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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

What did you see in your binoculars today? (3 Viewers)

Two pair of Canada Geese, each with yellow, fuzzy goslings. One pair had three and the other had five. Two Common Ravens. I assume they are a pair. A pair of Wood Ducks. Tree Swallows hawking insects over a pond, and a (presumed) pair of Yellow Warblers. Also our local nesting Bald eagles. Junior is definitely on solid food. One of the returning adults was carrying something edible in one of its claws. One female Red-winged Blackbird and assorted males. Many sunning (unidentified) turtles, and one hunting American Kestrel.
 
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Maljunulo said:
No clue, I didn't make any effort to identify them.
They were just lined up on every exposed branch bigger than a couple of inches that was in the water.
They line up very neatly.
Click to expand...
We mainly see painted turtles around here, on logs/rocks in the water or around the shore edge. You can easily see the bright orange-red coloration of the undershell, even just the leading edge. Where space is scarce, they'll pack in half on top of one another, making them hard to count.
 
I see quite a few of them, now that you mention it, I just don't take particular note.

They get filed under "Generic Turtles".

I have however, seen one snapping turtle hauled out. The other turtles didn't seem to care.
 
Among others, an American Bittern in the reeds, giving its peculiar throaty call and clacking its beak. (At first we thought we were hearing frogs.) And a Song Sparrow singing away on a branch right in front of us, unperturbed by our approach, so close we could hear the click when its beak closed. (I had to step back to focus the 15x56 I'd been glassing the marsh with.) It's spring.
 
Well today was a very special day for me whilst out late afternoon with my new Viper 10x42's I was lucky enough to watch an Osprey fishing, something I have always wanted to see but never before been lucky enough to witness. I have seen Ospreys flying a few times before as we are lucky enough to have a couple of breeding pairs within driving distance.

I watched him spot his target then descend and turn and set up on his line as he descended. I then watched his final approach and grab, he was unlucky and missed but it was still a magical moment for me. Best thing was today when he grabbed at the fish I was only about 80 yds from him and in the 10x Vipers he looked large and very detailed.

I'm still buzzing.
 
It is nice to see posts about the delights of actually using new binoculars to augment out eyeball vision, and the well-described buzz that results.

Great post.
 
Not today, but last time using my binoculars, this weekend, the most fun observation was a great spotted woodpecker frenetically trying to destroy a cutted lumb of wood into hundreds of wood chips ‘flying around’, going on for quite some time. He came back later to continue the job. 😁 I might post a picture of the lumb of wood later on. (I went to see it after he had left and was tapping on another, distant tree.)
That lumb of wood was only 10m meters away, we were both almost in plain sight, I don’t know if he hadn’t spotted us (he probably had), didn’t care or trusted us, but it was a joy to watch him in action, changing position to attack the lumb from a different angle from time to time.
For a first weekend with my new/old Zeiss FL 7x42, it was a pleasure to use it in the wood, especially watching that scenery. What a ‘transparent’, clear view. The next day, it ‘cut through’ the dense forest to show a roe deer passing by, this time however only for a very brief moment between the trees. That ‘transparent’ view and the good depth of field helped.
 
A great Blue Heron who posed nicely at maybe 50 yards or so, and missed a strike at a fish, and a Tree Swallow who perched even closer than that.

A good look at a Common Raven (for about three seconds before it flew away) and several male Red-winged Blackbirds in different places, each enjoying a vigorous preen.

Other than those, today was almost a flop. Oh, and a probable Northern Waterthrush. I'm going to claim it, because it is a first.
 
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Two Bald Eaglets (40% grown?) standing in the nest, looking around and wondering where was Mom or Dad with supper. Also a pair of Common Ravens nesting on a water tower with one chick. A whole bunch of routine stuff. Watched Eastern Kingbirds hawking insects for about 45 minutes. One flew down to the surface of the pond and either took a drink, or caught something a few times. I didn't see anything in its bill.
 
A male Western Tanager landing on a tree limb right in front of us, catching a large black beetle and eating it, then wiping the sides of his beak on a branch before flying off. Really nice in UV (and BN) 10x32. Also two Red-Winged Blackbirds harassing a Red-Tailed Hawk we'd seen several times perching largely hidden on leafy branches, but was found out anyway. A pair of Bald Eagles, several Great Blue Herons one of whom caught a fish, Double-Crested Cormorants, Yellow Warblers, jays, robins, flycatchers, etc... but ponds looking fairly empty, just turtles, a couple of grebes and a single Mallard. Duck migration is probably over. A nice morning.
 
A birding friend came by yesterday to demonstrate his new plug-in hybrid SUV and we drove out to the Wiebach Teich, an artificial pond laid out by the local open-cast brown coal mining company to compensate for some other ponds they destroyed years ago.
This site just seems to get better and better over the years, in contrast to so many other sites. Among others, we saw a Great Reed Warbler (my second ever), European Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Yellow Wagtails, Sand Martins, a Skylark, Little Grebes, Gadwalls, Tufted Ducks, a Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plovers and Lapwings with three chicks. One of the parents attacked and chased off a Grey Heron.

John
 
Tringa45 said:
A birding friend came by yesterday to demonstrate his new plug-in hybrid SUV and we drove out to the Wiebach Teich, an artificial pond laid out by the local open-cast brown coal mining company to compensate for some other ponds they destroyed years ago.
This site just seems to get better and better over the years, in contrast to so many other sites. Among others, we saw a Great Reed Warbler (my second ever), European Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Yellow Wagtails, Sand Martins, a Skylark, Little Grebes, Gadwalls, Tufted Ducks, a Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plovers and Lapwings with three chicks. One of the parents attacked and chased off a Grey Heron.

John
Click to expand...
That's a nice lot of species John. If the reed beds are big enough you might eventually get Bearded Reedlings.

Lee
 
Nelson's Hooded Oriole, Peregrine Falcon eating a White-winged Dove, Western Kingbird, Anna's Hummingbird on her nest, a couple of Northern Broad-billed Hummingbirds having a kerfuffle over feeding rights. Zeiss SF 8x42.
 
Today's highlights were 1. A presumed family of Common Ravens, which I believe consisted of Mom, Dad, and four kids, 2. A nice Green Heron, which I always enjoy seeing. 3. Two male Wood Duck buddies hanging around together. I infer that they are young and none of the ladies was interested in either of them as a mate this year. 4. A male Belted Kingfisher.

A nice workout for my 8X32 SF, which performed flawlessly.
 
Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons have returned to nest in a tree in my yard. Canon 12x36 IS III very convenient for observing construction of the nest. The Mississippi Kites and Whistling ducks put on almost ostentatious displays. For years a pair of Red Winged Hawks have nested in a tree in my neighbor's yard. Red Bellied and Downey woodpeckers are all about. Good time of year...
 

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