Emily
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Hey, Donna! I live in the Pacific Northwest, and our Steller's Jays do this, too.
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Activity 1: I watched the Red-Tailed Hawk cam for a little while, and got to see a hawk preening its feathers while sitting on some eggs! What a special view. The hawk used its beak to clean feathers on its belly and sides. We got a nice zoomed in view of two or three eggs in the nest. This hawk is not just preening, but incubating as well! After a while, the hawk stopped preening and went back to sitting still and looking around. Activity 2: I watched the Cornell Feeder Cam for a bit, and noticed a few different feeding behaviors. A European Starling picks up seeds and cracks them in its beak, eating the insides. A Mourning Dove picks up seeds it can easily eat, and does not break them. Unlike what I read in the lesson, the Blue Jay I saw eating at this feeder selected seeds it could quickly swallow whole. A strange, fluffy bird with four legs and a big tail arrived to eat a snack. It scared all the other birds away. I could not identify this bird in the Merlin app, leading me to think it was a VERY rare sighting! ;) Activity 3: I listened to birds on the feeder cam. I recognized a blackbird, a chickadee, and a goose. Because this is an east coast camera, there were many other sounds I did not recognize.
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I spent some time in my yard. I observed a Black-Capped Chickadee, a Spotted Towhee, what I think is a Song Sparrow, and some kind of Hummingbird. I heard a Chickadee call. I wrote down notes to take back to my computer for identification, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of identifying a few of my local birds. It's lovely to spend even a little bit of time outdoors right now.
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1: I saw a junco and a robin. The robin had a much rounder shape to it than the junco. It also appeared to have a smaller head than the junco, but that may be because of the junco's black hood. 2: I saw three birds with red on different parts of their bodies. The robin has a red belly, while the Purple Finch is red all over! The Towhee had a little bit of red on its sides. I got to use the Merlin app to identify the Purple Finch and the Towhee, which I originally thought was a junco. 3. I saw my robin foraging on the ground, using its beak. The Purple Finch was at a feeder. I saw a hummingbird (not sure what kind) flitting around near a pine tree.
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1. I played around with the Wall of Birds interactive for some time. I loved getting to see the long "eyebrows" on the King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise (I also enjoy its long name!). The Bird-of-Paradise family is one I hope to learn more about. Seeing proto-birds and closest-living-relatives was helpful in visualizing the place of birds in the global "family" (used colloquially) of species. I especially enjoy the depictions of what I would describe as dinosaurs. 2. After reviewing the lesson, I took my newly-acquired Sibley bird guide and stood in the yard for a bit. I saw a Steller's Jay, with its bright blue body and black hood, in a tree near our bird feeder. On the ground, I noticed a Junco and two Robins. We often have downy, hairy, and White-Headed (!!) Woodpeckers in our yard, too. I'm lucky to live in Eastern Washington, with such a diverse offering of birds. 3. My favorite neighborhood bird is either the Junco or the White-Headed Woodpecker. I think Juncos are adorable, with their little black heads and brown bodies. They're small and round, and look like they could just fit right in your hand! How darling! The White-Headed Woodpecker is (somewhat) common here in eastern Washington, but exceedingly rare in other parts of the country and the world. I always stop and stare in awe, grateful for my opportunity to so easily witness this creature.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)