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billfromlaketravis

By billfromlaketravis
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DougO

DougO 5,243

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White breasted nuthatch I tracked down out in the boonies this weekend. I was following previous reports. They are uncommon around here, but this one particular farming area seems to get them every year.

 

wbnuthatch.jpg

whitebreastednuthatch.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by DougO
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The Royal We

The Royal We 3,067

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I live on a pretty rural lake out in East Texas and see a lot of the birds posted up-thread by Anton.  We have a pair of nesting Bald Eagles that have been around for a few years now and I see them quite a bit.  I work from home most of the time and can always hear them chattering well before I can see them.  When the lake was really low last fall I saw them hang out on the shore and pick apart a decent sized catfish with the quickness.

I've been putting up Eastern Bluebird boxes for a few years and have an ongoing battle with the area rat snakes trying to get the babies.  I put up a 5 foot section of stove pipe around the pole that the main box is mounted on yesterday and hope that puts an end to my problem.  It's mounted outside the window to my office and I really enjoy watching the whole process.  I saw a male scouting the other day but it was before I'd cleaned out the nest from the year before so they wouldn't take to the box.

I really want to get a big set of Purple Martin pods but haven't pulled the trigger yet.  Something like this:

Ravenox_Gemini_24_Gourd_Rack.png?v=1612221345

I have a friend that has some of these up out in the country near their pond and it's a lot of fun to watch them go to work.

I've never noticed this thread before but will try to get some pictures to share.

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hookem2010

hookem2010 2,623

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20 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Subscribed.  Birding is something I've started to get more interested in since Covid when I spent a lot of time watching my backyard.  And of course backpacking gives me a lot of opportunities as well.  Bird blinds at state parks are one of my wife's favorite things.  

Pedernales Falls has a great one. I'm now impatiently awaiting spring migration, which doesn't peak for two more months. I've had my share of ducks and sparrows for the winter.

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17,058

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as someone who had a one eyed dog i have a soft spot for cyclops critters.  call a rehab and see what they say, i'd imagine a one-eyed hawk can't survive in the wild very well. 

All the wildlife places are closed. Called TPWD and they gave me a number of a lady. Left her a message. Was hoping a game warden could grab it.
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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17,058

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I'm curious what your potential plan is for capturing and transporting a wounded raptor. Seems like it might be a difficult and painful proposition. 
 

He let me get 3 feet away. No raptor sits on the ground and lets something bigger come they close unless it’s hurt. He can walk fine and I saw him eating something out of the water in the ditch. But he can’t fly and if the caracaras and vultures don’t get him, I suspect a bobcat or coyotes will.

I have leather gloves and a sheet to throw over him, but no containment. The rehab person TPWD told me didn’t call me back.

So I bid him good fortune in the wars to come and headed home.
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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 21,052

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Sounds like a tough situation. Unless you have the ability to contain and care for him until you hear back from a rehab/shelter sort of outfit, it sounds like your hands are pretty much tied. 

How hard/inconvenient is it for you to get back to where he is? Maybe bring him a meal to tide him over until you can get him into a rehab facility? 

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17,058

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Sounds like a tough situation. Unless you have the ability to contain and care for him until you hear back from a rehab/shelter sort of outfit, it sounds like your hands are pretty much tied. 
How hard/inconvenient is it for you to get back to where he is? Maybe bring him a meal to tide him over until you can get him into a rehab facility? 

I doubt I’ll make it back out tonight. But I might go back tomorrow with some food and a cage. But considering the location, if it can’t at least get to the top of some deer fence or a tree, I doubt it survive.
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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45,663

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4 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:


I doubt I’ll make it back out tonight. But I might go back tomorrow with some food and a cage. But considering the location, if it can’t at least get to the top of some deer fence or a tree, I doubt it survive.

Yeah. Good on you for trying, but if tpwd doesn’t get back to you, I’d say best to let nature take its course. Sucks. 

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hookem2010

hookem2010 2,623

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22 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Best free app to identify birds?

I know it was mentioned upthread. Apologies in advance. 

As mentioned, Merlin is probably the best. Not an app, but Cornell's all about birds site offers pictures of similar species and how to differentiate between them, which is super helpful when you begin to realize that many species are nearly identical. If you care about being that specific with an ID... Between similar species, sexual dimorphism, juveniles and plumage changes to individual birds depending on season, it can be a lot at the beginning.

