Wild Side Ornithology Club

[Pogo]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

Also forgot to mention, the aforementioned Rufus Towhees that seem to have increased since I started mongering sunflower seeds, and the summer hummers, and one of my favorite birds, when I get around to putting food out for them, finches.

 

[beautress]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

He's beautiful, Pogo. We have a lot of Tufted titmice, too, and boucoup woodpeckers. My favorite one that I see several times a year has a total red head. See if I can find one:

Yep. One just like these comes on the porch and turns every whicha-way on a feeder to dine. What a character.:

​

 

[Pogo]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

He's beautiful, Pogo. We have a lot of Tufted titmice, too, and boucoup woodpeckers. My favorite one that I see several times a year has a total red head. See if I can find one:

Yep. One just like these comes on the porch and turns every whicha-way on a feeder to dine. What a character.:

​

A redhead! Aren't you out west though?

 

[beautress]

I live in rural Walker County, Texas now. Retired in 2009, after living in CA, OR, and Wyoming for a total of 45 years, 35 of which were in the Hurricane Alley-Dead Horse Hill area of Casper, WY. Lost my husband a couple of years back. I've been gone from USMB for several years, now, because his last couple of years with dementia were an uphill battle for him, but finally came to grips with moving on. It took me about 2 years to figure out the best guy who ever lived is not coming back. His ashes are interred in the Prayer Garden at our church, which keeps his memory close. I missed USMB people a lot. I posted a few times from the library here, but never could remember my old password, which is somewhere in my 2012 Audubon engagement calendar, which I haven't been able to locate for probably 2 or 3 years now. I spent a lot of my time doing charity quilts and figuring out strategies to keep my dearly demented husband out of the notice of the sheriffs in 3 counties. He'd slip away into the only car we have, so I'd have to get my sister to retrieve him and the truck that no longer had gas in the tank. lol. His illness kept me on my toes.

He helped me keep the bird feeders in the yard. I didn't do a very good job at first after he died, but now, I have 2 feeders full and a hummingbird sip station, and saw some cuties just a week ago all there at the same time, 3 green ones. I don't know how I got so lucky to pick an acreage that has resident red headed woodpeckers, but when Bill was alive, I think we had more cardinals in our front yard than Wyoming had in the whole state (It is the 7th largest landwise state and had about 500,000 people total in the state, if you threw in a few antelopes, which are as numerous if not more so than people in the state.

 

[beautress]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

Also forgot to mention, the aforementioned Rufus Towhees that seem to have increased since I started mongering sunflower seeds, and the summer hummers, and one of my favorite birds, when I get around to putting food out for them, finches.

Rufus Towhees, hm... I'll have to look them up. There's a lot I don't know about birds in America, Pogo. I'm going to find a Rufus Towhee picture before this post is done.

​

 

[beautress]

Wow, this was found when I was trolling the birds on YouTube.

​

 

[Pogo]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

Also forgot to mention, the aforementioned Rufus Towhees that seem to have increased since I started mongering sunflower seeds, and the summer hummers, and one of my favorite birds, when I get around to putting food out for them, finches.

Rufus Towhees, hm... I'll have to look them up. There's a lot I don't know about birds in America, Pogo. I'm going to find a Rufus Towhee picture before this post is done.

​

That's the song but what I use to converse with them is the call -- a sweeping 'suuueeeet' -- as listed here.

Do you know about the Cornell library of birds? Awesome comprehensive resource.

 

[Pogo]

Two other of my favorite bird songs -- okay THE two favorite -- are both from the other end of the year in the spring. I very occasionally get to hear my Phoebe but it's a beautiful sound to wake up to.

And the other especially active at dusk is the wood thrush with its four-part flute-like song with lots of regional dialects. Here's one --- this is incredible photography:

​

 

[beautress]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

Also forgot to mention, the aforementioned Rufus Towhees that seem to have increased since I started mongering sunflower seeds, and the summer hummers, and one of my favorite birds, when I get around to putting food out for them, finches.

