OT: any birders / bird watchers on this forum?

[cash05458]

My wife and I started feeding about three months ago...nothing complicated....a plate on the porch railing in front of the living room window...it has been amazing how fast word got out and we are now going thru 100 pounds of seed per month...the array of birds we are getting is incredible...just got a box of 20 suet cakes for the winter they are digging as well...good stuff!

[josephr]

Originally Posted by 572cv

When its below freezing, having a little suet feeder is great for those guys. I think it is a red bellied woodpecker, which doesn't have a red belly, curiously.

its a yellowhammer...state bird of Alabama...also called a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

the hawk from the OP looks like an immature red-tail, way too big to be a Cooper's.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by benb

I am less active these days with birding & photography but I really do love birds.

This is probably the picture of mine I'm most proud of in terms of birds. Wild Barred Owl... IIRC this was my old Canon 5D + 300mm f/4 lens + 1.4x Tele Converter. I am way more proud of actually spotting the damn thing. My wife and I were snowshoeing and we spotted this owl. In our area you hear them constantly but they are incredibly hard to spot. We have a pretty large print of this (12"x18" matted & framed) in our living room and it gets a lot of compliments.

very nice

i've never seen an owl since I started, though I know that they are around, as one hoots quite often

out of curiosity, do you ever feel that you need more reach with a 300 mm lens?

Originally Posted by 572cv

When its below freezing, having a little suet feeder is great for those guys. I think it is a red bellied woodpecker, which doesn't have a red belly, curiously.

Originally Posted by josephr

its a yellowhammer...state bird of Alabama...also called a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

the hawk from the OP looks like an immature red-tail, way too big to be a Cooper's.

I'm pretty sure that the woodpecker is a red bellied woodpecker. One has to really observe closely to see the small patch of red on belly of the bird.

I'd like to catch a glimpse of this fellow: the red-headed woodpecker. But they are quite rare


and I think you and @nighthawk are probably right that it's a red-tailed hawk. the bird was quite large. Also a bit funny that this is the only hawk i've observed since I started

Originally Posted by cash05458

My wife and I started feeding about three months ago...nothing complicated....a plate on the porch railing in front of the living room window...it has been amazing how fast word got out and we are now going thru 100 pounds of seed per month...the array of birds we are getting is incredible...just got a box of 20 suet cakes for the winter they are digging as well...good stuff!

nicely done (though i'd imagine schlepping 100 pounds of seed is no fun)

I kept on telling my partner that we'll get feeders set up one of these days. It's really cold here in Wisconsin, and I think the birds really do need it. Doesn't hurt that I may get a few chances to get that cardinal(s) in the snow shot that I really would like to take. Only downside is that we'll have to be really diligent at cleaning...

[Hilltopperny]

I see plenty of wildlife out here in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The hawk you have pictured looks like a juvenile red tail to me.

No good photos as I only ever have my phone camera with me, but plenty of Bald Eagle sightings down by the Mohawk River valley every year.

Out at the in laws there are lots of coopers and red tail hawks along with lots of different varieties of finches and we see hummingbirds daily as well. The Herons try to steal fish from the ponds and every once in a while you may see an Osprey or an Eagle passing through.


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[jamesdak]

I've got a lot of bird pics from over the years. Love shooting them.

[Seramount]

as a biologist, my first job out of college was baseline data collection for Env Impact Statements for large-scale energy projects. involved IDing and obtaining numerical counts of birds (and other critters)....

was a sweet deal, traveling on expense account to bulk up my Life List.

but, haven't picked my binocs and field guides in quite a while...should probably dust em off, it's a fun hobby.

[jamesdak]

Even with several field guides it's hard to pin down hawks for me. So much variation and such.

[duke]

Common Loons are just that around here in the winter.

[rustychisel]

Here's one from southern Australia, a Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus), photographed in my backyard (with kill). She was distinctly unhappy at my intrusion, even when I was 30 metres away.

[RFC]

Originally Posted by echappist

especially so, when one is limited to a measly bridge camera with a measly 1/2.3 sensor

wild life photography may be the one hobby whose expenditure can seriously compete with cycling

here's one; the other shot with a bit more detail somehow can't be uploaded

i'm thinking immature red tailed hawk? not really sure. the telltale brown-red tail feathers aren't there, but it doesn't look like a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned either

Around here, Redtails and Coopers are the predominate hawks around me. I feed the Quail and doves, and the hawks also come by to get their share. What a sight to see a hawk dive through the canopy of trees that surround my backyard and smack a dove in mid air. The strike is clearly audible.

IMHO, that's a Redtail. Coopers are darker and their legs are bare with no feathers.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

I've got a lot of bird pics from over the years. Love shooting them.

wow, amazing shots. all those feather details, too. What equipment did you use?

Also, is that a kestrel? One wonders how long you had to wait to get that shot. What hawk species is the second one?

Originally Posted by rustychisel

Here's one from southern Australia, a Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus), photographed in my backyard (with kill). She was distinctly unhappy at my intrusion, even when I was 30 metres away.

is that bird native to Oz? reminds me of the sparrowhawks that are so common in England

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by echappist

wow, amazing shots. all those feather details, too. What equipment did you use?

Also, is that a kestrel? One wonders how long you had to wait to get that shot. What hawk species is the second one?

The Kestrel was shot using my old manual focus Nikon 800/5.6 adapted on a Canon 5D. To be honest I was leaving a morning of bird shooting at a refuge and saw this guy on the way out. Got off about 5 frames before he took off.

The other is a Swainson Hawk if I remember correctly. Shot before Minolta stopped making camera's with a Maxxum 7 and Minolta 300/4 APO.

[gasman]

My wife and I have enjoyed birding for many years yet we have avoided photography as it adds another layer of gear. Binocs, guides and spotting scope is plenty to carry around.

Great photos James !!

I also agree that the first hawk is an immature red tail. They have tremendous variability in their markings.
Too big to be a Coopers I think also.

[martl]

i'm busy watching the chickadees wolfing throug my sunflower seeds at an unbelievable rate while sipping my morning coffee sitting on my balcony...

[mtechnica]

Here are a few random ones. Pretty sure these were all with a canon 5Dmk1 and 70-200 f/4L (that and a 17-40L is all I have besides a few M42 manual focus lenses).