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New Birder -- Birds We Saw! (1 Viewer)

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....
Well, i'm new here so i might be a little clueless about some things...

well anyway, didn't exactly "go" birding today, but with the number of different species we get at our bird feeder here in New York, you could say that we did go birding...

Here's some of the dozens of birds we've seen since my dad got us into the hobby:

Great Blue Heron (Well, i see him all the time, he's a neighbor.)
Bald Eagle (another neighbor, since we live about 45 minutes from the Hudson)
White Ibis (Seen in Florida)
Osprey
Brown Pelican
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Wood Stork
Roseate Spoonbill (Actually didn't see it, i saw a tree with a bunch of white clumps on it, and asked my dad to snap a picture, turns out that the birds were Wood Storks, and one of the others was a pinkish wading bird with a long bill.)
Common Moorhen
Sandhill Crane
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (at our feeder)
Downy Woodpecker (also at our feeder)
Pileated Woodpecker (dad saw it fly by, and snapped pics.)

EDIT (29th February, 2004): Changed Purple Finch to House Finch and added other finds:
House Finch
Canada Goose (No biggie.)
Mallard
Wild Turkey
Laughing Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-Capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Cardinal
Red-Winged Blackbird (There's a hamlet near me called Red-Wing Park, because it's home to a lot of Red-Wings!)
White-Breasted Nuthatch (This is another one of the birds that my dad doesn't have on film!)
END EDIT (29th February, 2004)

EDIT (1st March, 2004): Finally IDed couple of birds seen when I started birding.
Magnificent Frigatebird (Seen during family trip to Florida)
Boat-Tailed Grackle

Forgot to add these to the list:
Slate-Colored Dark-Eyed Junco
Mute Swan
END EDIT (1st March, 2004):

EDIT (6th March, 2004):
Common Merganser
American Goldfinch
END EDIT (6th March, 2004)

EDIT (15th March, 2004):
Carolina Wren
END EDIT (15th March, 2004)

EDIT (16th March, 2004):
Song Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
END EDIT (16th March, 2004)

EDIT (17th March, 2004):
Pine Siskin
END EDIT (17th March, 2004)

EDIT (18th March, 2004):
Mourning Dove
END EDIT (18th March, 2004)

EDIT (19th March, 2004):
House Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
END EDIT (19th March, 2004)

Of course, all of these birds might be considered "beginner" level birds... you know what I mean right? They are very common birds that people see everyday!

So being a new birder, what do you guys think?
 
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gthang -- for a new birder, you've got some birds on that list I would love to have on mine . . . and I've been birding for more than 10 years! LOL!!

So, gthang, here's an official Birdforum welcome from a slightly envious member of staff!

We're really happy you've joined us -- I think you'll find this a terrific place to help learn more about birds and birding in general, as well as to find anything more specific you may wish to learn.

Birding is a quite addictive hobby, and this site is just as bad, if not worse!

We're glad you're here, and I hope you'll enjoy your time browsing around and getting familiar with the place. Looking forward to reading more about what you're seeing at home and elsewhere.

I'm also envious of anyone with a GBH for a neighbor! My favorite bird!
 
yeah mine too. In fact, i went down to the pond where it lives (which unfortunately is own by a construction company owner) with my camera, and at first i didn't see it. Then i saw something being reflected in the water. i looked up and there was this giant bird literally flying toward me, and he turned around (probably circling to get higher) within at least 25 or so feet of me! WOW. then down in florida, my parents and i took a ride to see some birds, and we got withing 10 feet of one that my dad snapped pictures of. after a while, it flew away.
 
gthang,
Sounds like a pretty good list to start off with. I'm from Florida (although I live in Mexico now) so I've seen all your herons and egrets, but I've never seen a Purple Finch. Good idea taking pictures of the birds. Sometimes you see something later you didn't recognize at the time (like your roseate Spoonbill).
 
Well, now that i took a picture, and used the Sibley guide to identify it, it's more of a house finch than a purple finch, sorry about that. the picture is in my gallery.
 
Hi Gthang,

Welcome to BirdForum!

Couple of birds on your list I've not seen either ;)

Just saw your finch pic on the other thread, yes it is a House Finch.

Michael
 
Here's the cropped image of the spoonbill discovery:
 

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That's a quality list--I wish I got off to a good start like that back when I was 12 (yeah, I started birding when I was 12....hahaha). Thirteen years later, and I've seen most of those birds, but a trip to Florida would be nice.

Good luck.
 
hey, someone from my neck of the woods!

I was 19.5 years old last summer when we went on our trip to florida and saw most of the birds on that list. That was the official start of the hobby for me. Now i'm 20 and just joined this site...
 
The other thing to remember is that most of those birds turned up this side of the Atlantic, there would be a stampede to see them.

We recently had an American Robin turn up in Cornwall (South West county in England) and there was almost that- a stampede of entusiastic birders.

Anyway gthang-keep up the great work.

Regards,

Padraig.
 
wow, i didn't realize the American Robin was in Europe... In fact going through one of my books, i discovered something:
A Guide To Birding by Forshaw said:
The American Robin's brick red chest reminded early European settlers of the small, red-breasted Robin of the Old World. It would be more correct to call the New World species the American Thrush, but few ornithologists would have the nerve to suggest that its name be changed!

So there you have it.
 
gthang,

The American Robin normally isn't in Europe at all. That's why it causes such excitement when one turns up.

We get to see quite a number of American birds that usually reside on your side of 'the pond'.
Many of these are ducks or waders that fly over for some reason.

But we also get passerines (perching birds). Often these get blown over by cyclonic winds. Wardens in some Nature Reserves here keep track of weather systems in the Atlantic (via the internet) so that they can better predict when an American rarity might show up.

Some birds off couse over the Atlantic alight on a ship or yacht and may even hitch a ride all the way into a port here. it's not unusual to see American rarities down by the docks, I hear.

Thought you might be interested in all this.

best Wishes,

Padraig.
 
yeah, and when we see a native bird over here, there's such a frenzy that birders from all over "flock" here to get a glimpse of a common bird... like a Northern Saw-Whet Owl for instance...
 
Good selection of birds on that list gthang, I've only seen four of them. Still waiting for the others to make it across the pond and land in front of me.
 
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Update:

Today, I got a Carolina Wren on film. Can't wait to post it! Have to wait 'til tomorrow though.
 
On March 19th, also got a Hairy Woodpecker.

On March 23rd, got a Blue Jay photo, and got a new tick in a Common Grackle

On March 24th, saw a European Starling in a parking lot, and zoomed by a camouflaged American Robin (going 70mph, no less!). Down at the pond on our street, saw a pair of silver or grey birds (i really can't describe them good; the bins were moving far too much for me to see them clearly). Using the description of the grey birds, i saw the Northern Mockingbird most resembles the plumage I saw, but the bird was 50 feet away, so I couldn't get a good look at it....
 
Gthang,thankyou for a very interesting thread.You certainly are a true enthusiast,and bird lover.I will keep an eye open for your gallery pics.
 
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