Today's mission...

Today I decided to get a picture of the red-bellied woodpeckers that have been visiting our feeders. They have been the most difficult to photograph. They seem to notice every movement inside our home. So I closed all the blinds with the exception of one small opening hoping to conceal myself. I did not get any pictures only this video.


While editing the video a female red-bellied woodpecker stopped at our feeder. I slowly sat my laptop on the floor, grabbed my camera, and belly crawled to the couch to get the following pictures:

Like I said, I was on a mission today!

 

Winter visitors

The kids and I have been busy since school started but we have had quite a few visitors at our feeders. Below are a view pictures from the past couple months. We also built blue bird houses for our grandparents for Christmas.

 

 

Sunflowers

This week we cleaned out our flower beds. The sunflowers began to fall down on the ground. I saved the sunflowers that were loaded with seeds and placed then in the tree line by our house. You guessed it, the birds love them.

A pair of titmice have been spending a lot of time at the sunflowers as well as a few black capped chickadees but I was unable to get a picture of them.

Sunday's Finch Problem

The last few weeks...

Since school has started we have not had a lot of extra time for the birds but we have had a couple things happen worth noting. First, where did all the finches go? We no longer have a single finch visiting our feeders. Second, last night we spotted the neighborhood bald eagle flying over the tree line across from our house. We have not seen this all summer. Usually we would have to visit the nest to get glimpse of the eagles. And, lastly the black capped chickadee's are coming closer to the house now that the finches have left.

Brown Family Environmental Center

Today Lyndsey and I went hiking at the Brown Family Environmental Center. We covered about 3 1/2 miles in little over an hour. On our way we passed several of the Bluebird houses placed by the BFEC. We took a peek in a couple boxes and the pictures below are what we saw. Not all were Bluebird nests but I have not had a chance to figure out exactly who or what has been visiting the boxes.

Bathing Bluebird Beauties

Thank you Annette for the wonderful Bluebird pictures. Just today a bird bath arrive on out door step. My wife set it up tonight. Hopefully we will have bathing beauties to photograph soon.

Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Woodpecker and mosquitoes

Caleb and I moved our chairs off of the patio this evening and sat close to our feeders near the tree line. Just before the mosquitoes carried us away we had a chance to take a few pictures. Caleb was really excited to see the Black-capped Chickadee. I think he really just likes to say Chickadee, Chickadee, Chickadee.

The other pictures are of a Blue Jay and a Woodpecker. I can't quite tell if the woodpecker is a Hairy or Downy woodpecker.

Red Tailed Hawk and Harley Davidsons'

Today Caleb and I were coming home from our high school football scrimmage and our neighborhood Red Tailed Hawk was out visiting again. We stopped along the road to take a picture. I wasn't quite ready yet. I had to get the camera out of the bag, attach my lens and then take the picture. I thought I was doomed for sure and we would miss our chance. Caleb was yelling, "give me the camera" from the back seat, while the truck was in reverse moving backwards, and then 26 Harley Davidson motorcycles came screaming by very loudly. Through all of the commotion we still had a chance at a picture.

Red Tailed Hawk - Take two

On the way to work yesterday morning I finally followed my own advice. I grabbed my camera as I headed out the door hoping to get a picture of the Red Tailed Hawk that has avoided me the last few days. Low and behold he was in the area just across the road from where I had seen him before on the Martin house. I got a couple shots of him on the fence and then he flew up to a power pole. I like the power pole picture. Even without much color the silhouette is interesting.

Indigo Bunting

Our friends at MoBugs sent these pictures of an Indigo Bunting. Caleb and I have been trying to get a picture of a bunting each time we visit the Kokosing Gap Trail a.k.a. the bike path. We frequently see them on the trail which is only a 1/2 mile from our home but never at our feeders or nearby trees.

Thanks for the pictures. They are great!



I did a little research and found the following interesting facts about Indigo Buntings at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

Cool Facts

• The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars.
• Experienced adult Indigo Buntings can return to their previous breeding sites when held captive during the winter and released far from their normal wintering area.
• The sequences of notes in Indigo Bunting songs are unique to local neighborhoods. Males a few hundred meters apart generally have different songs. Males on neighboring territories often have the same or nearly identical songs.
• Indigo and Lazuli buntings defend territories against each other in the western Great Plains where they occur together, share songs, and sometimes interbreed.

Red Tailed Hawk - life lessons

I saw an interesting sight today on my way home from work. Just down the road from the school there are two martin houses in a small field adjacent to a farm house along the road. Perched on one of the martin houses was a Red Tailed Hawk. The martins were going crazy flying in all directions. The smaller birds are actually what caught my attention first. I raced home to grab my camera and when I returned I was happy to see the hawk was still there. I pulled off the side of the road and stepped out of my truck hoping to capture the moment - but then my door slammed shut.

Lesson 1. Always carry your camera in your vehicle.
Lesson 2. Never slam your truck door when you expect to take a picture of a bird.

You guessed it. The hawk flew away before I took a single picture; but there is always tomorrow.

