Saturday, April 24, 2010

Song Sparrow

I had a delightful day at Zoo Boise Thursday. Trees are budding, birds are chirping and singing, the grass is green again. It seems like the winter was extra long this year, but it could just be me. I first heard this sparrow before I spotted it, it was singing so beautifully. I made a guess that it was a song sparrow. When I got home I checked my bird ID books, and my guess appears to be correct.
It's the first one I've identified and also photographed, since I began birding, so it will be added to my life list. I consider it to be wild since it was not in an enclosure, but free to go wherever it wanted.
I'm also creating a Photo Life List gallery, where I'll put identifying photos of the birds I have seen. They most likely won't all be great photographs, but at least good enough to confidently identify the birds. I will probably post on it with a link when I have it up and going. If any of you experienced birders see that I have a bird mislabeled in any of my bird galleries, I would appreciate you emailing me to let me know, and I will make the correction.

Boise Peregrine Falcon Update 3

Here's the latest update, April 23, 2010, from the falcon webcam! 4 eggs! So exciting!

"The female laid her fourth egg at 3:18 p.m. She rested for about 45 minutes and then the male stopped by for a close look at the newest arrival. See more pictures on our Facebook page."

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Boise Peregrine Falcon Update 2

Update from the Boise Peregrine Falcon Webcam: "21 April 2010 The female laid a third egg this morning. Observers believe it was laid between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. The male brought her a meal at 8:45 a.m. and when she stood up to eat it, the third egg was visible. If she lays a fourth egg, it will arrive Friday or Saturday...." Click here to see it!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Boise Peregrine Falcon Update

This was posted this morning on the Peregrine Falcon Webcam...

"19 April 2010
At first light this morning, observers saw a second egg in the nest! The female occasionally leaves the eggs for short periods to eat but often the male is in or near the nest box while she is away."

Exciting, now there are two eggs. We will look for another possible egg in a couple of days. Go Boise Peregrine Falcons!

Click here to go to see the webcam now!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Night Birding-photo

Here is a photo I took the other night when we went night birding. My previous post tells about the experience. I basically aimed my camera at the tree, where I knew the nest should be in the shot, and took this photo. It was very dark out so I used my flash. Due to the shallow depth of field in this image, the tree limbs are clearer than the owl, but I still think it's a pretty cool shot. If you want to see it larger, CLICK HERE.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Night Birding

We went out just before dark tonight and checked on the burrowing owls. Nothing amazing to report. Just after dark we saw the GHO (Great horned owl) sitting in the nest, but no sign of the other. Most likely out hunting. We then saw a male barn owl on a post as we drove by. It had prey. On our way back home, another male barn owl flew right across and in our headlights, again carrying prey, and boy was he beautiful! We feel so blessed to have seen him. So close and so awesome! It was especially fun because I've been watching Molly & Magee on Ustream at The Owl Box, which I've previously blogged about. We also saw two foxes. What a cool night.

Tomorrow morning I will get to see the Long eared owl. I will add this bird to my life list, and hopefully get a couple of photos to share with you all.

Happy birding!

Downtown Boise Peregrine Falcons!

This age of webcams is so awesome! You may already be watching Molly, the barn owl and her four owlets, I mentioned in my other post with embedded webcam. There are webcams for just about any bird you could possibly want to see nesting. There are some great Bald Eagle nests on Catalina Island and the Osprey nests. Too much fun! Just remember that this is raw nature and anything can happen; even tragic things.

Our local Peregrine pair has their first egg of this year, as of 9:19am. local time this morning.(MST) Two or three more eggs can be expected, generally every other day. This is so exciting! HERE'S THE LINK for the webcam so you can stay updated and see them for yourself. You can also become a fan of the Peregrine Fund on Facebook.

Here is an image I took last summer of the Peregrine pair perched on a downtown building, where their nest is located. Enjoy your viewing!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Burrowing Owl

I just had to share this cute little burrowing owl with you. Near our house, there are several pairs of them. They nest in burrows underground, as their name suggests. We can drive up and stop and take pictures from the car, and even use the car as a blind. I think I got out and stayed behind the car to get this shot. We will keep going by to see if there are any little owlets.

This is my current free wallpaper download. If you would like to have one, CLICK HERE.

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