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The Pileated Woodpecker is easily my favorite bird. It's quite an eye-popping sight and I love hearing the AKK-AKK-AKK call on a summer's day!
Yeah! When I attended University in the Pacific Northwest I heard there was a pileated woodpecker who lived on the campus. One day I finally saw him and that was an amazing sight for this Southern Californian who grew up with 95% brown house finches LOL
I have several different species of woodpeckers in my yard that I like, and I love mockingbirds, cardinals, finches, and black vultures. Black vultures are not to everyone's taste, but they have a very elaborate flock order, and they're very smart and vocal as well. However, I have a real soft spot for the Carolina Wren. Such a small, cheeky bird with a lovely song! They're extremely fun to watch as well and they'll vigorously scold anyone who ventures into their territory
Bungalove I have to get better at identifying birds. I need to look up the Carolina Wren and see if we've had any in this yard. So far since I moved here I've identified about 10-15 different species. Some of them I have a hard time distinguishing from similar birds. It's really fun to live in a completely different part of the country with completely different birds.
I might have seen black vultures when I lived in New Mexico. I know that in the mountains close to where I lived there were tons of turkey vultures. I loved to watch them glide.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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I should have mentioned I really enjoy watching pelicans. Walking on the beach in the AM I'll see groups of them 'surfing' the air being pushed up by an incoming wave, their wingtips very close but never touching the face of the wave. And when it's feeding time it's comical to see them cruising along at 40-50' above the water, then they spot a fish and seem to forget how to fly, they fold their wings and dive down like a rock.
I've seen 'em. Many moons ago (in 1996 before they made the film in 2003) I was working a contract job in North Beach a few blocks from Telegraph Hill. I heard about those little guys from some co-workers, so one lunch hour I hauled myself up that hill and all those stairs. It was all worth it.
Thanks for the reminder, it's a great documentary.
Golden Plover, wings down!
They are miraculous creations. Completely change from golden brown to black and white. Migrate from Hawaii to Alaska and back. They are not sea birds. They don't stop to rest.
I should have mentioned I really enjoy watching pelicans. Walking on the beach in the AM I'll see groups of them 'surfing' the air being pushed up by an incoming wave, their wingtips very close but never touching the face of the wave. And when it's feeding time it's comical to see them cruising along at 40-50' above the water, then they spot a fish and seem to forget how to fly, they fold their wings and dive down like a rock.
The beach town where I used to live in VA has a small population of brown pelicans, along with a much larger group of cormorants who perch on the pilings surrounding the waterfront restaurants. They're very popular with tourists and town dwellers alike. But the most popular town birds are the osprey, who return each year to their nests on top of platforms that have been built for them. You always know that it's truly spring when the osprey have come back. I love their high, shrieky calls, which seem odd for such large birds.
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Yeah! When I attended University in the Pacific Northwest I heard there was a pileated woodpecker who lived on the campus. One day I finally saw him and that was an amazing sight for this Southern Californian who grew up with 95% brown house finches LOL
