Bird Migration and Misc Birding Thread

[intrepid27]

To be honest, I like watching birds but am in no way into birding. My son However is a Animal Ecology Major at Iowa State, with a Wildlife Conservation emphasis. He loves birding, has leaned toward Ornathology. He has accepted a summer job/intern set up working for Auburn University in conjunction with Alabama Fish & Wildlife doing a Birding follow up project on population counts. 3 month project all over Alabama. Gets, ISU grad credit, Pays hourly, state vehicle and room all included. He is pretty excited.

He loves the Birding Club and The Wildlife Society at ISU.

Any Alabama Birds he should be on the lookout for?

Ruby Breasted, split tailed mattress thrasher.

 

[Acylum]

Saw the first robins today.

 

[MTCyclone43]

Anyone else seen all the eagles sitting out on the ice by the mile long bridge at Saylorville? I’ve never seen so many in one place. Is this a regular thing this time of year?

Did you happen to capture an image?

 

[MTCyclone43]

Ruby Breasted, split tailed mattress thrasher.

Say that three times real fast.

 

[MTCyclone43]

Saw the first robins today.

We saw our first Robin this past weekend.

 

[baller21]

Did you happen to capture an image?

I did not but have seen them out there several times over the past couple weeks.

 

[MTCyclone43]

I did not but have seen them out there several times over the past couple weeks.

We see them all over Northwest Montana (West Glacier). I am glad to hear that Iowa has a huge population as well.

 

[baller21]

We see them all over Northwest Montana (West Glacier). I am glad to hear that Iowa has a huge population as well.

I found a few pics from others in the area claiming they’ve seen hundreds sitting on the ice.

 

[DSMCy]

Saw the first robins today.

By my count, the robins in central Iowa have been snowed on twice.

My grandpa used to say robins get snowed on 3 times. Hoping that doesn't hold true this year

 

[MTCyclone43]

I found a few pics from others in the area claiming they’ve seen hundreds sitting on the ice.

View attachment 144986 18v View attachment 144987 That is just spectacular.

 

[NENick]

Saw a group (12-15) buffleheads on the Cedar River, Cedar Falls yesterday.

 

[MTCyclone43]

It appears that my Mountain Chickadees are back. They stay local, but I never saw them all winter. My cat loves to imitate them and try to sneak up on them.

 

[Cy Hard]

I found a few pics from others in the area claiming they’ve seen hundreds sitting on the ice.

View attachment 144986 View attachment 144987

Driving the bridge multiple times daily, they were thick like that for weeks.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Being an elder, all of the eagle chatter reminds me of when I was a kid and eagles were endangered. It was a huge treat to even see one and we only lived one county away from the Miss River in NE Iowa. There were only around 400 nesting pairs in the lower 48 in 1963 when I turned 12.

Downside is that other than eagles and some waterfowl everything else is in decline. And Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls, they seem to love the Twin Cities, lots of trees, wetlands and lot-o-mice and other prey.

U.S. Bird Populations Continue Alarming Decline, New Report Finds

2025 State of the Birds Report Calls for Urgent Conservation Action

www.audubon.org

 

[BoxsterCy]

Good walkabout today. Spied first White-throated Sparrow of the year and found a pair of Great Horned Owls nesting only two blocks from my house. Photo is of the male napping after being hounded by Blue-jays just a few minutes prior.

 

[Isualum13]

739K views · 11K reactions | Birders during March Madness #espn #migration #ncaa | Joe Zimmerman

Birders during March Madness #espn #migration #ncaa.

www.facebook.com

 

[NENick]

That's hilarious!

739K views · 11K reactions | Birders during March Madness #espn #migration #ncaa | Joe Zimmerman

Birders during March Madness #espn #migration #ncaa.

www.facebook.com

 

[FallOf81]

Pelicans paid us a visit. Fascinating to watch them feed. Have a cool video but can't get it to upload.

 

[NWICY]

Pelicans paid us a visit. Fascinating to watch them feed. Have a cool video but can't get it to upload.
View attachment 145346 View attachment 145347

Bet they can eat a lot of fish in a day.

 

[FallOf81]

Bet they can eat a lot of fish in a day.

Right! That's a lot of scoops working together.