Birding Decatur, Ga

bluebirds galore

2010-12-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

I saw several bluebirds this morning, a flock of maybe 20 behind 1st Christian Church in a sycamore tree, and nosing into all the birdhouses at the house. Wonder if they'll stay all winter...

November in Gainesville, Fla

2010-12-15T12:14:00.000-05:00

Nov 7-8, Alachua Sink, midday

Loggerhead Shrike
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Herons: Little blue, Great blue
Vultures: Black, Turkey
Redwinged Blackbirds

4 Wood Storks

5 Sandhill Cranes

Common Snipe

4 Lesser Yellowlegs

Osprey
White Ibis

Killdeer

Pied-billed Grebes
Egrets: Snowy, Cattle
Herons: Great blue, Little blue, Louisiana
Palm warbler
Swallows

Anhinga

Nov 8, Paynes Prairie boardwalk on Hwy 441

Northern Harrier pair sparring in flight
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
Gray Catbird
Redwing Blackbirds
3 Sandhill Cranes

Cormorant standing on turtles

Nov 17-19, PP boardwalk
Warblers: Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, many others
Northern Harriers
Bald Eagle pair
Eastern Phoebes
RW Blackbirds

Common Yellowthroat hopping through the underbrush

White-throated sparrow

Nov 18, Lake Alice

Anhinga
Great Blue heron
White Ibis
Snowy Egret
Belted Kingfisher
Cormorant

Nov 25, PP boardwalk

Red-tailed hawk
Northern Harrier
House wren
Sparrows: Swamp, Orange-crowned
Warbler: Palm
Common Yellowthroat

October in Gainesville, Florida

2010-12-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

October 20, Paynes Prairie

Glossy Ibis

Northern Harrier

Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Sandhill Crane

October 22, Paynes Prairie

Eastern Phoebe

Northern Harrier

Red-winged Blackbird

Warblers: Palm, Yellow-rumped

Carolina Wren

Cardinal

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Barred Owl

Bald Eagle

October 23, Paynes Prairie

Loggerhead Shrike

Red-shouldered hawk, immature
Herons: Little blue, Great blue
Vultures: Black, Turkey
Bald Eagle
Red-winged Blackbird
White ibis

Snowy Egret
Pied-billed Grebes
Common Moorhen

November 26, Ichetuknee Springs, Fla

2010-12-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

Osprey

Coot

Yellow Rail

Great Egret

Great Blue Egret

Dec 11 Gainesville Fla

2010-12-15T10:38:00.000-05:00

Hooded merganser pair in a downtown neighborhood duckpond

sandhills

2010-12-01T14:04:00.000-05:00

Couple of hundred cranes flew over about 1:30 PM today, bugling and heading South on the cold front wind - wish I could go with them. Paynes Prairie in Florida had started gathering its winter flock last week.

Greg sez

2010-11-16T14:21:00.002-05:00

A large piliated woodpecker was pecking away at a dead branch in our front yard in Oakhurst over the weekend. It seemed unworried as we watched for about 10 minutes only 20-feet below it.

greg

Stan sez

2010-11-05T10:56:00.000-04:00

Nov 2, 2010, at 1:05 PM, Stan wrote:

Hey, Bruce.

About an hour ago, I saw two groups of hawks, at least 20 in one group and the other seemed as large or larger, headed south over Decatur. They passed roughly over the two blocks between Church and Commerce. Interestingly, I also saw hawks headed south on November 3, 2008 at about 11:30 AM, and hawks and sandhill cranes (not together, of course) headed south on November 7, 2009 at about 12:30 PM.

Chimney swift crepuscular descent

2010-10-07T12:21:00.001-04:00

September 23, 2010

Fun morning in the backyard

2010-10-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

Northern parula

Downy woodpecker

Northern flicker

American redstart

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Bluebird pair

Mockingbird

Bluejay

Towhee

Titmouse

Chickadee

Backyard today

2010-09-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

American Redstart flitting about in the shrubbery this morning, flycatching. The underwing was very dark orange, with the wing and tail colors more yellowy.

Icelandic birds 8/9/2010

2010-08-27T14:54:00.000-04:00

These guys are like heavy, short gulls that nest on cliffs and fly large semicircles through the mist to their nest.

