ANy Bird watches out there?

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
Great photos! My preteens LOVED the pooping goldfinch! A definite favorite, lol.

 

[Imp]

A few years ago I started watching the birds in my suburban Seattle yard, just wanted to know what they were. I bought a couple birding books, and found out that I mostly have:
Black Capped Chickees
Bush Tits
Stellar Jays
Crows
Robins
Seagulls
Hummingbirds
Bald Eagles
Great Blue Herons
Flicker
plus lots that I just see occasionally
and of course chickens

I put a feeder up close to the kitchen window and now the little birds are OK with it so I get to see them up close and personal. Took about a year though.

Imp

 

[annie3001]

i went outside with my camera, tried to be as quiet as a mouse. couldnt snap any pictures. darn birdies kept flying away.

i wish i knew what kind of birds i have in my yard. theres a big black birds. with longish beaks. dont know what they are tho. the doves (my mom said thats what they are) are impressive. when they flap their wings, they have different coloring underneath. last year we had lots of babies near our gutters in our open back porch. it was so awesome. different families lived in the nest. it was real interesting. that got me into the whole bird watching. i have a generic cannon camera with a zoom lens, but i just cant seem to get great shots.

ill keep trying.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
do you think it took the birds a long time to be comfortable up so close?
my kids might scare them away by tapping on the window.
ill have to look for a book. to see what i have!!!

 

[heksa]

Quote:
It only took a week for our feeders to attract some birds... Of course, we don't have any very fancy species here in IN in the winter. Goldfinches and Juncos are there all the time. Sometimes I had a cat at the window with me and the birds didn't mind.

 

[heksa]

Quote:
It's cold here, so I shoot the pics through the kitchen window. Even though the feeders are situated pretty close I use a long zoom lens - 300mm and wish I had even longer.

 

[annie3001]

i would love to have them closer so i can snap a picture. i waited outside for 10 whole cold freezing minutes. and not one bird would go on the feeder. i get back in the house look out the window and there they are on the feeders.!!

 

[heksa]

Quote:

I like it, too. My friend at work said I should make a whole book with pictures of pooping birds.

 

[heksa]

Quote:
It takes some practice .... and a good lens.

 

[NoelTate]

Be careful-bird watching can get addictive and expensive! lol I started feeding the birds just for fun with one small feeder. My elderly parents got interested in it, so I got them an ID book, but I have ended up using it more than they do. We are now up to 6 feeders and about 25# of food a week lol We get lots of cardinals, doves, thrushes, house sparrows, finches, tufted titmouse, along with a few bluejays and woodpeckers. Last year, a bluebird pair nested in our yard. They showed back up this week. It was the funniest thing. I came in from work, and the male was sitting in a tree by the feeder and chirped at me. I told him ok, I'd come back and feed him in a minute. He was still sitting there and watched as I filled the feeders, then he flew down and started eating and singing. I guess he remembered and waited! lol This year, I have goldfinches for the first time. I am really hoping they will stick around until they color out. We also get a few hummingbirds, but I am not as vigilant about keeping their feeders full. We also get a indigo buntings briefly. They are amazingly beautiful little birds with a very nice song. The holy grail that I keep looking for again came through once-some sort of a tanager. I looked him up, but I forget which kind he was. He was the prettiest orange! Unfortunately, he was a migratory bird that was just passing through briefly on his way north. I would love to have tanagers native to this area. They have the most stunning colors!