Bluebird Photos

Please send me your best Bluebird photos. I would like to create a slide show of Bluebirds from all our friends. You can email the pictures to rgallwitz@gmail.com.

Thank you.

This is an awesome picture of a Heron that Kim sent to us. She took the picture while visiting Florida. The bird liked to steal their bait when they were fishing.

Thank you!! The beach looks very inviting!

Karen's Red-winged Blackbird

I took this picture of a red-winged blackbird at Marblehead (Lakeside, Ohio) last Monday. This is one of my favorite birds because I saw so many of them on the farm near Fredericktown while I growing up. The surprising thing about this fellow is that he landed right beside the picnic table where I was sitting. Apparently, lighthouse visitors leave him a lot to eat this spot so being around people doesn't bother him, as you can see in the second photo


I'm glad you got a picture of him. Red-winged Blackbirds were on my list to get pictures of in the near future. Thanks a bunch!

Owl excitement

Just a few minutes ago Caleb and I had a little excitement. As we were taking the trash cans down to the edge of the road for pick up in the morning we heard an Eastern Screech Owl. They are pretty common in our area but Caleb has not had the chance to hear one before. Guess what we are going to do tomorrow at dusk?

Caleb an I also plan to build a few owl boxes this fall and plan to get them in place before winter. We have been talking about this for a few weeks and researching what materials we need as well as choosing the correct plan. Tonight provided a little motivation to get the boxes built. Caleb was ready to build them tonight.

Finally got him - Male Brown Thrasher

After watching and waiting for a couple weeks I finally was able to get a good picture of what I believe is a male Brown Thrasher at 7:30 am this morning. As you can see the Brown Thrasher is just a little larger than a mature Blue jay. I find the tail feathers to be quite interesting. This bird has been very difficult to photograph. Any movement within our house and he is gone.

I having been using iBird Explorer PRO, an app for my Ipod touch, as my reference tool. It has been a great help. Can anyone confirm my identification of this bird?

Kelly's nest

The girls and I discovered this nest of brown speckled eggs buried in a climbing clematis on one of our back deck banisters. We weren't sure what kind of eggs they were until we started seeing a male and female cardinal taking turns flying into the nest. The other picture is the last one I took of them before they "disappeared" from the nest. The cardinals will often come to the back door, which has glass low to the ground, and peck at their reflections!

Thanks for the pictures! They are great.

We need help.

Caleb and I are having trouble identifying this bird. It visited our feeder a few weeks ago and has not been back. Can you help us out?

New feeders are paying off

Yesterday Caleb and I installed a couple new feeders and they are beginning to pay off. The cardinals seem to visit more often. Caleb took this picture of a female cardinal as she was waiting on our bench. The new feeder is near by.

San Francisco - Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf

While visiting San Francisco Caleb took a picture of this California Gull (creative name). As you can see he is sharing a dock with his friend Mr. Sea Lion. Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf is a lot of fun. We had a great time.

Nest discovery

Caleb found this nest and took this picture. It is located in a Spruce tree about 30 inches off of the ground. Our next project is to find out what type of bird made his home so close to ours. Any suggestions?

Caleb and the elusive Cardinal

The day we left for California Caleb took this picture of a Cardinal visiting our feeder. He was very excited because we have tried many times unsuccessfully to take a picture. He was so excited that he ran to the bathroom to show his mother while she was in the shower. Needless to say the camera still works.

Blue Bird

Karen sent this great picture of a Blue Bird. We have two pair nesting at our home without Blue Bird Houses. Caleb, Lyndsey and I plan to build a few this fall and have them ready for spring.

Thanks for the picture it is great.

You never know what you will discover when watching birds on the Kokosing Gap Trail. Recently I took this picture just south of where Schenck Creek dumps into the Kokosing River. This very large turtle was sunning himself while a couple smaller turtles joined him near by. I took this picture from a distance of 50 to 60 feet. I estimate the turtle to be 15 to 18 inches in diameter across his back.

Quick one

Laurie somehow captured this picture of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. They have been visiting our feeder for quite a while. They are amazing birds and very fun to watch.

Caleb learned the other day that hummingbirds make their nest out of spider webs and their eggs are the size of navy beans.

MOOOOOOOOO

After a little research we determined this is a Brown-Headed Cowbird. Caleb seemed to think that name was a little funny. We also discovered that cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds nests. The other birds end up raising the cowbird young. This is a result of the cowbirds following herds of buffalo that constantly changed locations. A primitive form of foster care!

Humming bird baby photos

Caryl forwarded an email to me with the very best humming bird photos I have ever seen. Please check them out.

Finch Frenzy

I hope you enjoy the Finch Frenzy slide show. The Finches have been

visiting our feeders from the beginning and provide much entertainment

and enjoyment. It has been fun to watch their colors change as their

mating season nears. They are beautiful. Enjoy!

Tribute to Michael

At the campground

A few weeks ago I took an early morning walk at the campground and stumbled across a few baby ducks in the Kokosing River. You never know what you will see.