Scarlett:
Well, thank YOU for creating this neat thread. You're neck of the woods should see early hummer migrators as early as July with the laggers showing up by November. Just hang a couple feeders and they'll find you @};-
R5

I tried to respond to this thread earlier today before my computer freaked out and shut down on me. Gotta love that Caribbean wiring when you turn on the microwave two rooms away.

Scarlett and Olive Oyl, you two need to come have a glass of vino on my patio (and anyone else is welcome, too). I have six land turtles, of which two mate for what seems like daily near sunset. When they are done, their armorous sounds are nearly human. I actually have waited for one of them to light a cigarette!

So, just let me know when you wish to "listen" to the show. :)

Ok...that sounds kind of gross, but I mean it in the purely naturistic sense.

Scarlett, I believe those are the yellow-breasted tacobell gorditas, found only in Jacksonville.

Let me guess again. Sparrows?

Funny that you should mention birds in the back yard, Scarlett. My husband and I were enjoying a cool drink on the front porch last night and our neighbor (an avid birder) wandered over to tell us about the yellow-billed cuckoo that was high in the branches of our ancient oak. He said they were excellent birds to have around since they ate all the caterpillars. They're actually rather nondescript looking except for that garish yellow beak.

We get the hummingbirds and they're fascinating to watch, but they're not the brightly colored ones you see in magazines. Plain brown, dressed in sensible Midwest colors, are our hummers!

When we first moved to the Midwest, I was so surprised at my first sighting of the Canadian geese flying overhead. I exclaimed to my friend, a native Hoosier, "Look, geese in formation right above us!" He gave me this very patient I-know-you're-not-from-here look and drily remarked that it might be better to gaze upon geese AFTER they'd flown by.

Scarlett : Those are probably purple martins living in the gourds.

What an interesting thread...thanks Scarlett.

We've been living in Florida for 3 years now and 2 of those have been in our new house on a small lake (pond) near Ft. Myers and we have a family of Moorehens. Cute little chicken looking black "ducks" that have red looking beaks. Both years she has hatched at least 6 chicks and shortly after hatches a second bunch. But the interesting thing is the older siblings hang around and help take care of the new babies. Then somewhere along the way all the babies go away and we wait another year. We now have a dock and we feed them there...along with blackbirds, of course, doves and an occasional Cardinal.

We got up one morning and in the light fog had about two dozen egrets perched all over our dock..then they just flew away.

We love to watch every Spring as we get hundreds of Robins who will nest in the Brazilian pepper bushes, eat, then rush to the water to drink, then back to the bushes. Getting tipsy, maybe???

Yes, we get Ibis walking through our yard, an occasional Osprey catching fish, an Eagle..young and old, the various Herons, and an occasional alligator who swims through our lake, and some huge turtles who sun themselves on the side of the lake. Love to sit on the lanai and watch this.

In Central NC and not all that unusual but certainly add a lot to my quality of life: mockingbirds, cardinals (spectacular in the holly in the snow), hummingbirds (wonderful harbinger when they magically reappear), bluebirds, robins, and bunnies, the occasional fox, and the deer (some around here call them "rats with antlers" but I love seeing them amble through the woods behind me).

Then there are all the birds whose calls I recognize without having a clue which bird "says" what: the "ter-bleeblee!" bird, the "t'be?" bird, the "puppeteer! puppeteer! puppeteer!" bird. (Anyone want to tell me who's who?)

I miss the red-winged blackbirds that were so common in Illinois meadows and fields -- they're in NC too, but not in my forested neighborhood.

Cassandra: My kids and I hike alot in the parks around here and we found a website that has vocals on it of bird calls. You can find enter features of the bird if you've seen it (eg. red wings, black body), and locate the identity, then play the bird's song. ALso, they have phonetic prompts (like the puppeteer one you mentioned) and you might be able to find the identity of the bird based on the song, although that is obviously trickier. I used to have it bookmarked but then I got a new computer and lost it. I'll try to find it again- neat site for bird lovers.

mamajo - thos are Moorehens?! We have them here and I was wondering what exactly they were! Not the prettiest duck I've seen :)

TG-no darlin, the TacoGordito is rounder with short stubby wings and waddles.

Yes!! ANTS! Martens! I am getting some gourds and will hang them out in the farthest corner of the yard! Thank you!

