Tag: Birds

Nice Catch!

I always enjoy watching the Great Blue Herons in the retention ponds. They are such beautiful birds! Yesterday, I stopped to watch a heron standing along the edge of one of the ponds. It was still for quite a while, and then it jumped! I thought it was about to fly away, but it stuck… Continue reading Nice Catch!

Owl Feather

I sometimes hear the owls calling to each other on the American Tobacco Trail. I haven’t been successful at seeing them yet. I did see this feather on the side of the trail, though. At first I didn’t know what kind of bird it was from, so I turned to iNaturalist for some help. This… Continue reading Owl Feather

Pileated Woodpecker

I saw my first pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) today! From other, blurry pictures that I got, I could see the red cheek stripe under the beak. This one is a male. I saw him on the Crabtree Creek greenway this morning, close to the Hatcher Creek greenway. Let me know if you find him!

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Now that the tree branches are bare, it’s easier to see the birds. This is a male red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). The red on the male’s head goes from the beak to the back of the neck. The crown of the female’s head is gray. These birds have some light red coloring on their bellies,… Continue reading Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-Winged Blackbirds

Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are a common sight around wetlands. In the summer, you might see one or two near a small retention pond in your neighborhood. Once you know their song, you can’t miss them. This winter, I have had three occasions where an entire flock of red-winged blackbirds was hanging out on the… Continue reading Red-Winged Blackbirds

Surprise on the Trail

I came around a bend in the Shiloh Greenway yesterday and was surprised to see a group (a gaggle) of six geese walking up the trail toward me. Of course, the geese are very common around here, and I often see them on the Indian Creek Greenway at the trailhead by the water. When I… Continue reading Surprise on the Trail

Welcome Little Ones

Do you seen anything? Look carefully. The mallard duck family welcomed TWELVE new ducklings to the family last week!

What’s That? February 10, 2025

What’s that? Who made those methodical carvings in the bark of a consumption weed bush? These are one type of hole made by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). The bird will lick sap from these shallow holes. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers also make neat rows of round, deep holes to find some sap. You might hear the… Continue reading What’s That? February 10, 2025