"birding" fun

[Gharbad]

Anybody see the new movie "The Big Year"?

It's interesting; 3 big actors in a comedy that seems to be made for nobody except birders.
I liked it a lot but I was definitely biased... I'm sure most birders will like it, if only because it's hard to believe it's a movie.

Also, FYI, the trailer entirely hides the fact that it's about birds... makes it look completely generic and awful. The entire plot is them competing to see the most birds.

[SCEtoAUX]

Here is a neat photograph from the National Wildlife Federation 2011 Photo Contest. It won First Prize for Amateur - Birds.

National Wildlife Federation - Photo Contest - Mockingbird Surfing a Black Hawk. Cowabunga, dude!

I have seen mockingbirds going after lots of large birds. It must have been something to watch that one go after that black hawk like that.

[whulsey]

Neat photo, mockingbirds can be real aggressive.

[Don Boose]

Wonderful image. Thanks for sharing, Doug. Go Cubs!

The winter birds (slate colored [dark-eyed] juncoes and white-throated sparrows) have arrived in Carlisle and are feeding in my back garden as I type next to the sunroom window.

Don

[Ashrunner]

Gharbad ... I kept waiting for the movie to show up at the small cinema in town, but it never did. Having no car, I was about to ride my bicycle 20 miles to see it in Bend. Oh well...I'll wait for HBO 8v)

Yes Don, Go CUBS! They got a new skipper...and a good team. This could be the year! (Cubs fans have been saying that since 1945)

[SCEtoAUX]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Wonderful image. Thanks for sharing, Doug. Go Cubs!

Don

Yep, it sure would be nice to change those numbers to all zeros.
The NWF publishes some very good photos in their magazine.

Originally Posted by Ashrunner

They got a new skipper...and a good team.

Maybe Sveum will get them in order. Seems like a no nonsense type manager. Get them catuli to eamus more.

It is interesting to watch a small bird harass a larger one in flight. Makes one wonder what the large bird is thinking and why it does not take agressive action against the smaller one. One of the mysteries of nature.

[Gharbad]

Originally Posted by SCEtoAUX

It is interesting to watch a small bird harass a larger one in flight. Makes one wonder what the large bird is thinking and why it does not take agressive action against the smaller one. One of the mysteries of nature.

Personally I take the same approach... if it's too small to do anything to me I rather conserve my energy. No point starting something serious.

[Ashrunner]

Birds harassing bigger birds is something I often see here. Hawks being chased by Brewer's Blackbirds, eagles being chased by crows, crows being chased by American Robins, the list goes on.

But the funniest harassment I have encountered happened when I lived just outside of town in the Juniper forest. Our place was tucked in about 500 feet from the main road, surrounded by trees. It didn't take long after moving in to realize we had a bonanza of wildlife. We had at least a dozen Mule Deer who would feed across out property, birds from at least a dozen species, including a Peacock (where it came from I have no idea) and unfortunately, a family of Rockchucks.

With all the deer, I decided I would setup a deer feeding station in a patch of land where our driveway circled around. Along with the deer feed station, I had a bird bath and some bird feeders.

It didn't take long for the local Black-billed Magpies to locate the feed and there were so many of them, that it didn't take them long to empty not only the bird feeders, but clear out the deer feed also.

While all this was happening, I was working on a paper model of a Barn Owl. At one point I screwed up the build and rather than attempt to fix it and really screw it up, I decided I would do something beneficial with the now-no-good bird model. So I sprayed it with clearkote, and then placed it in the branches of one of the Junipers.

My plan was to use it to scare away the Magpies. After filling the feeders again, I retired to the house and continued my normal routine. After a couple of hours, I decided to check on the feed station. I was happy to see three adult deer and two fawns feeding the Deer Chow. On the bird feeders there were woodpeckers on the suet, chickadees and nuthatches on the seed feeder and Scrub Jays fighting over peanuts. But no Magpies. I was beginning to think my plan was working.

I went back to my business and as I saw at my computer doing some work, I noticed the rack of one of the male deer run past my window (the window was high up and only the rack showed on this guy). Wondering what was happening, I went to the front of the house and looked out.

I had to blink a couple of times at what I saw. Magpies were taking turns attacking the Barn Owl model in the tree. They would fly from one tree to where the owl was and literally stab it with their beak. A couple of attempt to take a chunk out of the owl and rip off pieces of paper. I watched in disbelief as pieces of the owl blew away in the wind, and more attacks reduced the model to a stump of nothing like what it was before the attacks began.

In the end, one of the Magpies landed right next to the former Barn Owl model and pecked at it a couple of times, cocked its head and dropped down to the deer chow on the ground. Then the other dozen or so Magpies joined it, devouring everything they could.

So...not only do birds harass bigger birds, but they also harass fake birds!

[birder]

As winter approaches in the Northern teir of North America the birds are on the move. Our winter feeding birds are happy I put out the feeder again (take it in for a bit in summer to avoid sick birds sharing the feeder) We have Solitaires back, Flickers that have been in the woods all summer, Stellers's jays dominating the backyard, and on the local lake are lots of mergansers. Most all Common mergs, but some Hooded mergs there, too. This group of mergs in the photo is about 1/6 the size of the whole flock

[Sakrison]

There is a new documentary about whooping crane recovery. It's available on DVD, along with a companion book. You see the trailer on You Tube (search for "Saving the Ghost Birds") or at www.videoagepro.com/stgb.html.

I wrote both the documentary and the book.