Unexpected, delightful bird discoveries

[monadnocky]

I pulled into a friend's driveway the other day, and exiting the car I heard this distinctive sound:



It's the first yellow-billed cuckoo I've heard in a long time. There's a child-like part of me that gets excited - activated - whenever I hear a bird (or see one) that I haven't heard or seen since my childhood. To add to the interest, apparently yellow-billed cuckoos are known as storm crows or rain crows (I never knew this, even as a kinda-birder) due to their tendency to call shortly before thunderstorms. Well, here in New England it's been about as humid as can possibly be, and shortly after meeting with my friend, there was a gully-washer of a thunderstorm. Cool!

Any similar recent encounters? From those of you in different parts of the country, or the world? We need some small joys in these difficult times, so let's hear 'em. Passerines, raptors, corvids (NOT covids).... whaddya got?

[Too Tall]

We have a Gosshawk which returns every year to the same batch of very tall trees. He is a murderous bugger and dives for squirrels and rabbits.
I would not call his flights elegant, more like suicide bomber runs ;)
Neighbors don't know what to make of him or her. I think there might be two finally.

[monadnocky]

We have a Gosshawk which returns every year to the same batch of very tall trees....

In a state park south of Boston we have a trail still known as the "Bird Trail" due to a nesting goshawk couple that would bomb the bejeezus out of any unsuspecting mountain biker who encroached upon their territory.
If not for old Giro foam helmets, many a bloody scalp there would have been.
Beautiful birds.

[guido]

The Cuckoo is a great sighting!

We had the best Oriole season yet with 5 pairs bringing there little ones through to enjoy the grape jelly. There are 3 Rose Breasted Grosbeaks pairs and their broods. We had one breeding cycle of Bluebirds and at least one for the Tree Swallows. Other breeders include: Red Bellied Nutpecker, Flicker, Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, Chickadees, Carolina Wren, White breasted Nuthatch, Ruby Throated Hummingbird and Catbird. A pair of Scarlet Tanagers came through but didn't stop to raise a family, as did an Indigo Bunting and several flocks of Cedar Waxwings. A Wood thrush came by to thrill us with his lovely song for several days.

This spring we had a Barred Owl and a Coopers Hawk tangle over a Flicker. In the ruckus the Flicker flew to safety and the raptors sat and yelled at each other until the Cooper left leaving the Owl to contemplate the exchange...

[j44ke]

Nesting Broad-winged Hawks. Their call sounds a bit like an anemic killdeer warning call. Anyway, one in the pair - female I think - was a dark morph. The genus, Buteos - includes Broad-winged, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Rough-legged and others - have plumage variations (called morphs, because the plumage differences are permanent, not seasonal or temporary) ranging from very light to very dark. In Arizona, the land around the Chiricahuas during the winter is a great place to see these variations all in one place. I've driven down a particularly famous road north from Portal AZ when each telephone pole seems to have a Red-tailed hawk in a different shade of plumage sitting on the top. However, among Broad-winged hawks, the dark morph is rare, so seeing one as part of a nesting pair was pretty cool in sort of an ultimate bird nerd kinda way.

typical plumage



dark morph

[davids]

As a part of my ongoing expanding consciousness of nature, for the first time ever I'm watching local birds. By which I mean the birds in my yard. Bushes, trees, and a birdbath yo. I'm still at the point where I'm recognizing the frequent flyers (see what I did there? Whew...) and I'm loving it.

This morning out on the patio I heard, then saw, a little Downy Woodpecker getting his feed on.

[Too Tall]

Sad story. For many many years we had a huge lone barred owl. Several years ago he got a mate and the town created a nesting box high up in a oak tree. One thing leads to another and we have three until this spring. A local found one of the owls sick and down on the ground. Despite rescue efforts the owl died of what is suspected poisoning. Likely rodent poisoning.

We miss that old owl, he or she was increasingly less wary of us humans.

[monadnocky]

Sad story. For many many years we had a huge lone barred owl. Several years ago he got a mate and the town created a nesting box high up in a oak tree. One thing leads to another and we have three until this spring. A local found one of the owls sick and down on the ground. Despite rescue efforts the owl died of what is suspected poisoning. Likely rodent poisoning.

We miss that old owl, he or she was increasingly less wary of us humans.

.... aaaand this is why rodenticides, even for domestic use, are a TERRIBLE idea. Sad.