just for wood peckers.
Posted on 09/26/2006 5:35:56 AM PDT by blam
Birders excited about woodpecker sightings
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
By BILL FINCH
Environment Editor
Auburn University researchers published evidence today of what some are describing as an ivory-bill woodpecker "Shangri-La" in the Florida Panhandle, a couple of hours east of Mobile.
Researchers said they've had 13 sightings of the ivory bill, long thought to be extinct, and have recorded some 300 distinctive calls and sounds associated with the giant woodpecker, the largest in the United States and a virtual Holy Grail for many birders.
The last clear photographs of the bird -- and uncontested proof of its existence -- date to the mid-1930s in Louisiana.
In a paper to be published today in the online journal Avian Conservation & Ecology, the researchers also will provide evidence of some 20 roost cavities in the Choctawhatchee River basin north of Panama City, Fla., and distinctive foraging techniques they believe to be unique to ivory bills.
The researchers acknowledged that the evidence is not conclusive and did not release any photographs. But even some skeptics of previous ivory-bill claims have described the evidence as exciting and compelling.
(Excerpt) Read more at al.com ...
I have not seen Scarlet Tannigers here at all. In fact, a bluebird is a rarity in my yard, but over in Montgomery county at a friends home, they and the Baltimore Oreo are pretty common.
We get lots of Gold Finches, some purple finches, tufted Titmouse, chicadee, blue Jays, Cardinals, robins, Doves, my favorites, the cat birds are a delight to watch. They too will come almost up to you. There are a lot more.
heh heh...his name is Bill Finch.
Prettiest thing you'll ever see in the northeast.
sw
Wow! That's eye-popping.
Indigo bunting are beauties, too.
Problem here with Bluebirds in NY (our state bird) is those damn European Starlings taking over their nests and driving them out.
Shoot a starling today, our native songbirds will thank you.
I never appreciated bird watching when I lived in the Upper Peninsula years ago. I was up there this last weekend and had the pleasure of seeing a bald eagle eating from road kill on US 2.
Without pics, somebody will come along and peck holes in their story.
Starlings know when you have a gun. I used to try shooting them at our farm when I was young. They were too smart for me to kill.
I had a flock of Indigo Buntings in my woods/yard 6-7 years ago. I've never seen any before or since then.
That's one of the reasons the hole size is so critical on Blue Bird houses. I raise Eastern Blue Birds in bird houses every year. Starlings are a problem for Purple Martins which have a bigger hole size.
I love the Brown thrush. Growing up along the Mississippi River in far western Kentucky, it seemed that we had far more birds and of a greater variety than here. My father was a bird artist and many of his originals are in print.
The mockingbird was standard and I remember being terrified of walking near their nesting areas, bacause they would fly down and attack your head if you got too close. Redwing blackbirds, meadow larks and just about everything was there in abundance.
We have a large deck, and on one end there was an area that we could not get grass to grow on, it had bad drainage and was ugly as sin. Last summer I tilled the area, then terraced it and put flagstones in. I added some low growing plants and several bird feeders and a bird bath. It has turned into my favorite place. I can sit on the deck, less than 20 feet from all kinds of birds. My hummingbirds are so close that I can tell them apart, and sometimes they will come right up and hover in front of my face after feeding.
My earlier efforts at trying to attract blue birds with bird houses turned into squirrel houses, because they were wooden. We are soon to move back nearer where I grew up and have been away from for the past 50 years, so with my requirements for a slower pace in life, I will enjoy reconnecting with long since old bird friends and memories.
While at our NW Florida "camp" this past weekend, I saw the biggest woodpecker I hav e ever seen. He may have been a pileated woodpecker but sooo pretty. He lit in a tree about 15 feet away and I watched him for awhile. We heard his drumming several times.
Is that Annandale New Jersey? I saw two of those scarlet tanagers by the Clinton Cemetary (NJ). Was probably around 1988?? I'm not a bird watcher - but they wre so pretty and unusual that I went to the library and looked them up.
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