Four New Societies

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Lisa Rest

Society Finch kids

I came home from work Friday night ready to do the usual cleanup and was surprised to find these guys all sitting on top of the nest box, looking definitely as big as their parents, if clueless.

There are four of them – unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control it’s hard to tell them apart at the moment.

Below is a little sample of what they sound like when they’re begging for food. There was some guitar music on the radio, in the background. There’s also a little Pietro Zebra Finch mixed in there too.

So as far as I can tell, two of them appear darker than the darkest adult, Phoenix, and one of them is close to Hector’s coloring.

Phoenix

There is another parent, I suspect – Rikki – but she would not pose for a picture. However one of the offspring has a pink bill, taking after her.

Hector

While the nestlings were still in the nest it was practically impossible to record their begging songs. The moment they sensed I was paying attention, like good little birds they immediately shut up.

Somehow the youngsters have not inherited the punk hairstyles. Maybe that comes later.

While I was waiting to record the babies begging, I managed to get some of Zorro’s song for his followers, a little solo song – with the radio instead of the piano in the background.

Tri-County Revisited

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Barn Swallow

Here are a few more pictures from two weeks ago that I never got around to. Like the one above, where the Barn Swallows were close to the bridge, but I was not tall enough to take a complete picture. (Age creeps up slowly until you notice… I don’t feel shorter, but certain things are suddenly out of reach!)

I did get a shot of a couple nestlings in their shelter mud nest.

This Gray Catbird could not have picked a less colorful background…

Gray Catbird

or the Mourning Dove below. A lot of gray tones going on here. But the morning light gives the dove its pinkish color anyway.

Mourning Dove

I confess I am presently too lazy to figure out this wildflower. If you know this blossom, please chime in.

Wildflower

Widow Skimmers are pretty common, though. Enough to be readily identified.

Male Widow Skimmer Dragonfly

Then there was the Red-Winged Blackbird that took on the Red-Tailed Hawk.

The hawk was not happy.

Click on the pictures if you want to see them larger (I just figured out how to do this, it’s only been 2 years).

Even this Tree Swallow, which is normally quite blue-looking, looks gray here as it naps.

Tree Swallow taking a nap

To make identification of Empidonax flycatchers easier on us, ebird allows us to check off “Willow-Alder” instead of making it definitely one or the other. While I heard a Willow and I believe this is probably a Willow, I’m not so sure because I did not see it in conjunction with hearing its call.

Willow-Alder Flycatcher

And the most noble gray bird is also blue…and always a welcome sight.

Great Blue Heron

More to come from the field soon. I also have some recordings coming up. But tomorrow’s early rise calls.

Paul Douglas Forest Preserve – Part I (Apologia)

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Indigo Bunting

I have been thinking about visiting Paul Douglas Forest Preserve, which is way up northwest in Cook County, in Hoffman Estates, to be exact, for quite a while, and I finally managed to get up at 3:15 AM Sunday morning so I could get there before the heat became unbearable. It turned out to be a pleasant, sunny morning with quite a breeze going at times.

Cedar Waxwing

Paul Douglas is a huge preserve, surrounded by one continuous paved trail that extends 7.5 miles – and so it is a destination for runners and bike riders. Not an ideal birding situation, but it’s good for the birds because they can nest there relatively undisturbed. I did not perhaps prepare as I should have, I just figured out how to get there and went. I walked about a mile from the parking lot and at birding pace that took me almost two hours, so I walked back. I’ll see the rest of it some other time.

Tree Swallow nesr

The target bird, if there was one, was Yellow-Headed Blackbird, but either because I didn’t find out specifically where they were located or else they were not present, I did not see or hear any. But I saw some beautiful birds anyway, even if most of them were too far away to get great photos. Often the best birds are when you least expect them, anyway.

My first bird was a Willow Flycatcher. The camera wasn’t ready for him but he cooperated anyway and I managed to get his song as well. His song is the sneezy little “fitz-pew” below the picture.

Willow Flycatcher

It turns out I’ve been trying to put this post together for days but always when I’m falling asleep at the end of the day, so it looks like it might take me at least one more installment. And now that one of the lights that’s on a timer has gone out, my indoor birds are telling me to go to sleep.Of course they’re right. Blogger guilt may be getting to me, but it’s been a busy week.

Common Yellowthroat

I will be back tomorrow with more notes from the field.

Thistle

“Fledgling” Thistle

Filling in the Blanks

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Lisa Rest

Green Heron

Somehow I managed to talk myself into getting up early both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Both days began on the cloudy side, with Saturday turning into rain by 10 a.m. But I finally saw some birds I had missed so far this season. Both Green Herons were at the Portage, for instance.

Flickr IMG_2961_1

Last weekend the woodpeckers eluded me, but this time I had the Northern Flicker above, in addition to Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Downies and a Hairy.

Juvenile Robin

Some juvenile Robins are starting to forage on their own. And there were at least four Gray Catbirds on territories. Below is one of them.

Gray Catbird IMG_2785_1

This juvenile Red-Winged Blackbird sitting on one of the foot bridges was scolded furiously by her dad as I approached.

RWBB Child IMG_2890_1

Wood Ducklings revealed…

Wood Duck ducklings

Finally, the mirage I saw last weekend emerged. It was indeed a scurrying flotilla of Wood Ducklings. There are seven of them, and when they dart around en masse they look like a strange 7-headed creature.

