"birding" fun - Page 108

**SCEtoAUX** · #**1071** 01-29-2019, 12:47 PM

I can count 3 cardinals, 2 goldfinches, 2 house finches, and what appears to be a faerie.

**Kevin WS** · #**1072** 01-29-2019, 12:54 PM

Missed the faerie Doug!

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There were taken last weekend.

From the small to the large.....

Picture 1 - A Verreaux's Eagle. A real big bird - 2.8 meters or 9-foot wingspan. Taken just some 10 kms from our house. A lucky shot. In this picture you can see the sticks from the nest poking up - the nest is relatively new, so the rockface does not yet have the characteristic white droppings beneath it.

Many many years ago as part of birding project, I climbed up to one of their nests in Kenya to weigh chicks. One of the parents objected. The first I knew about it, was when the bird appeared at speed, slammed into my back and knocked me right out from the rock face. This had occurred to others before and was not unforeseen, so I was OK, as I had a helmet, was roped and belayed (it was a nearly sheer rock face) and I had 3 thick jackets on (they got ripped open).

Pictures 2 and 3 - Taken on the way up to the eagle cliff. A Brown Hooded Kingfisher. Rare for the area.

**SCEtoAUX** · #**1073** 01-29-2019, 01:13 PM

That is a great picture of the eagle.

A lot of people do not realize just how big the wingspan on some eagles really is. I tell them to find a picture of Yao Ming standing next to an average height person then let them know that some eagle wingspans are more than he is tall.

I have never been attacked or harassed by a bird of prey but I have seen some make a strike.

The other day I saw a large hawk flying that looked kind of strange then realized it had a grey squirrel in its talons. The tail of the squirrel was spinning in the wind as the hawk flew by.

**Kevin WS** · #**1074** 01-29-2019, 02:55 PM

Would have loved to have seen the hawk with the squirrel!

Birds of prey leave people well alone - I was only "buzzed", and rightly so, because I was messing with the chicks! I have had tiny birds harass me sometimes when I was working with nests or ringing.

It always amazes me when I see the size of the animals and birds that hawks and eagles can handle. The Verreaux Eagle is huge, but only weighs around 4.5 kgs (10 pounds). Despite that I have seen them with small buck and monitor lizards. I have also seen tiny hawks and falcons lugging pretty big birds around.

**Don Boose** · #**1075** 01-29-2019, 03:01 PM

Magnificent image of the eagle, Kevin. And a great story of your birding adventures. I now do my birding from the comfort of my sunroom (Image 1), or along the trail next to the Conodoguinet Creek (Image 2), where the belted kingfishers pale in comparison to that formidable brown hooded kingfisher.

Nothing much to report from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, except that last week the first bluebird of the year arrived a couple of month early (Image 3).

Doug - I give you joy of the faeries at the bottom of your garden, but commiserate with the squirrel.

Don

**Kevin WS** · #**1076** 01-29-2019, 03:21 PM

Don - I like your sunroom. All the books remind me of me! I have so many I need to get rid of.....

Where is the creek? Looks nice!

And, your first bluebird looks like a painting rather then a photo..

**SCEtoAUX** · #**1077** 01-29-2019, 03:24 PM

Take a look at that picture #2 with the birds that are to be counted. On the right hand side of the picture is a cardinal. Look above the cardinal about one bird length and to the right of the house finch. It sure looks like one of the little people looking out from the bushes.

**Kevin WS** · #**1078** 01-29-2019, 03:36 PM

Doug, I do indeed see it now. Very clear as well - the head looking out.

**birder** · #**1079** 01-29-2019, 10:12 PM

Stunning photos Kevin. The Eagle is magnificent, I thought it might be a Bateleur (sp.) but yours is a larger bird, yes?
The kingfisher has wonderful blue on the secondaries ours is not so bright blue. Around here a Pileated is making a big hole in the neighbor's tree a pair has been around this winter to our ( my) delight. Hope to post some pics soon. With frozen lake the bird life is relatively sparse. Don nice to see a bluebird, any season but especially now I would think.

**Don Boose** · #**1080** 01-29-2019, 10:19 PM

Doug - I feel really silly. I finally figured out that you were talking about the faerie at the bottom of MY garden. I am also embarrassed to have confused cardinals with house finches. At the time I took the snapshot, there were five male cardinals flitting around in the back yard, and I failed actually to examine the image closely. I have now done so, and my count is three cardinals, three house finches, two goldfinches, one white-throated sparrow, and one faerie.

Kevin - The maps show where my house is in terms of the mid-Atlantic (the big blue area to the right is the North Atlantic Ocean); the town of Carlisle (I have drawn in the Shippensburg Secondary Route [blue] of the Norfolk Southern between Carlisle and the small marshalling yard at Shiremanstown whence freight traffic travels to and from Harrisburg and then to the wide world beyond; and the Carlisle Running Track [red] where I watch the GP 38-2s rumble by); and my little part of the world with my house circled in light blue, the wetland behind my house (which the grandsons when they were little loved to explore and which they called "The Great Dismal Swamp"). In the winter with the leaves off the trees, I can see the Conodoguinet from the sunroom. You can see a bit of it over my shoulder, circled in blue, in the last image. Incidentally, son Don3 captioned this image, "How many Eagle Scouts does it take to fix a bird feeder."

And you can see more of the sunroom and some more of the books (most are in the basement) in the image of Lil relaxing in her rocker and oldest grandson Don IV (Wei) working on one of the computer games he designs for a living.

Don