a baby...

is he a bird dog? lol

Nah, he couldn't be a ... nah... although... Koshergrl, is he at least half St. Bernard?

He's 100 percent. And much, much bigger now.

 

[koshergrl]

Found an old account, testing:

Klaus when he was a baby...

is he a bird dog? lol

Nah, he couldn't be a ... nah... although... Koshergrl, is he at least half St. Bernard?

This is him now:

 

[Spoonman]

The babies growing up

 

[freedombecki]

is he a bird dog? lol

Nah, he couldn't be a ... nah... although... Koshergrl, is he at least half St. Bernard?

This is him now:

He's so beautiful. These dogs have legendary traits, I understand, that make them truly best friends of humans. It was a long time ago, though, except that they're used in saving lives of people in desperate situations. Again, details are elusive, I have to sleep on stuff to recall it from a long time ago.

 

[freedombecki]

The babies growing up

Wow, Spoonman. You've taken us from empty nest to eggs to birth, and now to open eye childhood, 10 days from closed eyes. Thanks for such a wonderful pictorial story. Lucky us!