Birds!

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Thanks for the response. Not a night heron, I know those. Also, it wasn't the typical heron-squawk. I've not heard anything like it before.

Except...maybe...there was a night time sound on a lake in Maine. It had sort of the same quality to it. I couldn't decide if it was a bird or a frog.

This did sound something like the Marine Toad we have here in Florida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajdbUjU_Aco

/\During migration periods I’ve heard strange bird sounds I’m not familiar with.

^ me too. There are bird calls around my house that, while I have heard them for years, I don't have any idea what they are. They stay up in the canopy and I can almost never see them.

This morning two Swallow-tailed Kites were swooping over my yard. It is hard not to be impressed by these birds. Black and white, powerful and graceful.

There seem to be more and more Red Kites around - their reintroduction has gone very well.

I was watching one a few days ago, just riding the thermals way up high and perfectly stationary. Occasionally he'd angle his tail for a short ride downwind and a new location.

I quite often see a pair lazily circling overhead; another time a pair swooped down really low, to check out the aviary - that was quite a sight.

Magnificent, beautiful birds.




An excellent video:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/80364502

My chickens are in a run with a wire top because of hawks.There is a pair of red tailed hawks that frequent my place and do fly overs.One of them landed on top of the chicken run to jack with the chickens.It perched there staring down at them for quite awhile.
Those hens were really upset for a whole day, refused to come out of the coop.

Harris sparrows ……..

This morning during a bike ride I saw a bunch of crows going crazy in a tree.

I could see a larger bird among them, so I stopped to see what the fuss was.

After a few more seconds of chaos in the tree, a bald eagle flies out with a bunch of crows biting it.

I guess there was a murder of crows.

Also see lots of these, doing this:

I don’t know many bird types. A couple of months ago there was a bird that chirped in order and then backwards outside of my bedroom. For instance, “chirp x 4, chirp x 3, chirp x 2, chirp x 3, chirp x 4 chirp x 3, chirp x 2 and so on” I thought that was interesting.

^ That's a good start, being able to discriminate the rhythms and notes and character of birdsong.

Where I live now, most of the smaller songbirds I cannot see. But I know most of them by sound. Some of them, I know the song, but don't know the bird that goes with it.

Chaffinches in the churchyard.

Been observing lotsa hawks hovering in the area.

OMG! A pair of wood ducks were on our pond this evening. The female was even sitting on the dock! There are wood ducks in the area but never on our pond.

Those are really striking! I like them.

That’s awesome! I think they are the prettiest ducks.
Maybe you could build some nest boxes by the pond.

^ We've talked about putting up a wood duck nesting box, but weren't sure our pond would be attractive enough. We never see them on our pond, although we see them nearby.

So, now is the time, it would seem. Perhaps it is because of the drought that our less than ideal pond is even being considered.

This morning I saw a female hummingbird on a cattail, apparently picking out fluff for a nest. I have never seen that happen before, although obviously they do. It was so exciting! (I am easily entertained by birds. )