The Bird Feeder

This is my kinda bird

Is he sleeping?
(Apologies to Monty Python)

Saw a beautiful Blue Heron while kayaking on Lake George (Bolton Landing, Huddle Bay) Saturday evening.  We see herons there all the time, but this guy let us paddle up to within about 20 feet of him.  We hung out and quietly watched him for a good 5-10 minutes before he finally flew a short distance away.  It's probably the longest that our 5-year-old girl sat still without making noise in her entire life. Would have been cool to see him snag a fish out of the water.

orioles
redstart
yellowthroat
catbird

http://adirondackvic.org/Great-Adirondack-Birding-Celebration-2013-Schedule.html#Registration

a pair of wood ducks spent wed late aft ,early eve on the pond

a great egret at the pond this morning ,striking contrast to the great blue and green heron that have also been around

female common merganser spent some time feeding in the pond this morning

Ruby crowned kinglet stopped by last week. Just happened to look out the window as he flew into our lilac bush. Awesome look. He was only two feet away!

I'm in the process of moving...
Grabbed the old bird feeder from my old yard... put it on my deck just for the night before i put it up and a bear tore it apart..    :)  Oh well... No bird feeders in this yard...  

orioles have returned

This is the Western Tanager. It is the state bird of Montana. They are fairly rare in this neck of the woods but I have seen this bird and it's mate a few times. I have left the camera by the door all season. It's kinda out of focus or maybe I am. They appear to be very shy and they have been hard to photo. I am not much of a bird guy but since I saw this thread I thought I would contribute. I usually shoot birds ( grouse and pheasants ) but this one doesn't look like it will feed me unless I get a bunch of them.
I have been trying for the better part of an hour to upload the picture. My shitty dial up connection just won't make it happen. Sorry. I will need to go somewhere with high speed to send the picture. Where I live there is no cell service or decent internet conections.

Was out hiking in the tall grass in a remote field this morning. I flushed more grouse than I have ever seen, every few footsteps two or three would fly out. Last thursday morning when biking it was the first time I saw a bald eagle tearing apart road kill on the side of a remote road near some cliffs. I see them in the cliffs near here from time to time but never this close. There have been a lot of interesting bird sitings this season.

Sorry about the focus. I zoomed the lttle camera out as far as it could go and my hands were probably not steady enough.
On another note, last week the wife and I were looking out the window of our new place and watching the hummingbird feed. Cool little birds. Then my wife screams " Look!" And a medium sized Black Bear goes crashing thru the brush and beats it up the hill. It kept looking back and then a young Bull Moose comes thru walking. It didn't have antlers yet but he wasn't taking any shit from the bear.
Ut-Oh. I just saw the the picture and it's way too small... and out of focus. Oh well.

No pix, but saw a Kingfischer down by my buddies pond. Haven't seen one of those around here in years. Was GREAT to see this bird again.

We saw and heard an indigo bunting tonite,very pretty.Also have been serenaded by wood thrush ,veery, red eyed vireo, peewee ,and at night a  whip-poor-will .

Mooses B dangerous critters, fyi.

A friend of mine lives in Argyle, NY, the next county over. He has a dozen or more feeders. It's amazing all the different and very colorful birds he has there.

Coolest birds at my house are the Pileated Woodpeckers and Sapsuckers.

We have yellow bellied sapsuckers. Pretty interesting that they also feed on flying insects ,persuing in flight with a stall/hover maneuver similar as Cedar Waxwings .

saw my first mature bald eagle last night on a bike ride, magnificent bird

last year my son and I got a close look at a juvenile from the canoe

You want to see Bald eagles up close and personal, go to the Berkshire bird sanctuary. They have all kinds of birds - mostly rescues that they have been rehabilitating or giving a safe home.
http://www.birdparadise.org/

I have not been there for years but it is quite an experience. A real menagerie of birds and a great cause.