The Great Starling Rescue

During my spring break, instead of going to the birds they decided to come to me! I heard something in my chimney and figured there was a critter there but at the time I didn't know what it was. So I didn't worry much about until I still heard it the next day as well. My husband and I knew that it was a bird because we could hear flapping, so we decided to smoke it out. Well, that didn't work. We removed one small piece of the wood stove and could see the blackbird (which turned out to be an European Starling) and at that point we knew it was much to big to get out by itself. So when he settled down I was able to get my hand in the stove and pull him out by the tail. He initially went into shock and I wrapped him in a towel and got him outside. I cleaned off his beak and he just laid on the ground for a couple of minutes. As I got the camera out to take pics of him he hopped up and walked off a little. He got into the grass in the yard and ate for awhile. Later, he flew away that night. Another birdie bar-b-que adverted!

Another Birdie visitor...Mourning Dove

American Robins are everywhere!

Myrtle Beach, SC

While my camera isn't too good at long-range shots, I was able to get a few distinct pictures of ring-billed gulls at Mrytle Beach, and one of wild turkeys at nearby Brookgreen Gardens.

Bahamian birds

Thought this might be interesting to the class but i went to the Bahamian islands and visited a local zoo there. i remembered i had some pics of birds so i want to show you some birds from out of the united states.

March 14, Bird Watching in Prince Wiliam County Park

On Saturday, March 14, I went for a hike in the Prince William County Park up in Northern Virginia. It was a cloudy day, kind of chilly as well, so I didn't expect to see much out there. I forgot to bring my camera, so sorry guys no pictures this time. I saw a few Northern Cardinals, an Eastern Bluebird, two Northern Flicker, a bunch of vultures flying around and eating a dead deer, and Carolina Chikadees, and finally a few White throated Sparrows. Like I said it was pretty couldy and cold, and stared to drizzle a little bit towards the end of the hike. I heard some crows and a red tailed hawk, but other than the birds mentioned I didn't see anything else really. I heard some other birds, but I couldn't identify them by their calls. The only birds I got to really focus on and watch for a little bit was the vultures, which wasn't too exciting seeing as how all they were doing was eating the dead deer. The trail I went on didnt take me by any real body of water, so that probably also is why I didn't see many birds.

some pics from my various birding adventures

An Osprey I saw at Riverview Park.

Here's a Carolina Chickadee perched in my backyard.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker that frequently visits our yard.

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that has long claimed a particular tree in my backyard. I finally got a close enough shot of it (though it's bad quality).

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet (though you can't see the red crown here) that I was finally able to snap a shot of. It likes to mooch off the labors of the above Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by stealing a meal from the holes in the tree.

This is a female Cardinal that will sit at our window ALL DAY and "fight" with her reflection. It drives me crazy.

Elizabeth, Michelle and Amanda visit Newport News Park

We drove all the way back to the far lake. Walked across the bridge that was filled with Ring-billed gulls. The birds would not take a hint that we didnt want to feed them.

While walking around, we observed three turkey vultures that were soaring over the trees and lake. They soared in circles. If they got close to the trees they would need to flap their wings in order to get back to the wanted height.

We saw all the normal Virginian birds seen on our birding trips. However, we got to see some Tundra swans swimming on the lake.

Amanda's Backyard in Chester, VA

Standing in my backyard I took a bunch of pictures because we have alot of open land and consequently alot of birds.

- Turkey Vultures

- Cedar Waxwing (dead... obviously... but I found it outside the window at my dad's office & was going to bring it in for lab, but decided to try and take a picture of it on the deck and walked inside to get my camera, then came back outside and it was gone... soooo one of our outdoor cats got a nice little snack, but the pictures are still pretty!)

- Northern Cardinal
















- Chickens
~ 1st pic are Japanese Silky Bantum hens
~ 2nd pic is a Rhode Island Red dust bathing)






























- Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)






























- White-throated Sparrow
















- Tree that has been completely covered in holes from a sapsucker

















I also heard alot of birds but either could not find them or they were too far away to photograph, including:

- Northern Bobwhite
- American Robin
- Tufted Titmouse
- European Starling
- American Crow
- Carolina Wren