Baby Goose

 

 

A lone gosling came by with its two parents this evening. This is our first baby photo of the season, but there will be more.

The Robin's Nest

 

There's a robin's nest in our yard. We are very excited, but we'll fill in the details another day.

Bald Eagle Nest at Duke Farms

There is a web cam at a bald eagle's nest on Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ. We watched on the web for a while this morning and saw the eagle feed two chicks. A screen capture is below. The live web cam feed can be accessed from the Duke Farms web site or if all works well, clicking on the bottom image.




PLEASE NOTE: Bald Eagles are extremely sensitive to human disturbance. At no time should anyone approach nesting eagles. People who want to observe or photograph eagles and who come too close may actually cause the birds to abandon a nest.
Federal law also protects eagles with penalties up to $10,000 and 2 years in jail.

More Birds

 

We read that the Robin turns its head not to listen for worms but to look for them.

 

The male goldfinches are a bright yellow this time of year. The females aren't nearly as colorful.

 

A Canada Goose sitting on her nest. We've seen some goslings the past few days, but they aren't plentiful yet.

 

We usually post profiles of the Red Bellied Woodpecker, but here he's showing off his red belly. They are very awkward on flat surfaces

Eastern Kingbird

Tree Swallow

 

We have been unable to convince a duck to make a nest in the duck house we purchased. A tree swallow has been checking out the neighborhood. (Thanks Beth, we thought it was a barn swallow).

Common Backyard Birds in New Jersey in the Spring

 

The Pine Siskin is supposed to be here only for the winter. Their range is extending and they may stay. I hope they let the goldfinches have a turn at the thistle feeder.

 

One female and two male cardinals have been frequenting this feeder. There appears to be quite a competition for her attention by the males.

Male Northern Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse and Northern Cardinal

House Finch and Tufted Titmouse

Downy Woodpecker

Ruby Crowned Kinglets Return

 

 

We stayed outside for most of the day on Saturday since good weather is such a rarity around these parts. All was quiet and Chris noticed a very small bird in the trees. At first she thought it was a hummingbird since it was moving about quickly. We eventually determined it was a few ruby-crowned kinglets. We watched them dart off the branches to get insects, and when you watch long enough and get lucky, you can even see the ruby crown on the male. The bottom picture shows a bit of the ruby crown, but occasionally there is a large brilliant flash of ruby. If the sun keeps shining and they return today , we'll try for a better picture of this little cutie showing off his crown.

Beaver Photos

 

 

 

 

We know it's supposed to be a bird blog, but when out looking at the migrating blue winged teals this morning, a beaver came by, so we had to take some beaver pictures. Later this evening, a pair came by. Chris read that they like apples and we tried feeding apples in the evening, but they prefer bark.

Blue-Winged Teals on Lake Nelson

 

 

 

We first saw blue-winged teals while on vacation in Palm Island in the St Vincent & The Grenadines. Now we realize there is no reason to go to the Caribbean at all, since a group of 5-6 teals stopped at Lake Nelson during their migration.

White-throated Sparrow

 

A few white-throated sparrows have been feeding in our yard. We've also been serenaded by a series of long high-pitched notes, almost like the spaceships on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Mike eventually saw one of the sparrows making this call.

Hairy Woodpecker in Action

 

We haven't seen the hairy woodpeckers much this winter. One arrived this evening while we were in the yard enjoying the nicer weather. Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see his third eyelid protecting him as the wood chips fly.

Eastern Bluebirds

The sun was out today, so we went birding a bit. Here are two photos of Eastern Bluebirds. The top is a close-up of a male. The bottom one shows both the male and the female.

Ovenbird

Mike saw a bird walking by the path and Chris got the binoculars and said it was an ovenbird. Mike was impressed since he'd never heard of them. We watched as it tried to eat a caterpillar (the fuzzy-wuzzy type). You can see the reddish caterpillar on the ground below the beak in the top photo. As we got closer, it took the caterpillar into some shrubs, not wanting to share.

Northern Flicker and Red Tailed Hawk: Photos by Dave

The top photo is a northern flicker from my back yard. The bottom, I believe, is a red-tailed hawk, also in my back yard (the same tree). The flicker photo was taken 4-9-09, hawk photo was taken 2-4-09.

Double-crested Cormorant returns to Lake Nelson

 

 

A Double-crested Cormorant returned last week. Today, he landed near us when we were sitting out on the dock.

Spring Birds

American Goldfinch

Red Winged Blackbird

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Bluebird

Downy Woodpecker

 

 

Fun Woopecker facts:

• Woodpeckers have a third eyelid to help protect their eyes from debris.
  
• A woodpecker's head can strike at speeds up to 15 mpg at over 100 strokes per minute.
  
• The bones between the beak and the skull are joined by a flexible cartilage.
  
• The skull is made of spongy, air-filled bone. The brain is packed tightly into the brain cavity, with little room to rattle around.
  
• The force from each strike is directed towards neck muscles that act as shock absorbers.
  

American Redstart in Jamaica

 

 

 

 

We aren't quite done with Jamaican photos yet. We never got a perfect picture of the American Redstart. He was always darting around and never posed. We called him the falling leaf bird because of an unusual behavior of his. He would "fly" in a spiral pattern that looked just like a falling leaf from the top of a tree to the bottom.

Hopping Dick with a feather out of place

 

The White chinned thrush is endemic to Jamaica and known locally as the Hopping Dick.

A familar friend returns: A Black-crowned Night Heron

 

I know it's not our best black-crowned night heron photo, but we are happy to see an old friend return. Yesterday morning, he returned to the same tree and branch where he spent last spring and summer. He has his breeding plumage: two white feathers that look like a pony tail. We hope his mate joins him soon.