• Gaen
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      This time of year, American Goldfinches flock to the bird feeders on my crabapple tree. As spring progresses, the males change from dull to intense yellow in coloring -- a spectacular display right out my window.
    • Kathleen
      Participant
      Chirps: 12
      1 LoonActivity 3 We went out to the ocean during the winter to see what birds we could see.  We saw a relative (Pacific Loon) of my favorite the Common Loon.  Being from Minnesota I fell in love early with our State Bird, and I would hear it sometimes during the night singing one of it's three beautiful songs.  I never forgot those nights, and they are back at the lake now, and I can hear them again.  I can't get a picture, they are so shy. HawkEdit5When we went to Lincoln, NE, for my aunt's funeral, I was terribly sad.  I thought I would visit a museum to feel better.  I did, and it helped, but as I pulled out of the parking lot, I thought I saw a crumpled paper bag in front of the museum.  I kept watching, and soon realized it wasn't a bag but a Red- Tailed Hawk greedily eating a red squirrel.  I stopped & got my camera and began taking pictures.  He continued eating.  I quietly exited the car & continued taking pictures with my long lens.  After he finished his meal he flew off to watch for another red squirrel.  It was as if the hawk told me good bye from my aunt. hummerperfectcu6-16-09This little guy came to visit us the minute we put the hummingbird feeder out.  I think it is an Anna's.  She stayed on through the fall and all winter.  When it got cold, we'd have two feeders ready in case one froze up.  We'd run out grab the frozen one and put out the warm one up from the kitchen.  The minute we's turn our back to go in, she was there, sucking away.  We think her great-great-great-great grandchildren are still with us, although not as unafraid as she was, and they stay year around, just like her.
    • Becky
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      IMG_0909 - Copy I think this may be a Gray Jay seen while walking along the shore of Lake Ontario , near the Humber River close to Toronto, Ontario!
      • Aaron
        Participant
        Chirps: 16
        That is a northern mockingbird.
    • Becky
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      DSC00371 - Copy We saw this Magnificent Frigatebird swooping around our ferry coming from Bequia Island to St. Vincent in the Caribbean in Feb.2019 -it seemed to be following the Ferry and performing divebombs into the sea for fish! magnificent to watch!   IMG_3274 - Baltimore Oriole - Copy cropped I think this is a Baltimore Oriole that I saw last summer in my friend's garden by Lake Ontario. (Bowmanville).Ontario.
      • Lara
        Participant
        Chirps: 7
        What an amazing photo of that Frigatebird, Becky!
      • Sheilah
        Participant
        Chirps: 10
        Wonderful pic, Becky! I'd love to attract some orioles to our feeders! Guess I'll have to put out fruit.
      • Aaron
        Participant
        Chirps: 16
        That isn't a Magnificent Frigatebird, thetas a Brown Booby.
      • Margaret
        Participant
        Chirps: 13

        @Aaron I agree that looks more like a Brown Booby than a Frigate Bird. On a trip to the Galapagos, we saw lots of black frigate birds with those long mainly black wings. We saw beautiful blue-footed boobies mainly on land in mating season.

    • nina
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I mostly see and recognize the very common brown Towhees in my neighborhood, North Berkeley hills.  They are first to chirp in the early morning, 5:30-ish, and vocalize until mid-morning, then again at evening.  Juncos come to our feeder.  Scrub jays abound, also Stellar jays and now robins this season. Once in a while I see small yellow or russet finches flitting about.  Anna's hummingbird, too.  Rarely I hear a Great Horned Owl very early morning in the redwood trees.  We have the occasional red-tailed hawk with high whistle but rarely see them at this elevation, mostly up a bit higher in Tilden Park area. A rare Western bluebird sighting, but mostly higher up in open grasslands of Tilden. The Olive-sided flycatcher and also the black-headed Grosbeak are supposed to be flying through, according to local ornithologist.  I do hear many bird calls I do not recognize, would like to expand my repertoire of knowledge in this micro-region. thanks!
      • Katherine
        Participant
        Chirps: 1
        I live in Marin County and see many of the same birds as you do, of course. I live on the edge of Richardson's Bay so we see lots of herons and egrets, mallards, some shorebirds depending on the tides and the year. Every spring a mockingbird comes and sets up a big racket in the neighborhood, frantically making one call after another. This year it isn't quite so close to our house but it's nice to hear him.
