dyzzypyxxy said:I woke up to loud bird calls this morning - two big birds circling the house up in the air and calling loudly "Kurrrr, Kurrrrr, Kurrrr" while flying. Caught a flash out the window but just a few minutes ago they were back, and I rushed out but didn't get a picture.

Could they be Sandhill Cranes? They were flying with necks extended, and their bellies were light colored, but I really couldn't get much more detail than that. I now have my phone in my pocket and the camera set up outside on the tripod, but my zoom isn't much good when the birds are moving fast.

I just googled "sandhill crane call" and it sounds a lot like what I was hearing this morning. Goofy birds, calling while flying!

Elaine, the goofy sandhills are quite raucous while flying. You ought to hear 200+ of them filling the sky with their calls. It gets quite loud.

crittergarden said:

Me, too!
Thanks for the lesson!

So when "the buzzards are circling", they're circling DYING prey, not dead. Right?

Critter, I am very much NOT an expert, but when we say "buzzards are circling" what we really should say is "vultures are circling" since they're the ones that would eat dead stuff. Buzzards act more like hawks, so they would be after live prey. I imagine them going after something like a squirrel or mouse, just swoop and grab. Hope there's someone more knowledgeable than me that can verify that

OK, that works for me.

Geese get vocal when air-borne.

Yep, they do don't they. But honestly these cranes were a lot louder than any geese I've ever heard.

Yes, the Sandhills are extra noisy.
They fly extra high, too.
First time someone pointed them out to me, I couldn't see them because I was focusing my eyes too low!
I can't imitate their sound but I do know it when I hear it.
It's different from ducks and geese.

crittergarden said:

Is that suet in your feeder or a fruit of some kind?

Ah yes,.. its a Suet Ball with all kinds of Seeds mixed into it,..i had a big problem with just giving the Birds Seeds,..most that fell on the ground were producing all kinds of unwanted plants

At first I thought that I'd screwed up my camera settings this morning because all of my photos were weird but maybe it was the wind because I managed a couple of better shots this afternoon.

Blue Jays and a Red-bellied Woodpecker in one shot



I wasn't sure which one this first bird was until I downloaded my pictures; it was so far away and I knew it was a small bird because there was a Brown-headed Cowbird down a little ways on the same power line and the cowbird isn't really large but it looked huge compared to the little Blue Bird.

Eastern Bluebird ................................ Brown-headed Cowbird ......................... American Black Vulture


Gray Catbird ........................................... Boat-tailed Grackles


Anhinga, drying it's wings ....................... Ducks (possibly female Mallards) ......... Pied-billed Grebe


And, my Mystery Bird that I think is a female Orchard Oriole

The large groups of sandhill cranes sure can be impressive. I usually hear them long before I see them, and sometimes I never even see them. In spring and fall there are days when I can see hundreds flying over in large groups. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere nearby where they land, but last March I was finally able to get some pictures and a brief video of them kettling over my house. The video I took is only 9 seconds, but you can hear enough of their call. It was one of the few times I actually managed to photograph birds in flight overhead. It helped me tremendously that they kept going in circles.
https://picasaweb.google.com/M...

I found this good 8 minute video on You-tube about their migration through Nebraska that has plenty of video of them close-up and in flight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I love the cranes, but they make you look a little nutty to non-birders. When you can just barely hear them and start frantically looking around up at the sky, people look at you a little strangely!

Last ones from here for today ...

Blue Jay ................................................. Grackle .......................................................... Dove


Brown-headed Cowbirds ................. Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbird


Red-winged Blackbird ....................... Downy Woodpecker ........................... Palm Warbler

Hubby and I were sitting watching TV the other day when we heard a long bang. I didn't think much of it because my neighbor usually slams his side garage door so hard that it usually makes a similar sound. Later in the day when I went out to fill the bird feeders, I found a dead mourning dove on my back porch. There were morning dove feathers under the feeder so I assume a hawk attacked it and it flew so hard to get away that it flew right into my back door. I hate to see that happen.

Aww, Hemlady, I know what you mean. I cringe at the sound of a bird hitting the window.

I've recently noticed there are more hawks and kites around. And the crows are back.

Cindy, If there were lots of feathers beneath the feeder, I bet that poor dove was trying to escape from a hawk and flew off so fast it ran itself into the window. It's so sad when a birds demise is due to collision with a glass window or door ... I had a problem a few years ago with little warblers smacking into the windows and a sliding door because we had the reflective film on to keep the heat out and it was reflecting the image of all the trees and greenery so the birds would take off and fly right into the glass. I finally bought some window decals that I put on the outside of the glass and we haven't had a bird crash since.

It has been extremely windy here all day, gusts of 35 to 40 mph and chilly!! We're supposed to drop to the mid 30's F tonight. Brr

I filled the feeders twice today and will replace the suet too ... poor birdies need lots of food to help them through this Florida cold spell. A few pictures today ...

Dove


Red-bellied Woodpecker ................................................................................... Red-winged Blackbird


Grackles ................................................ Brown-headed Cowbird


Great Blue Heron ................................................................................................ Snowy Egret

I was outside with the dog a few minutes ago and heard what I knew were Cedar Waxwings! I only see them sporadically in my part of Florida from early February through about mid April. These aren't very good with the lighting but I hope to get some better shots in the coming days.

Cedar Waxwing


Brown-headed Cowbirds, males are dark brown to black with a dark brown head while the female is a buff brown color


Red-bellied Woodpecker, male ......................................................................... Northern Cardinal, male

Ah ha! I see some red on the belly of that red-bellied woodpecker! Great shots, Lin. I have a pair visiting regularly but have only been getting pictures of the female. The male seems to be a lot more shy. Got some more pics of my little downy woodpecker too. Ever-present mourning doves.

Lin I'm surprised you got any photos at all today with all this wind. It was surely ferocious. Reminiscent of the early stages of a hurricane. We got up to 42 mph today & I think the lowest we had all day had to have been 20mph. We saw very few birds today. The black vultures were flying around and that's about all. We saw a male cardinal holding on for dear life deep inside a Carolina cherry laurel. We kept seeing a flash of bright red as the wind blew through it. I got the binoculars & was able to make out it was the cardinal. We heard 1 crow today. That's all the bird life we caught today. I think everyone was just trying to stay out of the wind.

Nice photos, folks!

Cindy - Sorry to hear about the bird death. I find feather in my yard from time to time after what I believe is probably a Red-shouldered Hawk attack.

Elaine, lovely lady Red-bellied and male Downy! We have lots of Doves over here too ... most of the time they feed on the ground beneath the feeders because there are so many Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds and now Cowbirds that take over the feeders.

Ann, the winds have been so ferocious the past two days. We had 35-40 mph winds yesterday and it's about the same today ... very windy but it hasn't kept the birds away from the feeders. Yesterday I actually saw a Dove get blown over! It was kind of funny but sad at the same time. The little Dove was feeding on the ground when a gust of wind must have hit it just right because it went tumbling right over. No harm though, it looked a bit perplexed and then went walking around beneath the feeders eating again. Temperatures were in the upper 30's here last night but tonight is supposed to be even lower at @ 32ºF so I've been keeping the suet and seed feeders filled for our feathered friends to help them through the wind and cold. Here are a few shots today from my kitchen window:

Orchard Oriole (I think)


Blue Jay


Red-bellied WP .................................... Mourning Dove ................................ Boat-tailed Grackle

Anyone have an idea of what these may be? Looks like a pair, they were about the size of my Juncos but solid in color. I tried to get a bit closer but they took off and I haven't seen them since early this morning.