Flying squirrel



Northern flying squirrel

Well, yesterday after I had come back from a bike ride at a nearby forest preserve, I found a flying squirrel on our feeder. I sauntered right up and petted him, and he didn't care. First his tail, then his back. I think I spooked him after a couple of seconds because he bolted right up the tree. And then he flew into our neighbor's yard. That must have been the fourth or fifth time that I've seen him.

 

If you want to know more about Northern flying squirrels, visit www.EOL.org.

Monthly Bird #6: Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk, light morph adult.

 I've had many incidents with Red-tailed Hawks. Last year was really crazy: Driving home from errands with the family, a Red-tail almost hits our car! Spotting him landing in a tree, we all get out and walk over to him. By the time we all get over there, he's eyeing a squirrel with hunger in his eyes. Wow, this is amazing, I thought the entire time. I had never been this close to any wild raptor before. Eventually he got intimidated by us and flew off, looking almost disappointed he didn't catch breakfast. So then we got back in the car to drive home. In the distance, however, I could see him flying away. I like to think that he caught breakfast.

Also, last year I got to watch Red-tails nesting and raising young! I never came up with a name for the dad, but the mom was Jenny and their son was Ralphy. Ralphy was a troublemaker, always harassing other animals, and constantly asking his mom for food. I was a little disappointed when I figured out that the other two eggs never hatched, but even so, I still see little Ralphy everywhere.

Yet again, I had another incident with a Red-tail (not surprising): Jenny flew two feet over my head! I had no idea she was so used to humans! Wow.

When soaring, Red-tails hold their wings like Turkey Vultures.

Red-tailed Hawks come in tons of different colours, varying from off white to jet black. The most common ones are usually lightish brown, though. Being the most common and widespread raptor in North America, they are very adaptable. You'll find them everywhere. Everywhere except forests, that is. Their preferred habitat is open fields, where the hawks can find mice, rabbits, voles, wood mice, and sometimes large birds, such as grouse and turkeys. You'll see them carrying food less than an ounce to over five pounds!

What I'm getting at here is that no matter where you go hawk watching, you're sure to see a Red-tail or two.

More pictures from the Birdfest

Chase, a Cooper's Hawk. Wing damage.

Stella the Peregrine - A retired falconry bird.

Phoenix the Red-tail. Blind in the left eye.

A baby Painted Turtle - They have one every year.

Birdlog #8 - 3-27-14: Birding at a lek during migration...

... Rocks.

You're probably wondering what a lek is (unless you're an obsessive bird nerd who knows every obscure term ever used anywhere). A lek is where adult male birds can do courtship displays, and females will come and watch. I think they're only used by plovers, grouse and some birds-of-paradise.

Anyway, here's the list:

• 5 Canada Geese
• 2 Mallards
• 1 Turkey Vulture
• 3 Bald Eagles
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk
• 20-30 Sandhill Cranes - The first I've seen in Illinois!
• 11 Killdeer
• 1 Peregrine Falcon
• 1 Blue Jay
• 2 American Robins
• 1 European Starling
• 1 Cedar Waxwing - possible
• 3 House Sparrows

The species that really stick out to me are: Bald Eagle, Sandhill Crane and Peregrine Falcon. The Killdeer were the only ones actually using the lek, but there were other birds around. Here's the really crazy part: We saw all of those birds in twenty minutes!

And once again, I didn't have my camera with me - It's outta battery, anyway.

End.

Birdlog #7 - 2-20-14: Why I love birdwatching

Two days ago, when I decided to go birding (two stinking days after the Great Backyard Bird Count ends), I was reminded why I love it so much: Everything you see is unexpected! For instance: I pointed out to my fellow birder a Bald Eagle, and he screamed, "REALLY?!" "Mmhmm," I replied, awestruck at the contrasting black-and-whiteness of the majestic eagle flying directly over my head. Then, fifteen minutes later, we find ourselves completely surrounded by Tufted Titmice. We never actually saw one, but we heard them everywhere. I knew they were titmice by their "Peter! Peter! Peter!" call.
So here's the list of birds that I saw:

• 1 Bald Eagle
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk (possible)
• 2 Killdeer (possible, heard only)
• 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 1 Blue Jay
• 3 American Crows
• 5 Black-capped Chickadees
• 3 Tufted Titmice
• 1 White-breasted Nuthatch (possible, heard only)
• 4 American Robins (the first I've seen this year!)
• 3 European Starlings
• 2 Cedar Waxwings (possible)
• 10 Dark-eyed Juncos (Slate-colored supspecies)
• 3 Northern Cardinals
• 5 House Finches
• 7 House Sparrows
• 1 passerine sp. (meaning one that I couldn't identify)

Yeah, it's a lot. I know. That's why I'm so happy.

End.

Birdfest #2

Today was a birdwatcher's lucky day! We saw a TON of birds. Here's another list of the species we saw:

• 0 House Finches (hooray!)
• 1 Gray Squirrel (UGH!!!)
• 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 1 Downy Woodpecker
• 1 Brown Creeper (cool!)
• 3 Northern Cardinals
• 5 Black-capped Chickadees
• 6 White-breasted Nuthatches
• 20 or more Dark-eyed aka Slate Coloured Juncos (again with the Juncos!)

But there weren't as as many birds on the feeders as I might have expected. These are my favorite pictures:

There's a male Cardinal. Looking heroic, as usual

A cute little Junco

Now who can tell me what that is?

Aww, how cute!

It's the best (and only) picture I have of the Red-Belly

This is the second time I've ever seen a Brown Creeper!
Last time it was fall 2012

I just love Nuthatches. Have I ever told you that?

It's really, really, really hard to see, but sure enough, it's a Chickadee.

It practically posed for the making of the picture! The blurriness
is just frost on our super old window

A nice-looking female Cardinal

Normally, birds don't visit our birdbath in the dead of (snowless) winter,
but we got a water heater for our birdbath recently

Okay, last picture:

I got to see the male, but I didn't have my camera ready.

That's a lot of birds! I've never seen so many in my life! I hope you can have (so-called) birdfests like me. Happy birding!

-Mr. Bird

P.S.: Okay, I take it back. My camera isn't THAT terribly bad. :)