Did a little bird watching today and thought about SwampSniper.

Bird of the day ^ | 2 FEB 16 | Islander7

[Islander7]

Hey there! Been missing your bird threads. Looked out the window this morning and saw several doves fighting over the bird feeders. Inspired me to ease up the road a bit to an osprey nest I've been keeping an eye on.

The pair there have raised their fledges for at least the past four years. This is likely their time using this nest as the rotting pine sways precariously in even the slightest breeze.

At any rate, I thought about you. Hope you are well and able to get out.

Enjoy!

[Flycatcher]

Yep, there's just something about raptors that is truly awe-inspiring. My favorite is the golden eagle. I only see maybe a dozen in the course of a year, but when I do, time seems to stop as I watch it.

It really makes your day.

[dainbramaged]

Pretty slim pickins these days in my area, Puget Trough Drainage
Same here - we are between Shelton and Allyn near Pickering Passage. Saw a huge raft of mallards and goldeneyes in Oakland Bay yesterday, had a Cooper's hawk make a quick stop on a fence post this AM.

[BudgieRamone]

If you have a birdwatchers list I would like to be on it. Just some different varieties of woodpeckers, a kestrel, a red tailed hawk and lots of cardinals in my area.

[gorush]

[native texan]

Thank you for the tip about the golden-fronted woodpecker...I looked it up and it inhabits my part of Texas! I will have to pay attention and see if I can find one or two.

We live close to where some American Eagles winter. It is always such a thrill to see one flying above the trees!

[Ditter]

We are huge bird watchers right here I the middle of Houston, near Buffalo Bayou. Right now we are covered up with Gold Finches. Love those little guys. We have an amazing number of varieties of birds here in our back yard!

[curdogmen]

GREAT pictures ....we live in bird paradise here....bald eagles are a common sight...we have a trout farm near our farm way cool that they seem to like....the only bird we do not see much of is the common house sparrow, which great they’ll eat all my bird food...I started feeding hummingbirds about 3 years ago and now we may about 50 birds coming to the feeder when they migrant here and so fun to wait for them to get here ...and then they have babies and OMG then I got tons of them...thanks for starting this post...it is nice to read something without reading huge arguments

[Ditter]

I love Woodpeckers, we have seen all of the varieties except maybe the Golden Fronted. About 3 years ago I watched 2 male Pileateds fighting over a female, that was quite a sight!

[ErnBatavia]

We've had woodpeckers appear here in our desert just within the past three years....unfortunately, I've discovered, they're falling into the pest category.

They hop into the orange tree and start boring holes into most of the fruit just as it's ripening.

[nuconvert]

Maybe if I plant an orange tree they’ll stop pecking at my house

[nclaurel]

Magnificent photos. Better than Birds And Bloom. We once had a dying pine topped and not cut down at the same price to the dismay of our tree guy because woodpeckers lived there. They used to complain loudly every morning when we made noise leaving for work.

[patriot08]

I agree. Love birds-even pidgeons, gulls and sparrows.

[Hot Tabasco]

Where are you located?

[patriot08]

I live in the ‘birdiest’ city in the US. Can anyone guess where that is?

[Islander7]

WOW! I need to hang out with you. I love photography and birds are my favorite subject.

[Flycatcher]

Lake Jackson/Freeport, Texas...?

[Flycatcher]

Haha!

Hang out with me on one of my survey days and you'll have no shortage of subjects to photograph!

Thanks for this thread!

[Islander7]

Steller’s Jays are beautiful birds. Had a pair join me at a picnic table in Colorado. They seemed to like my choice of bread. Very friendly and not shy at all.

[Islander7]

Nice shots!

[Flycatcher]

I like woodpeckers too. Saw 2 species today: Ladder-backed woodpecker and northern flicker.

We live in a Joshua tree forest and we're lucky to have a fairly rare woodpecker that is year-round resident on our property: the gilded flicker. Very similar to the yellow-shafted race of the northern flicker.

But sadly, we don't have pileated woodpeckers! They're stunning.