American Kestrel

We were birding along the road in Northwest Ohio and we spotted the American Kestrel perched on a wire. After my Mom pulled over I got a picture before it flew. According to the Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman this species is declining in the Northeast but elsewhere the populations are still healthy.

Photo Life List

1. Wild Turkey
2. Ring-necked Pheasant
3. Turkey Vulture
4. Green Heron
5. Pileated Woodpecker
6. Common Loon
7. Yellow Warbler
8. Yellow-breasted Chat
9. American Robin
10. Mississippi Kite
11. Tennessee Warbler
12. Oregon Junco
13. American Kestrel

General Mockingbird

Their plan was for the robins to gather as many arms as they could and to take out all berries in a mass descent. The Blue Jays were to drop poop bombs on the starlings. General Mockingbird’s position was up in the trees watching his robin soldiers take out the berries.

American Robin Troops waiting for the signal to strike

Saturday morning 0800 hours…
General Mockingbird wasted no time in assembling the troops. The Blue Jays were ready. The American Robins were ready. American Crow snipers were on standby in a nearby cornfield. Canada Geese planes intimidated the berries in a flyover.

General Mockingbird called, “Blue Jays, bombs away!” “Robins strike!”

Robins in berry-attacking mode - Photo by Jennie

Saturday 1300 hours…
All of a sudden General Mockingbird was being attacked by starling troops. They came from both sides. General Mockingbird had no choice but to attack. With the help of an ally Downy Woodpecker, he got away and the Blue Jays were there to back him up.

Saturday 1500 hours….
The berries never stood a chance. Although the starlings got their fill, General Mockingbird and his troops were the ultimate winners. Will the berries and starlings come back for another battle next year? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Robins troops sitting in the trees exhausted and cold but certainly stuffed! - Photo by Jennie

Me and my Mom recently moved to Findlay, Ohio. I really like it here. We got an apartment and the view is tremendous.

Our Yard - Photo by Jennie

Our backyard list is growing already despite the bad weather. We have more than a foot of snow on the ground. I am going to be joining the Young Birder’s Club and we live about an hour away from Kenn and Kim Kaufman! (brag, brag brag!)

We have also been birding to a couple of places and had fun but didn’t really see much.

Litzenberg Memorial Woods - Photo by Jennie

Everything about Ohio is new to me but I think I am going to like it here.

This church was in Lee County in northern Illinois. I took this photo on the way home from the Bald Eagle Weekend at Starved Rock State Park.

Spotted Towhee - Photo by Birdfreak

We immediately saw the Spotted Towhee inside of a barn. He bounced around on the hay bales and flew around the rafters. He looked healthy and happy.

Eddie took a lot of photos, but I did not take any this time. It was exciting to see a new bird in the middle of January, and this is my second lifer this year! My other lifer was a Thayer’s Gull.

Spotted Towhee - Photo by Birdfreak

Me and the Wandering Bald Eagle - Photo by Birdfreak

When we got there we set up. Barbara Williams of the bird club (who is a taxidermist) was getting ready to mount an adult Red-tailed Hawk that had been found dead in a field. I helped explain to visitors part of the display that had a Red-tailed Hawk wing and foot and a Great Horned Owl wing and foot. It was fun to describe these parts to people especially seeing their surprise at the sharpness of their talons.

I watched Barbara skin the body of the bird and how she stuffed it. Halfway through watching, I felt nauseous and unfortunately that was it for me. I decided to hang out with this cool herpetologist that was there for a bit until I felt better. I got to hold a Ball Python and a giant cockroach. The cockroach was actually hissing at me and tried to crawl up my shirt.

Barb Williams handling the big crowd - photo by Birdfreak

I did get to see the raptor show done by the World Bird Sanctuary. They brought a Harris’s Hawk named Sheldon, a Bald Eagle called Patriot, a Barn Owl named Goblin, a Bateleur (from Africa!) and a lot more cool raptors.

The event was extra exciting because I was more than just a visitor. I got to meet a lot of cool people and learned a lot of new information about birds. I can’t wait to help out at another event like this.

Great Horned Owl and Red-tailed Hawk Foot - Photo by Birdfreak

Once we got there we went up to the lock by the dam on this balcony overlooking the river. It was really windy but not as cold as yesterday’s below zero temperatures. There were tons of Herring Gulls and Bald Eagles. There were tons of different plumages of juvenile Bald Eagles. There were also a lot of Common Mergansers, a few Common Goldeneyes, one Redhead, a Red-breasted Merganser and some Canada Geese.

One of the trip leaders from my bird club Dan Williams spotted a Thayers Gull and I hurried to get a look. This was a life bird for me! I was very excited to finally see one.

We also watched a barge come into the lock. It was pushing and breaking ice to get in and as it was coming in gulls and eagles were swooping around catching and grabbing fish. It was really cool.

Although it was pretty cold, I was so glad that I went on the field trip.

One of the many Bald Eagles we saw - Photo by Birdfreak

But not so lucky for the birds. Birds have many ways to keep warm in this kind of weather. They fluff up their feathers and their feet don’t feel the cold as much. Sometimes they will tuck one foot under to keep warm.

They also keep up a high metabolic rate. They eat lots of energy foods like seeds and suet. Birds can sometimes freeze to death though which is sad.

Keep warm everyone. I hope it warms up for the Saturday birding trip I am supposed to go on to see Bald Eagles!

Lapland Longspur and Horned Lark - Photo by Birdfreak

I got up at seven thirty when my uncle called me to his window to take a look at the backyard thistle feeders. I looked out and saw Pine Siskins mixed with American Goldfinches. Since I saw the Pine Siskin first, that is my bird for the year of 2009.

…and then I went back to bed.

Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch - by Birdfreak

I took this photo back in September. I love how blue the sky was that day.