Joy of Birdwatching

Activity #2: I live in Bogotá, Colombia and the most likely birds are: 1. Great Thrush 2. Rufous-Collared Sparrow 3. Eared Dove 4. Sparkling Violetear 5. Brown-Bellied Swallow

Activity #2: I live in Chicago and I was surprised to learn from Merlin, how many different bird species are likely to be around me right now! The top six are: 1) American Robin, 2) House Sparrow, 3) Northern Cardinal, 4) Chimney Swift (just arrived in April and will be here until November), 5) European Starling, and of course 6) the Rock Pigeon. With the exception of the Chimney Swift, I see the other five in my backyard or in my front trees and shrubs on a daily basis. The Mourning Dove is further down on the list but I frequently wake up to their beautiful cooing songs. I wish they weren't so nervous around me!

I’ve been amazed at the variety of birds that live in the city! Just walking around my apartment the other day my kiddos and I saw: American Robins, Cardinals, Killdeer, Crows, Rock Pigeons, Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, Grackles, Mallards and even a lone Blue Jay!

ACTIVITY 1:  I was on a bike ride and saw 8 white doves fly out of a field.  They were accompanied by 2 gray doves with white speckles and white bellies.  Even with using all of the apps and sites this was kind of difficult because it turns out they are just Rock Doves or some sort of racing or homing doves.  Some of them did have blue rings on their legs.  I couldn't get close enough to read them.  I also saw two double crested cormorants fly over, a hawk I could not identify, one red winged black bird, two turkey vultures and four American crows. ACTIVITY 2:  A few weeks ago I used Merlin's Most Likely and listened to calls to get my first confirmed sighting of a Fish Crow.  The call was the only way I was able to identify it.  It matched the first recording on Merlin exactly. ACTIVITY 3:  Until recently I had never heard of the Sandhill Crane.  I didn't know it came to my area (Missouri).  I used the bar chart to see that I better get going if I want to see one because my odds are about to shrink for a few months.

Activity 1: Cardinal Blue jay Mockingbird Blue heron Barred owl Mallard Canada geese Merganser American Gold finch Crow American Robin Eastern Blue bird Mountain blue bird Mourning dove Sparrows- Chipping, field, song Black-capped chickadee Eastern phoebe woodpeckers- pileated, hairy, downy, red-bellied tufted titmouse red-wing blackbird tree swallow European starling Brown thrasher   Activity 2: bird walk local field trip with Master Naturalists Activity 3: five birds that pass through your area that you didn’t know about. Cormorant, great egret, bald eagle

Activity 1: At our cabin Monday I saw Downy woodpeckers, Blue Jay's, Crows and Ravens, Canada Geese, Evening Grosbeaks, Black-eyed Juncos, Chickadees, Common Redpolls, Black-billed Magpies, White-breasted Nuthatch and Pine Grosbeaks. Activity 2: I quite like this App. The most likely option helps with my confidence in IDing the birds I see. Activity 3: I am quite familiar with the Merlin App, but the ebird and all about birds is new to me. Definitely interested in learning more about them.

Activity 1: Watched birds in Piedmont area of NC - April 15th - saw; Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmouse, American Robins, Carolina Chickadees, Brown Thrashers, Gray Catbird, Eastern Bluebird, Red Bellied Woodpecker, American goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, House sparrow, Mourning doves, Common Grackle, Blue Jay, Ruby throated Hummingbird and Yellow rumped warbler Activity 2: Merlin confirmed several sightings listed above with identifying calls. It also "heard" Carolina wrens(which I see all the time just not in this sitting); I like using the app to help me sight birds that may be hidden in trees or brush by identifying their call then searching the area it came from. Very useful Activity 3: Rosebreasted Grosbeak, Purple Martin, yellow billed cuckoo & Indigo bunting - would be thrilled to sight any of these.

Activity 1:  The birds in our area (CO mountains) are finally starting to be active!  I saw a hairy woodpecker, black billed magpies, American crows, black capped chickadees, mountain chickadees, and a Steller's jay in our neighborhood today. Activity 2:  I'm just getting familiar with the Merlin app, but I'm hoping to use it to help me learn to differentiate crows v. ravens by more than their tail shape in flight. Activity 3:  I was surprised by the variety of waterfowl at our local reservoir.  We apparently have gadwalls, green winged teals, common mergansers, Barrow's goldeneyes, and American wigeons.  Time to make a local trip once the weather gets a little nicer!