Arabia Mountain, Tuesday evening

2010-08-27T14:38:00.000-04:00

Killdeer were flying around and settling on the bare rock at dusk

Chuck-will's-widows were calling to each other at the toe of the mountain in the trees at dusk

This morning

2010-07-13T08:34:00.001-04:00

Eastern towhee singing at dawn on the powerline.

House wrens sitting on a second set of eggs in the backyard.

lately

2010-07-12T10:28:00.000-04:00

Goldfinch joined the bluebirds at theDHS Community Garden last weekend.

This weekend on Rich Mountain three belted kingfishers sat on a powerline above the field next to the creek, and a young hawk sitting on the gravel road scrambled into the weeds to escape the dog, who only sniffed at it. Amazingly yellow under the wings and belly - didn't want to pester it overmuch so didn't examine it closely, but its beak looked plenty sharp. Half an hour later it was gone.... no idea how it came to be down.

Also had a spotted fawn run by, maybe 30 pounds on twiggy legs. The next morning it was bleating like a goat as its mom hurried it down the hillside, and sent it off in one direction and she in the other, avoiding.....?

A new month, a new location

2010-06-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

I was up in the DC-Baltimore area last week and was frustrated by a feeder bird with a super-stout beak, finch-like; I went for a female indigo bunting, since its head was orangey, fading down its shoulders, but then the mate showed up with less color, mostly brown with a faint single wing bar (white) and a mildly dark eye strip with light eyebrow stripe. I ended up with a purple finch, but have never seen such a strong beak on the ones around here, nor the orange head.

Oh well!

At the upper end of the Skyline Drive in Virginia, a ruffed grouse with chick, who spread its tail to show the banding.

Indigo buntings were all along the grassed areas, singing from high branches, very blue indeed.

Goldfinches were all around.

Vireos sang endlessly, sounded like red-eyed ones "look-up over-here see-me..."

Also red-winged blackbirds and grackles at a lake, and lots of barn swallows everywhere.

Weekend in the Ga "mountains"

2010-06-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

What a surprise - down in the creek valley red-eyed vireos sang all day long, invisibly, while a pair of black-throated green warblers browsed through the cypresses; belted kingfishers swept up and down the streambed, crows and pileated woodpeckers filled in the silence while chickadees, titmice and eastern phoebes worked lazily in the heat. Summer is rarely so busy here, near Rich Mountain Wilderness area.

Sat May 7

2010-05-08T20:25:00.000-04:00

Backyard today heard a Pileated woodpecker, saw a Northern flicker, Hairy and a Red-headed woodpecker. DHS community garden sported two flycatchers (couldn't distinguish), bluebird, red-tailed Hawk, Barn swallows and Chimney swifts - seems like summer already

N Ga this weekend, 8:30 AM

2010-05-03T17:11:00.000-04:00

This crazy warm cloudy weather didn't stop the birds near Rich Mountain. Hooded warbler and Eastern phoebe were nest-building, Red-eyed vireos were singing everywhere while out of sight, and Black-throated green warbler spoke up as well.

Hooded warbler

Red-eyed vireo

Black-throated green warbler

Palm warbler

2010-04-26T09:54:00.000-04:00

In the backyard fenceline vines, with a very yellow rump, 9:30 AM

Thanks to Terry Sohl for use of his pic

Lately

2010-04-18T17:47:00.000-04:00

Backyard bluebirds, towhees, phoebes, white-throated and song sparrows, both nuthatches, redheaded woodpeckers, RC kinglets, chickadees, cardinals, bluejays, mockers. House & Carolina wrens are nesting,

Greg's Cumberland Island trip

2010-04-09T12:34:00.000-04:00

I just returned from a wonderful 4-night family camping trip to Cumberland Island, GA. As a very novice birder, this was a wonderful opportunity for me to add to my list. Below are some less ubiquitous birds that I saw for the first time.

Highlights -
Juvenile Bald Eagle (twice the size of the common osprey) and White Pelicans on the ferry ride to the island.
4 species of Terns while at the south-end jetty, including a flock of Black Skimmers, one of my new favorites.
Pair of Wood Storks flying over the dunes.
Turkey Vultures eating the after-birth of a new born horse at the Stafford Airfield. The horse was still wet and shaky.
My first two Warblers: Many Yellow-Throated Warblers in the live oaks above the camp site, and a few Northern Parulas (another new favorite) near the marsh by Stafford. A magnificent little bird.

