Birding at Moms House
White-crowned Sparrow
I did a little birding in Allegany State Park this morning and of course it was raining!!! Didn’t see anything unusual but I did capture a picture of a Gray Catbird. It took visiting my mothers bird feeders to add two first of the year birds to my checklist (did I mention it stopped raining by the time I arrived at my parents house?)!! The first bird I saw was a White-crowned Sparrow (CHECK) and the second bird was a Baltimore Oriole (CHECK)!! But didn’t get an opportunity to photograph the Oriole but heard it many times! Below are some of the other birds hanging around her feeder:
Chipping Sparrow
Blue Jay
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
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You remind me how important it is to know your bird calls, even if you can’t spot the bird you’ll know what it was! I need to practice my calls!
Great photos, I love the white-crowned (zebra head) sparrow!
4 May 2008 at 10:24 pm
@ Chicago – I use to call them skunk headed sparrows and even bike helmet sparrows!
4 May 2008 at 10:46 pm
Nice shot of the white-crowned sparrow.
4 May 2008 at 11:10 pm
See here it is after 11:30 and I am just now reading blogs. ugh How come your white crowned sparrow looks whiter than mine? Is it because of the lighting?
Beautiful shots! Before I forget we have a Great Horned Owl nest at PISP. I’ll find out where for you.
4 May 2008 at 11:41 pm
The white crowned sparrows have taken over my home. 🙂 I don’t mind tho; they have a pretty sound. I love the shots – I am so enamoured with your rosebreasted grosbeak what a beautiful bird! p.s. love that blue jay. It’s nice to see a real one.
5 May 2008 at 2:05 am
Moms are magic, didn’t you know that? ;c)
5 May 2008 at 6:46 am
@ John – thanks and captured a few other shots on my flickr site!
@ Toni – thanks and my White-crowned Sparrows normally look this white! I even had a bright White-throated Sparrow yesterday!
@ aullori – LOL and I love their song also! Thanks and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is my mothers fav bird also!
@ Jayne – They sure are! Thanks!
5 May 2008 at 6:58 am
Great pictures. Those little chipping sparrows are so sweet. I love seeing them in the garden.
5 May 2008 at 7:20 am
Love the photos! All but the White-crowned Sparrow would be lifers for me!
5 May 2008 at 10:50 am
I love the Chipping Sparrows! They’re very cheeky – I had them practically eating from my hand last weekend as I threw them grubs I found when I was edging the grass:)
5 May 2008 at 1:07 pm
I was admiring you pictures on Flickr. Apparently the White-crowned Sparrows are just arriving to our area over the past 2 days.
5 May 2008 at 6:34 pm
Baltimore Orioles. What nicely coloured birds. Too bad we don’t see many this far north.
5 May 2008 at 7:15 pm
Beautiful shot, Tom. Hey I have a pic of a white-crowned sparrow up today too! Their beautiful song is what wakes us every morning in spring and summer. It’s one of our favorite sounds of the season.
5 May 2008 at 7:35 pm
Very nice, Tom! Can’t wait to see a Baltimore Oriel!
5 May 2008 at 7:35 pm
@ Lisa – thanks and they are so much fun to watch!
@ Adam – really . . . they are neat looking birds!
@ Sherri – really? That would have been amazing to have seen!
@ Ruth – thanks and they are showing up all over the place!
@ Scienceguy – They sure are . . . you guys can get many of them along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario!! Young Naturalist J has more Baltimore Oriole and Orchard Orioles that he knows what to do with!
@ Robin – thanks and I love their song also!
@ Pam – thanks
5 May 2008 at 8:14 pm
How nice to get some FOY birds while visiting your mom (I think I remember those awesome pileated pictures from a past visit). The white crowned sparrow is a lovely shot. Isn’t it funny how the brightest bird (oriole) can usually be heard but not seen? Go figure!
6 May 2008 at 7:51 am
Your mom’s backyard reminds me of mine–I’ve been seeing all the same birds here in Minnesota also.
6 May 2008 at 9:21 am
What a great bunch of shots!! I love the chipper-all I could hear on the way to work this morning were White Throats
6 May 2008 at 9:31 am
@ Bird Girl – thanks and was glad to have seen them also! I agree with your bright colored bird theory!
@ RuthieJ – how great and she gets some good birds at times!
@ Marg – thanks and I love hearing the WT Sparrows!
6 May 2008 at 12:18 pm
We have all of these at our feeders. A pair (male and female) of Rose-breasted Grosbeak appeared this weekend. I’ve loved wtaching them.
I can’t get photos, though, of our birds. My zoom lens won’t let me stay far enough away for the birds to allow me to take their photo. Either that or inevitably my dog or one of my children wanders over to see what I’m doing and the birds flit away and fuss at me from a safe distance.
I like seeing the photos in your blog, though.
6 May 2008 at 3:48 pm
Great photos of the birds. I like the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak–wish ours would have stuck around.
6 May 2008 at 4:57 pm
Still waiting on white-crowneds here, if they stop at all. Very nice picture. Our chippies are very numerous. Mom’s got nice feeder birds.
6 May 2008 at 9:23 pm
@ Wesleyjeanne – How cool and I had my parents dog happening also! I finally got the White-crowned sparrow in spot and my mom went to let the dog inside!! I was like (wait a few seconds . . . )! Then she let Newman inside!
@ Joan – thanks and I saw mine at my feeder on Monday!
@ Zen – should be soon! Thanks
6 May 2008 at 10:57 pm