Activity 3: Find five birds that pass through your area that you didn’t know about. I live in Toronto, Ontario, less than a kilometre from the lake. I used "Merlin" to find birds in my area then used "All About Birds" to get more details. Golden-crowed Kinglet - they live here year round and I've never seen one. Common Redpoll - they winter here. Brown Creeper - year round. Common Goldeneye - winter here. White-winged Scoter - breed here.

Activity 2: I've used Merlin photo id before, but never tried "most likely".  Very helpful! Great to have in list form with photos, bar charts and sounds!

Activity 1: I live in suburban Chicago.  Looking out my window at my feeder I have seen dark eyed juncos, a pair of cardinals, downey woodpeckers, black capped chickadees, starlings, sparrows, and blackbirds.  I don’t stand and watch for long periods of time, but looked several times during the day.  The starlings and blackbirds seemed to gang-up on the others, chasing them out of the feeder.  The juncos, cardinals, sparrows and some blackbirds would then feed on the ground for the seed that had fallen there.  They are especially easy to see because of the snow.  Chickadees and woodpeckers would frequently hang upside-down to feed from the bottom of the cylinder feeder.  I’m looking forward to spring when the hummingbirds return.  There is at least 1 pair that nest in the trees at the back of my yard.

I am new to birding other than watching those at the feeders I have at my home. I live on Cape Cod where there are a good number of nature preserves so this past weekend I spent time walking one to try out some new binoculars. The one I chose is a holly preserve with literally thousands of holly bushes and trees most of which were covered in their red berries.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but quickly realized the place was fully of American Robins. Although a very common bird for this area, I was actually pleased to see them since they are good-sized birds making it easy for me to practice zooming in with the binoculars. Upon leaving the preserve I went to a nearby pond where on a recent walk I’d spotted a flock of Cedar Waxwings in the bushes near the water. Gorgeous birds.  On this day with the new binoculars in hand I was delighted to see a number of water fowl on the part of the pond that was not frozen.  I could see there were a number of mallards but then realized there were also quite a few Hooded Mergansers, a beautiful bird I would have completely missed had it not been for the binoculars. A pair of Mute Swans added to the scene, putting on quite a display with their wings outspread.  So, a wonderful first outing as I begin birding beyond my feeders.

I've seen a lot of birds on my neighborhood walk lately, many id'd with the help of the audio tool on the Merlin app. That tool is amazing! Birds I've seen or heard include: White and gold crowned sparrows, robins, crows, european starlings, titmouse, and bushtits.

I'm going to do this piece piece, since it's dark out right now and I can't actively bird (except for owls!) I've been exploring common birds in my area. Here are a few I wasn't familiar with: Say's Phoebe (pretty and distinctive call I'll listen for next time I'm at the marsh), hermit thrush - I know this bird, but not sure if I've identified it locally, and the ruby-crowned kinglet - I'd like to identify this bird locally. I think I may have confused it for a Hutton's Vireo in the past.

Activity 3: There are soooo many birds that frequent Los Angeles County that I have yet to see or add to a checklist! Here are some I'm going to be looking out for: Cinnamon Teal Western Grebe Downey Woodpecker Several swallow species - this will be a challenge to learn to identify individual species! California Gnatcatcher (such cute little black hoods! I'm familiar with the blue-gray gnatcatcher but not this one) Western Meadowlark (songs and calls are beautiful and unique - should be helpful)

Activity 1: Today I spent about half an hour birding in a local park in Pasadena, Calif - Hugo Reid Park. I was curious to return here because last month when I first visited this park, I only saw a few birds. Yet I was certain that the time of day wasn't ideal and that there were likely to be many more birds in the area.  I was rewarded with 14 species this morning. Most exciting was a Merlin! It was perched high in a tree across the street. I watched it for a few minutes, trying to discern if it was a Merlin or perhaps a sharp-shinned hawk or something else. I quickly looked it up in the Merlin app and could see that this bird shared many of the characteristics described - dark head, lighter streaked breast/front. When it took off I noticed the rapid wing beat pattern and that clinched it - it WAS a Merlin! Here's a link to my complete checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S99577304

