Last Thursday, registration opened for the Biggest Week in American Birding. Hundreds of birders have already signed up to enjoy a 10-day week of some of the best Warbler birding in the country! It’s not just about the Warblers though…
What can you expect from going to the Biggest Week?
I took off from work today to go birding locally. The original plans were to go up to Cayuga lake, mostly to see Short-eared Owls in the area in the evening, but the weather made us stay local. We decided that, even with not-so-cooperative weather, we were going to try to get 50 species of birds in Broome County, New York. This is tough to do in here in the winter, however, managed to get 55 species! This is only two less than the number of species that I have seen in my county for the entire year! It brings my grand total to 70. Not bad for someone who does not get to get out much and pretty good for my area.
The biggest highlight was our very first bird. We heard that Red Crossbills were showing up at a feeder so that was our first stop. When we got there, we saw tons of Redpolls and I eventually spotted the Crossbills in a tree. Life Bird!!!
The feeders were close to the house and the owners were nice enough to allow us to park in their driveway when they left. This allowed us to get closer to the feeders.
Red Crossbills at a feeder
Red Crossbill at a feeder
Some of the Crossbills would also forage on the ground, along with the Redpolls.
Red Crossbill foraging on the ground
I did not get the photo of a male that I would have liked, but this female was cooperative!
Female Red Crossbill
Other great birds included a migrating Golden Eagle, multiple Bald Eagles, a Northern Shrike, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, our first returned Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles along with numerous waterfowl such as Northern Pintails, Ring-necked Ducks, Great and Lesser Scaup, American Wigeons, a Coot, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Pied Billed and Horned Grebes and Bufflehead.
One of the things that I instantly fell in love with when I saw my neighborhood for the first time was the creek that runs along the road. It was in the summer, so the water flowed very peacefully. Little did I know that I would eventually become a birder and the creek would become my favorite birding patch.
Some of the regular visitors to the creek are very chatty Kingfishers.
Belted Kingfisher
And Green Herons, who I typically see flying away before I even spot them. Sometimes, they stay put.
Green Heron in breeding plumage
Green Heron, digiscoped with my Nikon EDG and Canon 7D
Great Blue Herons have been spotted a few times, even though the fish are pretty small.
Great Blue Heron
I often get waterfowl, mainly Canada Geese, Mallards and Common Mergansers.
Male and Female Common Mergansers
Two female Common Mergansers
… who also brought their families along.
Common Merganser Family
Canada Goose Family
I have some one-time visitors that are worth mentioning such as Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers.
Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers
As well as one lone Double-crested Cormorant.
Double-crested Cormorant
Some other nice surprises included a Veery, a very vocal Towhee and Great Crested Flycatchers.
Great Crested Flycatcher
I also often get Warblers, mostly during migration. However, the Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats sing throughout the summer.
The best life bird I had at the creek was such a huge surprise. Before I was a birder, I adored the beauty of Cedar Waxwings. You can imagine how excited I was when I found them hawking insects at my creek. Now I get to see them all the time!
Cedar Waxwing
They would perch on the rocks and on the fallen branches that were scattered throughout. They always seemed to return to the same perches making photos pretty easy.
Cedar Waxwings
At one point, a bit of flooding washed away the branches, so I replaced one in their favorite spot. Not a minute later, I had a taker.
Cedar Waxwing
This past summer I found a Louisiana Waterthrush fledgling.
Louisiana Waterthrush Fledgling
And then Mom showed up, gathering some grub. These birds were very reliable for about two weeks and very easy to spot as they pumped their butts up and down while foraging for food.
Louisiana Waterthrush
The creek gave me my first close up with Turkey Vultures, a bird who is normally seen soaring the skies. They didn’t mind my presence as long as they had their food. They were munching on the bones of a raccoon that is hidden behind a rock. The smell was awful, but the photos were well worth it!
Turkey Vultures
And of course, it is a creek, so birds will find shallow places to bathe…
Bathing Grackles
Bathing Robin and Catbird
… and sun bathe!
Sun Bathing Kingfisher and Catbird
It’s not just the birds that I enjoy here – there are also mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects!
This summer, a pair of Beavers were spotted, but did not stick around. They had many small trees that they chomped down, but perhaps the creek was too much for them to dam up.
Beavers Pair
I often see deer crossing the water.
White-tailed Deer
Deer Couple
Along with many frogs and snakes that I find if I look close enough in the water.
