Grandma's Farm

The past three weeks I was at my grandma's farm in Oklahoma, and I just love going there! It's like a perfect country place surrounded by forests, fields, and there's a creek! Also very perfect for all sorts of wildlife, including birds! We went a lot of places around there too, like the Wildcat Glades Center, and a couple other places. So I went birding a lot, and got lots of yearbirds (bird species this year), and lots of lifebirds (new bird species to me). This was a really exiting experience for me, but the time went so fast it felt more like three days than three weeks. I really wish I could have stayed longer. In the last week my cousin came and I had a lot of fun with her. We played in the creek, we even dared each other to get in up to the shoulders! I did, and she went underwater, even though it was really cold... But the next day I had to go home.

Singing male Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-shouldered Hawk 

Barn Swallow

The elusive Red-headed Woodpecker!

Singing Carolina Wren

Yellow-throated Warbler

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Lifers

Yesterday, the family and I went to Jester Park, which is near Saylorville lake. While my siblings went to play on the playground, me and mom went up to the lake, and we saw some awesome birds. The first thing we noticed was there were a bunch of white birds sitting on the lake. And by a bunch, I mean thousands. I took some pictures and figured out they were Snow and Ross's Geese. Then they took to the air, and it sounded like thunder! They would just fly back and forth for a bit, then settle down into the water again.

The middle right goose is possibly a Ross's.

There was also a flock of Canada Geese, which I took pictures of, but upon further inspection of the pictures, it turns out there were a couple of Greater White-fronted Geese mixed in!

Canada Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese.

There were some Northern Pintails flying around also, and some Mallards foraging in a large puddle.

Northern Pintails.

Mallards.

We also went to the visitors center, where they have a bunch of bird feeders in the winter. While we were looking there, I spotted this cutie!

Adorable Tufted Titmouse!

Swans

So, a couple days ago, at Saylorville lake, I got my first Trumpeter Swans! We saw them because of mom's friend who told us there were a dozen or so at the lake. So we went to look around, and when we did see them, there were quite a few flying with some Canada Geese! After they flew around for a while, they went to go sleep in the snow on the lake. That couldn't have been too comfortable. After we watched them sleep for a bit, mom decided to go look by a little river nearby. I couldn't see anything at first, just a lot of geese. There was a steep bank that led down to the river, and it turns out that a pair were hiding right next to the bank, just enough that we couldn't see them. But I got out of the car, and they started to swim away so I got some nice close pictures.

Flying swans.

Adults with some grayish younger ones.

The pair swimming away.

The white ones are swans.

Saylorville Birds

I went to Saylorville Lake a couple of times last week, and I saw lots of birds. Day One: There were a lot of Canada Geese, a pair of Mallards in a tiny pond, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers at the visitor center, a pair of Northern Cardinals, an American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, and I saw a Bald Eagle while we were driving there.

Actually two Mallards.

Hairy Woodpecker.

Day Two: This time I went with my dad, and I got a life bird, Common Goldeneye! Dad also
spotted what might be a Rough-legged Hawk. We saw twice as much Canada Geese as last time, a couple of chickadees, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, lots of Downy Woodpeckers, a Tufted Titmouse, four Mallards, some Bald Eagles, plenty of Red-tailed Hawks, and we heard some Blue Jays. It was a very nice trip.

Canada Goose landing.

Life bird Common Goldeneye.

Better picture of the Common Goldeneye.

One of my best photos, White-breasted Nuthatch.

Another one of my best photos of the day, Downy Woodpecker.

Feeder Birds

I put up some feeders about a month ago, and lots of birds have come to them. Most of these birds are year-round here, except for the junco. I have a wooden feeder with safflower and sunflower seeds, a suet log filled with homemade suet, and a completely steel feeder filled with black oil sunflower, peanuts, a little bit of safflower, and some dried cranberries. Almost all the birds have been to the steel feeder, but the woodpeckers prefer suet. The cardinals like the sunflower and safflower, the junco eats whatever is on the ground, the nuthatch likes the sunflower and the suet, and the goldfinches like the sunflower.

Male Northern Cardinal.

Female Northern Cardinal.

Dark-eyed Junco. I think he has some leucism in his tail.

Female House Finch gaping at the safflower.

American Goldfinch and Male House Finch.

House Finches and Goldfinches.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Male Downy Woodpecker.

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker.