Author Archives: Amy

Morphing Owl video

This first came out over a year ago but it seems to be making the rounds again and I’ve just seen it for the first time. Watch how this Southern White-faced Scops Owl reacts to two different predators.

NOTE: the YouTube video to which this post originally linked has been removed from the site; I swapped in the clip below on 09-FEB-11

The first reaction occurs at about 1:00 and the second, more interesting, starts at about 1:40.

Read more here. NOTE: link also updated 09-FEB-11

Posted in Africa, Offbeat, Video | 1 Comment

Better Birdcam pictures

I’m starting to have some fun with my new Wingscapes BirdCam. I think we’ve got the arm in a fine place to capture some of the feeder regulars. I placed the cam on the ground yesterday and got over 1000 photos of squirrels. So six different bird species on the nut table today and no squirrels is a big improvement.

This Blue Jay is the best photo of the day.

Blue Jay captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Mr. Jay seemed to enjoy the limelight as most of his shots were actually in the sun. Work it, Jay-Man!

Blue Jay captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Blue Jay captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

The rest of today’s visitors (Red-bellied Woodpecker; Downy Woodpecker; Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored); House Sparrow; Black-capped Chickadee) were a bit more shy, mostly electing to stand facing away from the camera, in the shadow of the pole or, more often, completely behind the pole.

Red-bellied Woodpecker captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Downy Woodpecker captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Slate-colored Junco captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

House Sparrow captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Black-capped Chickadee captured by Wingscapes BirdCam

Posted in Wingscapes Birdcam, Yard Birds | 2 Comments

Cooper’s Hawk

We saw this Cooper’s Hawk in our back yard today. We’ve seen it around before but never managed to capture a photo or video until this afternoon.

This is the best photo I managed to get:

Cooper's Hawk in our back yard

Many were out of focus or had a soft focus because the first shots were through a window screen. I love the curious-looking cocked head on this shot, even though it’s out of focus:

Curious Cooper's Hawk

Here’s a short video. If you click through to YouTube you can watch in higher resolution:

Posted in Yard Birds | 1 Comment

Goldcrest flies amazing 88 miles in 24 hours

Last week Vogeltrekstation Arnhem (central ringing database group) in the Netherlands announced that a Goldcrest had traveled an amazing 142 kilometers (88 miles) in just one night!

The Goldcrest (goudhaantje in Dutch) is one of the smallest songbirds native to the Netherlands. They are between 8.5 and 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 inches) in length.

Goldcrest, Auderghem, Brussels
Goldcrest, Auderghem, Brussels by Frank.Vassen, Creative Commons on Flickr

The event occurred on 26 September when the bird was ringed at 7:45 am in the nature reserve Zwanenwater. The young male bird weighed in at 5.4 grams.

The following morning the same bird was caught again at 9:30 am at a ringing station in Zeeland.

Source: Goudhaantje levert verrassende prestatie

Posted in Banding, Migration, Netherlands | Leave a comment

Senegal Coucal

We saw this Senegal Coucal at the Bijilo Forest Park in the Gambia in January 2007.

They are a type of cuckoo and were fairly common in the Gambia, but they were difficult to photograph as they were a bit shy.

Be sure to check out the rest of the submissions in this week’s Bird Photography Weekly.

Posted in Africa, Bird Photography Weekly, Gambia | Leave a comment

17th C. Dutch bird paintings exhibit

Six restored paintings from Dutch bird painter Melchior d’Hondecoeter will be on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until March 9, 2009. Hondecoeter was the first Dutch artist to paint realistic images of wild native and exotic birds. We just visited the Rijksmuseum in September, too bad this exhibit didn’t start until this month. You can read more about the paintings and exhibit here.

Melchior d'Hondecoeter's The Menagerie
The Menagerie by Melchior d’Hondecoeter

Posted in Art, Netherlands | Leave a comment

5 most wanted life birds

This is a fun meme that’s been making the rounds. I find it hard to narrow such a list down to just five, so I’m basing this list on target species we’ve failed to get in the past.

1) We didn’t spend a lot of time looking for Florida Scrub Jays at the Disney Wilderness Preserve, and the odds of seeing one here in the accessible areas aren’t too great, but we still hoped to find one during our visit.

2) We visited Brittany in June 2006 and spent some time at the coast looking for Atlantic Puffins. Wrong time of year but there was still a chance. No luck.

Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus, adult
Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus, adult by Bill Bouton, Creative Commons on Flickr

3) A few years ago, before we started to be more interested in birds, there was an eruption of Bohemian Waxwings in the Netherlands, and flocks of them were reported in several areas very close to our home. We looked for them on our daily walks to the grocery store and never saw any. We didn’t make any special trips out to look for them. Big mistake, since they were scarcer in subsequent years. We blew it.

4) We took many birding walks along the Zuidpier (a long pier stretching into the North Sea) in IJmuiden but we never managed to see a wild Northern Gannet. Earlier this year we did see some rescued Gannets at the Ecomare wildlife center on Texel.

5) We missed seeing a Greater Painted Snipe in the Gambia, but we saw 134 other species there so we can’t complain too much.

dontbirdsflyinthesky
dontbirdsflyinthesky by waveneyavenue, Creative Commons on Flickr

*) Bonus: I think it would be awesome to see just about any bird underwater, while on a dive.

Posted in Life List | Leave a comment

Bird Photography Weekly: Hamerkop

We saw this Hamerkop (also Hammerkop or Hammerhead) on our trip to the Gambia in January 2007. This species occurs across sub-Saharan Africa and was fairly common in the Gambia.

These were among the cutest birds we saw in the Gambia. I think it’s the big black eyes.

These birds make huge nests, up to five feet across and strong enough to hold a man’s weight. Check out this one:

Apparently they are ‘compulsive nest builders’ and will build these huge constructions whether they are breeding or not. Sounds like bird OCD.

Be sure to check out the rest of the submissions in this week’s Bird Photography Weekly.

Posted in Africa, Bird Photography Weekly, Gambia | Leave a comment

White Storks

Earlier this week I mentioned a BirdLife story about mysterious White Stork deaths at the sewage works of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. We visited those ponds and the sight of thousands of White Storks coming in from the mountains was remarkable. You’ll have to click on the below photo and view full size to see what I’m talking about.

Migrating Storks

White Storks were always one of our favorite birds to see when we lived in Europe. We saw a ton in Andalucia (Spain) last year. Here’s a nest with some chicks. It’s hard to tell but there are about 5 sparrows on the bottom half of the nest that also make their home in the huge structure.

Stork Nest

Be sure to check out Bird Photography Weekly to see all of this week’s submissions.

Posted in Bird Photography Weekly | 4 Comments