The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Joy of Birdwatching › Activities: Exploring Birds
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Well sometimes the favorite bird is the one close at hand. House Finches made a nest on the Easter Wreath on the front door. What fun it was to watch them grow and fledge.
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Fun!
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I'm too slow for bird photography! But I've been making friends with a Grey Catbird who lives in my backyard. I think it watches me as much I watch it! It seems to be pretty bold and isnt' afraid to perch close to get an eyeful. Catbirds are...Flycatchers? Or Treecreepers? My catbird clings to the side of one of my tree hydrangeas. Maybe the answer is Other?? I think it's Other. I also have a pair of Northern Cardinals that have such gorgeoush colors. Cardinals are in the Finch/Bunting. group. And my yard borders on a wetland, so I frequently heard Red-Winged Blackbirds calling. They are, of course, in the Blackbird group, and one of the only birds I can reliably ID by sound right now because of their distinctive song.
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Activity 3: I like to go to the beach with my camera to photograph birds. This is one of my personal favorites I took of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) with a fish in it's talons. This is one of my favorite birds because I find it very interesting how they can spot a fish from so high up and then successfully capture it.
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Activity 1: I chose the Common Loon for its haunting sound, good looks, and for being on the Canadian dollar coin, nicknamed a "Loonie." Activity 2: From three different groups, I saw the following birds in my immediate neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada: -Northwestern Crow (Songbirds), Northern Flicker (Woodpeckers). And I heard an American Eagle (Raptors). Activity 3: My favourite local bird is the black-capped chickadee because of its beautiful song "fee-bee." I heard it for years and didn't know its source till I stumbled upon a website and heard it: https://nature-mentor.com/chickadee-calls-explained/ The other day I heard it and looked for it and found it! It made me realize how important it is to learn to identify birds by ear since often you can't see them.
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Yes, the loon! We recently went on a short canoe trail with my toddler and there was a pair on nearly every lake and still they made me pause. So beautiful.
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One of my favorites that I commonly see in my neighborhood though, are Lesser Goldfinches. I love their machine gun songs and it's been nice having them as a permanent resident in the greenery of my complex. Here's a few photos I've taken:
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A bird I've captured quite a few times near me, and probably my absolute favorite shorebird, is Killdeer. It's such a joy to hear the high pitched chirping on occasion when I visit nearby shorelines. The black and white stripes are so adorable! Here is an adult w/ an immature that I saw recently:
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Here I captured a beautiful male Baltimore Oriole with a red "necklace." Absolutely stunning! Next picture, I have a group of mallards waddling along on a stormy day. Here I have a male, a white domesticated mallard, and what appears to be a hybrid of the two. Any opinion on the identification of the mallards?
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My son liked this Killdeer the most on our most recent trip. Way in the back is a black bellied whistling duck, rare for Milwaukee WI.
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I've been enjoying watching Great Blue Herons form a new colony at the urban ponds not far from our house. I think they are currently sitting on eggs! This was historically a sewage treatment catchment area that got re-puposed and rehabbed into wildlife habitat in urban Seattle. It attracts waterfowl, marsh birds and of course birders, who are always fun to talk to and willing to share their knowlege.
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This guy in backyard yesterday. Waxwing not sure if cedar or bohemian
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Definitely Cedar!
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I have always enjoyed looking for and listening to birds but I am just learning more about identification. This past year I have been trying to identify the birds I have seen on our property which includes open meadows, a forested area and a stream. Some of the favorite birds I have observed include wild turkeys, a great blue heron, and great horned owls. Two of my favorite songbirds that I have observed are the scarlet tanager and the Baltimore oriole.
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Above is on Osprey taking lunch back to the perch. Captured photo on Florida Gulf Coast.
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My current favorite is a barred owl. This pic is a barred owlet in my back yard. It's been fun watching this little one and its sibling bumble around and discover the world. I also enjoy watching the parents hunt and deliver prey for the babies.
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I hear barred owls in my neighborhood but I haven't spotted them yet. One of the things I like about FB birding is knowing to look for species when they are local. Other people mention what they have seen and heard and that helps me locate things.
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My current favorite is a barred owl. This pic is a barred owlet in my back yard. It's been fun watching this little one and its sibling bumble around and discover the world. I also enjoy watching the parents hunt and deliver prey for the babies.
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Beautiful shot!
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I don’t have any pictures, but recently a mute swan family near me has given birth to 8 cygnets! what group are swans in? Waterfowl?
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I'm loving discovering so much more about birds! Managed to get this shot of an indigo bunting. I had heard of them but never seen one before. Really exciting!
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We found a rufous hummingbird, a towhee and a dark-eyed junco at our new birdfeeder at our house!
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This Scarlet Tanager inspired me to take this course. Today I've seen a nuthatch (which I didn't previously know was a "tree creeper", a mourning dove, and the usual blue jays, grackles, and cardinals. Cardinals I know are finches, grackles are blackbirds, but blue jays? Also finches maybe?
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Wow, Amy! I'm impressed! We have not had any scarlet tanagers at the feeders, but have seen them in the area. Cardinals are classified as grosbeaks technically, but grosbeaks and finches are often categorized together :) .
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That is a great picture of the tanager! Thanks for sharing it!
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Cardinals are one of my favorite birds that frequent our feeders year round. Bird watching and photography is a new hobby and I am enjoying adding to my list of observed birds. I am fortunate that the small town I live in is also a designated bird sanctuary.
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I always enjoy seeing the American Goldfinch show up at the backyard feeder in the spring.
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My favorite bird is the. Hummingbird, but I have seen it only once near my house this year. I tried to hang a feeder at the edge of a porch , shade, somewhat closed in, Instead of in a fruit tree and have not been able to lure one to that spot. looking at the wall of birds was wonderful 3 species: the humming bird, the woodpecker, the finch? Is that correct?
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I spent some time watching birds from my porch by a lake in upstate New York this morning. Here's what I saw: lots of mallards, several ruby-throated hummingbirds, a dark-eyed junco, a blue jay, and a (I think) hairy woodpecker (whom my husband has named Harry). I didn't see our local common loons, but did hear them.
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My back yard ends where the brackish mash begins between Georgia and Florida. I am just beginning to learn about birds. I found the breakout presented in this first lesson very helpful. Some birds I have been able to broadly identify are: mourning dove, ibis, great blue heron, humming bird, blue bird, cardinal, woodpecker, vulture.
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