      • Aaron
        Participant
        Chirps: 16
        Where do you live? @Nina
    • Becky
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      IMG_3274 - Baltimore Oriole - Copy cropped I think this is a Baltimore Oriole that I saw last summer in my friend's garden by Lake Ontario. (Bowmanville).Ontario.
    • James
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      A couple of weeks ago on a walk through Balboa Park (San Diego, CA) I came across this little guy. He was injured and let me pick him up. He stayed in my hand for the mile-long walk back home. I thought I may have to nurse him back to health, but the moment I tried to put him in a box, he perked right up and flew around our apartment! He allowed me to hold him again long enough to point him to the window, and away he flew! This is an orange-crowned warbler. IMG_5296
      • Lara
        Participant
        Chirps: 7
        Oh my gosh, that's cute!
      • Sheilah
        Participant
        Chirps: 10
        Wonderful story! So glad the little guy was ok!
    • Sheilah
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      Hi, A year ago we moved from a densely populated suburb to a semi-rural area in the mid-Atlantic states of the US. Since then, I've had a wonderful time watching birds at our numerous feeders. I'm completely new to birding. Some birds I've been able to identify include house finches, chipping sparrows, and goldfinches (songbirds), red-bellied woodpeckers, downey woodpeckers, and a pileated woodpecker (woodpeckers), wild turkeys, guinea fowl (maybe that's not fair, since they're domesticated and belong to our neighbors, but anyway, they're chicken-like birds), and today I identified a rose-breasted grosbeak (songbird? I'm not sure.) There are also Canada geese in a creek nearby.  I'm definitely enjoying this Bird Academy course.  The Merlin bird identification app is also very useful. It's hard to say which bird is my favorite, since they're all interesting. I think I'd say the pileated woodpecker, and the little sparrows, since they're so determined and adaptable!
    • Trevor
      Participant
      Chirps: 8
      Kestrel-4Starling (1 of 1)-3Wren (1 of 1)I have been learning on my own since about December 2018 when I purchased a dslr camera wanting to get into wildlife and landscape photography. I bought a larger telephoto lens to try to photograph the January 2019 super blood wolf moon and thought it would be good for wildlife because you can't always get close to wildlife for pictures.  I took that lens out to the spillway near me(the whole area is swampland) and my very first pictures were of an American Kestrel. Turns out Kestrels are camera shy. I took the best pictures I could then realized "woah, that bird that I thought  was just a pigeon or some other common drab bird is actually blue and orange and tiger striped and really cool looking!". From there, I began realizing just how diverse wildlife right here around me really is - birds and insects and plants and mammals and everything. The self paced discovery has been a huge motivation to keep exploring and learning. This course, thus far, has been a review of what I have learned of birds over the past year and a half roughly. I wish, however, that I had found it sooner as the content is rich, collected, and well explained tailored for someone who's just starting to delve into the mysteries of the world around us. Cornell lab's Merlin app is hugely useful for identifying birds as is Audubon's field guide app. eBird app is also useful and contributes to a research database though you should get a little experience with identifying birds before you start as identifications can be tricky (as I'm learning)  and incorrect identifications might skew the research data. For those interested in more than just birds, I highly recommend iNaturalist app and website. It is also contributing to a research database but only submits entries as research grade after someone else in the community identifies or agrees with your identification of the species you post about. It and it's community is exception at helping you discover the id of what you are looking at whether bird or bug or mammal or plant or tree or fungus or whatever and does so remarkably with photos from camera or phone alike often times getting you feedback with a day or two and occasionally within hours.
      • Sheilah
        Participant
        Chirps: 10
        lovely pics, Trevor! And useful info too.
