Birds

A yard full of  . . . something. I thought they were starlings but after looking at my guide book I think they are something else. Maybe a boat tailed grackle?

 

These are photos of a northern flicker, a type of woodpecker (I think).

 

Cardinal in the Green Grass

Mr. Bluebird on My Fence Post

Pileated Woodpecker

Some Kind of Woodpecker

My guidebook doesn't have a picture of this exact woodpecker. It looks close to either a Downy Woodpecker or a Northern Flicker Woodpecker, but the colors are not quite right.

If you know what this bird is, please leave it in the comments! Thanks!

A Big Fat Hawk

This bird was a long ways off when I spied it out the window. It was at the limits of my long-range camera lens when I took these photos, so they are not as clear as I would like.

The hawk was huge. I don't know how it flew!

Robins in December

A Hooded Falcon

Falconry is the "art" of hunting wild prey with birds. Falconry has been around since about 2200 BC in China and at least 1700 BC in other areas. So humans have been capturing these birds and training them for a long time.

Saturday a young man caught two falcons on the farm. They are, I think, peregrine falcons (but I am not sure). He will train the falcons. He has a permit to do this as required by state law. My husband gave him permission to look for wild falcons on the farm.

This is the falcon with a hood on. The hood will have to stay on for a while until the bird is used to the man.

As you can see, the bird is not very big.

This is the wing span of the falcon. The bird looks much like a dove from afar. I've probably seen the bird many times but did not realize what it was.



A front shot of the bird.


I am not sure how I feel about this. I looked up falconry in Virginia and found the Virginia Falconers' Association. It says most falconers consider themselves to be conservationists because they try to protect the environment for these and other birds. It is an old activity, thousands of years old, and the birds are still here, so I suppose it is probably okay. However, I do not think wild things should be tamed for sport, so for that reason I have mixed feelings about it.

You just never know what will go on around here.

A Bird

Redbird!

The Hawk Takes Flight

Occasionally there isn't a camera around when you need one. I spied this hawk out the front door, but my camera was in the other room on the charger. The closest thing to me was my video recorder, which also needed charging. However, I did manage to snap these photos with it before the battery died.

Whistling Cardinal

I was disappointed in these photos of a cardinal I took around 8:30 a.m. this morning. He was whistling to beat the band and I set up the tripod and used the digital zoom. However, I think the light was not right as none of the pictures turned out as well as I thought they might when I downloaded them.

Birds are hard to photograph and my Nikon needs a lot of light for their constant movements.

Big White Hawk

I've been seeing this big white-chested hawk for a few weeks now. These photos do not do justice to the bird; I had a little shake when I was trying to take these pictures. I am also not sure what kind of hawk it is as my field guide doesn't show anything similar. When I look on the internet I find a bird that is supposed to be only in Mexico. Surely this bird isn't from Mexico?

At any rate, this is a very big bird, as you can see from the picture of it with the cow.

Hawk

I took these shots on a very gray day, and they did not turn out as well as I might have liked. My Nikon likes a little more light.

Strange Visitors

Sunday I received a phone call from a neighbor that there were pelicans on the pond.

He wasn't kidding! There is a huge flock of about 20 down there. We've never had pelicans on the farm before.

I have no idea what they are doing here.

Strange happenings.