Marcy
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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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Activity 1-I have used the Merlin App to identify many birds near my home. One bird I identified just by its shape was the Wood Duck. I knew it was a duck, but its crown had such a distinctive shape that as soon as I saw it on Merlin I knew that was my bird! Activity 2-3 birds with similar colors that I have identified using Merlin and my field guide are the black, grey and white 1) black Phoebe, 2) Black-throated Sparrow and 3) Dark-eyed Junco. They are all similar in color and I had to really watch and observe and research a little to find which bird I was looking at. I have to say how surprised I am at the variety of bird I have found right in my own yard! Activity 4-How could I pick just one favorite?! One I have really enjoyed in this new birding journey is the White Crowned Sparrow because it was one of the first small birds I became confident identifying regularly on my own and because I enjoyed watching them at my yard feeder every evening this Spring. It is small, sparrow-sized. It is mostly brown with small white and darker brown spots on its wings. On its crown are distinctive black and white stripes. It has a yellow beak.
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My kids and I have been having fun learning about the different sounds too. I have a hard time hearing the difference between sounds, but one of my daughters has a talent for it (she is 11!). I am getting better with practice. I've downloaded an app called "SongSleuth" to help us ID bird sounds. I'm still learning how to use the app, but I think it will come in handy (I have a friend who has had a lot of success with it).
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Activity 3- Yesterday I watched a flock of Cedar Waxwing birds eating Mulberries from my tree. They would fly in rather quickly and spend a few minutes foraging the berries. I was surprised to see them swallow the whole berry straight down! After a few minutes, they would fly off. I would wait for a bit and then they would come back and forage again. I also watched a Scrub Jay eat the berries. He hopped along the fence and then would hop to the tree and eat. Sometimes he even ate the berries off the ground. Today I saw a female Nuttall's Woodpecker hang upside down to get to one of the berries!
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Great job, Henry!
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I forgot to include my favorite! It is so hard to choose just one! I will tell you an experience I had with a new one I enjoyed: I got a field guide for Christmas and was having fun looking through it. I came across this cute little guy, a black-necked stilt. I thought to myself-I'll never see him. I've never seen anything like that around here. Too bad, he's so cute. A few months later I went to a Nature Preserve near me to take a walk and look at birds. Guess what I saw right there wading in the water? Black-necked Stilts! And more than one! I was SO excited to see them! *sorry my camera didn't capture them very well
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Great picture, Nori! I love the American White Pelican too! I recently saw a few of them on a little lake I ride my bike near. They are so pretty!
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Me too! Wouldn't that be fun!
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I have found birds mostly in my yard. The first is a songbird. I have a LOT of sparrows in my yard that I have come to learn are white-crowned sparrows. Another bird I saw while on a bike ride was a wild turkey-from the chicken-like group. There was even a big Tom Turkey showing off his feathers. My favorite part was his blue head. Another bird I saw in my yard was from the Hummingbird group. It was an Anna's Hummingbird. I was surprised to see it here in the late winter, but learned they hang around my area year-round.
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)