A Little of This and That

A quick post of some of the birds I have seen the past couple of days. Work has been intense but I have been able to get in some birding here and there. The picture above is of a male and female House Finch. The female was near my feeder begging for food and the courting gentleman was happy to comply with her wishes.

Here he is giving her some black oil sunflower seed. Of course he decides to turn around to do this!

Here she is fluffing her wings and acting all demure while he is at the feeder finding the best one for his gal pal.

A Song Sparrow photo I got at the Millbury Bike Path last night. Song Sparrows were all over the place yesterday.

I watched this bird for a while while it fluttered about with an insect in its mouth. I have a feeling its nest was nearby but it wasn't going to go to it until I had left.

Here is the misses. I have been fortunate enough to be introduced to a woman at Unum who has been tracking these birds for fish and wildlife. She gave me a ton of great information and knows these two birds better than anyone else. The female above was banded in Fairlee, Vermont 2001 E/O black over green right leg. The male was banded 06/08/05 at the Portsmouth Navy Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. 3 over 7, black over green left leg.

She too has noticed the differences in temperament between the two falcons and also sees the laid back nature of the male vs. the fierce nature of the female. Here is the female looking at her foot. Specking of feet, she also told me that the male is missing one of his talons! Not the misses though, check out those claws!

If you enlarge the picture you will see the number on her leg band that indicates the gender.

Getting ready for take off!!

Hopefully I will have more to post on Friday. I am hoping to get out there tomorrow night some and then I have the weekend obviously which will be solo birding again which means more testing on what I have learned recently. Bird activity has quited down considerably the past few days which will make this even more challenging.

Take care all.