Pulaski

I noticed some long straggly bits of grass hanging down from the eaves as I looked out of an upstairs window yesterday. It turned out that a pair of mockingbirds have built a nest on the sloping part of a downspout, up under the eaves. They have taken enough grass and leaves to fill a 2 gallon bucket and crammed it into an untidy mess in the gap over the downspout.

SultanOfSwing

In addition to the regulars (Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and a seemingly endless supply of American Robins), we seem to have acquired a pair (male and female) of Northern Flickers in our bird inventory this year.

Not sure if they have a nest nearby, but one of them has taken to drumming on our metal gutters and the chimney cover on the roof between 5:00 and 6:00 every morning. They are very beautiful birds but christ, they're loud

One of them (the male) was pecking away at the telegraph pole at the bottom of our driveway yesterday when I went outside with my daughter after work. By the time I ran in to grab my camera, he'd flown off, sadly.

Should be a nice evening again today, I may camp out and wait for him to come back. Will try out my 500m F8 on them. It's an older manual mirror lens, and the crop factor of the digital sensor makes it the equivalent of a 750mm . My 200 is much more practical but when they're up high in the trees, it does seem to lack reach.

Philk

This Pileated woodpecker has been a regular - can be a bit disconcerting as sit and watch TV and this appears next to us at the window

GeoffM

Nothing exciting, just this little bird flew into our house today. What kind of bird is it please? (I'm no 'orny-tholo-gist).

SultanOfSwing

Kind of looks like a female house sparrow to me:

Pulaski

I think so too, but it may be a fledgling, giving it a slightly different look.

GeoffM

Cheers!

SultanOfSwing

No problem.

We get loads of those sparrows in our yard, they seem to have taken up residence in a large Colorado Spruce we have near the street out front. I just noticed that you said it flew into your house, so it was living up to its name then . I've never had a bird in any house I've lived in, the only person who I know who did was my aunt, who was shit scared of birds ...

We had a cardinal in our yard yesterday afternoon calling non stop. I think he was successful though, because I saw a female one flying around for a while too.

No sign of the flickers for the last few days though

Pica

We're currently caring for a fledgling magpie. The third time it fell out of it's nest was the beginning of a thunderstorm. We have 3 cats & the neighbours 6 dogs . So we had to take it in. Been 4 nights now and it's doing well.

BEVS

Googles 'Flickers'.


Ooo. Nice looking dainty woodpeckery type with a quality call.

SultanOfSwing

They were my first encounter with any kind of woodpecker, too. Made a change from the usual fare of cardinals and American robins we usually see. They are nice looking birds though, but our introduction to them was being woken up by one drumming away on our gutters

WEBlue

Oh, I do miss magpies! I know some people who spurned them as bully birds and carrion eaters, but I was always cheered by their vivid colouring. I think there are some out in the western part of America, but not in the northeast where I am...sadly.

Glad to hear yours is doing well, Connie. Do people still automatically wave to magpies ('Hi to the missus!')...?

SultanOfSwing

Magpies, like all crows, are among the most intelligent birds, I always kind of liked them. It took a bit of getting used to, not seeing them out here as they'd be all over the place back home. Even though there's plenty of crows cawing away every day, it's kind of weird not seeing them. Blackbirds too.

SultanOfSwing

The woodpecker came back this morning. I thought I heard him drumming yesterday and I think I heard a call as well, but at 5:10 this morning, he was back at our gutters again.

Maybe I'll be able to get a picture later on of one or other of them.

Pulaski

Not exactly a bird, but I found this guy in the road yesterday on the way home, just around the corner from Pulaski manor. He was completely stationary, so I went home and rushed back with a shovel (they have a vicious bite that can remove a finger), but he had already gone. I suspect another neighbour had removed him as he was nowhere to be seen. He was about 12" from nose to tail.