Monday, March 10, 2008

The Yard Birds

No, not that group that Jimmy Page, Eric Beck and Eric Clapton used to be in.
MY yard birds.

I got a new one today...a sharp-shinned hawk. Did I have my camera handy? Nope.
That makes the sixth raptor species either seen or heard in my yard:
1. Cooper's hawk
2. Sharp-shinned hawk
3. Red-tailed hawk
4. Red-shouldered hawk
5. Great Horned owl (heard)
6. Barred owl
My yard rocks. Totally.



Mama GHOW is sitting higher in the nest...I wonder how many chickies she has under there?
(They lay 2-4 eggs)
GHOW Isabella

What's better than watching an owl usher in the new generation?
Finding another GHOW nest.

This one is at another local park. I didn't check this one as anally as the Lake Isabella one, so I don't know what stage she is at with incubation or brooding.

GHOW Symmes 3


And just because I like to inject a bit of humor on my blog, here's a billboard from one of our local hard rock radio stations:

we heart big cans

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great list but you need to keep track of those songbirds also!

Susan Gets Native said...

Tom:
Oh, I do. The sharpie made 51 species in the yard so far.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Those tubs are good for the Great horned owls to nest in. Who decided where to put them to encourage the GHOW?

We used to have a GHOW that nested across the street and the neighbor cut down the rotten old apple tree that it nested in. :( We don't hear it any more. :( :(

Your bead work that is popping up at different places are sure pretty. You do a good job with beads.

Dave Dorsey said...

You didn't have your camera ready??? Bad, bad girl. I take mine to work, shopping, hiking, you name it. Still a little early for our owls to start nesting, but with the way the weather has been it shouldn't be too long off.

LauraHinNJ said...

What's with those Ohio owls nesting in wash tubs?

Weird!

;-)

Susan Gets Native said...

Lisa:
I hate it when people cut down a perfectly good dead tree.
Thanks for the compliments! I love beading.

Dave:
I know, I know. I'm a bad girl. But it was in the basement, where I had just been uploading my GHOW pics. Damn.

Laura:
50 gallon steel drums, to be exact. They were put up years ago in many of the county parks. They work better than the plastic laundry baskets I have seen.

Anonymous said...

Sweet . . I kinda figured you had been! A good dead tree and Hazard trees are two different things! Too many times people get them mixed up!

Mary said...

Wow. You DO have a lot of birds. I can't understand why I hear owls but I never see them. And you have them nesting in buckets. Very cool.

Kerri Farley said...

How exciting to see these owls! WOW!

Anonymous said...

Love the video ... mostly the sound of the hawks.
We have a new platform feeder right on our deck outside our kitchen window and the Cooper's Hawk now gets "up close and personal" when he WHOMPS in and plunks on the deck rail ... peering around wondering where all the song birds have gone.
Found you over at Mary's and yes, you do awesome bead work!
Enjoy your yard - enjoy your birds!

Aunt "B's" Backyard said...

Hi, I found your blog through another, and geez, I've never seen anything like your owl setup. I Love it! Do tell me about it, I would love to try it!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Nice owls, I can't wait to see fuzzy heads!
I've tagged you for a game, if you like?

Mary Richmond said...

I love these owl nesting buckets (or whatever you call them) but most of all I love the owl glaring at you. I think she's giving you the evil eye ;-)

NatureWoman said...

Awesome Susan!! And why wasn't the camera around your neck?!?

RuthieJ said...

Great owl pics, Susan.
Congratulations on another raptor for your yard list.

dguzman said...

There is definitely some serious "get away from my washtub"-fu going on there....

That's a really cool idea. I think I'll mention it to the people who own the marsh, because they've been trying to encourage owls in this one wooded area behind the marsh. It's cool!

Mel said...

Great idea! I love the pictures, and the humor at the end! ;)

Owlman said...

I'd be more impressed if these owls actually did washing. Come to think about it, folding is more of a pain in the ... rear. Haven't seen any folding owls, anyone? Seriously I like this nesting tubs. I wonder why other parks haven't tried it. I haven't been able to track down a single GHO this year....

Amy said...

Love the owl photos. A male screech owl chose one of our nest boxes this morning and I'm so excited! Woot!