Snake in the Creek
Frogs in the water
The frogs also find their way on the rocks by the dozen. I have to really watch my step sometimes because they are everywhere.
And, of course, the outdoor and feral cats that rule the neighborhood have to cross over at some point.
Domestic Cat
All of this is seen within a quarter mile walk along (and through) the water. I really love this creek. Even on days that there are no birds or other animals, there is always something to enjoy.
In early December, I went on a field trip around Cayuga Lake with my local birding club. The one thing that I really wanted to see were snow geese in high numbers. I’ve never witnessed the so called “Snow Goose spectacle” before
While looking at various duck species at North Mill Pond, we started to hear geese flying over head. Thousands of them started to fly west over us toward the lake. We headed further up and saw even more Snow Geese over the lake.
Snow Goose Spectacle
Then we hit the jackpot.
Snow Goose Spectacle
And they kept growing.
Snow Goose Spectacle
And more and more geese were constantly coming in.
We conservatively estimated twenty thousand geese total.
Snow Goose Spectacle
Within this group were many beautiful Blue Morphs.
Blue Morph Snow Geese
And then a boat disturbed them and they took off.
I had to stop the video short because I’ve always wanted a photo where the entire frame was full of flying geese! A true Snow Goose blizzard at last!!
Snow Goose Spectacle
Next time, I will bring two cameras – one for photos and the other for video!!
On Saturday, I counted birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count in my yard and surrounding areas. The Common Redpoll really took over the spotlight for me. I had a large flock of very cooperative birds. In my past experience these birds would fly away at the slightest noise, so I had a hard time shooting them without a window in between my lens and the bird. On Saturday, however, I was able to go out on my deck and shoot them from about ten feet away from the tree. They didn’t mind my presence and did not flinch when I would move my camera around. It was a bright overcast day, so lighting was pretty good.
Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll
I finally have some “split” photos that came out clear too. It seems as though all previous attempts would come out just out of focus!
Common Redpoll
I even managed to get some photos that were good enough to crop for close-ups. While this will never make print, it works pretty well for the web.
Common Redpoll cropped
I also had some Pine Siskins mixed in with the Redpolls. It seems like their numbers are getting higher again. It would be nice for them to pass by in the same numbers as they did in the fall.
Pine Siskin
Some of the more common birds that I always try to get photos of are two of my favorites – the Nuthatches. I have a Northeastern Nuthatch sweep pretty much every day, but I never get tired of them!
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
My best non-photographic highlight were all of the Woodpeckers! I stood in the woods on the border of my yard just watching and listening to the Woodpeckers for about twenty minutes. I had drumming from three different sized birds – Pileated, Red-bellied and Downy – all at the same time. I even spotted a female Red-bellied Woodpecker – perhaps a companion to the male that I see everyday?
If you pay attention to birds, chances are you’ve seen a Hawk get attacked by birds that are much smaller than itself – typically Blackbirds, Grackles, Crows and Jays. Chickadees even work up the courage to crowd around Owls! This behavior is called mobbing. It occurs when species of birds band together to attack a larger bird, usually in an attempt to protect their nest or territory.
I always know when a Hawk is around my neighborhood – the local Crows are almost always pairing up and chasing it away. My view is typically of either birds hidden in a tree or high-tailing it out of the area. Early last summer, however, I had a front row seat of blackbirds mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk at Cornell’s Sapsucker Woods. This resulted in some pretty good photos of the action!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Common Grackle
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
I even caught one where the Blackbird has his feet and beak on the Hawk!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
While this perch was great for me and my photos, it was not the best choice for the Hawk who kept losing balance.
Red-tailed Hawk loosing balance
Though, even on a more stable perch, he had to dodge the incoming mob.
Red-tailed Hawk dodging incoming birds
This group included Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Crows and even Squirrels. If you look closesly at the photo below, the Squirrel is below her nest!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Crow and Squirrel
The Hawk eventually broke away with a crowd of over twenty birds following it.
This was not the only time I witnessed such behavior up close – the next victims were even larger than the Red-tail! Bald Eagles were nesting on a platform out in the open on the north end of Cayuga Lake in New York. I went up to go visit them just as the young Eagles fledged. In fact, according to regulars who were there, I witnessed one of the Eagle’s first flights! The local blackbirds did not make it easy for the fledged Eagles to practice. As soon as they would take flight, the smaller birds would come in.
Young Bald Eagle being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
This was the first time I witnessed smaller birds riding on the backs of larger birds! It was a great treat! With some luck, I captured two different angles of this behavior.
Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back
Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back
These little birds are very fearless. I sometimes even see just one bird mobbing a Hawk all alone. Anything to protect their territory!
I’m going to start a series on my blog for Backyard Birds with a journal full of related birds who are regular visitors or have shown up in my yard. My official yard list is 85 species – this includes 72 species who actually landed in my yard (feeders, trees, grass) with the rest seen flying over and a few who I’ve only heard from my yard. I’ll start with Woodpeckers and allies in the Picidae family.
For the longest time, I only had two regular species, the Downy and Hairy Woodpecker. I can get a few pairs at a time on a good day!
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
These two often lead to identification problems since they basically look the same to the untrained eye, and have subtle size differences. They visit so often that I was actually able to get some photos of them in the same frame for better comparison.
A comparison of a Hairy and Downy Woodpecker
I’ve had Red-bellied Woodpeckers show up from time-to-time, but not enough to call them regulars until this past fall. Though, something weird happened – for a couple of weeks, I only had a female visiting.
Red-bellied Woodpecker female
Then suddenly a male showed up and the female disappeared. I have not seen her since, but I do see him pretty much every day now. The change happened in a couple of days, so it was not molting changes! I wonder what happened?
Red-bellied Woodpecker male
I also had Northern Flickers show up around my yard – in the trees or on the ground looking for ants, but I never had one on my feeders. And I am still waiting to get a great shot of them!
Northern Flicker
Also, during migration, I tend to get Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers passing by. They tend to stick around the trees that border the woods, so I lack a good backyard photo. I guess the trees around my yard are not sappy enough for them, even though it seems to pour out of a few in the fall.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
And last, but far from being least, is the most desired Woodpecker in my area. I often hear Pileated Woodpeckers and see them in my woods. And then one day I caught this male on my feeders! Even though I see them all the time, this was a one-time occurrence. Though, I do not leave suet in that same cage feeder anymore (I now have all suet hanging near my deck, out of the sun)
This Pileated Woodpecker found my feeder!
I have yet to have a Red-headed Woodpecker visit and have only seen them twice – once was in my county! They are a bit rare for my area, but I am hoping for my yard to attract one some day soon!
In the summer, I am graced with the young ones from my Downy and Hairy couples – and hopefully this summer my Red-bellied will find a mate and also bring his young. They tend to feed right under my deck – in the safety of cover. It is quite a treat to see!
Hairy Woodpecker with fledglings at a feeder under my deck
Hairy Woodpecker feeding fledgling on my deck
The Woodpeckers share such tender moments with their young, by they can be pretty feisty to both each other….
Downy Woodpeckers dual on a branch at my feeders
And to other larger birds…
Hairy Woodpecker trying to fight off a Blue Jay.
Hairy Woodpecker trying to fight off a Starling.
All-in-all, I really enjoy my Woodpecker visitors and I hope you did too!
It all started with a photo of a Resplendent Quetzal from Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide. I just happened to be looking through the book while we were talking about a winter vacation and came across a beautiful photo of the Quetzal. I told my husband that I wanted to see that bird and eventually started looking through the different tours we could do in Costa Rica – a country that we’ve been planning on visiting even before I started birding. We specifically booked part of our trip in San Gerardo de Dota – my travel agent said that this was the place to see the Quetzal. We left for our four-part tour shortly after Christmas.
The first part of our trip was in the Osa Peninsula. I will eventually write up a separate blog about this amazing location – but I will skip it for now since there are not Quetzals in that area. The first spot that we could potentially see a Quetzal was in Monteverde Cloud forest. The tour leader took us to a spot where the bird often fed on the wild avocados, but it was fairly early in the season for them. After only a few minutes of waiting, I spotted a trogon-like bird that flew above us and into the trees. It was not difficult to relocate the bright green bird where he landed.
Male Resplendent Quetzal in Monteverde Cloud Forest.
It was not the view that I was hoping for and it was tough to get a photo because the wind blew branches all around him, but I was super excited! The bird that started this entire trip was in my sights!
The next part of our trip was also out of range of the Quetzal near Arenal Volcano. Again, I will write about that trip, and more on Monteverde where I saw another key bird, at another time.
According to my travel agent, if I wanted to see the Quetzal, we should book a night in San Gerardo de Dota; and that is exactly what we did. We had a morning Quetzal walk – sounds promising, right? We walked down the road to a private property that was full of Avocado trees. Not long after, a female Quetzal was spotted.