Rufus Towhees, hm... I'll have to look them up. There's a lot I don't know about birds in America, Pogo. I'm going to find a Rufus Towhee picture before this post is done.

​

That's the song but what I use to converse with them is the call -- a sweeping 'suuueeeet' -- as listed here.

Do you know about the Cornell library of birds? Awesome comprehensive resource.

The Cornell Lab? Yep, Pogo, when I introduced this thread back when, I put a list of convenient sources for wannabe birders like me could use: Wild Side Ornithology Club
I'm so delighted you have a love for birds, and I've already learned a lot from you here just in the last few days. Some of those bird links could be outdated, but I bet the Cornell bird lab still works. Sorry I forgot freedombecki's password. It was in a book I lost and for many months before and 2 years after, I was consumed with my husband's serious health issues and losing him, too.

 

[Pogo]

Wow, 3 more days--Sunday, Oct 14, 2018, Audubon showed their own picture of Black-crested Titmouse, the15th, Cactus Wren, and Oct 16 and 17, Tufted Titmouse. See if I can find them on the web to bring here (not always Audubon, but it's nice when someone there has them. I'm not certain how they come about putting all these pictures on their yearly calendars, but they leave space for you to write in something about the day, usually, if anything, I write when I finished a quilt. Lately, it's been a little busy, so I failed to write down the completion of several quits, so I won't have much to show for October. lol!

1. Black-crested Titmouse Page at Audubon.org: Black-crested Titmouse

range

​

I've got oodles and oodles of Tufted Titmice here Becki. They and the Chickadees are the most common partakers at my feeders. After that I get an occasional Nuthatch, and there are wrens who periodically build a nest in a box on my porch that must have been put there for that purpose.

I get an assortment of woodpeckers too including the rare Red Cockaded Woodpecker that I spotted at least once:

(stock photo, not mine)​

Over the weekend I was driving to a MINI Cooper run and I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker swoop up from a low bush to a tree just before I drove by it. We hear them here a lot and see them once in a while especially once the leaves drop.

Also forgot to mention, the aforementioned Rufus Towhees that seem to have increased since I started mongering sunflower seeds, and the summer hummers, and one of my favorite birds, when I get around to putting food out for them, finches.

Rufus Towhees, hm... I'll have to look them up. There's a lot I don't know about birds in America, Pogo. I'm going to find a Rufus Towhee picture before this post is done.

​

That's the song but what I use to converse with them is the call -- a sweeping 'suuueeeet' -- as listed here.

Do you know about the Cornell library of birds? Awesome comprehensive resource.

The Cornell Lab? Yep, Pogo, when I introduced this thread back when, I put a list of convenient sources for wannabe birders like me could use: Wild Side Ornithology Club
I'm so delighted you have a love for birds, and I've already learned a lot from you here just in the last few days. Some of those bird links could be outdated, but I bet the Cornell bird lab still works. Sorry I forgot freedombecki's password. It was in a book I lost and for many months before and 2 years after, I was consumed with my husband's serious health issues and losing him, too.

And again consolations and hugs for that loss

But there are still birds and beauty and good company.

My knowledge of birds has been passed to me by two very wise Women. It was an unforgettable gift that literally keeps on giving every time I hear a wood thrush calling or watch a finch feeding.

One year, it was maybe March or so and I wasn't sure if it was warm enough to put up the hummer feeders when this hummer swooped in front of my face, out of nowhere, with a demanding attitude. "YO, WHERE DA FOOD AT" is what I think he said. They know me.

