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We were at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, of course, which is not only home to Falcated Duck, but many other birds. There are hordes of fowl here (fowl of the water) in winter, with geese having the most prominent presence. A handful of “blue” Snow Geese can be expected as well. These birds look are abominations.
We share our love of birds and birding. It returned last year with a small flock of Canada Geese and then again this year with a much bigger flock, nearing 150, that contained more oddities. So who is this enigmatic leader of birds that started as a sheep and now leads flocks across great distances? We love sharing!
When I read somewhere that Pygmy Geese were not actually geese at all I started doing some research. I discovered that there are actually a fair number of ducks and other waterfowl that are wrongly called geese. So any birds that don’t belong to these genera can be considered either ducks or swans or something else.
Normally, I don’t look forward to seeing the Canada Geese on the lake near my Florida home. Though I’m ignoring the ecological impact of too many geese , I can’t help but hope for more each morning! The post Springtime in Canada Geese Country appeared first on 10,000 Birds.
These Greater White-fronted Geese ( Anser albifrons ) flew in with just enough light to begin taking photographs. Range map courtesy of South Dakota Birds and Birding. As the sun rose higher in the sky I was able to get some shots of the geese flying in… and landing among the tules. Great birding!
Canada Geese are a nuisance. It is not the fault of Canada Geese that they have become a trash bird. The released birds had no urge to migrate and discovered that suburbia, with vast expanses of yummy grass and a plethora of ponds, lakes, and water hazards, was paradise for a Canada Goose. That is really a shame.
It is unclear how or why this happened and it might be a sign of the apocalypse, but mere days after Jochen’s post about surfing grebes a video of surfing geese has surfaced on the interwebs. And those geese are alright, right? I mean, it doesn’t seem like they would choose to be surfing… a.
On the other hand, the Canada Geese have both safety in numbers and famously aggressive personalities. Cranes and geese weren’t alone – the 5000+ acres of the reserve are known for avian life, from Eastern Kingbirds and Eastern Bluebirds to Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-headed Woodpeckers.
Serious birders may have an obsessive interest in birds, but one thing they universally don’t like are birds which, they believe, aren’t properly wild. This individual was photographed in India There’s one problem with this approach, as it can lead to birds being ignored.
Also of interest is how Mute Swans are employed to deter Canada Geese. Which would you rather: slovenly geese or homicidal swans? That’s one of the valuable takeaways from this tragic tale out of Chicago of a man drowned by the very swans he cared for. Hat tip to Meredith!)
In the past, when we have had a lot of rainfall in the Broome area during our wet season we have had the arrival of high numbers of Magpie Geese. In 2017 the arrival of the Magpie Geese warned us of the high rainfall ahead and then they bred in the area. The Magpie Geese bred again in the Broome area during 2018.
This morning a plane taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City hit a bird , which caused engine failure. This is after two years of geese killings in New York City , ostensibly to thin the flocks and protect civilian aviation. Anyone want to bet that they double down and start killing more geese?
After spending the early morning on Saturday birding at Alley Pond Park I was happy with having seen my first Eastern Phoebe of the year and thought I could rest on my laurels for the rest of the weekend. And the West Pond was covered with Snow Geese , with well over 1,500 birds all around the edges.
New York City’s premiere wildlife refuge proved to be no refuge for Canada Geese on Monday morning as federal agents rounded up 711 geese – including goslings – and packed them up for a trip to upstate New York where they will be gassed and their meat will be provided to food banks.
In fact, yesterday when I spent the day birding the coast of Long Island and Queens with my frequent birding partner Seth, we both had to shed layers of clothes because it was so warm and sunny. The lack of cold and snow has not deterred snow birds from showing themselves this year. It was weird. That was nice.
Fortunately for me, Seth Ausubel, my frequent birding buddy, and I had decided to spend the day out in Suffolk County on the east end of Long Island looking for birds. And what a day’s birding we had! all three of the Greater White-fronted Geese we spotted with a bunch of Canada Geese.
When I saw a Turkey Vulture soaring serenely over the frozen tundra of Rochester last month, I took the sighting as an example of how confused, in a potentially fatal way, some birds can get. Still, the poor bird may be in for some frigid nights ere warm weather settles in. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?
The distribution of color morphs is unequal in the Snow Goose population, with the maximum number of blue-morph geese occurring in mid-continent breeding and wintering areas 1. I photographed these blue morph Snow Geese at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge where I saw quite a few, including this juvenile (below). v=DYNb-0vYTE8.
The Christmas Bird Count was the answer. The IWC census starts from mid-January following the logic that it is the period when the birds have reached their wintering grounds and are rather static, so the chance of double-counting the same flock is minimal. But it is so frustrating to pass the birds by without IDing them!
When in northwest Ohio there are many options from which to choose a birding site. But if you want herons and ducks and shorebirds and geese and egrets and swans and rails the best bet is the famed Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge along State Route 2 in Oak Harbor, Ohio. … a.
Do you toss the bird your leftovers? And if you have a small kid and are in the vicinity of some ducks and geese? Do you feed the birds then? It seems like the people that run an awful lot of parks don’t want you feeding the birds. Wild birds should not be coming up to people looking for food.
Like so many, the majority of my birding since the Covid-19 pandemic began has centered on my own backyard and local walking excursions. But as we kicked off 2021, I found myself far from my current home in North Florida, surrounded by a plethora of Maine birds! Birding from a Maine beach. A Red-breasted Nuthatch perhaps?
