Friday April 17, 2020 O is for Osprey!

2020 A to Z Challenge !

O is for Osprey !

 

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. These large, rangy hawks do well around humans and have rebounded in numbers following the ban on the pesticide DDT. Hunting Ospreys are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight 

along their talons. 

Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
The Osprey readily builds its nest on man made structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.

Want to learn and hear more? Go here! 

Meanwhile, have a lovely day!

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PS If you have time please visit my other blog
It's a Snap!
Thanks!

Wednesday April 15, 2020 M is for Mallard

2020 A to Z Challenge !

M is for Mallard !

 

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

If someone at a park is feeding bread to ducks, chances are there are Mallards in the fray. Perhaps the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout North America and Eurasia in ponds and parks as well as wilder wetlands and estuaries. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail-curl arguably make it the most easily identified duck. Mallards have long been hunted for the table, and almost all domestic ducks 

come from this species. 

 

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

 Mallard pairs form long before the spring breeding season. Pairing takes place in the fall, but courtship can be seen all winter. 

Only the female incubates the eggs and takes care of the ducklings.

As always to hear and learn more 

please go to this link! Enjoy!
Profuse apologies for my not visiting anyone
yesterday, but we were celebrating our 
30th anniversary and just paid 
attention to each other! 
Today I will behave and visit all! 

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Thursday April 9, 2020 H is for Hummingbird!

 

2020 A to Z Challenge!

H is for the Rufous Hummingbird!

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology 

 

One of the feistiest hummingbird in North America. The brilliant orange male and the green-and-orange female Rufous Hummingbird are relentless attackers at flowers and feeders, going after (if not always defeating) even the large hummingbirds of the Southwest, which can be double their weight. Rufous Hummingbirds are wide-ranging, and breed farther north than any other hummingbird. Look for them in spring in California, summer in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and fall in the Rocky Mountains as they make their annual circuit of the West.

Backyard Tips

Rufous Hummingbirds may take up residence (at least temporarily) in your garden if you grow hummingbird flowers or put out feeders. But beware! They may make life difficult for any other hummingbird species that visit your yard. If you live on their migration route, visiting Rufous Hummingbirds are likely to move on after just a week or two.
This species often comes to hummingbird feeders. Make sugar water mixtures with about one-quarter cup of sugar per cup of boiled hot water. Food coloring is unnecessary; table sugar is the best choice. Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather, sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.

 And to see and learn even more go here!
Cheers! Enjoy!~~~~


Thanks for visiting ....see you tomorrow!

Wednesday April 8, 2020 G is for Goldfinch!

2020 A to Z Challenge!

G is for the American Goldfinch! 

 

Photo credit to Cornell  Lab of Ornithology

 

This handsome little finch, the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington, is welcome and common at feeders, where it takes primarily sunflower and nyjer. Goldfinches often flock with Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls. Spring males are brilliant yellow and shiny black with a bit of white. Females and all winter birds are more dull but identifiable by their conical bill; pointed, notched tail; wingbars; and lack of streaking. During molts they look bizarrely patchy.

Goldfinches are usually easy to find throughout much of North America, except in deep forests. Their po-ta-to-chip flight call draws attention to them in open country. They’re most abundant in areas with thistle plants, and near feeders.

Go to this link to hear their sounds.

And have a lovely day!

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Tuesday April 7, 2020 F is for Falcon!

2020 A to Z Challenge!

F is for Falcon!

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Powerful and fast-flying, the Peregrine Falcon hunts medium-sized birds, dropping down on them from high above in a spectacular stoop. They were virtually eradicated from eastern North America by pesticide poisoning in the middle 20th century. After significant recovery efforts, Peregrine Falcons have made an incredible rebound and are now regularly seen in many large cities and coastal areas.

 Go to this link to see, hear and learn more

about this beautiful falcon:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon

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Don't forget to have a lovely day!
And please do visit my other blog:
A Snap a Day! 

Saturday April 4, 2020 D is for Dipper

2020 A to Z Challenge!

D is for the American Dipper!

 

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

A chunky bird of western streams, the American Dipper is North America's only truly aquatic songbird. It catches all of its food underwater in swiftly flowing streams by swimming and walking on the stream bottom.

Here's a video of a juvenile fishing!

Video credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Have a lovely day!
FYI ...I have some sort of problem being
able to leave comments for all sites I
visit. I asked the folks at google for 
help, but unfortunately the problem still
exists when I visits some folks. So if
I haven't left you a comment it's not you-
it's me and my blog having issues.
Sorry sorry!

~~~~~

Friday April 3, 2020 C is for Chickadee

2020 A to Z Challenge!

C is for Chickadee!

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology 

A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. The Black-capped chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover 

bird feeders, make it one of the

 first birds most people learn.

 You can go to this link to hear 

the chickadee's call.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/sounds

Have a lovely day!

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Thursday April 2, 2020 B is for Blackbird!

2020 A to Z Challenge!
B is for the Red-winged Blackbird!

Credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

One of my all time favorite bird calls!

Have a great day!

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Wednesday April 1, 2020 A is for Albatross!

2020 A to Z Challenge!

A is for Albatross!

Photo credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

This lovely bird is a Laysan Albatross

One of the most marvelous sights in the Pacific ocean is the graceful glide of a Laysan Albatross at play among the winds and waves. These expert soarers can travel hundreds of miles per day with barely a wingbeat. They nest on islands of the tropical Pacific, but they may head out to Japan, the Aleutian Islands, or California to feed. Laysan Albatrosses are numerous, though they face threats from longline fishing, plastic trash in the ocean, and predation by dogs, rats, and cats.

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I have used the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

for all the information on this blog. 

It is a wonderful web site full not only

with written information, but also bird songs

and videos! Enjoy and treasure birds!

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Reveal of my 2020 A to Z Challenge!

California Acorn Woodpecker

March 2018 

I have not participated in the

 A to Z Challenge since 2016!

Good grief! 

Anyhow- I'll be posting a Bird a Day.

Some might be my photos such as

the one above and my header, but more
 likely I will be dependent upon the wonderful

web site : Cornell Lab of Ornithology !!  

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone

else will be doing! Cheers!
And have fun!

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