Any bird brains out there?

I have this book and it is helpful-

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This is a photo of a Bald Eagle that I took in my back yard in Medina County two weeks ago. To its left is a Red-winged Black Bird, just to give some size perspective.

The Black Bird, while in flight before they both landed, momentarily jumped on the back of the Eagle while trying to protect its nest near by. Was awesome to see.

BTW, that is a gosling in the big bird's clutches. Apparently young goose was on the menu that day.

Cool pic!

I have a couple male Red winged blackbird with 3 females nesting out back by the pond. I love how protective they are, especially when the little ones are in the grass. They make some cool sounds that remind me of fishing with dad when I was a kid.
Seems like there were alot more when I was a kid. They like water and tree lines with open fields.
 
This has been a really cool thread to follow. I head to the park every day but am clueless to the smaller birds. I've seen many bright yellow and blue birds. I need to get Griswold's book.

Speaking of the Peregrine Falcon when I was still in the field we were building a new unit at the Monroe Powerhouse which at the time had two 800 foot stacks. The Falcon would nest there and you would go up on the exposed steel and see a splayed pigeon laying there on a beam. Rib-cage opened and cleaned out. You'd also see a bunch of pigeons flying in a group and then out of no where there would be giant poof and it was the Falcon diving at incredible speed and picking one off. One of the coolest things I ever saw.

Been attacked riding my bike when getting too close to a Red-Winged BB. Those things are fearless.
 
This has been a really cool thread to follow. I head to the park every day but am clueless to the smaller birds. I've seen many bright yellow and blue birds. I need to get Griswold's book.
I'm going to guess American Goldfinches & Indigo Buntings, if they're completely blue.

Griswold's Birds of Ohio by McCormac & Kennedy is good, but it might be out of print. I couldn't find it on Amazon and even the publisher is out of stock. You might be able to find it in a bookstore. Only one or two illustrations of each bird but very good descriptions.

Any of these on Amazon are better;

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th edition - $20 Multiple illustrations of each bird.

Sibley Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America, 2nd edition -$15.
or Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd edition - $28. (east & west) The big Sibley book is considered the best. Multiple computer drawings of every bird.

Kaufman field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd edition (with the Yellow Warbler on the cover) - $15 Computer enhanced photos of each bird limited to one or two photos.

Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd edition -$20. Roger Troy Peterson invented the field guide and modern birding. The books are still good.
 
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I'm going to guess American Goldfinches & Indigo Buntings, if they're completely blue.

Griswold's Birds of Ohio by McCormac & Kennedy is good, but it might be out of print. I couldn't find it on Amazon and even the publisher is out of stock. You might be able to find it in a bookstore. Only one or two illustrations of each bird but very good descriptions.

Any of these on Amazon are better;

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th edition - $20 Multiple illustrations of each bird.

Sibley Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America, 2nd edition -$15.
or Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd edition - $28. (east & west) The big Sibley book is considered the best. Multiple computer drawings of every bird.

Kaufman field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd edition (with the Yellow Warbler on the cover) - $15 Computer enhanced photos of each bird limited to one or two photos.

Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd edition -$20. Roger Troy Peterson invented the field guide and modern birding. The books are still good.

This is what we use and its good. Also, the Audubon app is good.
 
Yep. Plenty of small birds have hit our house getting away from hawks, or shadows. Years ago we had a Red-tailed Hawk hit the house chasing a dove. That was a boom. Went outside and looked and there was an image of the hawk on the house from the dust that came off the feathers.

My son and I watched a Goshawk attack a migrating juvenile Golden Eagle in the UP. Same thing. My wife was using "the facilities" and missed it. Of course we told her all about it.

Have you ever seen a small bird land on the back of a raptor and start pecking on it's head?

The big bird will twist and turn to shake off it's attacker, and then the little bird comes back and takes a few more whacks.

Darn that's gotta hurt.

Saw this for the first time today!
 
 

Everybody's coming here for the cheaper housing.

I've never seen a pelican up here. That'd be cool. Saw a BIG blue heron and an egret and seagull duking it out. A crap load of these birds
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But no pelicans.
 
View attachment 7835

This is a photo of a Bald Eagle that I took in my back yard in Medina County two weeks ago. To its left is a Red-winged Black Bird, just to give some size perspective.

The Black Bird, while in flight before they both landed, momentarily jumped on the back of the Eagle while trying to protect its nest near by. Was awesome to see.

BTW, that is a gosling in the big bird's clutches. Apparently young goose was on the menu that day.
That's really cool. Red winged black birds are my favorite Ohio bird. I too live in Medina county and go to a few parks with marsh /wetlands to see them

Green and also blue heron are there too which is cool
 
That's really cool. Red winged black birds are my favorite Ohio bird. I too live in Medina county and go to a few parks with marsh /wetlands to see them

Green and also blue heron are there too which is cool

We are in eastern Medina County. Here are a couple recent photos. One of a Green Heron that is nesting at our pond....such an awkward acting bird, but beautiful.The other is of the Red-winged Black Bird, yelling at me while I was fishing for being to close to his nest.
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We are in eastern Medina County. Here are a couple recent photos. One of a Green Heron that is nesting at our pond....such an awkward acting bird, but beautiful.The other is of the Red-winged Black Bird, yelling at me while I was fishing for being to close to his nest. View attachment 8101
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Those are some great photos. We live in Montville township/Medina area. We love the buckeye woods park and that big circle trail along the wetlands

If you know of any marsh or wetland type parks like that please let me know. We've only been here since February and like to take walks of about 1.5 to 3 miles with our dog
 
Those are some great photos. We live in Montville township/Medina area. We love the buckeye woods park and that big circle trail along the wetlands

If you know of any marsh or wetland type parks like that please let me know. We've only been here since February and like to take walks of about 1.5 to 3 miles with our dog

Well welcome to Medina. Have a couple places for you: 1) Hinckley Reservation with a 3 mile dirt loop along the lake, and 2) Wolf Creek Environmental Center on Ridge Road in Sharon Twp. Both are just a short drive.