Today is Friday and the gekkos are having a party. They are all gathered on the patio, doing push ups then popping out their little red throat thingee. Very cute, very festive.
I might join them.
Have a lovely Friday and thank you again ((F))

Well I live inthe middle of Manhattan and most tourists seem to think that there is no wildlife in New York.

But Central Park is the center of the Atlantic coast skyway for migrating birds - so in season there are a uge number of birds. An all year round there are birds few people would expect - peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks etc.

And if you go to the beginning of the surbubs - 45 minutes or so away from the city - you'll see flocks of wild turkeys - and turkey vultures - as well as deer, coyote and even bear.

I had a bald eagle in the tree in front of the kitchen window. Also lots of yellow finches.

Best of all was the flock of HIPPIES camped on my yard one morning. We pitched a tent and the next day it was full of HIPPIES!!!!!

whoa jor- a bald eagle in your tree by the kitchen window. that's impressive! are you serious? where do you live to have bald eagles landing in your tree? did he stay or just light and fly away? we get so excited when we see the goldfinches, i think i'd pass out if I saw a bald eagle in my tree.

emd, I live in Minnesota. The Eagle was short term parking in the tree, probably looking for mice. As for the gold finches/yellow finches we have a bird feeder in front of the kitchen window which attracts a flock of 16 of them every day. Also red and orange finches, wood peckers, and blue jays. Got some great photos.

But I think the hippies were more outstanding. How many people have chased hippies out of their tent on their yard? They looked at me like I was out of line!

you are kidding about the hippies, right? i think you are kidding. but i never can tell. my fahter was born on April fools day and used to always play these jokes on me, getting me to think these crazy things were real like hippies in your tent. I am gullible about these things. you are kidding, right?

jor, Wow man, like, chill dude.
We were just, like, COMMUNING with nature and becoming one with the sunrise in your yard, dude, and like, you came out of your, like, really large house, like, waving your arms and stuff, and it, like, TOTALLY messed with our karma and made our auras turn, like, purple.
Like, really, just hassled us, and like, we were just naked jumping through your sprinkler enjoying, like, the totality of summer and celebrating the harmony and bounty of Mother Earth.
Bummer man...

Oh Lord, too many TGs around here! Tandoori-Girl, TacoGorditos, ThinGorjus!! Too confusing pour moi. :) Tandoori-Girl, that was too funny!!!!

My Nanny used to have some sort of flower vines trailing up the side of her porch. The hummingbirds used to FLOCK there. They were just beautiful. She also had mimosa trees in the yard that they seemed to love also. They were of the colorful variety - we used to sit on the porch with lemonade in the hot summer sun & watch them. I grew up thinking ALL grandmothers had hummingbirds flitting about in their yards. Maybe someday I'll be a grandmother like that.

I miss my Nanny. :)

Oh Diane, you're doing Fast Times at Ridgemont High, not Hippy. These were hippies in their forties not Shawn Penn doing "dude" every other word! As for me I've lived on the edge in the past myself but I never commendired someone else's tent on thier yard.

emd, I'm not kidding.

We live across the street from a city park here in Seattle that originally (a century ago) contained a private zoo comprising species native to the Pacific NW. At some point it became difficult to contain elk and other biggish beasts in what was becoming an urban neighborhood, to the private developer got rid of the animals and sold the land to the city as a park. The City Engineer then logged off what were reportedly the two largest Douglas Fir trees in the world (the General Sherman and General Grant) and pocketed at least part of the proceeds. Whatta guy.

But the legacy of the park still gives us lots and lots of bird friends - raptors, insect-gobbling flocks, crow orchestras and ballets, woodpeckers, jays, the occasionally transient eagle, and now and then escaped housepets like the budgie that flew into our son's room, sat on his desk and said, "Hello, I'm Bird Reynolds." (Returned to grateful children.)

But the local fauna can't hold a candle to our prior neighbors in Alaska - garden-eating moose, a small nearby group of wolves that got relocated promptly, and numerous giant ravens, eagles and various owls from time to time.

"Hello, I'm Bird Reynolds" and 40 yr old hippies squatting in jor's tent. At least jor didn't find the "I'm Bird Reynolds" bird in his tent. I'm laughing my ars off. You guys are too much.

We have a terrible problem with the Canada Geese. they have eaten all the grass along the banks of the Charles river where all the sun bathers like to lie in the sun. they are now overrunning the Public Garden. It's very slippery riding your bike over their discusting turds. There are hundreds of them in my place.