Bird humor

The Story of Stuff

I've traditionally been content to take the "ignorance is bliss" approach to the footprint I leave on the environment with my consumption and disposal of goods, but since I've started watching birds and interacting a bit more with my natural environment, I'm beginning to see the importance of the natural resources and the environment around me, with all its wildlife and beauty.

This isn't your typical "go green" propaganda video. It paints a very clear picture of how we got to where we're at, and the core of why we need to change. It's worth 20 minutes of your time. I promise.

The Story of Stuff

Geese on Ice

In my back yard...

The House Finches

The House Finches are still absent. There are 3 that visit daily now, down from the 24 that used to come every day. Two males and a female. I'm afraid the rest of their flock didn't make it. We had another deep-freeze last night, with a 50 degree drop in temps in a matter of hours. I've seen the three finches today, so they're still ok.

Canada Geese have taken their place. There were close to 150 geese on the pond yesterday. There are probably a hundred that spent the night on the ice island last night. Now, half of them are sleeping on the ice and half are up on the lawn of the golf course, foraging around and honking.

That's a lotta geese!


A Canada Goose reflects


Airborn

FeederWatch Feb 8-9

Weather and Effort: February 8, 2008
When did you watch your feeders?	Day 1: morning Day 2: morning
Estimated cumulative time:	1 to 4 hours
Daylight temperature:	-9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) low -9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) high
Daylight precipitation:	None - -
Total depth of ice/snow cover:	Under 5 cm (under 2")

Checklist for FeederWatch Illinois Birds

Canada Goose	26
Mallard	1
Red-tailed Hawk	1
Mourning Dove	16
Downy Woodpecker	1
European Starling	14
American Tree Sparrow	3
White-crowned Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	13
House Finch	3 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch	2 (0 with eye disease)
House Sparrow	3

FeederWatch Feb 1-2

Weather and Effort: February 1, 2008
When did you watch your feeders?	Day 1: morning Day 2: morning afternoon
Estimated cumulative time:	1 to 4 hours
Daylight temperature:	-9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) low -9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) high
Daylight precipitation:	Snow 1 to 3 hours
Total depth of ice/snow cover:	5 cm to 15 cm (2" to 6")

Checklist for FeederWatch Illinois Birds

Northern Harrier	1
Cooper's Hawk	1
Red-tailed Hawk	1
Mourning Dove	12
Downy Woodpecker	1
European Starling	7
American Tree Sparrow	3
Song Sparrow	1
White-crowned Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	22
House Finch	5 (1 with eye disease)
House Sparrow	14

Where are the finches?

I'm worried about the house finches in my area. They're usually here in droves, and this is the 3rd day that I haven't seen more than a couple at a time - and I've only seen males, no females.

I wonder if they didn't survive last week's deep freeze. :(

Baby Great Horned Owl (Owlet!)

Found this on birdfreak.com -

This video is of one of the three Montgomery family Great Horned owlets (the other two and mother were nearby). The family nested on the Northern Illinois University Campus in DeKalb, Illinois.