    • Trevor
      Participant
      Chirps: 8
      Kestrel-4Starling (1 of 1)-3Wren (1 of 1)I have been learning on my own since about December 2018 when I purchased a dslr camera wanting to get into wildlife and landscape photography. I bought a larger telephoto lens to try to photograph the January 2019 super blood wolf moon and thought it would be good for wildlife because you can't always get close to wildlife for pictures.  I took that lens out to the spillway near me(the whole area is swampland) and my very first pictures were of an American Kestrel. Turns out Kestrels are camera shy. I took the best pictures I could then realized "woah, that bird that I thought  was just a pigeon or some other common drab bird is actually blue and orange and tiger striped and really cool looking!". From there, I began realizing just how diverse wildlife right here around me really is - birds and insects and plants and mammals and everything. The self paced discovery has been a huge motivation to keep exploring and learning. This course, thus far, has been a review of what I have learned of birds over the past year and a half roughly. I wish, however, that I had found it sooner as the content is rich, collected, and well explained tailored for someone who's just starting to delve into the mysteries of the world around us. Cornell lab's Merlin app is hugely useful for identifying birds as is Audubon's field guide app. eBird app is also useful and contributes to a research database though you should get a little experience with identifying birds before you start as identifications can be tricky (as I'm learning)  and incorrect identifications might skew the research data. For those interested in more than just birds, I highly recommend iNaturalist app and website. It is also contributing to a research database but only submits entries as research grade after someone else in the community identifies or agrees with your identification of the species you post about. It and it's community is exception at helping you discover the id of what you are looking at whether bird or bug or mammal or plant or tree or fungus or whatever and does so remarkably with photos from camera or phone alike often times getting you feedback with a day or two and occasionally within hours.
    • (Activity 3)  My favorite bird photo is of the Peregrine Falcon on the inside of the compound of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Peregrine FalconPeregrine Falcon 2
    • Since I live in the Bronx and have been in lockdown for 6 weeks due to the virus crisis, I do not get out to the parks where I can view wildlife. For now, I see mostly European Starlings, Rock Pigeons, and an occasional Robin and a lost seagull in the city neighborhood. While traveling a few months ago, I was able to take some photos of birds, such as the following wild turkeys, a Red-billed Gull, and a Greater Roadrunner. (Activity 2) TurkeysRing-billed GullGreater Roadrunner
    • Janet
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Every morning we sit at our large picture window facing the back yard here in Kent, WA. Anna's Hummingbird is a regular at the feeder with an occasional Rufus recently. A pileated woodpecker made an appearance a few days ago. There are always juncos and our birdhouse currently has chickadee tenants. We very much enjoy the regulars and delight in the once in a while visitors.
    • Jeff
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      IBaltimoreOriole5.5.20
    • Activity 3: With options these days limited to a backyard bird sit or a walk around the neighborhood, I have found I am seeing more species in then when I was hurrying through. Favorites are the California Towhees and the Black Phoebes. Watching behavior is fascinating.
    • Barbara
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      Activity 3 ~ My favorite neighborhood bird is the mourning dove. I love the cooing sound they make and they seem to come visit me, perching on my balcony, whenever I need some encouragement. They seem to make eye contact with me and don't mind being photographed!4.19.20.3023
      • Jeff
        Participant
        Chirps: 4
        I placed a fern one my deck three weeks ago. In Indianapolis the temperatures fluctuate a great deal this time of year. I started to take plants back inside, only to find a Mourning Dove had made her nest in the fern. It wasn't an impressive nest, but the parents more than make up for the lack of nest building skills with their parenting efforts. I 'assumed' it was the female on the nest, but learned through this class (and field guides), the male and female share incubation responsibilities. The Mourning Dove has become my favorite bird. I have been thoroughly amazed with the parents sharing this 'parenting' responsibilities. She sits on the nest during the day, and he takes the night 'duty'. We had a fairly significant storm shortly after the eggs were laid. He was on the nest, and I was concerned the fern might blown off of the hook supporting it. I watched, and he never left the nest with lightning, thunder, and 40 mph winds blowing the nest almost horizontally! I've never been a bird watcher, but this experience 'hooked me'. In trying to learn about this bird, I learned about the Cornell Ornithology Lab's course offering. I enrolled, and it's been a great decision. Since then, the fledglings have hatched, and the parents have continued their tremendous care, and support. However, as I read information from Cornell's Bird Academy on the Mourning Dove, the parents visit the nest less as the fledglings mature. I've found all the information they've supplied on this bird is correct. The parents are visiting the nest less, but still visit several times a day to feed the fledglings. I've seen both fledglings flap their wings, and lifted themselves off of the nest. From the information provided by the Cornell, I believe they will be flying soon, and learning to eat seed instead of the 'pigeon milk' provided by parents. Below is a picture of the mother bird with the her two fledglings. MourningDoveMom.Babies5.5.20
      • Barbara
        Participant
        Chirps: 3

        @Jeff Jeff, how exciting! I love the picture... What an amazing experience you've been having. Maybe I should try putting a fern on my balcony. I live on the Connecticut shoreline.