 

[beautress]

Today, bing search engine (that I love) opened with a blue heron like no other. Later on, I couldn't find the same pic, but here are some others: They hang around my small lake behind the house, and their sport is competitively chasing the great white egrets around. Nobody ever wins, but quite often they tend to be on opposite sides of the bend in Freedom Lake. *sigh* I tend to root for the egrets because their often found on the endangered list, and I live to see them train their young to fly south each fall. Migration is not unexpected, and they know that in order for their brood to fly far, they need to develop sturdy flying muscles and a strong will to keep up. Both parents engage in the instruction lessons. Birds are brighter than we give them credit in their being. I hope I get to watch the herons someday teaching their young, but so far, I've never witnessed them. I did notice for a few years, the heron that visited most often was a shade of mauve I've never seen anywhere else. She was a lovely sight in her purplish pink attire.

Love those cute babies!

 

[beautress]

Oh, yes, and the calendar bird du jour is the Pine Grosbeak. I'll see if I can find an image as pretty as the one on today's calendar from the Audubon Society.

Here's the calendar girl:

​

 

[Pogo]

Oh, yes, and the calendar bird du jour is the Pine Grosbeak. I'll see if I can find an image as pretty as the one on today's calendar from the Audubon Society.

Here's the calendar girl:

​

That is stunningly beautiful. That's all that can be said.

 

[beautress]

Well, the Male Pine Grosbeak (who was not shown on today's Audubon Calendar square) is rather fetching, himself:

​

 

[beautress]

And the pair of Pine Grosbeaks below is a very good illustration of their dimorphism.

​

 

[beautress]

The Loggerhead Shrike is on Audubon Calendar for today and tomorrow. Searching the web now: Oh, I just now found a real cutie of the Loggerhead Shrike family:

Link to BBS Map of Loggerhead Shrikes: Loggerhead Shrike

Loggerhead Shrike page at Audubon: Loggerhead Shrike
​

 

[beautress]

I'm concerned about birds that are threatened with extinction after receiving a notice from the Audubon Society, where I've linked to so often because of the calendars I buy every year that they publish. The calendar features one bird per diem (and sometimes one for 2 days) that brighten the square you write stuff on, where you went, projects you finished, and whatever you use the calendar to remind you to do, phone numbers, doctor appointments, professional concerns you dealt with that day, even vacation notes... anyhow, I love my bird calendars and use them or not, I love seeing the bird pictures even if I cannot remember the names and details of each different bird. I once read there are over 900 birds who reside in or visit temporarily the North American continent's USA. Smarter birders than me can keep them all in their head, but I can't, so my contribution is this thread where whoever has something to bring to the table is more than appreciated!

Here's the table of endangered birds I found at the Audubon society for the Texas region: Geographical Search

I'm not sure what qualifies us to know the birds are endangered, but there are birders on their own levels who count birds at Christmas (CBC) and at BBC (some kind of Bird Count that starts with a B). Please bear with me as I learn, but I will try to bring forth an endangered bird from the Audubon Society's endangered list from time to time, and if you find species which have a significant reduction in sightings from year to year and - possibly for reasons unknown - I hope you will bring them to the thread, and if the bird is one you have seen, how you felt when you saw the bird and/or its brood when one picture or another touched you in the heart area.

Example: The American White Pelican, Geographical Search , American White Pelican

Climate Endangered: The American White Pelican
Seasonal Map is here: American White Pelican​

Nesting populations of this species have increased dramatically in the eastern portion of its summer range in recent decades, but the climate space for summering range is forecast to shift dramatically northward and contract for the future. Also, most of the world’s American White Pelicans winter in Mexico, and while Audubon's climate model predicts that the species’ winter range in the U.S. will be likely able to expand and shift northward, further research is needed for a better understanding of whether American White Pelicans may be able to adapt to the shifting available winter range or take advantage of the changing climate suitability for the species as a whole.