Challenges -
Trying to distinguish between the species of plovers and sandpipers on the beach. The Ruddy Turnstone stood out to me though.
Trying to find the hundreds of birds singing and flying among the live oaks above me. This was maddening to my untrained eye that owns a bad pair of binoculars.

Yellow-rump warblers

2010-04-09T10:36:00.000-04:00

In the backyard

Owls at dusk

2010-04-03T15:42:00.000-04:00

Along Nelson Ferry barred owls and screech too, along about sundown last night, then another screech call 2:30PM today in the back yard.

sparrows

2010-03-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

I'm not so hot at sparrows but there were a lot of em out at the cemetery this weekend, songs, chippings, maybe some fields too

Nice afternoon

2010-03-24T15:37:00.000-04:00

Backyard sunshine brought out a Yellow-rumped warbler, a tail-bobbing Eastern phoebe, Towhee, Cardinals, Bluejays, Mockingbirds, Titmice, Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, American robins

Red-tailed hawk lunch

2010-03-21T14:52:00.000-04:00

The pair was out again at the DHS garden yesterday, one having caught a rat with a lovely long tail which settled down to eat, and the other coming along to harass it - they both flew shortly after with nothing in their claws.

Cooper's Hawk

2010-03-19T09:28:00.000-04:00

Saw one flying low at Nelson Ferry & Scott Blvd, then again on Woodlawn about a minute later, likely the same critter

Striped, rounded tail, flying low through the trees...

sparrows and C wrens...

2010-03-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

some cardinals and mockers, robins & brown thrashers, crows & Red-tails

Are you seeing anything fun? Migration is well under way

Early spring activity

2010-03-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Seen much going on? I've seen several American Robin flocks enjoying holly berries.

Stan sez (Feb 21)

2010-02-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

If you're out today or this week and it's clear or clouds are at a
higher level, watch for migrating sandhill cranes, turkey vultures,
and raptors (broadtail hawks, for example). I've seen all three headed
north today. These birds are typically way up or circling in thermals
for altitude. You may also see the cranes reassembling in a V-
formation, much like ducks or geese. And you might hear the cranes
before you see them as their calls really carry. Various raptors may
fly together. Of course, many smaller songbirds are passing through
our area now, too.

birdhouse today

2010-02-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

St Pete

2010-02-17T13:51:00.000-05:00

Just returned from a St Pete visit - such a great place for birds. Saw many robins & rw blackbirds, in addition to
Blue-gray gnatcatcher

Willet

Osprey

This morning

2010-02-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

More barred owl calls by the creek at Lamont

Goldfinch

2010-02-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

American Goldfinch, male, at the feeder today, along with Ruby-crowned kinglet, Carolina wrens, titmice, Carolina chickadee and mocker.

from wikipedia

sparrows

2010-02-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

White-throateds and Songs. Towhees too, around the house, and lots of other activity as well, mild weather after yesterday's rain.

closer to GH owl now

2010-02-05T18:13:00.003-05:00

they went off again - now I'm going towards GH owl - very plain call, no personality in the voice like a barred.

Maybe horned owls

2010-02-03T08:45:00.002-05:00

I've been hearing owls lately at dusk and reported them as barred; I'm rethinking they are Great Horned instead.

13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count

2010-01-31T13:20:00.002-05:00

This is always fun

wrens & nuthatches here, you?

2010-01-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

Pine warbler

2010-01-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

At the feeder - yea!

Titmice, Carolina chickadees, both nuthatches, Carolina wrens, 3 house finches, 2 Northern cardinal males fighting in the wax myrtle, mockers here and there. Ruby-crowned kinglet has been on the suet block for several days now.

What's out there?

2010-01-25T08:26:00.001-05:00

What have you been seeing?

The culprits

2010-01-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

Location: Cemetery suet feeder

Barred owl going off

2010-01-12T17:24:00.000-05:00

Sounds like it's near Coventry Road. Several repeats, 5:15 PM.