      • Jeff
        Participant
        Chirps: 4
        I placed a fern one my deck three weeks ago. In Indianapolis the temperatures fluctuate a great deal this time of year. I started to take plants back inside, only to find a Mourning Dove had made her nest in the fern. It wasn't an impressive nest, but the parents more than make up for the lack of nest building skills with their parenting efforts. I 'assumed' it was the female on the nest, but learned through this class (and field guides), the male and female share incubation responsibilities. The Mourning Dove has become my favorite bird. I have been thoroughly amazed with the parents sharing this 'parenting' responsibilities. She sits on the nest during the day, and he takes the night 'duty'. We had a fairly significant storm shortly after the eggs were laid. He was on the nest, and I was concerned the fern might blown off of the hook supporting it. I watched, and he never left the nest with lightning, thunder, and 40 mph winds blowing the nest almost horizontally! I've never been a bird watcher, but this experience 'hooked me'. In trying to learn about this bird, I learned about the Cornell Ornithology Lab's course offering. I enrolled, and it's been a great decision. Since then, the fledglings have hatched, and the parents have continued their tremendous care, and support. However, as I read information from Cornell's Bird Academy on the Mourning Dove, the parents visit the nest less as the fledglings mature. I've found all the information they've supplied on this bird is correct. The parents are visiting the nest less, but still visit several times a day to feed the fledglings. I've seen both fledglings flap their wings, and lifted themselves off of the nest. From the information provided by the Cornell, I believe they will be flying soon, and learning to eat seed instead of the 'pigeon milk' provided by parents. Below is a picture of the mother bird with the her two fledglings. MourningDoveMom.Babies5.5.20
      • Sheilah
        Participant
        Chirps: 10
        What a beautiful pic of a mourning dove! I love them too.
      • Barbara
        Participant
        Chirps: 3

        @Sheilah Thank you, Sheilah!

    • Lisa
      Participant
      Chirps: 13
      I watch birds A LOT but being told to by assignment makes it even better! Gives me a good excuse to sit and watch even more. When my husband says, "Are we having dinner?" I can answer, "Oh sorry. I have to sit here and watch birds for an hour or two for a very important assignment." How can he argue with that? I just got a new camera and I'm trying to learn to use it but it may take awhile. I hope to post better pictures soon.
    • Lisa
      Participant
      Chirps: 13
      Went on my favorite walk over the weekend, along the Ebey Slough in Marysville WA. I spotted two Canada Geese (swimming birds), a Marsh Wren (songbird), and Great Blue Heron (wading bird). Couldn’t get great pics but I got a couple I’ll attach. My favorite backyard bird is Red Breasted Nuthatch. I have never been able to snap a pic as they are pretty “grab and go” type songbirds. I LOVE the call they make. Timeless as it is...the horn-like quality makes me laugh. 3363701F-3A33-43C2-9371-CFA7E995BFBCD0E2608D-33F9-4B45-BBB3-25DE44E9A2E41008B0BE-43D2-4A45-BAA4-0E28D5B2D88D
      • Trevor
        Participant
        Chirps: 8
        Lisa, A thought for your nuthatches, if you're using a camera that allows you to switch to manual mode, you might try setting it to manual focus and either full manual exposure or aperature and shutter priority. With manual focus, point camera somewhere where you know they will go to, at a particular spot near a feeder for example, and focus the camera on that spot. With the camera in aperature and shutter priority mode, set shutter to something fast like 1/2000 sec and aperature to 5.6 or 6.3 maybe. You can let the camera decide what ISO to use though if you normally run your pictures through a post processing software then you could easily get away with setting the camera to underexpose by -0.3 possibly as far as -1 so that it'll select a lower ISO. That'll result in a darker picture with less noise that you can brighten up in Lightroom or whatever software you use. Or, set camera to full manual mode with the same shutter and aperature as above but select the ISO yourself. Being unsure of what kind of camera you're using, I think you may be able to accomplish this on any dslr, slr, or film camera. Phone camera apps now nowadays have an option to switch to a manual or pro mode that gives you many of these controls too. Hope this helps! I don't know that this is the best way to get you good pictures as I'm still learning a I go but this is currently how I approach getting pictures of elusive animals - set shutter, set aperature, adjust ISO for correct(or better) exposure, then maybe tweak shutter again.