Female Resplendent Quetzal
Her mate eventually joined us in the distance – and then – he flew into clear view!!
Resplendent Quetzal with his beautiful tail feathers.
I was so happy at this point that I’m pretty sure I cried some happy tears. The most beautiful bird on this side of the world was within feet of me!!! The light was low since we were in a valley, but I still walked away with many great photos. He plucked an avocado from the tree and started downing the entire fruit WHOLE.
Resplendent Quetzal eating a wild Avocado whole.
And to our luck, he sat for a while to begin digesting. We ended up having two pairs show up that morning! What a treat it was to hear them call back and forth and, most of all, see the males fly from tree to tree. I wish I could have captured that – they have the most beautiful flight I’ve ever seen!
Resplendent Quetzal digesting.
As you can see from this photo that my husband took, I was HAPPY!!!
iPhone Photo by Diego Penta
Forty minutes and hundreds of photos later, we trekked our way back up to the lodge. The next morning, even though I was not scheduled for the tour, I walked to the area myself to try and get a last look at this beautiful bird. This time, I somehow managed to get even better views and photos of a male.
Resplendent Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal
And one of my favorite photos of him…
Resplendent Quetzal with tail feathers blowing in the wind
He was so close, that I was having trouble fitting the bird’s body and tail feathers in one frame. At one point, I could get head shots that filled up my entire frame!!
Resplendent Quetzal up close!
I could not have asked for better views of this highly sought-after bird. I’m not sure that I will ever top this. The memories and photos that I walked away with were everything I dreamed of and more! This, however, was not the last time I saw one… as I was making my way back to the lodge, a male flew right past me into a tree behind my room!!! This was the first time I saw him in direct sun light and I was able to say my goodbyes to this resplendent bird.
Resplendent Quetzal behind my room
Resplendent Quetzal behind my room
This was my last day in Costa Rica. It certainly was the best way to end an unforgettable trip with some amazing birds!
During Christmas, I had the pleasure of bird-sitting a friend’s Kookaburra, Hinckley, while they were out of town. Aside from being a very cool bird to have in the house, he gave me some pretty good photo ops. For the most part, the days were dark and overcast, but when it was sunny out, Hinckley enjoyed sunning from the cat tower.
Hinckley, The Kookaburra
His eyes fascinated me, so I tried for some macro shots using my 17-40mm lens with a 20mm extension tube attached and took photos from up close. It was tough to get his eyes – who wants a lens in their face anyway? So while I tried for the perfect shot, I took some feather detail photos.
Nape Detail
Tail Coverts Detail
Feather Detail
Forehead Detail
Until finally, he stayed still long enough for some eye close-ups. This one is my favorite:
Eye Detail
By the way, Hinckley liked to try to eat everything, including my lens cap – and his favorite perch? My scope’s tripod head.
Many feeders in the US have been graced with the presence of Common Redpolls by the dozens and even hundreds. I know one family who had up to 300 birds show up to their very attractive yard. I had a few days where there were over 100 on my feeders, trees and the ground below both. It was tough to even get a rough estimate because they would move around so fast and fly away at the smallest disturbance.
To get an idea of what my yard was like, here is a quick video that I shot through my window:
It took some time to get some great photos. I started by shooting from inside the house through my sliding glass doors. Quality remains pretty decent, but having window glass between L-series lens glass does degrade it a bit for larger sizes.
Shot through my sliding doors.
A great perch right outside my sliding doors.
One of my early photos on a snowy day shot through my sliding doors.
You have to be careful with flocks this large. I had one bird who would stick around after the flock left. I have a feeling that she was sick. I cleaned my feeders that night just in case.
Shot from the top deck right over her.
And finally I had a decent-sized flock on a sunny day. I slowly made my way onto my deck and snapped away at the birds from the far side so that I did not disturb them.
Shot from my deck.
Shot from my deck with some Christmas lights for size comparison.
Shot from my deck.
Whenever the large flocks would come, I would try to look for a more frosty bird in hopes of finding a Hoary Redpoll. It was tough to sift through them because they would move so fast. Finally, out of the corner of my eye I saw this almost white-looking bird on top of my pole system. My camera was already pointed at the feeders so I picked it up and snapped away. The photos came out much better than I expected!
I grabbed my camera as soon as I saw this more frosty Redpoll and snapped away. Within 5 seconds he was mixed in the flock never to be relocated again.