Pond opening is ever smaller

2010-01-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

The mallards sleep in the water or on the ice; the muscovys prefer the grass where they can make a quick "getaway" of maybe 8'. Put out new suet block this AM - they're lasting about 2 days in this cold weather. Also saw sparrow flocks, what I took to be Songs and White-throateds.

In the backyard, several towhees came by for water at the little waterfall, along with American robins, Titmice and a Ruby-crowned kinglet.

You can see the kinglet's crown, slightly depressed

Here his wingbars are evident, and a bit of his split eye-ring

Bluebirds & Slate-colored Juncos

2010-01-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

9AM cemetery walk - several Eastern Bluebirds and Slate-colored Juncoes were clustered on the suet feeder there - they don't seem to mind bacon grease at all. Makes me think of Cattle egrets at a Jamaican place we stayed at: meals were on a veranda and the egrets would perch on any vacant chairs. The instant you leaned back from the table they'd make a bee-line for leftover scrambled eggs. Another guest's comment "That's just wrong" gave me fits.

Mockers seemed stupified by the temperature in the teens as they perched in the sun, fully fluffed, and let you come much closer than normal, within a few steps.

Cooper's Hawk

2009-12-31T11:07:00.000-05:00

The cemetery this morning about 10AM was dripping, overcast and 45°F or so. A Cooper's Hawk flew up from a low perch into the top of an oak as we approached, and tolerated us on the ground for about 5 minutes before shifting position and ultimately flying off over the hill. It was backlit so I couldn't see too much detail, but the size seemed about 16" tall, and sported the accipiter's long tail when flying.

Barred owls and bad weather

2009-12-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

OK, here duck is falling, the sky is overcast and lightly sprinkling, temperature is in the lower 40s F, and I'm hearing a Barred owl hooting nearby, four or five series. I haven't heard one around this house in many months.... I dunno.

Suet

2009-12-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

The Carolina wrens and the nuthatches have taken a liking to my suet made with bacon grease, peanut butter, flour and several seed varieties. There are several recipes on the web; this one I adapted from a Bluebird suet.

Flocks

2009-12-25T16:44:00.000-05:00

Squirrels were huddled on the tree trunks, fussing away as the two Red-tailed hawks found perches high in the oaks. Flocks of American robins are out in the mild, wet air after last night's rainsqualls. Further on, large flocks of Red-winged blackbirds, grackles and other icterids squawked and whistled from the treetops.

Back at the feeder the Carolina wren, Titmouse and Carolina chickadee feed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Bluebirds galore

2009-12-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

4 at once on my 8" wide feeder! Even the White-breasted nuthatchs stood in line. Also had a couple of mockingbirds, first time at the feeder.

Ruby-crowned kinglet

2009-12-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

WOW just saw a r-c kinglet male displaying a HUGE crown, visible with nekkid eye from 40'! A little orangier than a redheaded woodpecker.

mixed Icterids

2009-12-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

Large flock of mixed blackbirds at the cemetery this afternoon. Although it was a grey day and the flock about 500' I could make out some red wingbars, and some greenish head/neck on larger ones with longer tails, leading me to Red-windged blackbirds and Common grackles, though they were rather quiet for 3-400 birds.

Barred owl on Ponce Place

2009-12-09T08:26:00.000-05:00

Saw a Barred owl this AM around 6:30 AM on Ponce Place by the Baptist Church playground, sitting on the telephone wire. I stood and watched about a minute, then walked directly underneath him and onwards - he was nonplussed. Like my last sighting of a barred, it was low, perched on a manmade item, and had rained heavily within recent hours. hmmmmm

Shepherd Nature Preserve

2009-12-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

Sunday AM the water was frozen about 40' from shore, but the 7 mallards took no notice. Lots of racy Cedar waxwings in the treetops along with American robins. This place is about 5 minutes driving from downtown Decatur - directions at the website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_waxwing

Redwing blackbirds

2009-12-01T17:14:00.000-05:00

Big flock at DHS Community Garden this morning, making quite a din.