A new park in a wetland was supposed to open in Granger Twp this summer, but I think that it may have been delayed.

Thanks for the comments on the photos.
 
Well welcome to Medina. Have a couple places for you: 1) Hinckley Reservation with a 3 mile dirt loop along the lake, and 2) Wolf Creek Environmental Center on Ridge Road in Sharon Twp. Both are just a short drive.

A new park in a wetland was supposed to open in Granger Twp this summer, but I think that it may have been delayed.

Thanks for the comments on the photos.
I'll look into those. Thanks so much ! And yes those photos were great
 
I am out in fields quit a bit with my hobbies and regularly get to witness this awesome distraction to keep me from the babies...Had one last year do complete flips and rolls throwing up a bunch of dust...when they are that good I usually move on out of respect, before she injures herself.

 
Have baby wrens in a nest in my garage. Any advice?
It takes the eggs 12-15 days to hatch and then another 12-18 days before they leave the nest. So from start to end you're over half way there. If you can, leave them alone and they will eventually all go away.

Is you garage door usually open?

Just yesterday morning I was working on my garden at my mom's house and she asked me to ID two birds we were hearing. They were house wrens and I told her I was a little surprised that I wasn't hearing a Carolina wren too. Mom was surprised that there is more than one kind of wren. There are five in Ohio and four more out west.
 
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It takes the eggs 12-15 days to hatch and then another 12-18 days before they leave the nest. So from start to end you're over half way there. If you can, leave them alone and they will eventually all go away.

Is you garage door usually open?

During the day it's usually open.
 
We had a great egret in a neighborhood pond (in Summit County) a couple of years ago. It was just a brief stop, most likely on his way to the western basin of Lake Erie. Cool bird. Looks like a white heron.
 
Ok chs1971, I got one for you. Every year for about four years we get these small fast flying birds in our chimney. Old house and we no longer use the chimney. I was told they are "Chimney Sweeps" and they build nests on the inside of a chimney wall which makes sense because they are usually here from May through June and gone by mid-July. Do their nesting habits cause any damage? I've thought about putting chicken wire over the top of the chimney but if they are not damaging anything I really do not care. To be honest, they've grown on me. lol
 
You have either house wrens or Carolina wrens. Be aware that both species will produce two clutches of eggs.

Just out of curiosity, where exactly is the nest?

House wrens. We had noticed them flying in and out so we were trying to keep it closed more than normal but apparently that didn't get it done. My son discovered the nest in a camp cot bag about 10 feet off the ground. 1 baby kept climbing out and falling to the ground. We moved the bag down to my workbench and made a surrounding so they couldn't get out and fall. Mother has been doing a lot of feeding (we have a camera on the nest).
 
Ok chs1971, I got one for you. Every year for about four years we get these small fast flying birds in our chimney. Old house and we no longer use the chimney. I was told they are "Chimney Sweeps" and they build nests on the inside of a chimney wall which makes sense because they are usually here from May through June and gone by mid-July. Do their nesting habits cause any damage? I've thought about putting chicken wire over the top of the chimney but if they are not damaging anything I really do not care. To be honest, they've grown on me. lol

Could be chimney swallows/chimney swifts.

 
You have either house wrens or Carolina wrens. Be aware that both species will produce two clutches of eggs.

Just out of curiosity, where exactly is the nest?
How far apart timewise do the produce the 2 clutches?
 
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How far apart timewise do the produce the 2 clutches?
I did a little more reading but couldn't find anything specific, so I don't know, but soon.

Except wrens will not reuse the nest, so she is likely to move out of your garage, and wren nest season ends in early July so she is likely done for 2020.
 
I did a little more reading but couldn't find anything specific, so I don't know, but soon.

Except wrens will not reuse the nest, so she is likely to move out of your garage, and wren nest season ends in early July so she is likely done for 2020.

Thanks!
 
Ok chs1971, I got one for you. Every year for about four years we get these small fast flying birds in our chimney. Old house and we no longer use the chimney. I was told they are "Chimney Sweeps" and they build nests on the inside of a chimney wall which makes sense because they are usually here from May through June and gone by mid-July. Do their nesting habits cause any damage? I've thought about putting chicken wire over the top of the chimney but if they are not damaging anything I really do not care. To be honest, they've grown on me. lol
You've got Chimney Swifts. Very cool. Swifts are awesome flyers. Their feet are not designed to stand on the ground or perch in a tree so so they eat, mate, bath, etc. while flying.

Naturally chimney swifts nest in caves and hollow trees but they adapted to living in human built chimneys a very long time ago. "The nest is a half-saucer of loosely woven twigs, stuck together and cemented to the chimney wall with the bird’s glue-like saliva." Bird spit will not hurt your bricks and mortar. With fewer big old hollow trees and fewer brick chimneys swifts have a difficult time finding nesting sites.

You've got something special.
 
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