Birding

[Riven37]

I just saw a Blue Heron flapping it's way over my back yard. Anyone know if they overwinter here? I don't recall seeing any others over the winter. I read one article that says they winter in Central America or northern South America, but I also saw a migratory map that listed NY as a year round habitat?
Any birders out there with info?

[cookie]

yes, that's a blue heron, what are you confused about rivie????
they stop at our creek almost daily during the summer to look for fishies!

[cookie]

We feed the birds year round, so we have the usual- woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, nuthatches,goldfinches. I didn't know goldfinches stayed around in the winter, but I just never recognized them as goldfinches because they turn a darker greyish color. I guess I just never paid attention to their flight pattern, which is a dead give-a-way. The true sign of spring for me is still the arrival of the robins. Followed by the hummers and the orioles.

We also have several types of hawks looking for small birds feeding at the feeders, and I hear owls, but I haven't seen any yet.
We have a view of woods from almost every room in the house, so we have binoculars all over the place. This year I hope to take some better pictures of the birds.

[WNYresident]

yes, that's a blue heron, what are you confused about rivie????
they stop at our creek almost daily during the summer to look for fishies!

My mom has one that eats the frogs around her pond. They seem intelligent as bird go. They also like frogs

[Linda_D]

yes, that's a blue heron, what are you confused about rivie????
they stop at our creek almost daily during the summer to look for fishies!

If you have an artificial pond that you stock with fish, you may also have herons visiting your yard! It's not fun when Mr Heron cleans out your expensive koi! This happened to a friend a couple of years ago. He kept coming back until he (she?) got every single one!

[gshowell]

My mom has one that eats the frogs around her pond. They seem intelligent as bird go. They also like frogs

We had one in the neighborhood that visited peoples decorative ponds and ate the carp.

I love watching the herons. Sometimes, when they see the dog, they screech like prehistoric pterodactyls and fly away.

[cookie]

If you have an artificial pond that you stock with fish, you may also have herons visiting your yard! It's not fun when Mr Heron cleans out your expensive koi! This happened to a friend a couple of years ago. He kept coming back until he (she?) got every single one!

I would LOVE to have a nice waterfall/pond type water feature in my yard, but that's exactly why I don't have one yet.
This winter I did see a landscape show on hgtv or diy that did a water feature for homeowners that were worried about their children, so the landscaper put some grating right below the water. That might work, although I'm thinking grating for any decent sized pond might be a bit too expensive. And beyond that, I wouldn't even know where to look for one.
We had a very small pond at our last house. The fish survived, even over the winter, but the ducks ate all the plants! And what's a water feature without plants???

[buffy]

I was in N Carolina last week and saw a blue heron in the yard looking at the fish pond, we scared it away.

Today, there were two robins in the tree outside my window!

[cookie]

I was in N Carolina last week and saw a blue heron in the yard looking at the fish pond, we scared it away.

Today, there were two robins in the tree outside my window!

Already? YAY!!!!!
That almost motivates me to go out and shovel a big area of the lawn so they can see grass and visit me too

[Riven37]

yes, that's a blue heron, what are you confused about rivie????
they stop at our creek almost daily during the summer to look for fishies!

Wondering if this is the same Blue Heron I use to eat lol or was that a fish

[speaker]

And pretty soon we'll hear the territorial 'wolf' whistle of the cardinal. Some have even been wintering over the last few years.

To me, that means spring.

[cookie]

Wondering if this is the same Blue Heron I use to eat lol or was that a fish

was it perchance pickled???

[cookie]

Cardinals are non-migratory birds. Most (but not all) of their chirping is related to nesting and mating, which is why you may not notice them as much during the winter.

[cookie]

The robins are here The robins are here!!!!!!!

[speaker]

Isn't it painful?

Aggravates me to have to put on my light jacket when I go out. And are those buds on the trees. Oh, we're about to go thru that horrible time of year--spring.