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Birding & Nature Journal


Fish Folk

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  • 3 weeks later...

First time since April 1st I’ve been able to go birding with my son. Achilles is repaired enough to allow for a slow walk.

Stop #1 — highland swamp, searching for Alder Flycatcher

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It was 68°-F at 5:30 am where we started down almost at the river level near the Upper Potomac. Going ip towards the Eastern Continental divide, temps dropped to 56°-F.

Goal was to _hear_ it while in _our_ county. We literally stood on the county line…

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And we got it!

Edited by Fish Folk
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On 6/19/2022 at 3:48 PM, Fish Folk said:

persuaded my son to share this adorable photo of two Screech Owls, both color forms, who flew in to recording of Chickadees scolding a Screech Owl…

Nice photo! Here’s my lo res iPhone pics of a couple of juvenile Barred Owls in our yard today. 
 

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Edited by Patrick_G
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On 6/19/2022 at 7:53 PM, Patrick_G said:

Nice photo! Here’s my lo res iPhone pics of a couple of juvenile Barred Owls in our yard today. 
 

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Very nice!! Barred Owls are favorites of mine because of how responsive they are to tape.

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On 6/19/2022 at 5:12 PM, Fish Folk said:

Very nice!! Barred Owls are favorites of mine because of how responsive they are to tape.

The juveniles seem to take a few weeks to learn how to become owls. After fledging they’re out during the day and doing weird things like sitting on our driveway or perching on the cars. It’s a fun time for us people because we get to see watch the owl show. 
 

On 6/19/2022 at 5:12 PM, Fish Folk said:

responsive they are to tape.

Do you mean recordings? The ones in our area are suckers for that! 

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On 6/19/2022 at 8:30 PM, Patrick_G said:

Do you mean recordings? The ones in our area are suckers for that! 

Yeah. Birder's call it "playing tape." My son runs Audubon App from his iPhone through a JBL Clip to call certain birds. He also has a 1.5 minute recording of Chickadees scolding a Screech Owl that draws in ALL the songbirds. 

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I need to ask my daughter if I can post the lovely bird of prey she rescued from a church (injured wing) and drove 4 hours to meet up with a licensed rehab, all before heading to work *while* taking care of the twins.

Never a dull moment with 3 yo twins😁 I can't wait until my health is back to the point they can hang out [safely] again.

We have positively identified the ravens who are raising a family in a nearby pinon by their calls, as well as white shouldered doves and mourning doves, and 2 families of ring necks. Hawk seems to have moved elsewhere since the forest fires got too close. We haven't had a good air day since April, until the monsoons finally started today... and now we have flash flood warnings. I haven't been able to get any pictures that are even close to identifiable, lol

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@Fish Folk here you go, from Doña Ana county, NM

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You can see the far wing was damaged, either clipped by a car or bounced off the power lines in pursuit of prey, according to the rehab. A decade spent convincing free-range poultry to allow strangers in white hazamat suits (USDA inspectors) to swab their throats and cloacas made capturing a single hawk fairly easy, according to my daughter.

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ORD, thanks! The debate was Swainsons or Coopers, and I can/t remember why it was a debate? Bird was about (just under) 2' tall, if that helps. No recordings of the call because it stayed eerily silent the entire time it was with my daughter. Made what she called the bird equivalent of a purr when she rescued it from "far too many people trying to corral it at the church."

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Awesome photos here, I love birds too, Tanagers are my favorite. For some strange reason, it seems that aquarists also have a thing for birds, most of the people I know in the hobby are also fanatics of birds.

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On 1/9/2022 at 7:58 AM, Fish Folk said:

Awesome! My son has been begging to visit Cape May sometime…

Take him sometime. It's magical in the fall, but can also be quite good during spring migration.  If you go in the spring, try to time it with the full moon and Red Knot migration/Atlantic Horseshoe Crab egg laying. It's quite the spectacle!

 

If you go in the fall, anytime is great birding, depending on what species you're targeting. First 2-3 weeks in October is gangbusters for hawk migration, plus a good all around time for passerines and monarch butterfly migration as well.  Make sure to check out CMBO (Cape May Bird Observatory) and their schedule. Your son may be able to go on a photography walk with some of the greats, like Kevin Karlson or Scott Whittle.  

 

I sure do miss the place and haven't been in about 8 years.

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