Friday’s Feathered Friends-A Great Day Birding

Posted in Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Friday's Feathered Friends, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last week I was birding with a group I belong to. We had a very exciting birding day with 66 species sighted. There were lots of great sightings, one was while in a big field in a Washoe Co. in the sagebrush, we saw a Brewer’s Sparrow and I got a few good images. It’s a “lifer” for me. A “lifer” is the first time you’ve ever seen a bird species.

Brewer’s Sparrow Singing its Morning Song

We saw two adult Bald Eagles which was exciting because one flew onto a telephone pole carrying food of some sort and started eating. Then we heard another Eagle call out and fly into the scene ready to attack from behind!

It tried to steal the food of the BE on the pole. The BE with the food took its prey and flew over to a nearby telephone pole and carried on eating while the would-be thief sat on top of the pole trying to figure out what went wrong and why he now had control of the pole but no food. 😂

In three images: The approach, The Attack, and the would-be thief flying off several minutes later very disappointed.  I was too far away from the poles to get good images, but they’re keepers and good enough to tell the story with.  

Incoming attack from behind
The Attack, and Get-away.

The Would-be thief flyby was better as I had moved closer by then. 

American Bald Eagle in Flight

Some other cool birds I saw and photographed were:

Lark Sparrow in Flight
Sage Thrasher Perched
Black-billed Magpie with Blue reflected in its eye
Marsh Wren-The Poser

I don’t have any cool bird fun facts for you today as the post would be too long. It’s already longer than my usual post.

FYI, I will be late getting back to you on the comments but, I will get to them.

I hope you all have a great week-end!

Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.7.0

more to come…

57 thoughts on “Friday’s Feathered Friends-A Great Day Birding”

  1. Pingback: Reader Favorites 2024 – Circadianreflections Blog

  4. Absolutely stunning images. I saw my very first Nuthatch this week. Fortunately, in my back garden. I love that feeling, of seeing a bird species for the first time.

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  8. Wow, this is a bonanza of not-your-everyday birds, Deborah. And the lark sparrow photo is truly remarkable. What a fun birding day for you and your friends.

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  9. This was wonderful! How exciting to witness the attack and the bald eagle. Even more exciting is to be a ‘lifer’. Thank you for telling us about that. I love the Black-billed Magpie!

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  10. Fun Eagle shots and story. Congratulations on the lifer. I have not seen or seldom seen many of the birds in your post, like the Brewer’s Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Sage Thrasher and the Marsh Wren. Fun post for me to see, 👍.

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  14. You’re on a roll, Deborah. You’ve had a few lifers this year. That’s pretty cool. The photos are excellent, especially the inflight ones. I love the inflight of the eagle.

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  16. Some great captures Deborah, and congrats for your lifer, they are always a thrill. Loved seeing your long billed magpie as I have not seen this bird before. Your eagle displacement was another great birding moment. All in all a great day birding.

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  17. Brilliant, Deborah! I love days like this. The Florida mangroves afforded me many life bird moments. I miss the anhingas and little green heron. I love all your but the lark sparrow in flight is my favorite of these. 👏🏻👏🏻

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      1. It came yesterday, and I love them already! I messaged you on IG and did a quick post there. Those birds are waterfowl so you’d not likely see them in your area.

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  20. Horsefeathers, 66 different kinds? Cool beans. (Or should I say birds…) I actually would have found that with the eagles an exciting thing to see. You got amazing photos, especially the shot of the little guy singing his heart out, and the Lark Sparrow in Flight. Thanks for this post, Deborah. Hugs on the wing!

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  21. Wow!! Loved seeing all your photos! Looks like you had a very successful birding day! The blue eye in the Magpie was amazing to me – it matched its bright blue feathers. And I never tire of seeing Bald Eagles!

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  23. A lot of commenters like the Magpie, they are welcome to the ones that visit our garden and raid the nests for eggs and chicks! Not a welcome sight.
    Great set Deborah, the sparrow in flight is my favourite.

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    1. I agree with you Brian. The Magpie is my least favorite bird because of what it picks through to find food. YUK! I don’t even think Vultures do that, but it was pretty with that blue reflection in it’s eye. I rarely even photograph them.

      I’m glad you liked the Lark Sparrow.

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  28. That magpie is my favorite of the group; what a handsome bird. That said, the eagle interaction was fun to see. I once watched a mockingbird try to move a caracara off the top of a telephone pole. It took a while, and innumerable ‘attacks,’ but eventually the mockingbird won. I doubt the caracara was threatened in the slightest. It probably was just irritated. I’m glad you had such a productive day!

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    1. Mockingbirds are something else aren’t they. I watched one repeatedly attack a cat who laying on a warm driveway one afternoon. The cat just laid there and took it.

      Magpies are pretty, but they grossed me out years ago and have been my least favorite bird since. I know they serve a purpose but…yuk.

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