Please use this thread to share your best sightings from the past week. Writing the names of the birds in bold is nice, to make it easier for people skimming the thread to pick out the names. Including eBird checklist links (or another citizen science project you submit to) is encouraged!
This thread is the place to share your best, favorite, or most interesting photo you take this week. Maybe the photo tells a story on its own, maybe goes along with a story, but let us know why it made you happy.
Be sure to include species name and location you took the photo.
Not sure how to upload an image? Follow these instructions
My friend has a balcony garden with a hummingbird feeder. It gets a decent amount of business, but only ever one hummingbird at a time. The reason for this seemed to be that if ever there were two birds, one of them would scream and chase the other away. We just figured they were assholes.
A few days back a friend's cat was out on the balcony enjoying the garden. Some time while he was out there, he killed a hummingbird.
What's really weird about this is a day or two later, now there are DOZENS of hummingbirds at the feeder. No more fighting. No more angry chirping hummingbird chasing off others. There are 6-8 hummingbirds sitting at the feeder at the same time and another 4-6 hovering around it waiting in line for a drink now. I've never seen anything like it.
Initially we condemned the cat for killing an innocent bird. His outdoor privileges have been revoked. But now I have a theory:
The hummingbird that was murdered was in fact a bully. A tyrant who was so greedy and obsessed with having the feeder all to himself that he drove away all of the other hummingbirds. And with his eyes fixated on the feeder, he didn't notice the cat below him while fending off the poor other hummingbirds.
Like Furiosa killing Immortan Joe and giving water to all the people of the wasteland. Or Jamie Lannister slaying the mad king for the benefit of the kingdom. In killing the bully, now balance has been restored to the local hummingbird society and they can all enjoy the feeder together politely. Anyone else ever seen behavior like this?
I really enjoy taking videos of birds & wildlife. I don’t have a really fancy camera, but I do my very best with the equipment I’ve got and it’s great to practice and improve over time. Any tips or thoughts are welcome!
I’ve been going through videos I took in 2018 and preparing them to share online. Here’s a few shots of Barn Swallows that I’m pretty proud of. Enjoy!
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birding. birdwatching. twitching. listing. whatever you want to call it, if you are looking at or listening to birds you should be submitting links here.