Winter Snow

We've had a bit of snow over the last week or so and the birds have been really active at the feeders. We are consistently getting about 12-14 Goldfinch, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 White-breasted Nuthatch, and a number of woodpeckers. We've also had a number of Juncos move in as well. I've taken some photos, but with the conditions being what they are I haven't really had much success. Here you can see the blowing snow:

Goldfinches in Winter Plumage:

The 2007 Audobon Watchlist

The National Audobon Society has released the 2007 Watchlist. You can visit the site and get see the list here:

2007 Audobon Watchlist

"Audubon and the America Bird Conservancy have joined forces to rally conservationists around America's most imperiled birds. WatchList 2007, a new analysis from these leading bird conservation organizations, uses the latest available research from the bird conservation community along with citizen science data from the Christmas Bird Count and the annual Breeding Bird Survey to identify 178 species in the continental U.S. and 39 in Hawaii that are in need of immediate conservation help. It is a call to action to save species fighting for survival amid a convergence of environmental challenges, including habitat loss, invasive species and global warming."

Pileated Woodpecker

This morning the bird feeders were humming with activity. The Red-bellied woodpeckers were especially active. We also had the usual Chickadees, Blue-jays, and Juncos. A visitor we haven't had since the spring was a single Goldfinch in winter plumage. The feeders were getting low (the suet feeder was empty) and I was about to head out and fill them up when this Pileated Woodpecker flew in looking for a snack.

Pileated Woodpecker:


Pileated Woodpecker:


Both photos taken through the window.

Red-winged Blackbird (...from this summer)

I was going through a few photos from this summer and I found this one. This was taken at Springbrook Nature Center while I was watching a nesting Red-winged Blackbird. Anyway, I thought I'd put here since I don't have much else considering I haven't really gotten out.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

This little guy is a new visitor to ur yard this year. He seems to be quite content to hang around the feeders and chow down. He gets chased away by the White-breasted Nuthatches that we have in abundance, but he seems undeterred by them and just keeps coming back. I hear him practically every morning now.

Red-breasted Nuthatch:

Yard Birds

Well, since I haven't gotten out lately to photograph much of anything, I took a few minutes to shoot the birds in my yard and at the feeder. This male turkey is a regular in our yard. In fact has actually come up on our deck and attacked its own reflection in our sliding glass door.

Here he is in all his splendor



Now he's just showing off:


Both of these shots are taken from in the house through a window. The second shot has a bit of the deck showing on the right side which is a bit of bummer, but ya gotta take what ya get.

The Woods

The weather has not been terribly nice lately and I haven't been motivated to get out in the rain. This coupled with some changes going on at work have made for a month of little to no photography . . . let alone photographing birds. Last night it was raining and dense fog rolled into the woods.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Well, I did find a new bird for me in Anoka county and at Carlos Avery on Saturday. We saw 2 Lesser Yellowlegs which was pretty cool. They are pretty noisy calling back and forth, but they stayed where they were for quite a while so we got a pretty good look at them. I was able to snap a few shots and look at them through my binoculars which is pretty unusual. Usually I just the get the opportunity to spot a bird through the camera.

Lesser Yellowlegs:

Hooded Mergansers (initially posted as Unknown Ducks)

My father and I went up to Carlos Avery on Sunday and when we saw these birds we thought we knew what they were, but upon closer inspection of the photo, I think we were wrong and now I'm not positive on the ID of these birds. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hooded Mergansers:


Thank you to all that responed to my request for help identifying these birds! I truly appreciate it.

Birds & Beer?

Well, I have started brewing my own beer and I wanted to create a label for the bottles. I wanted something specific to my life as well as something that I could expand upon in the future. Owls are probably my favorite type of bird so that seemed like an obvious choice. As I brew new beers, meaning different flavors, like brown ale, cream ale, stout, etc. I will modify the label with a different picture of an owl that I have taken and different text at the bottom for the type of beer. So here is the first label that I have made for my first beer, which by the way, I have yet to try. (It will be another 2 weeks before I can drink it. It's carbonating in the bottle right now.)

Anyway, here's the first label:

Oh so many Catbirds . . .

