Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Bonus Bird: Golden-crowned Kinglet
The best part of deciding to become attuned to birds is that they just pop out of nowhere... not really, of course. They're usually around, but I'm more likely to see them now that I'm looking.
This is one of the surprises, a Golden-crowned Kinglet.
It snowed last night in Seattle, but the snow turned to rain and this morning was a slush-fest. I was running some errands, on foot, and I decided to walk up the viaduct from University Village. At the top of the hill on 45th I came across a small group of tiny (3 - 4 inches from beak to tail) birds with golden crowns.
I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot, frozen on the sidewalk staring into the shrubs, but it was so wonderful to see these goofy little birds go about their business. I was giddy, both from finishing my hill climb and from seeing a new-to-me bird. Whee!
Doodled from this wonderful photo.
This is one of the surprises, a Golden-crowned Kinglet.
It snowed last night in Seattle, but the snow turned to rain and this morning was a slush-fest. I was running some errands, on foot, and I decided to walk up the viaduct from University Village. At the top of the hill on 45th I came across a small group of tiny (3 - 4 inches from beak to tail) birds with golden crowns.
I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot, frozen on the sidewalk staring into the shrubs, but it was so wonderful to see these goofy little birds go about their business. I was giddy, both from finishing my hill climb and from seeing a new-to-me bird. Whee!
Doodled from this wonderful photo.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Cooper's Hawk: Research
We have hawks in the yard: Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks. They look very similar to one another, but the Cooper's Hawk is larger... we didn't know how much larger until we went to DC and saw the "Birds of DC" at the National Museum of Natural History.
The Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is a medium-sized hawk that's very common at feeders. The one in our yard last year liked to sit on the fence right next to the tree where I have the finch socks.
Cooper's Hawks live year-round across the continental United States. Western birds are smaller than their eastern counterparts.
It's a crow-sized long-legged hawk that looks like its wearing pantaloons, with a long barred tail. Adults have red or orange eyes; juveniles have yellow eyes. As with many birds of prey, the female is about 1/3 larger than the male. Wings and tails are dark brown, underparts buffy with dark bars. Chest and pantaloons have reddish bars.
As you might suspect from their prevalence at feeders, the Cooper's Hawk feeds mainly on small songbirds, with some rodents added into the mix.
Photo from Wikipedia.
The Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is a medium-sized hawk that's very common at feeders. The one in our yard last year liked to sit on the fence right next to the tree where I have the finch socks.
Cooper's Hawks live year-round across the continental United States. Western birds are smaller than their eastern counterparts.
It's a crow-sized long-legged hawk that looks like its wearing pantaloons, with a long barred tail. Adults have red or orange eyes; juveniles have yellow eyes. As with many birds of prey, the female is about 1/3 larger than the male. Wings and tails are dark brown, underparts buffy with dark bars. Chest and pantaloons have reddish bars.
As you might suspect from their prevalence at feeders, the Cooper's Hawk feeds mainly on small songbirds, with some rodents added into the mix.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Northern Cardinal: Putting It Together
Photo references for this week's doodles:
Bird doodle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/goellnitz/4719286326/
Beak detail: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aditithestargazer/3296420616/
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