\

 

[beautress]

Another friend to the birds was St. Francis of Assissi, who loved animals, from what I have heard, and here is the enchanting story in a glimpse: Francis of Assisi – Blessing Our Brothers, the Birds (3/10/2017) - Faithful Through the Ages - Bible Gateway Devotionals How good it is that love for birds breaks the barriers created by differing politics, religion, races, sex, clan, social standing, et al. a quote from the link above about this sainted man:

So close was Francis to nature that he preached sermons to those he regarded as his companions: "Brother birds," he admonished, "you ought to love and praise your Creator very much. He has given you feathers for clothing, wings for flying, and all things that can be of use to you." An environmentalist before his time, he asked the emperor enact laws to protect "our sisters, the birds."

​

 

[Pogo]

I'm concerned about birds that are threatened with extinction after receiving a notice from the Audubon Society, where I've linked to so often because of the calendars I buy every year that they publish. The calendar features one bird per diem (and sometimes one for 2 days) that brighten the square you write stuff on, where you went, projects you finished, and whatever you use the calendar to remind you to do, phone numbers, doctor appointments, professional concerns you dealt with that day, even vacation notes... anyhow, I love my bird calendars and use them or not, I love seeing the bird pictures even if I cannot remember the names and details of each different bird. I once read there are over 900 birds who reside in or visit temporarily the North American continent's USA. Smarter birders than me can keep them all in their head, but I can't, so my contribution is this thread where whoever has something to bring to the table is more than appreciated!

Here's the table of endangered birds I found at the Audubon society for the Texas region: Geographical Search

I'm not sure what qualifies us to know the birds are endangered, but there are birders on their own levels who count birds at Christmas (CBC) and at BBC (some kind of Bird Count that starts with a B). Please bear with me as I learn, but I will try to bring forth an endangered bird from the Audubon Society's endangered list from time to time, and if you find species which have a significant reduction in sightings from year to year and - possibly for reasons unknown - I hope you will bring them to the thread, and if the bird is one you have seen, how you felt when you saw the bird and/or its brood when one picture or another touched you in the heart area.

Example: The American White Pelican, Geographical Search , American White Pelican

Climate Endangered: The American White Pelican
Seasonal Map is here: American White Pelican​

Nesting populations of this species have increased dramatically in the eastern portion of its summer range in recent decades, but the climate space for summering range is forecast to shift dramatically northward and contract for the future. Also, most of the world’s American White Pelicans winter in Mexico, and while Audubon's climate model predicts that the species’ winter range in the U.S. will be likely able to expand and shift northward, further research is needed for a better understanding of whether American White Pelicans may be able to adapt to the shifting available winter range or take advantage of the changing climate suitability for the species as a whole.


\

Pelicans are so beautiful.

There's a ferry that crosses the Mississippi River constantly in New Orleans which is a fun ride even if you don't need to cross. As you're waiting to embark the pelicans gather around the propeller wash and cluster there for a nice bath.

 

[beautress]

These birds are as beautiful in flight as they are predatory by nature. I almost had a run-in with one dark, snowy night on the winding road between Casper and Laramie, Wyoming. It grazed my car, somehow thinking something moving below must be a deer or something edible, or for whatever reason. Its wings were as wide as my car, which may have been obfuscated by the snow falling between my windshield and his flight through the mile-high hilliness of the high plains there. Anyway, I was quite startled by the width of the creature's wings, so much so that my mind's eye sort of took a picture of him, as the spread was as wide as my windshield, and the look on his owly face was one of a predator that was about to outwit its meal. Unfortunately, glass and metal were not on his diet, so he swooped back upward the instant he realized there was nothing to claw into to take with him.

​

The Audubon page on Snowy Owls is here: Snowy Owl
It has several other fabulous pictures and a map. The lower part of the map, delineated by a running line, is definitely in the range I was driving through, albeit its sightings are said to be "uncommon" during the winter. Well, it scared the bejammers out of me, which is pretty uncommon in itself, since I was something of a laconic landlubber, at least for the 35 years I lived in the Equality State. Wyoming is between Montana (north) and Colorado (south) and looks like a sturdily horizontal rectangle. After my heart stopped beating so fast after half an hour, I realized what an amazing creature I had encountered, an hour from my home in Central Wyoming.