Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Indoor (and a little outdoor) birding

It was a hot weekend. We planned to get some birding in, even though this isn't the best time to see birds. But, any practice with the binoculars will help us later on. There is a pond with a swan couple and babies near the hospital where Thomas is working this month, so he took me there. There were 5 little swans:Walking around the pond, we saw a female mallard duck with a bunch of her babies, lounging in the shade:
Then, we went to the nature center for a hike. The hike ended up being shorter than anticipated due to mosquitoes. However, the center keep bird feeders full, so we were able to do a little indoor birding at the feeders. I know, cheating. But, we saw many interesting birds, including a Rose-breasted Grosbeak family. Here's the male:We also saw a Northern Flicker and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Back home, more indoor birding. This cardinal was walking around outside:
And inside, we found a congo grey:
A severe macaw:
And, from slightly further away, a timneh grey:
Those last three don't count for our life list, though!

1 comment:

Carrie said...

I've actually seen a grosbeak outside at our window feeder twice!! They are one of the more interesting looking birds around here. It pays to buy the nicer seed for them, something already well known from the parrots.