Cedar Key, Fla

2009-11-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

I was in Cedar Key, Florida last week, west of Gainesville about 45 minutes on the Gulf coast and had a fine time viewing birds there. Firsts were a pair of roseate spoonbills, a Black-bellied plover, Common ground and Eurasian collared doves. The ubiquitous Ospreys were active and eating their still-flapping catch on dock frames on the bay side. Along the Gulf mudflats the biggest players were black skimmers by the hundreds which put on a great show at sunup in large flocks. My favorites are the American oystercatcher, White ibis, and the diminutive Least tern, and I could swear I heard a Common loon calling.

Red-tailed hawk lunch

2009-11-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

Very gratifying to see a pair of Red-tailed hawks fly screeching over my backyard, the first trailing a fluffy squirrel tail from its talons, the second making the racket. They flew across the street into an oak grove, the squirrel-holder in a wide tree-crotch and the other about 30' away, watching for an opportunity. After a few initial bites, the lucky one flew a few hundred feet to a more remote perch, followed by the other about 2 minutes later.

Flock of crows

2009-11-21T09:27:00.000-05:00

A flock of crows mobbed a hawk at daybreak in the cemetery today. They were very loud, but settled down in about 5 minutes.

Carolina wrens on the front porch

2009-11-20T15:29:00.000-05:00

Just trolling for spiders

open thread

2009-11-19T10:16:00.001-05:00

Mourning dove

2009-11-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

One of these took over the small birdfeeder this morning.

Sandhill cranes

2009-11-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

These guys were migrating - Nov 13 - see entry there. We used to see these overwintering in Gainesville Fla, about 380 miles South of here, on the borders of the prairie there. Hundreds of them standing around in a farmer's front yard. They are much taller when "craning" their necks for a better view (sorry about that).

Red-wing blackbirds

2009-11-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

Saw a small flock of Red-winged blackbirds down in Peavine Creek this afternoon - beautiful clear day, 75°F. Also a Ruby-crowned kinglet.

Ruby-crowned kinglet

091114 Morning

2009-11-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

Very active backyard today, 9-10AM. Pileated woodpecker, red-headed woodpecker, yellow-rumped warbler, song sparrow, flock of American robins, cedar waxwing, ruby-crowned kinglet, cardinals, bluejays, a pair of Eastern towhees, Eastern bluebirds checking out the birdhouse again, Brown thrasher, Carolina chickadees, Titmice, the nuthatches, Carolina wren... Only the robins were bathing. Also some unidetifieds, once junco-like but without the pink beak, grayish here, and goldfinch-like but missing the strong wingbars

Bluebirds at the feeder

2009-11-13T08:26:00.000-05:00

Eating hulled sunflower seed, a pair at 8:20 AM - this is a first here! Now the white-breasted nuthatch is chasing off the brown-headed one, and the chickadees and titmice.

open thread

2009-11-12T08:25:00.002-05:00

What have you seen?

Barred Owl at Peavine Creek

2009-11-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

This morning at daybreak was blustery, about 60°F with hurricane remnant drizzle, and on mailbox #317 near Peavine Creek there sat a Strix varia just staring at me as I walked past. I stopped once I realized it was a big bird, not a tree branch on the mailbox, and stared back. Motionless for about a minute, it released its grip on the door clasp and flew off over the house and into its backyard. We often hear these in the summer nights hooting "who cooks for you, who cooks for you - all".

Redtails over DHS

2009-11-10T16:21:00.000-05:00

Three red-tailed hawks were spiraling over Decatur High School's Community Garden Saturday about 11AM. There was a bit of screaming, and one dove, chased by another. A few minutes later they were all three high above us again, watching for something to eat.

Redtails in the cemetery, 9AM

2009-11-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

A pair of red-tailed hawks were out this morning.

Red-tailed hawk

Also dozens of robins were very active, along with bluebirds. Good to see the thrushes out together.

My backyard sported several white-throated sparrows, a towhee, brown thrasher, some jays and robins, redheaded and hairy-or-downy woodpeckers.

BLuebirds homeshopping

2009-10-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

A pair of Eastern bluebirds were checking the birdhouse in my back yard this morning, after the house wrens left it this summer after two broods. The warm wet air ahead of today's cold front must have convinced them it was time to find a nest already.

