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New Life List Bird And The Bird Bath Bluebirds

January 2, 2009 – 10:54 am

The first day of 2009 was a nice relaxing day with a little bit of birding and exercise tossed in for good measure.  Both Pam and I rode our bikes to get our exercise.  Then we refueled and did a bit of birding along the Chattahoochee River and came home to find some Bluebirds in our new bird bath.  An action packed day all around :-)

Birding On The River

After we got our New Years bike rides in and ate some lunch we drove a few miles to where Peachtree Parkway (aka Medlock Bridge) crosses over the Chattahoochee River and parked at one of the many sections of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area to do some quick birdwatching.  We walked along the trail for about 45 minutes or so and saw a lot of the same birds that visit our feeders.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) p...
Image via Wikipedia

But we also saw a new bird that we can add to the life list and that was the Yellow-rumped Warbler.  Pam and I saw a few of these flitting about in the trees next to the river.  We forgot our Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America so we noted the colors, etc. and checked as soon as we got home.  We’re getting a little better at least in identifying birds.  Both of us narrowed it down to either a warbler or sparrow without the guide.

Activity At The “Bird Hot Tub”

When we got home, around 4PM, we noticed some visitors to our new “Bird Hot Tub” (as my co-workers called it when they saw I was getting Pam a heated bird bath for Christmas).  There was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds hopping along the edge of the bird bath.  I had the camera nearby and snapped a couple of pictures:

Eastern Bluebirds At The Birdbath

Eastern Bluebirds At The Birdbath

They seemed to be enjoying the fresh water. It was neat that the first birds I saw at the bird bath were the same as the 1st bird I saw for 2009 earlier in the day.  It’s funny how things work sometimes.

A Nice Start To The Year

It was a nice way to start the New Year.  We are hoping to see many more birds this year and we are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you through this blog.

We hope all of you have had a good start to 2009!

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By Mark | Posted in Bird Pictures, Birdwatching, Life List | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

The First Bird Of 2009

January 1, 2009 – 9:07 am

Happy New Year!

It’s the first day of 2009 and Pam and I hope it will be a great year for all of you!

We also hope it will be a year of many new birds for both of us.  But, we all have to start somewhere each and every year.  So, as I posted yesterday, I thought I’d start off 2009 with a post about literally the 1st bird each of us see, whatever it is and wherever it is.  I think this bird qualifies as a significant bird for us because it will be the 1st bird of the first full year of birding for us.  It will hold the cherished spot atop our 2009 list and will be seared into our brains forever because of the circumstances in which it was seen.  The bird should be very proud of itself :-)

And The Winner Is

Pam woke up a bit before me and spotted a female Northern Cardinal as her first bird of 2009.

I got out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee and as I was walking back to the living room I saw a male Eastern Bluebird, all puffed up against the cold, eating some suet.

Here’s a picture I took a while back that shows the Cardinal and Bluebird hanging out together:
Eastern Bluebird and Cardinal

How About You

So, the Cardinal and Bluebird were our first official birds of 2009.  What was yours?

Please participate and post a comment about the first bird you saw today.  It will be neat to see what everyone found as they opened their eyes on January 1st, 2009!

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By Mark | Posted in Birdwatching, Significant Birds | Tagged | Comments (5)

How To Start The 2009 Birding Year

December 31, 2008 – 2:26 pm

Hopefully, all of you will have a great New Year’s Eve.  We plan on staying low and watching a movie, nothing too exciting for us this year  because we want to get up bright and early to start the 2009 birding year.

We figured we would start 2009 off right by recording the first bird we see and posting it here.  Nothing fancy just a way to document the start of the year.

I’ll post our “New Years Bird” sightings relatively early tomorrow morning.  If any of you want to join in the fun just comment on that post with the absolute first bird you saw in 2009, whatever it is.

See you next year! :-)

By Mark | Posted in Birdwatching | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Our First Official Birding Trip

December 27, 2008 – 5:51 pm

Today we loaded up our binoculars and field guide and took our first “official” birding trip away from our backyard.  OK, we didn’t go to South America or anything, just to the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, GA.  The center is 127 acres in size and is along the Chattahoochee River.  It’s about 10 miles from our house and looked like an interesting place to go visit.

