I"m doing this course with my 8 year old son, Peter.  We are in Pasadena, CA on the West Coast of the  United States. We choose Anna's hummingbird.  They buzz all around our backyard.  The buzzing, like bees, is pretty cool and that they can hover. Sorry - they are too fast for us to get a picture!

Activity 1- I love the scissor tail!  In Texas their arrival coincides with my hot summers and their high wire antics greet me when I am on my front porch with my morning coffee.

Activity 3:  a favorite bird of mine is the blue jay.  I think they are beautiful.  For many years I did not see them often, but in the last few years I see them more frequently.  Lately I have seen them a lot at a bird feeder we have in our backyard.  The blue jay is definitely the most aggressive of the birds that usually visit our feeders.  They easily push off the house sparrows, cardinals, and woodpeckers which are often at our feeder and suet. As I writing this I can hear a couple of blue jays.

activity 2:  I live in the the suburbs of Washington, DC in Maryland.  This morning I took a long walk that went through several different types of habitats.  As soon as I closed my front door I head crows and heard and saw blue jays.  Then I heard and saw a couple of red shouldered hawks.   So I saw two groups of birds before I had gotten past my front lawn.   I then walked into a wooded area along a stream.   I heard Carolina Wrens, more Red-Shouldered Hawks and blue jays, and heard and saw Cardinals.  While I saw several birds I was not able to identify, I then saw an American Redstart and a Scarlet Tanager.   Next I walked into a public garden that has ponds.   I saw more song birds:  blue jays, a Gray Catbird, a Tufted Titmouse and a Red-eyed Vireo.  I also saw a mourning dove and then a green heron.   On the way home I heard a red-bellied woodpecker and saw a northern mockingbird.  In total I saw four groups of birds this morning which is unusual.   Usually on my walks I see songbirds and mourning doves.

Activity #1 - I was drawn to the American White Pelican on the Wall of Birds because of its sheer size.  I recently took a trip to the Dakotas and was surprised to see a Pelican on display in one of the National Park visitor centers and was able to learn that the Pelicans breed inland and pass through the Dakotas. Activity #2 - On my outdoor walk through a natural forest/creek area, we saw a large collection of vultures on the ground.  We were not close enough to see if there was a carcass there, but I imagine that there was.  Vultures would fit into the Raptor group.  On our trip to the Dakotas, we saw a Western Meadowlark which I believe fits into the Songbird category.  Another bird we saw in the Dakotas was (I think) a pied-billed grebe - which would be a swimming bird/water fowl.

Activity  1:  looking at and exploring the wall made me think about some trips I have taken in the past and why I have decided to take the course after the events of the last year.  I thought of a family trip that we took about 10 years ago to Panama.  My daughter and I went white water rafting and on our way to the river we saw a toucan flying just as the sun was coming up.  I do not know a lot about birds, but that was one that was hard to get the group wrong.  I also looked at birds that I often see near my home.   We live near a public garden where I often see great blue herons.   I have become more interested in birds since I started taking early morning walks - something I have done as exercise during the pandemic when I have been working from home and not going to the gym.   I have found the bird song comforting on my walks and began to wonder which bird I was hearing.  I had never heard of a Carolina Wren until about a month or two ago.  I often hear them on my walks and see them in our backyard.

Activity 2 I often see Red-winged blackbirds (blackbirds) when walking around marshes, ponds, and lakes in Southwest Ohio.  I also see Great Blue Herons (herons) wading and fishing in similar waterways.  They are patient when fishing and majestic in flight.  It is a rare delight to see a pileated woodpecker (woodpeckers) come to our backyard feeder to investigate.  They are striking in size and coloration.

Activity 1 I like the call of the common loon.  I hear and see them when I am traveling near lakes in New Hampshire and Maine.  I have seen them flying and swimming and observed their platform nest from a distance.  Their chicks don't always survive although the entire New London, NJ Pleasant Lake community tracks and roots for them each year.

I am living in Zimbabwe. The first one, I think, is part of the flycatchers or great flyers. I think it is a dark-capped bulbul. The second one is a paradise flycatcher.   And the last one is part of the grouse. It is a purple-crested Turaco

Activity 3: One of my favorite local birds is the Greenfinch - they have a lovely song, a bit like a wild canary. I tried making some watercolor drawings of the male Greenfinch, but they don't do justice to this beautiful little bird.

