A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....1-24-06....A Birders' Eye View

GodBlessUSA

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

You really are a Mama Bear. You look so gentle with those animals.

[Mama_Bear]

You really are a Mama Bear. You look so gentle with those animals.

:-) I admit, I am a sucker for just about any kind of animal, and those wallabies were so sweet and gentle. I would have loved to have brought one home with me.

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

Beautiful...

[GodBlessUSA]

LOL! That's adorable. I can't imagine a cat so good with birds like that.

[GodBlessUSA]

LOL, I wouldn't mess with that bird either. Neat looking bird. :)

I'm surprised. As probably most do, I always imagined a koala as a really soft furry animal.

[GodBlessUSA]

That is a gorgeous shot. Before I read your post I thought of saving to desktop. :) You are right we still have Feb to get through. I hope the weather stays like this.

[Kitty Mittens]

Oh, that's Adorable, PreviouslyA-Lurker! What a Sweet Little Kitty, to Love those Pretty Birds!

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

I don't know how happy he is about it, look at his tail...

[Billie]

Love the pictures, Lori! Love the thread, GeeBee!

[Hot Tabasco]

In one day around my house I saw a Red Tail, a Sharp Shinned and an American Kestrel.

A number of years back, I took a ski trip to Collingwood, Canada with a friend of mine. Leaving Clinton Township which is a community 8 miles north of Detroit, we took I-94 E to Port Huron then the Blue Water Bridge into Canada. Along the way, virtually every single mile I kept pointing out to him a hawk along the expressway either hovering or perched in a tree. After the first couple of sightings, he then became aware of the surroundings and started sighting them for me.

The point of this story is that these hawks are everywhere, I can't for the life of me believe that they are an endangered species.

The week before the Christmas holiday I was driving into work and was now in Troy driving down Coolidge when a Sharp shinned hawk zoommed across the road in front of me just barely missing my car! He was on attack mode, how cool was that?

And 2 weeks ago I was heading home again on Coolidge and was stopped at a light when I saw a red tail hawk kitty corner from me across the street swoop down on something, probably a mouse.

When I mention these things to co-workers and friends, they appear dumbfounded since they never see such things. I have reached the conclusion that people who have no natural curiosity of nature pass by these daily occurances because their eyes and minds are not trained to pick up these ever so slight movements off to the roadsides or on the edges of wooded areas.

I live in a small condo complex which is now completely surrounded by subdivisions. At the entrance to this sub, there is a wooded area that at the most is probably a 1/4 mile square.

In the past year I have seen 5 deer, numerous pheasants, a family of beavers that dammed up the drainage ditch and had to be removed by the DNR, a couple of grouse, a coyote and many coyote tracks, and my neighbor who hails from Kentucky said she saw a flock of turkeys! All of this wildlife activity right smak dab in the middle of the fastest growing housing in S.E. Michigan. I'm not even going to mention the numbers of opossum and coon that I have live trapped and relocated...........

[GodBlessUSA]

Thank You Billie! :)

[deadhead]

Lovely thread, GodBlessUSA! Awesome that you saw that woodpecker, a beautiful bird. I had a woodpecker in my yard, but he didn't look like the one you saw. My folks had a home out on eastern L.I., one day I was there, went outside and saw something fluttering. I thought it was a huge unusual bug. It was a hummingbird. Never saw one on the island before. On my way to work each day, I see falcons perched on the poles on the highway, they look huge. Had a blue jay fly into my house once, the dog went wild, feathers all over, but got the blue jay out safe and sound :-)

[Kitty Mittens]

I don't know how happy he is about it, look at his tail...

Lol, you're Right, Now that I Take a Closer Look at it! That Tail is Bound to Be Flopping Back and Forth in Annoyance!

[GodBlessUSA]

I see Hawks on our highway all the time also. I think you are right, people are just not aware they are here because they aren't looking for them. I didn't notice them as much when I wasn't so into the birds. Now, I notice everything. LOL I see them a lot. I was not aware they were considered endangered. I find that hard to believe too.

I haven't seen an American Kestrel yet in nature. They are beautiful looking birds. I did see a Northern Harrier passing through during migration. I will look for them again this March, when they come through. We had an Owl in the yard recently. My son saw him. I missed out. One morning I was very surprised to see a Turkey Vulture strolling through my garden. At that time, I had no idea what that bird was. :)

That's great you have so much wild life to see where you live. I feel fortunate that we do also. We do a lot of hiking to look too.

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Deadhead
Thanks :) That's a cool graphic. That is where I'm located. I never thought we had Hummingbirds on the Island either. I tried for a few years with the feeders. Finally, this past year we had them visiting. I adore them. I hope they come back this year. My friend further west S. Long Island had one in her backyard.

I would love to see Peregrine Falcon.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

060121-N-4039N-002 Pensacola, Fla. (Jan. 21, 2006) - The Navy's newest guided-missile destroyer Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Forrest Sherman (DDG 98) prepares to moor at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola. The destroyer is named after Adm. Forrest Sherman, who was the youngest man to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations. The Forrest Sherman will be commission Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006 at NAS Pensacola. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Patrick Nichols (RELEASED)

060121-N-7842G-043 Pacific Ocean (Jan. 21, 2006) - Two F/A-18E Super Hornets and two EA-6B Prowlers fly near the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln and Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) are underway off the coast of Southern California conducting flight operations in preparation for an upcoming deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Mary E. Guiney (RELEASED)

060120-N-1467K-001 Pacific Ocean (Jan. 20, 2006) - An AV-8B Harrier assigned to the “Blacksheep” of Marine Attack Squadron Two One Four (VMA-214) is lowered on the elevator to the hangar bay aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5). Peleliu and Expeditionary Strike Group Three (ESG-3) are underway off the coast of Southern California conducting their Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) in preparation for an upcoming scheduled deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Nathaniel J. Karl (RELEASED)

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks for your awesome post! :)

[JustAmy]

Absolutely beautiful, GeeBee.
Thank you for sharing your love of birds and flowers with us.
Your photos are wonderful.

I will share a photo of my ranunculas and tulips.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

That photo is so pretty Meg! I wonder why type of tree that is.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

What a gorgeous thread GB>