Apologies for earlier typos!
All,
Daffnet has been quiet – I’m sure that in this bleek winter many of us have been feeding the birds – as we ought to do. Who can post a picture with the greatest number of species at their feeding station at one time? One point for each species and a bonus point for each kind that also bears a Daffodil name.
I guess I just want to see pictures of American/ Australian/.New Zealand etc. birds being cared for by Daffnetters.
A bulb of ‘Burt House’ – my best pink to date, to the winner.
Brian
Yes, we in Minnesota care for birds. Everyone at our society meeting thought the bird Charles & Myrna Smith served two weeks ago was wonderful. Here is a photo of some of the siblings at their feeder stations. While Dr. Reed has a "Wild Turkey," and these really aren't pets, I don't think the name truely applies so I will try and get a photo of what you probably really were aiming for in your challenge. Minnesota is the largest producer of these birds in the US.
Denis
Hi Brain
3 kaka’s eating persimmons fruit. Native to n.z. Rare to see in an urban situation.
Robin S
Denis,
There are plenty of Turkeys along the highways and Interstate roads around Washington DC this morning. So many they will rival your turkey house picture. However these turkeys are call flocks of abandoned cars everywhere I looked along the sides of the roads and about a mile of tractor trailer trucks both abandoned and occupied from I270 toward Virginia. I haven’t seem so many vehicles abandoned on the road since the pictures of the Iraq retreat from Kuwaitt during the first “sand-box” war.
I wish I had a camera when I came to work today in my 4X4. And it’s a good thing I was in the 4X4 as the roads are barely passable.
Clay Higgins
Brian,
Here are two photos, the first one with three different birds at the feed station and the other with lots of Doves waiting there turn. If the birds could get get along one could get a lot of different ones together but the come in waves.
Vjay
Hi Vijay,
I recognise the Cardinal which scores 2 points because it is also a Daffodil name. But what are the other two finches? Until I know I can only give you a score of 3 +1bonus = 4. Check names on Daffseek to claim extra bonus points if appropriate. I agree – lots of species tound my feeders but getting more than 3 kinds in one picture is not easy – they are so competitive and feisty, and there is a heirachy!
Brian
Tracey,
There are daffodils called ‘Grosbeak’ and ‘Evening Grosbeak’ so you get 1 bonus point for your ‘Rose-breasted Grosbeak’ . Also a daffodil called ‘Sparrow’ which earns another point. There is also a daffodil called ‘Dove’ but thereare so many different Doves that I am only awatding 1/2 bonus point for your ‘Mourning Dove’ Your total score – 3 + 2 +1/2 bonus = 5 1/2 points. Quite a score – you lead so far. Congratulations.
Brian
One of Vijay’s finches looks to be a Goldfinch, or American Goldfinch, both daffodil names. The other might be a purple goldfinch.
Mary Lou
Thanks Mary Lou,
Vijay gets another point – that’s 5. But can anyone confirm the name of the lovely little reddish finch to the right of the picture. It looks like a brighter version of our male ‘Linnet’ – or perhaps a ‘Redpoll’?
No bonus points for these!
Brian
The bird with a rosy red breast and topknot is probably a House Finch. This aggressive bird is common in Pennsylvania and can be destructive in the garden pecking holes in lily buds and destroying immature broccoli florets.
Kathy Andersen
As Brian Duncan requested, I am sending along a photo of birds at my feeder – English sparrows, a mourning dove and a rose-breasted grosbeak. The latter is the reason the picture was taken. The males are stunning birds with their magenta splotches on white, with black wings. We don’t see them very often, but it’s truly a treat when we do. Hope everyone is keeping warm on these cold, cold days.
Tracey
(Photo forwarded by Nancy Tackett. Tracey’s original photo was too large to pass through Daffnet).
That’s what we call a house finch too, Kathy. In SW Ohio, not far from Mary Lou. They are back and forth to our sunflower seed feeder all day and will pick spilled ones off the ground as well.
Bill Lee
This has been a fun day here in Ohio. With Brian’s challenge to work on, I saw thirteen different species of birds outside my kitchen window. Almost got four in one picture but the Tufted Titmouse startled at my motion and I didn’t get him with the downy woodpecker on the suet cake. I also would have got goldfinch and house finch in the same picture. I’m going to try again tomorrow. Hold the contest for another day, Brian. Also thanks for doing this because, for the first time, I had a pileated woodpecker roost briefly on the suet cake. I live in the city but on the bank of a large creek and I’ve only heard them before today. It was the first time I have seen one. I think that the snow cover on the ground has attracted many more birds to feeders this year.
Donna Dietsch
It looked like a Rufous Towhee to me, but I didn’t think they were on the West side of the US.
Clay
David:
These are Lesser Goldfinches. I also enjoyed that feeder and the little flock that frequented it.
Melissa
David,
Lovely as it is I fear you only score 2 points – one for the bird and one for the daffodil name. There comes a time when size ceases to be a virtue. I thought you might have come up with a ‘Piwakawaka’ or two? – maybe you do not feed birds in summer?
Brian
The little reddish finch is a house finch.