Well I went down to the Mississippi river valley refuge (I'm sorry I don't remember the exact name) with my father the other day and pretty much struck out. However, there were so many Gray Catbirds I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen a Catbird in Minnesota until last summer and then it was only one. This year I'm seeing them everywhere and on this occasion I couldn't believe how many there were. Anyway, here's the best photo I got that day:

Gray Catbird:

North Shore Warbers . . . Again?

Yes, I have one more shot from the North Shore that I would like to share. It seems like every year that I go to the North Shore I see Black-throated Green warblers and this year was no exception. I always enjoy seeing these guys.

Black-throated Green Warbler:

North Shore Hummingbirds

Well these little birds were quite active at the feeder on the deck as well as on the wildflowers around the cabin. Getting a shot of these birds is quite difficult to do as I'm sure you can imagine. I wanted to get a shot of the bird on the flower not on the feeder so I was even less successful, but I did get this shot and I was pleaseed with it since it is definitely my best shot of a hummer on a wildflower.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird:

Another Seagull Shot

I thought this shot of the Herring Gull turned out quite nice as well . . .

More North Shore

I was sitting on the deck watching the seagulls pass by and decided to grab the camera, sit on the rocks and take a few shots. I think they turned out pretty cool!







As always, there are bigger versions of these photos posted a flickr. Just click on one to go see the larger version.

North Shore Warblers Continued . . .

There were a number of Black-and-White warblers around and let me tell you, they are very difficult to photograph. I have so many shots of this that are blurred I can't believe it. Even when the stop jumping around they continue to move their head. Blur was the name of the game with these guys. So with as difficult as they are to get, I was pretty happy with this shot:

Black-and-White Warbler:

North Shore Warblers

OK, so it's been a long time between posts and I was getting good-natured heckling by a friend in Palo Alto to update the blog(you definitely know who you are).
So, two weekends ago I went up to the North Shore of Lake Superior and had a very nice time with family and saw some really great warblers. We saw Tennessee, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Mourning, and even a Northern Parula. The warblers were quite abundant even around the cabin we were staying in which meant we really didn't even need to go and find them. In fact the one time that we did drive to a known good birding area, we got completely blanked. Upon returning from this little excursion there were about 20 or so warblers in the trees above the deck on the cabin. The irony was not lost on us. Either way we did have a great time and I'll be posting some of the photos from that trip over the next week or so.

Here's the Chestnut-sided Warbler:


Tennessee Warbler (it's a bit out of focus):

Hunting Success!

Well here's another post on the Barred Owls in our yard. Tonight we witnessed two of the immature owls fighting over a kill. They were right out in front of the house on the ground yelling at each other. I grabbed my camera and ran out onto the deck only to discover that I didn't have the CF card in my camera! So I ran back into the house, grabbed the card and dashed back outside only to find that the owls had moved off to the side of the house and into the woods. I moved that way slowly and into the woods. They were so distracted with each other that I didn't even warrant a look until I got in closer. As soon as he turned to look at me I stopped and took the following shots. The shots show what looks to be a rabbit.

This shows the owl with its wings covering what appears to be a rabbit:


Here the owl was moving up the limb of the tree and you can clearly see the rabbit:


Another photo of the owl and its prey:


I snapped this photo of the owl flying away, not the greatest shot but I thought it was worth posting:


All of the shots were taken at a high ISO in the woods so they are a bit noisy and not terribly in focus, but it sure was fun to witness this exchange.

Another Back Yard Visitor

Well, this littel guy has been hanging out around the feeders the last few days or so. He's pretty territorial! When he's staged on the branches near the feeder anytime another bird flys in he gives chase. This includes the Downy Woodpeckers and the White-breasted Nuthatches that are constantly on our suet log. I got a shot of him this morning while he was guarding "his" feeder. :)

Eastern Wood Pewee:

More Yard Birds

Well I've been on the couch for about a week now with Bronchitis. It's really not as much fun as it sounds. ;) Anyway, I sat out on the deck today for about an hour and watched the bird feeders. It was about all I could manage. We've had a pair of immature Red-bellied woodpeckers in our yard for the past few weeks. I took a shot of this one today. The other is actually beginning to show a bit of red on it's head. It's not that great of shot since it was in the shade and at high ISO. Anyway, here ya go . . .

Immature Red-bellied Woodpecker:


I took this shot yesterday through the window and it shows about 1/3 of the Turkeys that were actually under the feeders.

Turkeys: