What is your favorite bird? And every fowl encounter you've had under the sun

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Watched this video on Attu yesterday. I’m kinda blown away. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make it there, but what a place!


No new birds to report, but I got a few photos from the bird walk I took with my wife up on the mountain last Sunday.

The first two are of a Virginia’s Warbler. I know their not that good, but I’m posting them because this is the first time I’ve managed to get a good look, much less photograph one. This is near the top of the mountain. You can see what a view he had from his perch as he sung his heart out that Sunday morning.

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And this is a Violet-green Swallow. It had lit near the warbler and looked magnificent in it’s violet and green.

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And finally, this is a Red-faced Warbler from a few years ago. They’re thick in the pine forests of the sky islands right now, but I haven’t managed a decent pic. I’m working on a watercolor with this as a reference photo.

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Eight little quail babies showed up yesterday. They’re so tiny that they must have been born here since I have a tall, cement brick wall surrounding my yard. Thing is, I have no idea how mom managed to successfully incubate 8 eggs without me knowing about it, especially since I’m home all the time. Currently the family is camped out underneath the only thick bush in my yard. It’s really hot here (108F) so they spend most of the day trying to cool off in the shade. The hen is amazingly well camouflaged. I can be within a few feet and not see her.

I’ll try to get some pics, but these little guys are fast!
 
We have a large woodpile on our property, and a covey has been living inside of it. Occasionally, the hens come out to forage beneath the bird feeders, as the male stands guard on the highest log. They make an interesting sound, especially when flushed.
 
Hey, with all the restrictions in place, she probably couldn’t travel far to collect her necessary supplies … … perhaps other birds had been hoarding twigs?? 😂 🤣 :crazy_face:
 
She should have taken a page out of the Cuckoo’s book. Or that of the Brown-Headed Cowbird. Both are parasitic, and lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, forcing the host birds to raise the young. Now, there’s a strategy.
 
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I finally managed a few shots of mom and the most precocious of her chicks through my glass doors. The cuteness factor is off the charts

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I’m still chuckling…

Perhaps she’s just into that sparse neomodern look? Easy to clean, no?
 
Isn’t that cute :blush:great shots considering their shyness and hiding skills.
 
I think it’s our shortest day of the year tomorrow ,over here.Yesterday I was chopping wood and noticed a Magpie gathering nesting material 😃
 
Nothing much new to report. The mountain has been on fire for the past 3 weeks so I have mostly stayed at home. The quail family has moved on but I have a swarm of hummers visiting my feeders. I did pick up 2020 year bird #178, Lesser Nighthawk, in my backyard one evening when I went out to check out the fires.

Last week was my birthday, so I decided to rejoin an old tradition and try to give myself a lifer for the occasion. This gets harder to do, the older I get, but there is one species I need on a river south of here, just north of the Mexican border. It’s been hotter that he** here (it hit 109 on my b-day) so the wife and I got up at first light and headed out the door for some epic riparian birding
This was my first visit to this location and it didn’t disappoint. New 2020 year birds included #179 Yellow-breasted Chat, #180 Blue Grosbeak, #181 Common Ground-dove, #182 Inca Dove, #183 Northern Beardless Tyranulet, #184 Gray Hawk, #185 Swainson’s Hawk, #186 Yellow-billed Cuckoo and #187 my 514th North American life time bird, Rose-throated Becard! Happy birdy to me!

2020 year bird #179, the appropriately name, Yellow-breasted Chat.

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2020 year bird #181, the not-so-common Common Ground-dove.

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Mr. Please-take-my-picture, Vermilion Flycatcher

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Here is a really bad photo of the male becard visiting the nest. I got better looks, but getting photos was hard!

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And here’s the nest. So strange. Bird sub-tropical Arizona!

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Speaking of sub-tropical Arizona, I braved the heat and went out early this morning to Sweetwater Wetlands in town here and found 2020 year bird #188 Tropical Kingbird.

Here’s some pics of other birds I found.

A Common Moorhen chick

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A younger one with it’s mother

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A couple older chicks. It was a moorhen breeding factory out there today.

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A young Yellow Warbler chasing after it’s mother.

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The youngster. These things can throw me for a loop this time of year.

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I accidentally managed to photograph my first Bell’s Vireo. They’re common enough, but hard to see in the trees. I had no idea what I was looking at at the time.

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And finally, here’s a cute little puppy I found. It didn’t want to come home with me.

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tad said:
Last week was my birthday,
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Happy belated birthday tad! 🎂 ← it’s still fresh!

The yellow breasted chat is very pretty - looks like the rays from the rising sun is setting his breast color alight!

Vermilion flycatchers could be on the cover of Bird-Watch magazine 😉

No wonder you had difficulty getting a good photo of the male becard - he and especially his tail feathers blend right in! I had to zoom in to find him. That is a weird looking nest …

Mom! Mom! … wait!! - I’m not full yet! … … said the young Yellow Warbler.

😂 🤣 oh my cute ears that puppy does have 😂 I wonder if he has teeth to match!
 
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