A charm of goldfinches..... so appropriate! Thank you Mika. I don't think I'll ever forget that one.

John, thanks for the updated photos. They're growing like the devil. They'll probably be fledging the nest soon.

Charlotte & Christine, the phoebes are wonderful!

Christine, that baby is so danged cute! Baby birds are just so sweet.

Some of you have seen these before I'm sure since they are from April 2011 but I thought I'd post them again for those who haven't seen them. This baby Carolina Wren left it's nest a bit early. It fluttered about in the grass, then made it's way to the chain link fence where it climbed, flapped and flapped and climbed a bit higher. It seemed a bit bewildered when it ended at the top with the rail above it's head. It eventually made it to the top of the fence rail and flapped and landed over the other side in a neighbors yard where it strutted over to a woodpile next to the neighbors shed. Both adults took turns feeding this little one. Don't you just love the hairdo?

How cute, yes I love the hairdo!

I guess I'm probably a little cooky when it comes to birds. My dh must have thought I lost my mind the other day when we went to town. While we were putting our groceries in the car, a gimpy grackle hopped by us on one leg and I wanted to pull out something from the grocery bag to feed it. Dh said it wasn't a good idea. Just wait, next time I'll go shopping without him...

Love Carolina Wrens! They patrol my back deck for worms. And with the "flying worms" hanging from the live oaks right now, the wrens have plenty to eat.

Wow LOTS of great bird pictures i was away from the computer for a few days and had to catch up on several pages,..active,..very active Thread .

Mika beat me to the European Goldfinch,..i never see them in the back garden but one perched long enough for me to get just the one shot this evening.

Goldfinch........................................................................................Wood Pigeon ( Wood Quest )


Blue Tit.

Wonderful Philip!

I'm thinking the birds across the pond are much more colorful than over here.

Wow, such great pictures. I'm really enjoying seeing all these birds we don't have here.

Laurel! This is a fun thread, with lots of great people, beautiful pics, trivia to make us laugh, the occasional visiting dogs (and bats and squirrels). I hope you will post some pics of the birds in your area - we'd love to see them!

flaflwrgrl said:Wonderful Philip!

I'm thinking the birds across the pond are much more colorful than over here.

Interesting, Ann, that we think exactly the opposite!

"The grass is always greener......" @cliftoncat and @flaflwrgrl
@Laurelca

Hemlady said:Great bird pics everyone

I'm not sure we have the gold eyed grackles here. I think they all have black eyes. I will have to pay more attention to them when they come to feed.

Well, I had a couple of grackles in the yard yesterday and I was wrong. I have the golden eyed grackle. I still think that I get the black eyed ones too. I will just have to be more observant.

Philip, great shots of that beautiful Goldfinch and I love that pretty little Blue Tit! The Wood Pigeon looks a lot like the Pigeons we have here that most people consider pests. I have a neighbor that feeds the Pigeons and there are sometimes large flocks lined up along the electric wires watching her house. I always know when she's putting food out for them because they all take off in a flurry heading right to her deck.

cliftoncat said:

Interesting, Ann, that we think exactly the opposite!

I kind of thought that might be the case. Sort of like zone envy.

flaflwrgrl said:Sort of like zone envy.

Yep, like zone envy regarding plants and flowers or zone envy regarding climate!

plantladylin said:Philip, great shots of that beautiful Goldfinch and I love that pretty little Blue Tit! The Wood Pigeon looks a lot like the Pigeons we have here that most people consider pests. I have a neighbor that feeds the Pigeons and there are sometimes large flocks lined up along the electric wires watching her house. I always know when she's putting food out for them because they all take off in a flurry heading right to her deck.

Your neighbor FEEDS the pigeons??????? Down here in Texas pigeons (along with seagulls) are considered Sky Rats.

Made me think of that old saying, "Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue".

In defence of the wood pigeon, Philip's photo is not the most flattering of it (though a good photo!) They are NOT the same as street pigeons, but quite a bit bigger, and have a pinkish breast, a distinctive green, white and purple patch on their neck and white patch on their wings. In all honesty they are greedy and can 'hog' the bird table, but they are characterful, portly birds that visit country gardens. They are also considered an agricultural pest and some farmers like to shoot them.
We also have collared doves, stock doves, turtle doves and feral pigeons. Feral pigeons are the ones that are also called flying rats, and they tend to live in towns and cities. There used to be sellers of bird seed in Trafalgar Square in London and tourists could hold out their hands with seed in them and be completely covered in pigeons. A law was passed in 2007 prohibiting the feeding of pigeons in Trafalgar Square and now they have harris hawks to try to keep the Square pigeon-free. I think they still do feed pigeons in St Mark's Square in Venice.

Street pigeon (photo Steve Harris)

That is a handsome bird Mika!
That is also an interesting story.

I know there used to be a bounty on Starlings. Is there still? I first learned of this from reading a Michael Caine biography. It said as a kid, he earned money to help the family by shooting Starlings and collecting the bounty.

Don't know much about Starlings, but dove hunting is big business in the southern part of Texas. When I was a kid, cars would be parked along both sides of the road with lots of raised guns ready to blast the unsuspecting birds out of the sky. Pretty sure they were after the white-wings but probably got some Incas as well. I never ate a dove and wouldn't care to....love to listen to their "coos". Today I believe most of the hunting is done on privately owned ranches where hunters pay to shoot.
The local doves patrol the ground under my bird feeders looking for dropped morsels. And they line up at the water dispenser like a queue at Starbucks drive-through.