Wood Duck IMG_2864_1

Above, mama Wood Duck.

Song Sparrow

Again, the same silent Song Sparrow. Maybe it’s a she.

Snapping Turtle IMG_3037_1

Still plenty of water on both sides of this path, when I caught the Snapping Turtle crossing.

Snapping Turtle IMG_3041_1

And a beaver going about his business.

Beaver IMG_3053_1

And Southwest Airlines flying over…

Sunday it was grassland birds at Plum Creek Forest Preserve, way down at the southern tip of Cook County, organized by Chicago Ornithological Society. The birds were often too far away to photograph, but we were surrounded by Dickcissels and Henslow’s Sparrows.

Dickcissel IMG_3118_1

The Indigo Bunting below was interesting from the standpoint of his plumage. I don’t know if he was a juvenile or more likely somewhat leucistic, since his song sounded adult.

Indigo Bunting IMG_3100_1

Always a delight to see a Great Crested Flycatcher.

Great Crested Flycatcher

And the only Henslow’s Sparrow of the seven or eight we heard who dared show himself was still buried in the grasses, for all practical purposes. Others ventured closer to him but I chose to hang back; Henslows nest on the ground, and I didn’t want to disturb anybody.

Henslow IMG_3171_1

I leave you with a shrug from one of the Green Herons who had just about had enough of sitting still for so long.

Green Heron Stretch IMG_2939_1

I’ll try to shorten the space between posts. If I can stay awake long enough. 🙂

A Midweek Visit to Millennium Park

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Lisa Rest

North Sculpture Garden IMG_8297_1

Nicer weather and the tourist influx makes Millennium Park challenging for birdwatching on my lunch hour, but it’s closer to where I work so when I don’t have a lot of time, the park beats sitting in the office. Sometimes having lower expectations brings surprises. One thing is certain: my beloved crows are not hanging out there too much. They are shy of most people and even avoid interacting with me in crowded situations. It’s certainly beneath them to beg along with the park’s summer residents that include Common Grackles and Ring-Billed Gulls in addition to Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows.

Park Birds IMG_8306_1

On Thursday I made my way over to the Lurie Garden at the south end of Millennium Park, which is in its first glorious phase of a full bloom cycle.

Lurie Garden

I am particularly fond of Prairie Smoke, which reminds me of cotton candy in its air-blown wispiness. It’s not in the photo above – the plants on the bottom right are Bergamot – but was elsewhere in the garden, and close up below. It’s one of the first flowers to bloom.

Prairie Smoke

Prairie Smoke IMG_8282_1

On the way back I ran into a couple young Grackles,who had just fledged, by the appearance of their pin feathers.

Common Grackle Fledglings

Grackle Fledges Talking IMG_8293_1

And the Ring-Billed Gulls were still trying to drum up business. My friend Karen once called them “prima donnas.”

RB Gull Aerialist IMG_8310_1

Ring-Billed Gull, begging

More to come from the City Parks. I was planning on birding the Portage this morning early, sort of doing a self-styled breeding bird survey, but one of my brake lines failed last night when I moved my car back to my side of the street, and my car is in the shop. It’s old and rusty, like its owner. 🙂

A crow’s garden of hot dogs

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Lisa Rest

Hot dogs 101

Friday I decided to surprise the new crow fledglings with a few hot dogs cut up in small pieces. Their cousins, who were fledglings themselves just last year, helped themselves.

It was a hot day to be a crow. I felt sorry for these all-black birds, and here I was bringing salty hot dogs. So I also brought a little plastic container and put water in it, but only one bird figured it out by the time I was ready to leave.

Got a sip?

However, they all know there’s a little water left in the drinking fountain.

Family Portrait

As far as I can tell there are three fledglings. I took this picture on Wednesday. The parent bird is the second from the left. They have been weaned in birth order, the oldest first, the next day, the middle child and on Friday, the youngest was still begging.

Feed me…?

Finally, the fledge discovered a pile of pre-chewed hot dogs waiting for him.

Gotta think fast here…

and he could not resist. He picked up the whole pile.

Now what?

But then he was wondering what to do with it.

Mom? Dad?

There were no coaches available. He was on his own.

A day in the life.

More begging baby birds

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Lisa Rest

Zebra Finch Fledglings

I happened upon a tape with a lot of “fledgling feed-me’s” on it. This must have been years ago when my indoor population explosion was just getting underway. I had zebra finches and budgies reproducing. The zebra finches tended to build nests anywhere and I caught them double-clutching a couple times early on before I figured out how to discourage such behavior, so that might explain why the zebra finch children are so loud, there must have been a lot of them. They are at what you might call full-fledged volume (sorry), the decibels having increased with age. When they start out as hatchlings, they sound like someone is quietly shaking a box of pins.

Zebra Finch Hen on Nest

The budgie begging is somehow not quite as raucous, it’s rather pleasant. It’s hard to tell what effect my tortured reading through Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier had on the birds’ future vocalizations.

Recording of Zebra Finch and Budgie Fledglings Begging in Key

On the recording, the zebra finch fledglings have just started in after I finished practicing the C# major fugue (they came in earlier but I decided to spare you), right before the C# minor prelude. Then shortly after they subside you can hear a little trilling chorus of budgie babes.

A clutch of budgie nestlings

Goldbird Variations

Why Birds Sing in Key with Music, or how I finally put perfect pitch to use.

Category Archives: baby birds