[Turtle]

___Very gracious Kirk; thanks.
___The bird of the day is the American Robin. The arechetypal 'early bird' they wake me every morning before dawn with their calling & so common they, that many don't even list them on their birding record.

[Kirk Gregory Czuhai]

the robin is my state's, Michigan's state bird. I always feel its finally spring when I see the first of the new year,
one bobbin' along listening for a worm in the still frozen ground after coming from the south for
its stay in Michigan for the coming warm months.
peace and love,
and,
love and peace,
(kirk) kirk gregory czuhai ---> LOVES !!!

[Turtle]

___Friday afternoon a visiting friend spotted a Western Tanger out my window, and while I was too late with a camera, it was my first ever siting.[url]
___On further reading, I believe the one I saw was a male in breeding plumage; it was face on & very bright red head & yellow breast. The photo in the Gallery is a male in everyday plumage.
___An interesting mystery regarding how these birds acquire the red pigment.

[Turtle]

___Earlier today while gazing out the porch door, I caught a flick & flitter of bright yellow & suddenly not 20 feet away landed a Female Western Tanager. No doubt the mate of the one I described seeing just the other day in a post.
___Great luck today as well, as Ace was on hand with his digital camera & managed to snap a photo before she flew off. The photo is through a glass door, but still a nice shot of a fairly rare to see bird going about its business. See the photo in Science Gallery/Member's Categorie/Turtle
___Alas I have to move from here in just 2 weeks & it's likely these birds are nesting nearby! Still, a sweet bird coupe!

[Kukucan]

Originally Posted by Buffy

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

Woof,
Buffy

There's mostly just a chubby, slow, short-legged cat around here with poor batting average.

The other day a tiny hummingbird fly very close to me as I was planting some Japanese Irises, I also saw one feeding on the Japanese Irises which were already in the ground a couple days earlier. Beautiful flowers, beautiful birds.

[Turtle]

___I am moving to a new place so I will have to take a while to begin spotting my new local avian friends. I did see one river eagle (Osprey) briefly as I loaded boxes, & as I have a wood-lot behind my new place I expect no shortage of opportunity.

[Turtle]

___Oh bother! So clean did I make my window in my new place (the better to see bird), that one bird flew right into it yesterday. Oh bother!
___I have already spotted a Black Capped Chickadee, a Stellars Jay, & an American Robin gathering grasses for a nest. It spent nearly 5 minutes selecting pieces of grass about 5 inches long & each time adding the find to the group in its beak. When it finally flew off, it had nearly 30 neatly stacked pieces of grass in its bill.
___Don't forget to visit Science Gallery/member categories/Turtle to view a few bird photos.
http://hypography.com/gallery/browse...c=3&userid=796
(Note: you must be a Hypography memeber & signed in to view Science Gallery images full screen).

[Turtle]

___I have a new bird sighting here on the Columbia bluffs, well OK, 2 new sightings. New to me at any rate. My altitude here is roughly 150 feet above sea level & a few hundred meters from the Columbia River.
___The first bird I spotted clinging to a dead high branch of a Big Leaf Maple just 20 feet out my window; almost entirely gray with white wing bars and a long mustacheoed bill, I identified it as a Hammond's Flycatcher - Empidonax hammondii.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/program...lycatcher.html
___I watched for some several minutes through 8x22 binoculars as the bird first roosted & flew away numerous times before finally lighting & staying several minutes. The link above & my Audubon's book both note the eye ring (which I did not notice), but fail to mention the mustache even though it is pictured. The wing bars I took close note of & the bird also has a rounded cleft in its tail feathers.
___All in all, not a bird you draw with a feeder, so a rather pleasant serendipity.

___The next new sighting I had today & looking out the same window to the South & in the upper branches of a tall oak some hundred meters down the bluff. As I watched the Stellars Jays play in the branches, a somewhat larger bird flew in & perched somewhat upright in the crook of an upturned branch.
___I put the binoculars on it right away & first took note of the resemblance to a Zebra's coat. Half turned away from me, the belly seemed a lighter but similar patterning, the head dark & unpatterend, & the the bill longish & stout.
___I have tentatively identified the bird as the Female Williamson's Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus thyroideus.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/program...Sapsucker.html
Likely just a one off flyby, but maybe one of a local pair?
___Sorry no photos; such is birding.

[Turtle]

___Just minutes ago I shot several photos of the bird I identified as a Hammond's Flycatcher.
http://hypography.com/gallery/showim...c=3&userid=796
___What do you think? Is my identification correct? Is this photo enough to ID the bird?

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Turtle

___Just minutes ago I shot several photos of the bird I identified as a Hammond's Flycatcher. For now I have it here as an attachment.
___What do you think? Is my identification correct? Is this photo enough to ID the bird?

Try comparing with these images....