Activity 1: Outside

• Blue Jay
• Pine Warbler
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Tufted Titmouse
• American Cardinal
• Red-wing Blackbird (female)
• Mourning Doves
• Summer Tanager

 

I visited the Armand bayou nature center today and was fortunate to observe and photograph a black and white warbler. This was a new species for my life list. I used Merlin sound id because the birds were not visible at first and Merlin reported a brown creeper(infrequent for this region) and then I noticed the bird creeping along the trunk of the tree. I initially assumed this was the brown creeper. Later, Merlin Photo Id suggested black and white warbler. The species notes say "creeps along tree trunks and branches like a nimble nuthatch, probing the bark for insects.". Images attached.

I used eBird to see which birds had been seen at a pond in the area. I walked around the pond and saw cackling geese, wood ducks, mallards and pied-billed grebes. The highlight of the walk was using Merlin to identify ring-tailed ducks which I was able to add to my life list.

Activity 1: I spent 50 minutes in Long Branch Nature Park; I was able to see a Red-bellied Woodpecker, I heard several others that I was not able to see, but thanks to the Merlin Bird ID app with its Sound ID feature I have been able to learn to identify some of the calls of local birds- I heard some American Crows, Fish Crows, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, a Tufted Titmouse, a Hairy Woodpecker, and a Barrel Owl. Activity 2: From my balcony I have been able to see many Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals (they are usually in pairs, if I see a male I look for the female which is usually around in the same tree), and House Sparrows. Activity 3: Next time I go birding I will look for a Northern Flicker which is a very pretty bird and appear in charts as present in this area the whole year. I have heard its calls many times but I haven't been able to see it.

Melbourne Australia:  I spent about 45 minutes in a small local  park with a Field Guide to Birds.   Little Wattle Birds  Anthochaera chrysoptera  were in abundance with their distinctive call and acrobatics amongst the trees; the Noisy Miner Manorina melancophala  was certainly living up to its name and spent quite a bit of time chasing off other birds, which is typical of this bird during breeding season;  the Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus which one could hear before you could spot it - very distinctive constant screeching and chattering ; a pair of Little Ravens Corvus mellori; and Magpie Larks Grallina cyanoleuca which were also quite aggressive toward other birds as I read they also can be during breeding season. Wonderful to be able to identify and appreciate the bird life...next time I'll take my camera :-)

Lunch time is not the best birding time in my yard, but it’s a time when I’m free. I went out today and saw only three species—a Carolina Wren, a yellow-rumored warbler, and two Blue Jays.  It’s a beautiful day but not very birdy. I haven’t seen yellow-rumored warblers here since last winter; it’s nice to see them again. One chirping critter turned out to be a chipmunk.

Activity 1: I spent about 25 minutes watching the Cornell feeders cam on Oct. 16th, and saw a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds (it was raining). No other birds came, but I could there were others calling. Maybe there were some little birds on the ground under the feeders - it would be great if the feeder cam could also give us a view of the ground feeders (and the chipmunks...). Activity 3: From eBird I saw there are some interesting birds around Brussels I haven't seen much locally or never at all - the Graylag Goose, Wigeon, Eared Grebe, Common Gull and Rook.

I tried the Merlin app most likely feature for Butler County Ohio.  It was interesting to see the lineup because many come to our backyard feeders and trees.  Now I know what to be on the lookout for.   I also liked checking the eBird website for our state and county to see which birds are here in October.  Looking at the photos and calls  of ducks seen here will be helpful for identification when I am walking by marshes, ponds, etc. These are handy, informative tools to have at the ready as a new birder.

Brooklyn, NY on 9.28.2021 reports Monk Parakeet as a likely bird sighting. I always thought parakeets were domesticated birds; I could never imagine seeing them in the wild in NYC. Their calls were more screechy than I would have imagined when I listened on the Merlin app.