Saturday, July 30, 2022

A birding update...

 Some of you may know that I like to go birding. I've been doing it for several years now; I even have a small orange notebook where I track all the different birds I've seen. It's my birding life list, and this summer I added 3 more birds to it, bringing my 'grand' total up to 207. What new birds did I see?

A Blue Grosbeak...



and an Osprey...



and a House Wren.



(And while I didn't take any of these lovely photographs, I did see all these lovely birds.)
Happy Birding!

52 comments:

  1. For some reason I didn't know you had wrens like ours. :-) I've only ever seen an Osprey once... in Wales. Arrived at a little lake and a chap with a telescope said would you two like to see the Osprey and a Great Northern Diver? Well that would be a 'yes'!!! I love birdwatchers.

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    1. Birdwatchers are always so nice to point out birds and share scopes! And it's nice that so many birds appear all around the world. :)

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  2. I'm impressed that you've seen so many birds! The Blue Grosbeak is beautiful.

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  3. Lovely week in birding. I've never seen a Blue Grosbeak - pretty.

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    1. It's most common in the Southern and Southwestern states during the summer. This is the first one I've ever seen.

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  4. Lovely birds and what great pictures. I particularly like the grosbeak, probably because blue is a favorite color of mine.

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    1. It's a darling little bird, isn't it? It's my favorite out of these three birds, too. :)

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  5. I was delighted to see several new-to-me birds when I was in Montana and when I was in France this year, including a Red Crossbill, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Western Tanager, (all from Montana) and a European Goldfinch and a White Wagtail (from France). I love the Blue Grosbeak you saw.

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    1. I've heard White-breasted nuthatches, but have never actually seen one; and I keep trying to see a Red Crossbill. Hopefully someday soon! :)

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  6. That's so exciting! The Blue Grosbeak is gorgeous! :)

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    1. Isn't it? I was excited to finally see that bird; it's not super common where I live. :)

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  7. The Blue Grosbeak is beautiful. And I don't think I've ever seen an Osprey!

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    1. The Osprey was a first for me; it was flying low over the water in search of fish to eat. so fun to watch! :)

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  8. A fellow birder - fantastic! We sometimes get Blue Grosbeaks through here on migration. They really are beautiful birds.

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    1. They are! And they have a cute finch-like song, too. :)

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  9. It is SO hard to take good photographs of birds- at least for me! Of the birds in my yard, wrens are among my favorites. I didn't even know there was a blue grosbeak- so striking!

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    1. I don't get wrens in my backyard, but there are several places here in Utah where I've been able to see them; they're such cute birds. :)

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    1. Isn't it? I loved being able to finally see one. :)

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  11. Beautiful! I love the Blue Grosbeak and the little wren is so adorable. I wouldn't want to come up against the Osprey. He looks very noble and fierce. We live in a fairly wooded area and I always love seeing what birds visit us. I'd love to do some more official birding.

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    1. Birding is so fun. And it's free! There are great books and new apps out there, too, to help you figure out what bird you're seeing. It's addictive. :)

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  12. Beautiful pics! I find as I get older I appreciate just atching the birds more and more.

    Greg

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    1. They're so fun to watch. I have my favorites that I look for each year, but I also love seeing new ones. :)

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  13. The only birds I ever see around here are sparrows, pigeons and a couple of different kinds of black birds, could be crows.

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    1. Crows are very common, but if those black birds have very long tails it might be a Grackle. They seem to like urban areas and Wal-mart parking lots. :)

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  14. It's interesting to see which blogs Blogger will let me comment on and which ones it throws up roadblocks on. Nevertheless, I persist!

    I love birding, too. That blue grosbeak is gorgeous! I tries to start a life list once, but never seemed able to keep up with it. I'd rather take photos of the birds I see instead. :-)

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    1. The whole commenting thing now is so stupid and full of problems; I never know when my comments will stick around or disappear into the ether any more. Glad it worked for you this time. :)

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  15. I've often been tempted to try birding but never seem to do it. I do take note of the ones who land in my yard...now there's a great adventure, right? Usually just wrens, red-headed woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, robins, mourning doves, and a rare oriole every so often. Oh...and a bunch of mockingbirds who drive me crazy with their endless chatter.

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    1. A red-headed woodpecker in your yard is pretty cool! I mostly get sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, stupid starlings, black-chinned hummingbirds and robins in mine. Sometimes we do get the occasional sharp-shinned hawk which I love, but the little birds don't. :)

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  16. I love bird watching. These birds are so beautiful! Wonderful and Lovely Post dear! xoxo
    Allurerage 
    Thetrendybride 

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  17. My father in law was a huge bird enthusiast, he took pictures from them wherever he went. Hubby is also interested but he mainly photographs those that come to our garden.
    I don't think I have ever seen a Blue Grosbeak over here (maybe in a zoo), they are mainly North American I read. The German name for them is Azurbischof (azure bishop, I looked that up). I have seen ospreys (Fischadler i.e fish eagle) and house wrens (Hauszaunkönig i.e. house king of the fence), the latter is often in our garden.

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    1. Wrens are very cute. I don't get them in my yard, but there are several varieties that live in Utah year round. It's always fun to see them. I don't have the right kind of camera to get really good photos of birds, but I do have binoculars. :)

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  18. The birds are beautiful; especially that Blue Grosbeak! :)

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  19. My late grandfather-in-law used to love to watch birds. He had this book he looked them up in. His wife gave the book to my daughter when she was little. She thought it was fun. These are beautiful birds.

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    1. Birdwatching is a lot of fun, and a bit addictive, too. I now own several bird books, not just one. ;D

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  20. Nice. We have an osprey & nest on a tall light pole on the baseball field down the street. Neat to watch. Also I just got the Merlin app that allows me to identify birds by sound, which helps. Apparently we have a Merlin falcon around our block that must be lost. Hmm

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    1. I love being able to identify birds by their song! It's a very helpful app. :)

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  21. Oh, how wonderful! I really miss birdwatching, and hope to have a place soon where I can put out a feeder to help me watch birds without moving far from my kitchen. :)

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    1. The fun thing about bird feeders is that you can change the mix of seeds in them and attract different birds to your yard!

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  22. I did not know you are a birder. Those are three lovely birds. My husband and I love birds, but mostly just try to attract them to our tiny backyard (or front garden beds, also tiny). I have cousins who are interested in birding and when they met us for lunch here they also went out looking for birds in the area.

    I have on order a book by Lev Parikian titled... Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?: 200 birds. 12 months. 1 lapsed birdwatcher. I read about the author on Cath's blog.

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    1. Sounds like a good book! I'll have to check it out. Thanks. :D

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  23. They're beautiful! We see a lot of birds but I rarely get any decent photos even though we get quite a few on our bird bath. I'm just not quick enough.

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    1. I don't have the right kind of camera to get good photos, and if I did I probably wouldn't be quick enough either. :D

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  24. Ahhh, the little wren is so cute! The blue grosbeak is a good-looking bird, too. I love all that color.

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