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DougO

DougO 5,243

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On 3/19/2023 at 12:02 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

Best free app to identify birds?

I know it was mentioned upthread. Apologies in advance. 

Merlin, by Cornell U. 

It includes description ID, photo ID and sound ID that have been fairly recently updated. Install the app, then download the bird pack for Texas/Oklahoma and/or North America, or for whatever part of the world you may be roaming. 

None of these apps are complete verification of a bird sighting or sound. The are tools for narrowing down the candidates. 

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DougO

DougO 5,243

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And use eBird online to see what birds are identified in particular areas, including popular hotspots. Go to ebird.org, then under "location" select the county you are looking in. The "Major Location" is like North America. Then the second box is "Region" where you would start typing in the county. Then you will see the list of birds most recently IDed in that county, and you can find more specific location info there.

There is also an eBird app so you can do all that stuff from your phone. The website is easier, though.

You can register and keep your observations there if you want to share. Any questionable birds on your lists will be reviewed by a regional expert. You will get email feedback from the expert if something is in doubt or is nuked because it just isn't likely that you saw an Ivory Billed Woodpecker. 

When you submit a checklist for a particular outing, you will get a list with checkboxes of the birds that are known to likely be in the area you are birding. 

That's really the best tool for becoming aware of the birds in your area and where to find specific ones.

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Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5,945

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for tracking migrations: https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-DC

should help you learn physical id: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/#

for seeing what's been identified around you: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L795955

as mentioned, merlin is great for bird call id.  After awhile, you can id many without the app.  

 

 

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Updawg

Updawg 2,266

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Damn you guys are good. I want to start attracting more birds but my daughters cat goes out during the day so I can’t.

Last year had a couple of owls but they moved on. I made an owl house so hopefully someone comes back

Before that the best I’ve seen were painted and indigo buntings here is sw austin. Saw a cool hawk in the front yard when we got home from Heb tonight

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ohchaucer

ohchaucer 1,443

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Well, I don’t have a good enough camera setup yet so no pics, but I did invest in some M5 Nikons to upgrade my yard viewing and it’s been a huge step up. We live on about 2 acres in Westport CT which is a coastal town and our neighborhood is pretty quiet. We also have a small pond and creek and so we get lots of interesting wildlife. We have some off and on resident mallards (2 pairs) and lots of barred owls and herons and egrets dining on the million frogs out there. Yesterday we had a couple of male wood ducks and one female swimming around. We’ve also recently seen some Eastern Phoebes and a Pileated Woodpecker recently. As it warms up we will also see tons of Hairy, Downy and Red Bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers.

But I’m most excited about our Bluebird box. Hung it up over the winter and finally this week got a male claiming it and several females hanging around. Gonna start setting out mealworms to help the little guy out.

Anyone else have experience with Bluebird houses and feeding?

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DougO

DougO 5,243

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Hit and miss with bluebirds here. A couple of years ago they were all over the place on the property. The big freeze did a number on them and they had a hard time coming back. I think the Cooper's Hawks nailed a few more, they're pretty easy targets to spot for those bastards. But hawks gotta eat, too, ya know. I still see some occasionally on the outer fringes of the pasture, but they don't nest in the bird boxes near home. I don't think they like to nest near a lot of trees where predators can hide out and swoop in quickly.  They seem to like being out in the open a lot better.

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ohchaucer

ohchaucer 1,443

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Well, my bluebird tenant seems to have bailed. Haven’t seen him (or his girlfriend(s)) in a couple of days.

But in his absence, we have had some pond drama as we have a male/female pair of wood ducks and a pair of mallards both scoping the place out. It’s interesting to watch them kinda awkwardly jockey for space. They also come and go via a feeder creek and they often have confusing little traffic jams which, every time, culminate in the wood ducks hopping out to walk around the mallards (who are about 50% bigger). Also, a week or so ago, the female wood ducks was accompanied by two males and now she seems to have made a selection as they are quite a pair now (assuming it’s all the same ducks).

It’s all quite riveting, of course, so I’ll keep everyone closely apprised of the drama.

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