Saturday, April 30, 2011

New Yard Birds and Mystery Hawk

1. Hawk-kab Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk 4-24-11

Spring migration has begun bringing a slate of new birds to my yard, but no warblers as of yet. Still, I have already added 9 new species to the yard list just this month! Below is are photos of some of them with the dates they were seen listed. The hawk is a juvenile *red-shouldered hawk I believe but please tell me if you think I’ve mis-identified it and why as the red-shouldered and broad-winged hawks are still new to me. Please note that I saw this hawk at dusk but it did appear to be brown and not gray on its back. I am not sure the photos show this very well. Also, some photos were taken through double pane windows, such as the Northern flicker, or silhouetted against a gray sky, as in the case of the waxwings, but all are clear enough to ID the species. Enjoy!

*Correction: This is a Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. ID confirmed by Marshall Iliff from eBird 5-4-11. Consult above post.

2. creeper-kab Brown Creeper 4-11-11

I’ve watched for this species all winter and it finally shows up this spring!

3. waxwings-kab Cedar Waxwings 4-20-11

About 60 birds showed up in my yard on this day eating the buds off whatever tree this is that they are perched in. the next day I saw 6, then they were gone. I have not seen or heard them since.

4. NOFL-kab Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker 4-20-11

5. feeders-kab Red-bellied Woodpecker 4-21-11

Though I have seen Red-bellied woodpeckers in the yard before they seem to be coming by more often now that I have moved the feeders to the back yard. I have also had to change feeders and seed due to the influx of the next couple of species to my yard.

6. grackles-kab Common Grackle 4-21-11

7. red-winged black-kab Red-winged Blackbirds 4-21-11

8. hawk-kabJuvenile Cooper’s Hawk 4-24-11

9. hawk-kab 

10. hawk-kab 

11. hawk-kab 

12. starling-kab European Starling 4-25-11

13. purple finch-kab FOTY Purple Finch 4-25-11

14. BRCO-kab Female Brown-headed Cowbirds 4-25-11

As of December 30th 2010 I had 26 species on my Yard List. So far this year I have added 19 new species to the list which can be seen in the sidebar for a total of 45 species of birds seen at this location. I set out my first hummingbird feeder Thursday but have not seen one as of yet and I am still waiting to see my first warblers of the year! Not included in these photos is a Fish Crow I heard and saw flyover on April 25 at sunset. The Wild turkeys I saw run through the yard on April 4th can be seen in my blogpost It’s Starting to get Exciting Around Here! 

Happy Birding Everyone!

Note: This post was corrected on May 4th after discovering I had misidentified this hawk as a Juvenile Red-shouldered when it is actually a juvenile Cooper’s. Read about it here, Two Juvenile Cooper’s Hawks.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Kathie

    Wow what great pictures each bird is wonderfully captured. I really love how you have picked up the
    colours in what I would think of as fairly common or understated birds. I like all of the photos but I think the shot of the cowbirds is exceptional.

    Regards
    Guy

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  2. Fantastic birds and great photos of them Kathie!

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  3. Fantastic photo series! You have a very busy yard! A wonderful varitey of birds visit your area. Love the Brown Creeper, Purple Finch, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Red-shouldered Hawk images. I put up several hummingbird feeders on our property recently. Can't wait to see our first hummer of the season. I hope you have many beautiful warbler sightings soon. Terrific post!

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  4. Great collection of birds, kathie. And thanks for your email, so glad things have taken a turn for the better.

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  5. You are getting some good action.Love the Purple Finch and hawk photos! Good job getting the Brown Creepr too.They are tricky to capture agains the bark.

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  6. Hi Kathy, you're captured some wonderful birds there. I'm envious of all your Waxwings as I have only seen them at a distance and not in my back yard. One of these days. Have a great week.

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  7. super post Kathie. love the Flicker. What a cracking bird!!

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Welcome to my nest! I hope you will enjoy spending time here with me and the birds. Thank you for your comments. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get back from counting more birds.