Northern Saw-whet Owl in hand, taken with my iPhone
The coolest part about it was seeing the bird under a black light. Birds feathers display UV patterns which can indicate the age of a bird. This Northern Saw-whet Owl’s feathers were glowing pink across the under side of its wing, which showed that it was a hatch-year bird.
Left wing under UV light
Right wing under UV light
If the bird had older feathers, they would not glow as bright as the newly grown feathers. For more information on this, check out my friend Ann Nightingale’s article on BirdFellow, Pretty in Pink: The Northern Saw-whet Owl’s Flashy Secret.
Once all of the measurements were taken, the banders allowed me to release the bird. It’s so tiny!
Me holding the Owl before release; photo taken by my friend, Steve
Once the bird was released for the second time, it stuck around in a nearby tree, allowing us to get some nice photos. I used the light from our headlamps to lighten the bird up rather than using a flash. It was a great experience to see this tiny owl up close. I hope to do it again next year!
Northern Saw-whet Owl hiding behind the leaves
Northern Saw-whet Owl perched, after getting banded
My most frequent hawk yard bird is not the more common Red-tailed Hawk – it is a bird that I did not see often when I was in New York, the Red-shouldered Hawk. Since they were difficult to see in New York, I did not have this as a yard bird at my old house… not even a flyover.
Last November, while at my new house in Pennsylvania, I was surprised with a beautiful adult right outside my window. This was on my birthday – a great gift from nature! After that, I would see or hear this bird often and I am pretty sure they ended up nesting in the neighborhood.
Adult Red-shouldered Hawk
Lately, I have been getting multiple visits from a young Red-shouldered Hawk. I wonder if this bird is one of the offspring.
A visit during my Project FeederWatch count
At the end of October and again a couple of days later, I saw this hawk grab a snake. The first time, it was right behind my house so I had a few photo ops. Despite the high angle, I am still happy with the photos!
Look closely – the snake is wrapping around the hawk’s leg
The snake was still alive and wrapping around the hawk’s leg.
The hawk works at killing and untangling the snake
It eventually gave up and the hawk left with its meal.
Finally, the snake gives up
The hawk picked up its catch and flew off
I have to admit that I was a little confused as to the identification of the younger bird. Some friends on Facebook helped me with the ID and gave me good information on how to ID the juvenile. This Sunday, I went to a hawk banding and they caught a Red-shoulder that looked just like my bird. I knew what the bird was as soon as I saw it in the net and it was really nice to see the details up close. The following photos are from the banding and not from my yard.
Red-shouldered Hawk in hand
Details in the wing
A close-up that I only wish I could get in my yard
Last month, I shared some photos from a private bird banding that I watched. A couple of weeks later, I went to another one on both a Sunday and Saturday morning. It’s always nice to see birds up close! More cool birds were seen, but once again, the species who was caught the most were Gray Catbirds.
Gray Catbird not having a good time
Catbirds are always fussy, but other birds just want to bite down on something.
This Northern Cardinal needed something to grab on.
We caught a couple of Lincoln’s Sparrows – it was nice to see this bird up close!
One of the target birds, a Lincoln’s Sparrow
Many of the birds were not in breeding plumage, but they are still beautiful!
Male Scarlet Tanager in non-breeding plumage.
A young male American Redstart
Indigo Bunting in non-breeding plumage
Magnolia Warbler in hand
Yellow Warbler brightened up the morning
We caught males and females of a couple of birds for comparison.
Male Eastern Towhee
Female Eastern Towhee
Male Common Yellowthroat
Female Common Yellowthroat
And accidentally caught a Hummingbird in the net. This one was not banded, so she was let go right away.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird before release
We also had a Praying Mantis hanging out with us on Saturday.
This Praying Mantis hung out with us
Sorry for not being so wordy in my post, I’d rather focus on the photo then the text!
On Monday morning, I was invited with a friend to see a private bird banding at Jacobsburg State Park near Wind Gap, Pennsylvania. Of course, I brought my camera and took some “cheat” photos of birds right before they were released back into the wild. The banders taught us a few things about the markings and how to age and sex some of the birds – it was overall a great experience!
The first bird we watched getting banded was a good one – a young Rose-breasted Grosbeak who would not stop biting the bander’s hand.
This young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was very bitey
The most common species were the Catbird and Tufted Titmouse. Many of them were young and they were also the loudest.
A very young Gray Catbird who is still growing feathers
This Tufted Titmouse waited calmly to be banded and examined
The only two Warblers they caught were an Ovenbird and Chestnut-sided Warbler.
The first captured Warbler, an Ovenbird, was later recaptured and released
A male Chestnut-sided Warbler in fall plumage
We did, however, get three species of Vireo including our bird of the day – the Yellow-throated Vireo.
The Yellow-throated Vireo who stole the show
This Warbling Vireo was another good catch for the area
Adult Red-eyed Vireo with striking eye color
We also had two good insect visitors right next to the banding table – a Praying Mantis and Northern Walking Stick!
This Praying Mantis and Walking Stick hung out near the table
It’s pretty awesome to see song birds up close and personal, especially when they are typically up high in the trees. I can never get this detail “in the wild.”
