Any Birdwatchers Out There?

I do a bit of birdwatching and thought I'd put up a pick of my current favorite bird.

I saw maybe 15 or so yesterday while I was out roaming around scouting for good outdoor grow sites. It's called Daurian Redstart in English or Joubitaki here in Japan. It's a migratory bird only here for the winter and early spring. Should be moving on soon, unfortunately. Spring has sprung. I saw my first swallows of the year Sunday, so...



My area seems pretty good for birds. I see lots of nice ones regularly, but all that come to my feeder are sparrows.

 

Cool


thats pretty cool

 

I really enjoy watching ducks. I've been a duck hunter for most of my life, but during the offseason, I really enjoy watching and photographing them on my pond. I don't think there is a species of duck that I can't identify.








-tC

 

Wildlife Watcher.


I love to watch all manner of wildlife. Birds are especially fascinating and beautiful though. We have lots of Mocking Birds, Mourning Doves, and some really stunning Red Tailed Hawks living around my house. Of course there are others but those are some of my favorites, ohh and Road Runners too, meep meep. :thumbs-up: At my grandmother's house where I was raised there is a pair of Red Tails that nest in her Eucalyptus tree every year, so we get to watch them hatch their babies and bring them food and finally when they lean to fly, it's all very cool. From what I understand Red Tails as with many other bird species will often times choose a mate for life and return to the same nest year after year. In fact there are laws that prohibit the tree where their nest is from being trimmed or disturbed. The last time I went to the Tram Way we have near by on the ride up we saw a majestic Golden Eagle riding the warm air currents in the canyon, it was pretty awe inspiring. I wish I had a camera more well suited to long distance photography so I could capture a few more bird shots.

 

That bottom one is a pintail, right? What's the top one? We get loads of ducks here in the winter. There is a nice waterbird park here with a big observation building. I know most of their names only in Japanese, though. Lots of herons and egrets, geese and swans in winter, grebes, coots, moorhens, many cormorants, etc... It's very peaceful to sit quietly, on a sunny day, and watch them, isn't it?

 

Yes the bottom one is a Pintail, and the top one is a Wood Duck. It's a close relative of Asia's Mandarin Duck. Do you get those in Japan? I would imagine a Japanese waterbird park would be especially peaceful. I would really like to travel to Japan one day.


-tC

 

I noticed the resemblance to the mandarin duck. Actually, the prefectural bird here is the mandarin duck (oshidori in Japanese). There is a place not too far away where scores of them return every winter. Local volunteers shovel acorns into the river to feed them. There is also a small viewing hut with scopes. They are very pretty. Some mallards also mix in with them.


A bit of trivia, mandarin ducks are thought to mate for life and be very loyal, so married people in Japan who have very tight relationships are sometimes called mandarin duck couples. (It doesn't sound as strange in Japanese.)

 

Excellent picture of the Wood Duck, Carpenter. They are very beautiful..and yummy, as well.


The birds I see here, mostly, are Mourning Doves and occasionally one or two will sit on my railing while I'm outside and I watch them for a few minutes. There's some sort of Hummingbird around that I've yet to identify, but they're mostly green with a small purple patch on the breast, just below their throat. VERY beautiful, they are, but don't stick around long enough.


Got some Road Runners, too. Those little guys are fun to watch.

 

beautiful bird. are they always so round, or is that one puffed up?

 

I guess I am a pigeon watcher I have kept lots of pigeons and will always be enamored with the birds. Mine are always free to come and go and they always come back.

 

Man!~ I wish is could do dat! Im "legally blind" and cant see them lil chirpy mofos. But, I can HEAR then! I nasme them by their sound...there's one I call the Lawer Bird, cuz he sez, "Whad he Do? Whad he do?" Then there's one that sez, "who da fuck? Who da fuck?" But my fave is one that appears in May, I call him the Groovy Bird....his cry is, "GROOVY!" GROOVY!" I imagine him as wearing bell bottoms, a Peace sign necklace......


Wish I could see em....


Dixie

 

HELL YA.........but i cheat......i put feeders in front of my windows


including hummingbird feeders .


I have seen a lot of blue birds in out area, thats great because we used to see them in the country only.


I have even seen a hawk, ya Birds, a buzz and a quite day can be great fun.

 

Bird of the day


I just felt like putting up another bird pic. I see these every day. They are very common. It's a Japanese Wagtail.

 

Bird of the day


Here's my good friend, the Blue Rock Thrush.

 

Heres one of my favorite birds,





And they taste magnificent too!

 

Yup ruffed grouse, best eating bird Ive ever tried. Yeah RR, Ive heard them drumming many many times and your right, thats just what they sound like! mMmMm good!

 

Oriental Green Finch


Here is a recent spring arrival in my area, the oriental green finch. He's a lovely little yellow fellow. I often see them in large groups feeding on the nectar in cherry and plum blossoms. It's quite a pretty sight.

 

Bird Question


I had a bird question. What makes BlueJays so aggressive? Are they like that everywhere or is that just here in my city? Or can any bird be aggressive if they're protecting their nests. I heard that birds are very territorial, especially against other birds, but I saw like 3 or 4 BlueJays attacking this homeless guy one time. I see them attacking cats and squirls sometimes in groups of 2 or 3! It's so funny to watch! These birds are gangsta!