Got any bird pics?
- Thread starter Wadin' Boot
- Start date
All of this talk about osprey has me thinking back to a day I had on Fish Lake (hwy 2) years ago. I was out for a few days camping with my buddy and we decided to put the canoe in the lake. I had never been on Fish Lake before and had no serious intention on fishing that hard. It had clearly just been stocked and there were plenty of eager cookie cutter rainbows around. I couldn’t help but notice the insane amount of osprey as well. There must have been upwards of 20 or so birds, all perched in the trees to the east side of the lake. At any given time there would be 3 or more flying from the tree line to circle the lake while another 3 or more were returning to the tree line with either rainbow or perch in their talons. It was like watching planes flying in and out of a busy airport. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since that day.
Ok, one more strange bird sighting, at least for me. Not osprey but red tail hawks. I was passenger driving west bound near Ellensburg. A field had just been tilled and there was an huge group of red tail hawks all on the ground, feeding on what I would presume were moles or mice. There must have been somewhere in the ballpark of 20-30 hawks, no bullshit, maybe even more than that. Hard to tell when you’re going 70mph down the highway. What I could tell is that there were a LOT of them and they were all red tails.
Has anyone else seen these types of congregations of osprey or red tails? Maybe it’s more common than I think?
Has anyone else seen these types of congregations of osprey or red tails? Maybe it’s more common than I think?
I have observed a line of 8-10 young osprey hover flying near the shoreline diving for fish. They were mostly unsuccessful, but obviously in learning mode.
Gyrfalcon22
Life of the Party
You find a field being plowed or tilled and you will have some great birding. Mowing of hay fields
as well. Ravens and crows go bonkers, but I've seen bald eagles follow along as well.
Likely had uncovered some colonies of pocket nesting rodents so a feast was had for "hawk central"/Ellensburg. Great raptor territory for numbers and varieties.
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Look for herons too. They tend to like mowed fields.
Saw my first osprey of the spring today.
Neither of us harmed any trout while in each other’s company.
SF
Neither of us harmed any trout while in each other’s company.
SF
Makes sense. The local Stellar’s Jays certainly like it when I mow my lawn
Very nice Rich.
Had three osprey in the hood today. Two, likely the local pair, were chasing the third bird off. Fun to watch.
I've got a local Cooper's hawk that picks off the local rock doves.
Had three osprey in the hood today. Two, likely the local pair, were chasing the third bird off. Fun to watch.
I've got a local Cooper's hawk that picks off the local rock doves.
For the last several years there has been a nesting pair of Cooper’s Hawks across the street from my girlfriend’s house in West Seattle. Last year we noticed that there were also hummingbirds that would fly in close proximity to the hawks when coming/going from the nesting tree. Turns out there are benefits for the hummingbirds to be near hawks. Pretty interesting if you were not aware…
www.audubon.org
Why a Hawk Is a Hummingbird’s Best Friend
The raptors help keep predators away from the tiny birds, new research shows.
Steelheaddave - I saw that today and was going to post it! Ya beat me to it.
Divad
Whitefish
Any birdhouse people here see a problem with doing a shou shigi ban (burnt and sanded) exterior and penny shingle roof? Targeting a house for wrens and black capped chickadees. I want the hemlock to stay relatively weatherproof w/o using chemicals, thus the burnt exterior idea.
I’m giving my two nieces’ a couple sets of binoculars and this house for their birthdays.
And yes, the entry hole is to come
Very nice! Make sure that you can remove a panel or the bottom to clean out the birdhouse every year. It keeps the inside clean and relatively bug free. Plus, nest building is part of the pair bonding.
tkww
Steelhead
Very clean/neat, tear-dropped shaped streaking = immature coopers; immature Sharpie would be messy streaking w/o much of a defined shape. The tail feathers of clearly different length and rounded corners = Coopers; Sharpie tail feathers are pretty even, and usually more squared off corners unless they're very worn. Nice photo!
A Flicker keeping busy next door.
Our school resident osprey came back this week, announcing their arrival with LOTS of vocalization and a fish dropped out of the nest onto the track...
tkww
Steelhead
It is interesting to me how the migration patterns vary as far as what shows up in spring vs fall. I never see shorebirds in the spring, but get a variety of sandpipers, yellow legs, etc. in the late summer. Cinnamon Teals and Shovelers are spring only, but Green Wing and Blue-winged Teals only appear in the fall. Wood Ducks can be either. Anyway, today a couple pairs of Shovelers decided to spend the day resting here.