We disturbed a great egret while kayaking on a river near Montreal, Canada.

Activity 3 - Three common birds from where I live (Brussels, Belgium) are the Wood Pigeon, Rose-ringed Parakeet and Magpie. I don't know if the Wood Pigeon has an equivalent in the US, unless it's maybe the Band-tailed Pigeon, but I've never seen one. They're big chunky pigeons, like a small chicken, and they trundle around in the leaf litter in the fall searching for beech nuts. In the spring they eat buds and young leaves. There's a pair that nests in the ivy in our garden each year. The Rose-ringed Parakeets are all over Brussels. They come from a collection of parakeets that were deliberately released in Brussels when a local zoo went bankrupt. The authorities complain about them, but most people like them. They might take over some nesting holes that would otherwise be used by native birds, but they seem to mostly eat seeds from ornamental, non-native trees that other birds aren't interested in. The Magpies are everywhere in Brussels where there are some big trees to perch in. They don't get along at all with the local Carrion Crows - the crows chase them and they chase the crows.

Activity 1: SECRETARY BIRD: It was interesting to learn that its name comes from its elaborate crest that recalls secretaries. It is far from sedentary; it is very active hunting by kicking its prey with its powerful legs and toes. PROTHONOTARY WARBLER: Beautiful yellow feathers. Fiercely defensive of their territories. Both sexes are aggressive in their interaction with the same sex. Pair bonds that usually last the season and continue through the winter. Activity 2: SONGBIRDS: Gray Catbird: Lives in open woodlands and eats insects. It copies the sounds of other species and some of its calls are similar to cats and frogs sounds. PIGEONS AND DOVES: Mourning Dove: Lives in open woodlands and eats seeds. It nests in trees and perches in telephone wires. RAPTORS: Red-shouldered Hawk: Lives in forests, eats mammals, and nests in trees. It returns to the same nesting territory year after year. Activity 3: My favorite bird is the Red-shouldered Hawk: it is common in the area where I live. I see them by themselves, in foggy winter days perched in trees, which makes a beautiful scene. They are very elegant and I love their delicate plumage in their breast like little brush strokes.

  I took this photo at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge outside of Philadelphia earlier this year -- something about herons intrigues me. Their "dinosaur-esque" look is incredible and terrifying at the same time. I'm also a fan of the common loon, which I've now learned is part of the waterfowl/duck group. I'm also rather intrigued by the painted bunting, which I recently learned about and would really like to see in person. I would guess that they are considered song birds; however, I'm not too sure which group they would be part of. It'll take some work to be able to be mindful for (and remember) all of the groups and sub-groups for classification purposes.

I loved listening to the song of the Brown Thrasher on the Wall of Birds - it brought back happy memories of when I was growing up and I heard the Brownies singing in the shrubs and woods by our house. Those were the days. May the dear Brownies keep on singing forever.

I just saw my first owl in the wild yesterday.  I don't use my binoculars very often but I had them with me. I was sitting under a tree on a bench overlooking hillside grassland on edge of forested area.  A hummingbird was making a commotion in the tree so I looked up and saw a smallish bird high up in the tree sitting very still. I looked through my binoculars and the owl turned and looked at me with his penetrating yellow/ black eyes.  I used my guide when I got home to figure out it's a northern Pygmy- Owl.  Maybe I'll become a real birder yet! My favorite bird around the neighborhood are the blue birds.  We don't have many of them so it's treat when I see a pair.  Such a pretty bright blue.

Long standing favorite is probably the Black Capped Chickadee.  It is so friendly and brave and small.  I hear they warn others of trouble in the neighborhood and they are the first to return to feeders after trouble has past.  There is a place in a park near by where the chickadees are so used to visitors, you can feed them from your hand!  In reality, I love them all, especially the first time I see a new bird.  I'm training my husband to get excited as I do and he is great to have along now.  I don't always find them in the trees very well so having extra eyes is nice too.  I recently got the app: BirdNET to help me identify bird songs.  It is a favorite of mine now.  (I hear Merlin has something like it now.) I helps to know what you are looking for!

