[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Cedars

Vultures? If so, Turkey Vulture has the red head and is found in your area.



I have Cedars here, though not as old. They attract Cedar Waxwings in the fall in large numbers. I have stood in my yard and as the flock moves to the next trees, they have flown so close to me, I could have reached out and touched them. Lots of warblers will crowd these trees on their migrations. A deer researcher noted the tempetures in a stand of cedar trees in northern minnesota was between 10 and 15 degrees higher than the surrounding areas and thought maybe these stands were attracting so many deer in this particular area because of this.


I love your pictures!! I need to get a good camera and spend some time taking pictures. My skills with a camera tend to leave me with blurry spots against a blue sky as my target is flying away. I do have a few acceptable pictures I have taken over the years. I should get a website so I can post them.

Thanks Cedars: Turkey Vultures they are indeed. Had a bit of a memory lapse ther.
What species of Cedar is there? We have Western Red Cedar here, which is what is on Long Island. We have something called Port Orford Cedar, which is not a true cedar, but grows nowhere else in the world except for a small region near Port Orford Oregon. I understand they have become a popular tree for folks to plant in their yards & as a consquence they have spread widely.
On the photos, all memebers may attach a photo to any post. The size is limited, but I think the allowable size increases with a member's level which increases with a member's number of posts. Members who sign up as Hypography Sponsors also receive their own space in Hypography/s Science Gallery section which allows larger photos.
I have some other blurry shots of the Hutton's Vireo; I'll look to see if there is a better view of the bill.
Nice to see some more participants in this thread; thanks folks.

[Kirk Gregory Czuhai]

Originally Posted by Buffy

We have a large number of cats near by, so fewer birds. I hate cats.

Woof,
Buffy

I am thinking there might be too few BIRDS around too compared to some of the crazy (stuff) i read to often in this Hypography
(whatever) boards.

like a breath of fresh air i have come to this site originally only to return
to my previous posting to BIRDING!

some moderator barely old enough or not able to grow normal hair is probably
going to find some objection to this posting?

If there is a problem then rest assured its with the moderators as i would
suspect they would show more character to most of them than the one(s)
hell bent on modifying, explaining, or even deleting my postings.

ANYWAY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR for all of you even
incluing the god of science freaks.

http://www.altelco.net/~lovekgc/kam.jpg

you are such geniuses!

you are such scientists!

what a circus!

and the "mature" monitor that tampers with my postings, what an
IMPORATANT person you are! LOL LOL

[Tarantism]

i saw a bald-headed bird today, rather large in size up in the hills on the way to gilroy, ca. at first glance, i figured it was a turkey vulture and dismissed it as nothing special (for me, i have seen lot of those around here.). then, it flew down closer and it was much bigger than i originally though i ahve never seen a turkey vulture up-close, but this was much bigger than i would have figured. am i seeing something else, or are the vultures just that large?

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Turtle

What species of Cedar is there? We have Western Red Cedar here, which is what is on Long Island. We have something called Port Orford Cedar, which is not a true cedar, but grows nowhere else in the world except for a small region near Port Orford Oregon. I understand they have become a popular tree for folks to plant in their yards & as a consquence they have spread widely.Nice to see some more participants in this thread; thanks folks.

Trees are not my specialty and as I looked up the type of cedar, I found they not a cedar, they are a juniper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

These are swans from this spring. One is a release bird with the yellow neckband. Its mate was born in the wild.

Attachment 378

Thanks for the pic posting clues!!

[Cedars]

Heres a scarlet tanager pic. It was from like May 8 or 10. This day, in the same wildlife area that I took the swan pics at, these birds were moving thru in large numbers. We saw well over 30 individuals that day. The pic was taken with the bird insect hunting no more than 10 feet (and often less) from the edge of the road.

Attachment 380

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by (((tartanism)))

i saw a bald-headed bird today, rather large in size up in the hills on the way to gilroy, ca. at first glance, i figured it was a turkey vulture and dismissed it as nothing special (for me, i have seen lot of those around here.). then, it flew down closer and it was much bigger than i originally though i ahve never seen a turkey vulture up-close, but this was much bigger than i would have figured. am i seeing something else, or are the vultures just that large?

Vultures are that large. Around here, if a bird is soaring, its very hard to tell if its a vulture or an immature bald eagle. Unless the bird is low enough to see the bill. Eagles have much thicker bills. The vulture head (in soaring view) is much smaller than an eagle head.

[Racoon]

I love birds too. I am from the majestic Northwest as well.
I leave bread out on my deck to attract birds; I get a great view!
I particularly enjoy the Stellar Jays. They are a beautifully colored blue with a black mohawk. They make a screeching sound.

[Tarantism]

it was definatley no eagle. good call, probably vulture. thanks!

[Cedars]

We had our first big snow of the season this last week.

I put out my suet this week. The Downy and Hairy woodpeckers showed up right away. I have at least two male Red-bellied woodpeckers. And friday morning, my first Pileated Woodpecker of the season showed up.

Lots of Nuthatches, Black Capped Chickadees and Blue Jays, as they are so very common here. Juncos and Tree Sparrows are back too.

I had two male Cardinals chasing each other thru the trees on thursday. The most males I have had in my yard at once was seven. They do stand out against the snow so brightly! Around january they will stop this territorial sparing and just worry about getting the best seeds. I think the extreme cold temps adjust their attitudes.

I found Mourning Dove wing feathers in two spots near the feeders. I did not see what took the bird, but I found no cat tracks in the snow anywhere close to these feathers. Each year I have a Sharp-shinned Hawk that shows up around Dec 15th to hunt my feeders. I wonder if the bird has returned again.

[Tarantism]

went hiking up in the Castle Rock State Park (CA), here is what i saw:
Common Raven
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Stellar's Jay
American Coot
Double Crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret
Black Phoebe
Buffel Head (duck)
American Wigdeon (duck)
American Crow
Mallard

of course, this is with the helpful eyes of my forementioned grandfather.

happy birding!