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 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Unless I am mistaken, this is a juvenile red-shouldered hawk [buteo lineatus] learning to fly over a backyard swimming pool right down the street from Jefferson State Community College. There were two young hawks being taught to fly by their parents, which we've identified before as red-shouldered hawks. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | It's really too hot to fish here now in this Alabama summer, but the yellow-crested night herons [nyctanassa violacea] in Roebuck Springs don't seem to have a problem with it... |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | A rose-breasted grosbeak taking a spring bath... |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | The spring bird migration continued at its peak on Saturday and Sunday, with all kinds of warblers passing through middle Alabamaland. The rose-breasted grosbeaks visited the yard today, along with a shy blue grosbeak, a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds and a couple of brown thrashers [toxostoma rufum] like this one. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | The yellow-crowned night herons have returned to the tributary of Village Creek running through the Roebuck Golf Course, heralding in the spring bird migration in middle Alabamaland. They say it's a nocturnal species [nyctanassa violacea] of the Southern swamps and coasts, but there are two that fish all day long near tee-box number 12, paying little attention to golfers - or photographers. I was able to walk right up on this one Wednesday and get a really close shot. I call this one Smeagall for the way it sneaks up on the fish. |
 | | A male red-winged blackbird [agelaius phoeniceus] posing on a cattail on a tributary of Village Creek in Roebuck Springs, Alabama. Perhaps the most abundant bird in North America, the red-winged blackbird population is estimated at 190 million. It is a highly polygynous species, with one male having up to 15 different females making nests in his territory, which it fiercely defends during the breeding season. The male vigorously keeps all other males out of the territory and defends the nests from predators, and will attack much larger animals, including horses and people. | |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | A female Eastern towhee [pipilo erythrophthalmus] taking a bath during the 2007 spring migration. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | The spring bird migration is off to a slow start, but the white-throated sparrows are making themselves at home here with their neat little call. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Woops! I spoke too soon. Just couldn't resist posting this little tufted titmouse [baeolophus bicolor]. Also, according to Rob Fergus, senior scientist for urban bird conservation at the National Audubon Society, Alabama birders have submitted 224 checklists so far and reported 118 species, even though there are several days left for birders to report. Birmingham has submitted the most checklists, 35, followed by Tuscaloosa with 12 and Anniston with 8. The state report is available in map format at tinyurl.com/2fos5u, and the BirdSource.Org site is still taking reports at birdsource.org/gbbc. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | This is, no doubt, a Carolina chickadee [poecile carolinensis] hiding seeds in the bark of a dogwood tree near the Jefferson County-Blount County line in Middle Alabama. The mercury only made it up to 55 today, but it was the nicest day of the bird count. Unfortunately, the birds were off playing in someone else's yard for the most part this afternoon. The robins were back, but they are not convinced its spring, yet. I chased one around the house trying to get a photo worth posting. No luck. Maybe the good folks at Cornell and Audubon ought to consider moving this bird count event forward a week or two. The spring migration will be in full-swing in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see those cedar waxwings and grosbeaks again. Maybe I can get a serviceable shot of that amazing, almost purple blue grosbeak |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | A male Northern cardinal [cardinalis cardinalis] visits a dogwood tree on day three of the Great Backyard Birdcount. The cardinals always seem to be the last birds to visit the feeders in the late afternoon. And they always issue their short, sharp warning call to alert the other birds when the hawks circle overhead, the cats come sneaking into the yard, or humans (like me) come sneaking around with a camera : ) But as time goes by, they seem to get used to me. Maybe they realize I'm the one keeping them in birdfeed and fresh water and making sure the bird baths stay clean. Some people may consider it cheating to put out food for the birds and then take their picture. But our philosophy is, humans have taken the birds' habitat, fragmented it and polluted it, so it is our duty to help them out a little - especially in the cold winter months. And let's face it. Life in the suburbs would be a dismal affair without them... |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | With a cold wind blowing, still, it's amazing any birds are out at all. But the brave Carolina chickadee (poecile carolinensis) could not resist coming out to play and feed with his friends the tufted titmouse couple, always first into the dogwood tree in the morning, along with the cardinals, the finches, the doves, the white-throated sparrows - and a couple of visiting dark-eyed juncos. No sign of the Eastern towhees today. Both red-shouldered hawks flew by overhead about noon. And I heard the large flock of blackbirds, crows and robins, but they never came into the front yard today. The resident mockingbirds were there too, of course. Not much migrant action yet. Too cold, brrr... |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | An Alabama mockingbird huddles in the cold on the second day of the Great Backyard Birdcount. This one and his or her mate make their home in the front yard in the shrubs. At night during the summer sometimes they make a heck of a racket, almost enough to keep you awake. For better or worse, this is the sharpest image we could get in the afternoon session today. Clouds moved in and blocked the sunlight. We did get photos of two unidentified birds, a pair of small gray birds and one interesting looking brown one - not sharp enough to publish. Checking the birds guides tonight... One of the red-shouldered hawks did circle overhead, once. No sign of the doves... |
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