* You are viewing the archive for the ‘Birds’ Category
Great horned owl
I went for a walk through the neighborhood tonight with our youngest son and our dog, Mr Beau Jangles. We came across a great horned owl pair calling to each other from across the street. At first we heard just one and it was right above us in the tree although it was too dark to actually see it. A few minutes later we heard another across the way answering the call. I can still hear them now from the bedroom window. Pretty cool.
Lazuli bunting (via utahbirds.org)
I recently “celebrated” my 5 year anniversary of employment at my current job. They were kind enough to let me select a gift from a little online catalog. I ordered some binoculars which have turned out to be pretty nice. It is hard to imagine that I enjoy watching birds and prior to this haven’t owned a decent pair of field glasses (it is bad enough that I don’t have a decent camera for close ups). Today I noticed some birds that looked slightly different in size and behavior from any birds I have seen recently at the feeder. To my surprise they turned out to be lazuli buntings (and this from utahbirds.org) and there were about 7-8 of them both males and females. They are strikingly beautiful birds. Hard to imagine this is my first sighting of these little flying gems. Now I just wish I had a nice camera to capture them.
Eurasian Collared-Dove (via utahbirds.org)
I consider myself a pretty perceptive guy. I am usually the first person to see a deer in the hills or a trout swimming but I will admit I think have been a little slow on the pick up in this case. There are a bunch of doves that frequent my feeders and are pretty much there all day, even when I am out there. I had always assumed that they were all mourning doves, but recently I had noticed that some of them have a black half circle on the back of their necks. It finally occurred to me that I should look and see what was up with that. Turns out I have new birds in my yard (for who knows how long). They are Eurasian Collared-Doves. Turns out they haven’t been in our country for very long. They were introduced in the Bahamas in the mid-1970′s and have spread across the entire country. Interestingly, they really only live in populated areas and don’t live out in the wild areas inhabited by mourning doves. I have never been a very big fan of introduced species (although I seem to make convenient allowances for certain non-native trout).
Eurasian Collared-Dove (via The Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Eurasian Collared-Dove (via utahbirds.org)
NePo Suet Logo
I just wanted to thank NePo Suet for sending me a big box of cakes in the mail yesterday. The cakes are part of a popular suet cakes for logos exchange program that I am starting. No, actually I felt the creative urge a few weekends ago and whipped up a logo for them and they were kind enough send me a box full of cakes as a token of their appreciation. It sounds like things are getting busy for them. Please be sure to check them out and order a few cakes for your self.
I am in the mood to pay it forward so I will send 1 cake to each of the first 3 people to comment on this blog post (US only, sorry). Leave a love note below and I will contact you to get your address. Thanks!
Recycled material bird feeder, an easy weekend project
Given that Earth Day is quickly approaching I thought I would come up with a quick and easy bird feeder project made of reused and recycled materials that would have otherwise been garbage. I don’t recall how I came up with the idea for the feeder, but it really works well and doesn’t require very much to build. To get started, you first need to gather the materials.
The main structure of the feeder comes from Kirkland Organic Animal Crackers (which are yummy). The seed hopper is an empty 2 liter soda bottle, I purchased a bottle of Shasta club soda special for the project. It had the 2 things I was looking for; clear plastic and a 5 footed base which is an important part of the functional design as the feet push the seed out so the feeder can be completely cleaned of seed by the birds. You can enjoy a snack of crackers and soda while working on the project.
The rest of the materials – clothesline cord, 1/4 inch bolt and wing nut, and a carabiner are likely materials you have around the garage or house or can be easily acquired. Tools include a permanent marker, electric drill, box cutter or sharp knife, and may need some Goo Gone to get rid of label residue. Once you have the materials and tools, you are ready to get started.
Click here to view the step-by-step tutorial:
It is fun to involve the kids, but use caution as a drill or box cutter can seriously injure a curious helper. Also be sure to check out my other … Continue Reading
Burrowing Owl - Geri Lawrence - Deseret News
Wow, I take one day off, get buried by email, and the blog suffers. Well got to pay the bills. There was a TON of interesting outdoors related news in the last couple of days. Check out the links below.
Utah DWR:
Idaho Statesman:
Deseret News:
Earful of waxwings
Yesterday at lunch I stepped outside to hear a chorus of cedar waxwings nearby. I glanced around for them and they were congregated in my neighbors rain gutter getting a drink as best I could tell. They hung out for a while so I snapped some photos and the video below. I guess there were about 12 or so in the group, which as I learned from iBird, is called an ear-full or a museum (two places you can find wax, clever).
I need to get a better camera.
On Saturday I was playing soccer in the backyard with my son, when a chickadee came to a feeder rather close to me. I got the idea to turn on the chickadee song from iBird to see what kind of reaction I would get. I sat the phone on a fence post and let it play. This curious and brave little chickadee was very neighborly and sang beautifully to my phone and at one point jumps on it, before flying off to eat again. Perhaps not as funny or dangerous as Messin’ with Sasquatch, but still not a bad few minutes of entertainment. I hope you enjoy.
A cool new video from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Grouse are really incredible birds. They have unbelievable mating displays and markings. The are reputed to be a little slow, although I have been outfoxed by them on a few occasions. Enjoy the video below.
Subscribe to posts
Subscribe to posts by email