Dave Liedlich
Attached are three photos of birds I saw in different locations, The Hornbill was in Lodi Gardens in Delhi, India.The Magpie was in Mukteshwar, India in our garden ,we saw a lot of them but hard to photograph one they are finicky. The Woodpecker across the street from our house in Pittsburgh, he or she is going to bring the branch of the Sycamore tree down one of theses days. We are having more snow so I hope this will cheer people in our area.Vijay
The attached photos are for Daffnett bird enthusiasts to enjoy, they don’t fit the Daffnet competition criteria as they were taken while on hoilday at the Kuranda Bird Sanctuary, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. They are all natives except the Macaws, I gather that the daffodil Macaw 2-YO was named after this beautiful bird.
Sandra Muckle
(forwarded by Nancy Tackett)
The entry I sent may have to be “helped” through by Nancy, as the photo might have been a little large. Here are a few more cropped photos of other birds taken at the feeders on the same day: Rufous-sided Towhee (Daff named Towhee) and Bluejay (no daff by that name).
Becky Fox Matthews
that daffy girl near Nashville
A few more birds on other days this winter:
The Pileated Woodpecker does come to the suet feeder. I’d like help IDing the other woodpecker. There is a daffodil named Green Woodpecker!
Becky Fox Matthews
Hi Becky!..
The woodpecker that you need to ID looks like a “Yellow Bellied Sapsucker” as shown on a website that I use all the time. Here’s a link to that page for this bird:
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/584/overview/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker.aspx
This “Whatbird.com” website is a fantastic resource to ID birds. I’ve been able to nail down over 7 different birds in our new home that I have never known before. You can search by location (state), size, shape, primary & secondary color and a number of other attributes.
Try it out and let me know what you think!.
Tom
Becky,
Looks like a yellow bellied sapsucker. Won’t find that in the classified list, either.
Donna
By special request, I’ll post a photo of a few Turkeys that frequent our new place every so often. a few weeks ago, during a lull in the snow, we had a record 34 wild turkeys roaming about the property. the Daffodil “Wild Turkey” was registered by John Reed in 2007. These birds are amazing, at up to 4 feet tall when they take flight here, I just stand in awe. It seems like a flying toilet. So, where do they go when the snow is on the ground?. It seems that they are all over the place when the ground is baren, but when the snow starts, they’re no where to be found.
Tom
Hi Brian,
Well, I took a picture, but it is blurry. I’m not much of a photographer. In the upper left are two woodpeckers, Downy type, on the suet holder and one chick a dee on the reverse side. On the thistle feeder are some finches – goldfinches to be exact. I know, you can hardly make them out. Thirteen species in less than an hour but they never stay if another species comes in. Quick photos never are good. Do I still qualify for your challenge?
Maybe Nancy Tackett will re-size this for me?
Donna Dietsch
I’m reposting the first photo I sent early this morning now that I’m home from work. Maybe this one is small enough to go through.
How many cardinals can you count? There are several daffodils with Cardinal in the name, also one called Red Bird. If you look carefully you will see Bird Flight, too (a red cardinal in motion) and you may imagine the Bird Music from this group! Of course, there’s always the Early Bird and the Snowbird, but on this particular day there was no Sunbird. Is the bird in the upper left on a branch a Warbler? I’ve attached a closeup of it and another unknown bird (lower right to the female cardinal) I’d love to ID. This is from a photo taken right after the large one I’ve submitted. As Donna noted, the birds come and go quickly and some of them come and go as a flock.
Becky Fox Matthews
that daffy girl near Nashville
Here are the other attachments mentioned in the preceding message: possibly a warbler and an unknown cutie.
Becky
Becky,
Not sure about the first photo, but the second could be a first year female Northern parula warbler. You are right for sure that it is a warbler.
Dave Liedlich
Your unknown cutie may possbly be a Dark-Eyed Junco. They are small and about the same in coloring—-slate gray above and white belly. Also, they are ground feeders. Here in Ohio, they are known to appear with the snow. However, I can’t place the three white streaks that apppear in the photo.
Nancy
Becky,
The first unknown is a junco. Note the one white tail feather and the black top and pale gray underside on the body.
Donna
The bird in Becky’s photo with the female cardinal is not a junco, it is a white-throated sparrow. They breed here, and winter down there. We look forward to seeing this guy, and hearing its lovely dear, dear Canada song come spring. Note the white throat and eye-lines. Juncos are a uniform slate gray on the head and breast, with no white throat and no eye-lines, and a very light bill.
I would say that the bird in the second picture is a goldfinch in winter plumage (white wingbars, some yellow in plumage).
Sharon, near Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario Our garden: http://www.flickr.com/photos/illingworth/
The other bird near the female cardinal is a white-throated sparrow. Listen to his voice and he says “John Peabody, Peabody, Peabody”.
Looks like a common yellow throat warbler.
Vijay,
That’s a red-bellied woodpecker, a favorite of mine. I have a pair here in Western Mass that had two offspring this summer. It’s been very interesting watching them grow. There’s almost nothing more comical than an adolescent woodpecker, with their head-feathers sticking out at all angles, their big eyes and gawky necks. And I’ve never seen a magpie – quite beautiful.
Thanks for the photos!
Tracey