Your Daily Bird List!

I thought it might be fun if we all posted a list of birds we've seen

Give your general location and birds you saw that day.  Update as often as you like.

Southeast Pennsylvania

This cold, sunny morning - pigeons, cardinal, juncos, Canada geese, english sparrows, crows (so noisy!) and a lone herring gull. 

Cool!  Fun idea!  We post to ebird most weekends too, we really enjoy that.

This weekend we're at our ranch getaway (where we will retire when the time comes) in Madera County, in the Sierra foothills of central California.  Just to paint the picture, it's six miles off the nearest paved road and a mile away from the nearest human neighbor.  It's basically paradise.

Species this weekend so far:  Common raven, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco, mourning dove, mallard, wood duck, house finch, lesser goldfinch, acorn woodpecker, scrub jay, Steller's jay, white-breasted nuthatch, northern flicker, pine siskin, oak titmouse, ruby-crowned kinglet.  We thought we saw some California towhees, but couldn't see them well enough to be certain.

Mammals: bobcat while we were driving in Wednesday night.  Ground squirrels galore and one gray squirrel.  We've also seen the tracks of: deer, wild pig, raccoon, coyote, probably fox but not positive and for the first time in the 12 years we've had the place, bear!  So exciting!  I actually posted a picture in my journal yesterday of the tracks in question.  We saw some more tracks today on a whole other spot in the road.

Today I also saw Anna's hummingbird (forgot to put on the list yesterday), and some golden-crowned sparrows.  Saw most of yesterday's birds, except for the two duck species and the kinglet. 

Usually we see a Nuttall's woodpecker come to the feeder but I haven't seen it this weekend.

Southeastern PA, Sunday, November 30, it rained all day with lots of wind, very chilly! 

The only birds I observed were some adult herring gulls.  Since the only significant body of water is the river, about 10 miles east, I don't know what they're doing inland where there are only little creeks and brooks.  They are attracted to the dumpsters behind the fast food places. 

There were a few soggy looking fish crows in the trees yelling their raspy caws at each other.  Everybody else was hiding from the rain and wind, even the pigeons that hang out by the train tracks were out of sight, probably under the bridge. 

The Audubon Christmas bird count in Valley Forge park is coming up soon.  I'm not well enough to participate, but always wait for the count. 

Brrr!

I must say that I miss seeing cardinals.  I used to love watching them in my grandmother's back yard in Middletown, Connecticut.  Also the wonderful black-capped chickadees.  We have other types of chickadees which are adorable of course.  But nothing approaching the wonderful blaze of the male cardinal.

We have both black capped and Carolina chickadees.  They're hard to tell apart. 

Tuesday morning, Chester County, PA

A golf course near here has a great blue heron (just passing through I think) who is feasting on the little fish in the pond.  They look like large goldfish, so I guess they the pond was stocked. 

Other birds this morning - red tail hawk, turkey vulture, American crow, fish crow, red polls, pigeons.  The squirrels are out in force, after the acorns and what walnuts are left under the trees.

What's flying in your neighborhood?

We're back in the Bay Area as per usual during the week, still both being tethered to jobs.  Until we get back to our paradise this weekend, it's our usual back yarders:  white-crowned sparrows (I love these little guys), house finches, scrub jays, anna's hummingbird.  Since I get home from work after dark, I only get to see the "early" birds.

Since I work in a nicely landscaped business park with lots of trees, I also usually see a lot of birds but so far none today because it looks like they've all been scared off with some parking lot repaving going on. 

Yesterday, no outside birdwatching, but I did go to the bird seed store after work to pick up some more of our no-mess mixture.  They have some zebra finches in a cage (I know) that I like to stop and say hello to.

The young man who helped me with my bird seed is one of those tall, skinny nerdy types with big funny glasses.  You just know he had a hard time in high school, but he's super friendly and ridiculously talkative.  He can go on and on and on about birds and birding trips!  Always an experience going in that store.

I didn't watch out my window this morning, but the Canada geese just flew by the window, honking back and forth.  Looking outside now, nothing is moving.  It's cold and damp and the sky is all gray clouds.  Dreary is the word.  Bubba is curled up in my unmade bed and didn't even lift his head to see the geese.  He just swatted me when I tried to make the bed.  It's gonna be a dull day I think.

I don't know what I've been thinking, but I've forgotten that my drive to work takes me through a scenic back road, with lots of birds, the occasional deer and the very occasional coyote spotting.

This morning: one red-tailed hawk, two unknown hawks not redtails but couldn't tell if they were Cooper's or something else, one kestrel, a scrub jay, bunches of pigeons and crows, and a couple of massed flocks of blackbird types.  Oh, and a pretty big flock of seagulls headed in the direction of the landfill.

Nobody on the backyard feeders that I could see before I left this morning.

I enjoy seeing tracks and identifying them.  I have a good picture from last summer, after a rain, a puddle in a muddy area and racoon footprints all around the puddle as tho they stood in a circle to drink from it.

So far, just the usuals this morning, blackbirds, crows, doves, EXCEPT for two group of wild turkeys.  There were the girls group and then a smaller boys group.  They were hanging out by the medical center parking lot where I got on my own nerves this morning by losing my mammogram order (about which I am now going to go whine in my journal).  But it sure was fun seeing the turks!

going to the mailbox yesterday I saw bunny pawprints in the snow where one was running.

There are no birds out anywhere.  Someone must have good feeders attracting all of them. 

Just the usual at the backyard feeders here in the Bay Area, white crowned sparrows, house finches, mourning doves and the Anna's hummingbird.  I haven't heard the scrub jays but I expect they're out there and will show up later.

It was a windy, cold day with a hint of snow here in Chester County, PA.  The crows and squirrels were very busy under the spruce trees this morning.  In the afternoon I watched a redtail hawk riding the thermals up high.  Coming out of the hospital after visiting my mother, I saw a flock of juncos and another of sparrows, feathers all fluffed up.  There's not a lot of bird activity right now, at least not when I'm watching.

Nobody working the backyard feeders yet before I left for work.  I did see some chestnut backed chickadees yesterday afternoon, they go into the finch "cages" we have, and are so much smaller than the house finches!  So cute.

Kestrel on the power line this morning.  I'm glad I was finally able to identify these guys, I've been thinking that's what they have to be but couldn't get a good enough glimpse until recently. 

Nice wildlife morning today, the usuals as far as feathered friends.  Also saw a deer leaping a fence and either a coyote or a fox, but I'm pretty sure coyote, scooting up a hill as I came around a bend in the road.

There is a little squirrel that is living in our porch, the top where there is an opening.  He acts like I can't see him and when I do, he flattens out on the brick wall.  They had a nest last year, and seem to like the location.

I don't recognize birds too well, but here is a list of birds sighted at our local nature center this year: 

Red-headed, Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers, Northern Parula Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Bluebird, Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Yellow-throated Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo., Little Green and Blue Herons, Hummingbirds and Sparrows. 

Gopher tortoises, alligators, deer, racoons, armadillo, and fox.

There are camellias flowering outside my window, in many colors and different shapes.  It is prettier each week.  The knock-out roses are still blooming, too.

We've got some roses blooming too!  My husband is such a good rose man, he's really got an amazing knack.  He's planted nearly 100 roses in our ranch garden and they are beautiful.  They seem to bring out the romantic side of his personality.

For birds today so far (no four leggeds today other than cows and horses) - scrub jay screeching at me as I came out the front door on my way to work, the kestrel and the red-tailed hawks in their usual spots.  And I'm pretty sure of seeing a loggerhead shrike at the start of Collier Canyon.  I've seen them there before, but sometimes it's just hard to tell.