Eastern_bluebird.jpg

Front brings bird boom

2009-10-30T15:47:00.000-04:00

This is amusing. I've had a house finch who's dominated the birdfeeder outside my office window for the week, then comes today's peculiar weather front and the birds arrive, starving and fussing over who's going first. Carolina wren and chickadee, titmouse, downy woodpecker (a first at this feeder), brown thrasher (another first), white-breasted and brown-headed nuthatches... and the first kinglet I've seen in a while, in a nearby maple.

Downy_Woodpecker-Male.jpg#file

hawks bluebirds warblers finches

2009-10-04T18:25:00.000-04:00

Busy morning - two red-tailed hawks and a Cooper's were about, as well as scads of bluebirds hovering around a hole in a snag. Couldn't see any bugs coming out, and none went in... squirrel-sized hole, it was. Mixed warbler flocks with worm-eatings for sure. Lots of purple finches grazing while bluebirds perched on the headstones.

house finches too

2009-10-02T11:31:00.000-04:00

House finches at the feeder, along with carolina chickadees, carolina wren, white breasted nuthatch and brown headed nuthatch

Purple finch, Swainson's thrush

2009-10-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday had 3 Swainson's thrushes at the birdbath. Purple finches are cleaning out the feeder today.

Common nighthawk

2009-09-26T15:10:00.000-04:00

Common nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) circling above the Decatur First United Methodist Church steeple - the lights attract the bugs that the birds eat - you can see their white wing markings as they feed. Their short beaks and wide mouths are surrounded by whiskers that help scoop in their prey. Saw 4 in all, about 9:30 PM Friday Sept 25th. No diving though - we used to watch them at our old condo on Briarcliff Road, a complex with many flat roofs where they may have nested, circling very high towards twilight, and dive at great speed with a distinctive buzzing sound like rubber bands in a wind tunnel coming from their primary feathers, as well as BEEEEZRH screech, which Sibley describes as the male courting display.

Swainson's Thrush

2009-09-25T12:46:00.000-04:00

catharus ustulatus in the backyard at noon today, looking for food in the bushes & on branches - David Sibley says the long-distance thrushes like Swainson's prefer woodland fruits (Spicebush, Sassafras, Black Tupelo, Flowering Dogwood) that are rich in lipids, which is the most efficient fuel for their long flights in late summer and early fall when these are most plentiful.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Catharus_ustulatus_-North_Dakota-8a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catharus_ustulatus_-North_Dakota-8a.jpg&usg=__AceYfzuoV-F3e31d-owEQXMyJPk=&h=1944&w=2592&sz=2208&hl=en&start=15&sig2=7wFIw6Zzazq37pqv1yY5Mg&tbnid=apjlBRDhl5YJ6M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcatharus%2Bustulatus%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG&ei=CfK8Svm8CZWyNtyXyLcO

bubo virginianus map link

2009-09-23T18:16:00.001-04:00

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104609993383735643097.00047445cd15cf516c09e&ll=33.781517,-84.292375&spn=0.001663,0.001711&t=h&z=19

090922 6AM

2009-09-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

Two great horned owls again hooting softly to each other in the same oak trees in Decatur's cemetery near the tennis courts. One takes the highest perch on a dead limb silhouetting itself against the low cloudcover reflecting streetlight glow, easily more than 24" tall. The dog and I walk the circular road and take a route leading directly beneath them; I figure they're watching us with each step. Glad we don't have the pomeranian with us - she'd be a fine meal. They show no disturbance, but stop calling. I'll get back during one of these days to seek pellets possibly 5" long. There are lots of squirrel and chipmunk, but don't know what they're finding at night - cats, rats, coyote???
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

Chuck will's widow

2009-09-21T13:35:00.001-04:00

I heard this one also in the early morning back in late spring at the Decatur Cemetery, along the steep embankment at the creek on the northeastern corner. I've also heard barred owls carrying on along the stream corridor over the years.

Great Horned owl pair

2009-09-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

September 16 and 17 at about 6:30 AM, Decatur Cemetery, top of oaks near Glenwood tennis center - these two were hooting softly but overcame my ipod anyway, so stopped and listened, eventually seeing the profile against the early morning sky, and turned on Birdjam for a perfect sound match, even the half-tone lower response of the second one.