What this land-locked country lacks in endemic birds it more than makes up for in accessibility of tough species, numbers of birds and the overall wildlife experience. It is also home to the largest concentration of African Elephants on the planet and over 450 bird species. We are currently filming in Botswana.
All winter long I birded the old Edgemere Landfill, especially after the surprising Le Conte’s Sparrow just before the Queens Christmas Bird Count. The site is just too interesting, too potentially good for vagrants, too underbirded, and too picturesque not to bird it as a Queens birder. Snow Geese at Edgemere in January.
Nisqually NWR) is one of Washington’s finest and most popular birding locations. It is on my list as one of the Top 25 NWRs for Birding. (As Nisqually NWR is a major staging area for migratory birds , a wintering area for many ducks and geese, and a breeding area for numerous songbirds.
At the snowy Danube riverbank, we are waiting for geese to come to their roost inside the mostly submerged island. Also, Little and Great Crested Grebes , Pygmy and Great Cormorants , Eurasian Coots and Common Moorhens , Black-headed and Caspian Gulls … And a lot more birds further in the background. Watch for the dark beaks.”
Thee is still no information on the more recent killings of the majestic birds. In a completely unrelated case, a South Dakota man, Randy Albers, pled guilty to charges related to poisoning Canada Geese on his farm and was sentenced to a year of probation. He must also pay a $5,000 fine and $1,650 in restitution.
Ah Hawaii, land of beautiful beaches, surfing, warm weather, and unique birds. Because of its distance to the mainland, Hawaii is home to over 60 species of endemic birds. Few are as unique (or rare) as the Nene , or Hawaiian Goose , Hawaii’s state bird. Unlike other geese, Nenes prefer walking to swimming.
Though the birding around Lake Kerkini may be outstanding, it’s inevitably the lake itself that is the centre of interest. Few suitable nesting trees still survive today When I visited Kerkini last month, the water was high as high as I have ever seen it, though the number of ducks and geese was low, as is usual.
So many sexy snow birds pop up this time of year: Snow Buntings , Snow Geese , Snowy Owls … But if you’re like me, you couldn’t get out to see them this weekend. Between work and shoveling, I had no chance to get out birding. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'
Near the sand dunes, the first “V” made out of a hundred or so Greater White-fronted Geese , They spend the night on the water and in the morning they spread over arable fields to forage; but most of them do so at the crack of dawn and these 100 must have overslept. After that, birds gradually thin out and winter drowsiness overtakes me.
discovered that the usual flock of several thousand Pink-footed Geese was wintering in the Broads National Park. Although a quite common bird of Norfolk, for me it was an attractive lure and a possibility of a lifer. Still, the tide was not nearly as high as we hoped for and all the birds were quite far away.
Oh to be in Texas admiring the celebrity bird du jour , an incredibly unexpected Amazon Kingfisher ! Amazing encounters occur when amazing birders visit amazing places, but serendipitous sightings increase exponentially when so many amazing birders gather for an amazing birding festival. What was your best bird of the weekend?
The bird is just chilling out, waiting for the urge to fly. The bird below is also waiting, but not to fly. One might assume this is a falconry bird, but it’s not. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of birds knows the efficiency and delicacy of their respiratory systems. Now imagine you have the lungs of a bird.
Keep your eyes to the skies for birds in migration, like these Snow Geese snapped by Heidi Spitzig. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend ! March traditionally goes out like a lamb. How about you?
John from A DC Birding Blog , and Patrick from The Hawk Owl’s Nest at Jamaica Bay at 8 AM Saturday morning for some birding. But Red-winged Blackbirds weren’t the only birds that returned in numbers. Maybe their numbers are being augmented by birds that wintered a bit further south? Why does this matter?
Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. After taking an ornithology course last year, he was hooked and spends most of his free time birding or reading birding blogs. This is truly a bird-lovers dream-destination.
In early 2014 the rainfall was good and flooded the main highway south from Broome and made for some excellent birding from your car. The area remained flooded for several months in 2014 and there was significant road damage, but over the months the birding improved as more and more birds arrived in the area.
Of course it also means that there is only one week left of birding to top up your year list and I am not really expecting to add anything new to my year list over the next week unless the tropical low that is buffeting the north-west of Western Australia throws something our way. It is quintessentially a Christmas bird! Common Snipe.
When asking “Where Are You Birding This Weekend?” The insightful point I meant to make is that springing forward means losing an hour of sleep, not an hour of birding. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was one of three great goose species he saw on Saturday during a day-long expedition in eastern Long Island.
Did you ever wonder what the world looks like through a bird’s eyes? From the comfort of your own living room (or wherever your TV is), you’ll be able to essentially peer over the shoulders of birds as they fly, and see what they see. Above, Snow Geese approach the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
I wanted to bird among the blossoms. Despite all the people, the birds were incredibly active, rarely shy, and a reminder that natural wonders like the cherry blossoms interact with more than just us humans. Unfortunately for me and my future birding adventures, this amateur birder still struggles with the early morning wake-up.
The Great Backyard Bird Count kicked off yesterday, and will continue throughout the weekend before ending on the 15th. The idea is simple: birders from around the world count birds at least one time for at least fifteen minutes, and submit their data through eBird or the Merlin Bird ID app. The highlights? A fine start to GBBC!
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