I saw a grey fantail for the first time in my courtyard at home in Victoria, Australia. This is one of my favourite birds as the fly so beautifully and often don't mind coming close to humans. I've also seen them in Tasmania and in New Zealand where they are known as NZ fantails. I would love to see a rufous fantail, hopefully I can add that to my life list this coming summer! Fantails are songbirds, also know as Passeriformes. I think fantails may also be classified as a flycatcher, but I'm not certain as I'm pretty new to classifying birds! What do others think?

Activity 1:  Favorites on Bird Wall:  Atlantic Puffins because they are so cute & Przevalski's Rosefinch because of the beautiful plumage color. Activity 2: European Starling (saw in my neighborhood). Semipalmated Sandpiper & Great Egret (saw both in DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst, NJ). Activity 3: House Sparrows because of their persistence in building a nest in the eaves of our house this year, and for successfully raising their young, even though they were quite noisy neighbors throughout the process! They are gone now but won't be forgotten.

These are three images that I took recently.  The first one is the Great Crested Grebe (waterfowl).  The second is an image of storks  (wading birds) who are migrating.  The last one is a Great Spotted Woodpecker (woodpecker).

So looking forward to learning more about birds!  I've been a "bird feeder bird watcher" for many years, and have tried to identify all of the birds I see around our property, located in a riparian area in Oregon's Willamette Valley . . . but there is one that has really stumped me.  I've only seen them in the early morning--by 8:00 or 8:30 at the very latest, they're all gone.  I've never gotten a good look at them because I don't have binoculars (yet!) and they are too far away to see well; but what I have seen is:  about the size of a robin (maybe a bit smaller); with a pale (possibly yellow or chartreuse?) breast, mottled dark brown or black and white back/wings/tail.  Their most distinctive trait is their behavior:  they make short, diving/swooping flights over the river, apparently scooping up the hordes of small insects that hover in clouds over the water, and finish each flight by perching briefly on a tree limb or downed trunk, usually quite a bit higher than the river surface.  Quite a few will be feeding (?) like this at a time, but they don't hunt cooperatively:  it's every bird for him/herself!  After reading this lesson I wonder if it's some type of flycatcher?  I haven't been able to detect any song or characteristic call.  Any ideas?  I just downloaded Merlin, but I can't get close enough for a photo and ditto for bird calls.

My husband has built a fabulous haven for birds with feeders and bird baths nestled in and around shrubs and flowers.  The birds love it, and there is nothing more relaxing for me than sitting on our deck and watching the birds come and go and observing their behavior.   I have gone from “that’s a pretty bird” to really wanting to know all about birds.  Everyday we get to see many types of birds,and every now and then we see one we haven’t seen before - that’s very exciting.  I have even come to appreciate the grackles and mourning doves, which were not exciting to me at first.  The more I learn about birds, the more I realize how much more there is to know!

A few months back there were seven white pelicans thermalling over my neighborhood street.  It took me a bet to figure out what they were, until they started banking and the sun caught their brilliant white with black wing tips.  I just gazed in awe at them for as long as I could see them. Saw a single turkey vulture thermalling over a nature center about two weeks ago. Today, it was a red tailed hawk doing likewise. What must it feel like?  Magnificent!!!

Activity 2: The bird groups that I have around me are the songbirds like the House Sparrows and American Robins where many times I would see sparrows come up to my feeders and the Robins exploring in the suburbs. I would see raptors in the sky while I am driving around such as the Red Tailed Hawk and also Turkey Vultures. Once in awhile I would see a Bald Eagle sitting up high in the tree. And the third bird group I see are the Doves, specifically Mourning Doves. Many times a pair of Mourning Doves would hangout and sit by my feeders from access seeds that fall onto the ground and the doves at dawn would be on top of my roof making their vocal sounds.

Activity 3: my favorite bird is a tough question. So many. The painted bunting for its colors, hummingbirds because they are so small and fast, spoonbills and avocets for their interesting bills, ospreys and hawks in general for their power and strength, forked tail kite for their signature tail. And thats just off the top of my head.