    • Katie
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      C54F9A8E-143E-4C93-824B-E8C8E3FDA757 Activity 3 - Saw a juvenile bald eagle in my neighborhood this weekend.  It’s amazing to watch them change and mature.
      • Trevor
        Participant
        Chirps: 8
        I can relate! Last year I was given the opportunity to follow a pair of Cardinals as they raised their two young and this year I had a parent Carolina wren with (her?) 3 fledglings following her around begging for food. I also found a Brown Thrasher nest in my Azalea hedge that had 3 eggs in it, 2 of which hatched. I saw the baby birds only a couple of times while they were in the nest but never once they left. I see brown thrashers more often now though! Lol It's fun to watch mama bird fly all over the yard getting food with 3 young right behind her or, watching a nest, the little heads pop up at any sound thinking it's a parent bringing food. FOOD, FOOD, GIMMEE FOOD, IT'S BEEN TWO MINUTES AND I'M STARVING!
    • Cathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 45
      100_0593
      • Cathy
        Participant
        Chirps: 45
        Although not in my backyard, I do sometimes see herons in nearby rivers and natural areas in Maryland.  It's always a treat to see them, and they fly so majestically.
    • Cathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 45
      Activity 1.  I really enjoyed the wall of birds, and especially enjoyed the video which showed how the artist developed the mural.    The last few years, in my down time, I occasionally color birds in an adult coloring book that I have.  But I do not have the talent of drawing them as this artist does.  It was inspiring.  I like all types of birds; none so far rise to favorite.  But it was interesting to read about the big, flightless birds, pelicans and toucans.  And the birds of paradise are amazing.  I found the map very interesting and hope to go back to it. Activity 2.  I was surprised to learn that there is a category of bird called buntings, and that a cardinal is a member of that group.  Cardinals are quite common in my area.   We also have a large number of blue jays which like the tree outside my apartment.  It seems that many hatched not too long ago.  I'm not sure which category these fall in to, as my book classifies them in the jay, magpie and crows.  (Are they considered songbirds?)    As I completed the lessons I also started a life long bird list, and was surprised but happy to receive what seems to be validation of a painted bunting sighting last year.  I live about a state North than it's normal range, (in Maryland) but I do believe that I saw 3 of them hanging out under an awning during the bird count in 2017.  Unfortunately I could not get a good picture at the time. Activity 3.  I was thrilled to see a pileated woodpecker in the tree out my window a few days ago.  This large woodpecker with a crested, pointed red head stayed a very short while, but it made my day.  The birds outside my apartment do not tend to stay in place long.
    • Gwen F.
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      These two Cooper's Hawks have been hanging out by our house (San Diego, CA) for the last month. They've been fun to watch on our daily walks! 20200427_185343
    • Jacinthe
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      This is one of 3 loons that hangs out in the bay of our house. I spy on them every day with binoculars and i love when they dive and disappear for a minute and reappear closer to me. I’ve never see them arrive or leave the lake, they seem to always be there 8A0F635B-3E92-463C-8756-1F7CDD28AB4E
    • Bioscape Farm
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      IMG_1983 Our bird feeder has been very active this spring. We live in northern BC, Canada, so our spring is just arriving now. Purple finches (pictured here), white-crowned sparrows, and yellow-rumped warblers have been moving through our yard.
      • Terry
        Participant
        Chirps: 8
        ❤️
    • Emil
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      A Sandhill crane couple seems to like the pond behind our house in Florida. This spring they hatched two little ones and have been busy digging up the yard for grubs to feed them. Dad is also trying to teach them the fundamentals of flight. F432DD21-0B91-4E88-86A8-FD658E71FF8DEvery so often he runs ahead flapping his wings and the little ones run behind trying to flap but their wings are still too small. They grow fast though. Last year’s hatchling was fully grown at twelve months and sported the distinctive red cap.
      • Cathy
        Participant
        Chirps: 45
        What a nice scene.  It's always fun to watch hatchlings and these seem special indeed.  Thank you for the description of the Dad teaching the young ones to fly.  That was really enjoyable and interesting to hear about.