Misty And Cool

We arrived a little ofter 9AM with the weather cloudy and cool.  It was about 50 degrees and there was a very light mist/drizzle in the air.  We stopped in the visitor center and got a map of the grounds.  The center has a variety of exhibits including a number of large birds including owls, hawks and a Bald Eagle.  The birds are unable to live in the wild due to a variety of injuries or other problems.

Let The Birding Begin

We spent a few minutes looking at the caged birds then headed out on the many trails to see what we could see.  Here’s the list.  Most of the birds are the same as we see in the backyard.  But we did see some new species (Bolded) It’s easy to see new birds when you have seen so few :-) :

Species Number reported
Canada Goose 20
Mallard 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee 15
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Brown-headed Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
American Robin 10
Northern Mockingbird 2
Chipping Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 12
American Goldfinch 1

The birds that we were most excited to see were the Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Great Blue Heron.  Were hoping to see more water birds but the marsh boardwalk was closed due to the wet weather (too slippery).  We’ll have to go back and try that out later.

We’re Getting Better At This

Both of us really tried to improve our “binocular handling” skills.  One of the hardest things for both Pam and I  is to be able to put the binoculars to your eyes and follow the movement of the birds.  We had lots of opportunities to practice and I think we’re getting better at it.

A Nice Way To Spend A Morning

We finished up around Noon.  I total we spent a little over 2 1/2 hours actively birdwatching.  It was a nice way to spend some time together.  We saw a lot of birds including some new ones, and got to practice our birding skills.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!

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By Mark | Posted in Birdwatching | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

We Finally See The Great Horned Owl

December 26, 2008 – 10:11 am

Over the two years we’ve lived here in Atlanta, we have heard, but never seen, a Great Horned Owl.  We could sit out on our deck and hear them calling to each other back and forth through the pines, especially in the Fall/Winter.  A couple of times we’ve seen a brief glimpse of a big shadow flying between the trees but never saw the entire bird.  Well, yesterday that changed!

Sitting On The Deck Minding Our Business

It was a beautiful Christmas day with temps right around 62. We were sitting on our deck watching the birds come and go from the feeder when we heard the familiar call of the Great Horned Owl.  He seemed to be way off in the distance, a few yards over.  A couple minutes later the sound was much closer.  Most of the time we hear them at dusk, when it’s too dark to see anything.  This time it was 3PM and still very light outside so I kept my eyes open in case I might actually see something.

A Big Shadow In The Corner Of My Eye

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big bird flying to the top of the neighbor’s pine tree.  I said to Pam, “over there” and we looked over in the direction of the shadow to see the owl perch on the tippy-top of a pine tree, about 100 feet up in the air.  Fortunately we had the camera with us out there so I was able to take some pictures:

Great Horned Owl On Pine Tree

Great Horned Owl On Pine Tree 2

I had to use maximum (12x) zoom on the camera and crop the pictures quite a bit to get these but they came out great as far as I’m concerned :-) The owl sat up there for about 5 minutes turning his head from side to side to listen to the other owls call. We heard two others besides him. Finally he flew off the tree towards one of the other owls. We saw him again a bit later sitting partway down a tree right before dusk.

Worth The Wait

While it was frustrating hearing the owls for two years without seeing them, it was worth the wait!  We were able to get some good pictures of the Great Horned Owl as well as fantastic views with the binoculars.  There was enough light and it was a nice clear day.  That was the first time I had seen an owl in the wild since I was a kid and the 1st time ever for Pam.  She was very excited to finally see one somewhere else besides the Zoo!

Now that we’ve seen the Owl we hope to see him again very soon.  They are magnificent birds and I think it’s neat that they are living amongst all of us people like this.  It shows how much nature is right in your backyard if you listen, and look, long enough!

By Mark | Posted in Bird Pictures, Birdwatching, Significant Birds | Tagged , , | Comments (2)
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