Birding in Maine» streaming

Common Redpolls – Video

John Briggs — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:29:31 +0000

During the recent snowstorm, our feeders were very busy. Take for instance:

Along with the regular yard birds, 35 Pine Siskins trying to find room on the feeders.
40+ Common Redpolls vying for precious space.
2 male Red-winged Blackbirds who were more than happy to find a ground feeder during the tempest.
Not a feeder bird but 3 Bald Eagles; 1 Adult and 2 second year were standing on an ice ridge in the cove just off our yard.
1 Harbor Seal laid up on the ice edge were our cove meets the Kennebec River.

Needless to say, the bird activity emptied nearly every feeder! We kept up with the birds, assuring that no one went hungry.

Today, the skies are blue again, but it is cold. Looking through the rest of the week, it is to stay cold with only a chance of snow showers Friday night. With the fresh snow pack, we will see temps near zero at night over the next several days. I heard a few meteorologists mention that the cold spell will last into the foreseeable future. I wonder if the Red-winged Blackbirds wished they had waited awhile before coming to this latitude?

I shot some video of the Common Redpoll activity during the snow storm.

Dimension: 520×420 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 11.6mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming Video of Common Redpolls | ©2009 birdingmaine.com

If only the Redpolls would come like this when the sun is shining. Their raspberry color is vivid when the sun is out, but the colors seem a little washed in this video taken during the snowstorm.

Happy birding!

Winter birds videos

John Briggs — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:19:41 +0000

During the month of December, we have had a crippling ice storm, a blizzard, temperatures ranging from -5° to 50° F. and a plethora of snow, rain and sleet. This kind of weather is hard on birds. Now, more than at any other time of the year, birds can use our help when deep snow packs makes it hard to for them to find food.

I shovel a patch down to bare ground under our feeding stations and sprinkle bird food on the area for the ground feeding birds. We also keep fresh water available and clean the snow and ice off of all feeders. The birds really appreciate it!

We took the following hi-def videos just before the blizzard struck on last Sunday morning. Fair warning: large file size, broadband connection recommended!

Dimension: 500×375 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 20.0 mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming Video of Downy Woodpecker | ©2008 birdingmaine.com

This next hi-def video shows the many Sparrows and Junco’s that visited when the snow started to fall. Broadband connection recommended! Half the file size of the above video.

Dimension: 500×375 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 10.6 mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming Video of Sparrows & Junco’s | ©2008 birdingmaine.com

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Here’s wishing all of you a happy and prosperous New Year.

Happy birding!

Pileated Woodpecker and Cedar Waxwings

John Briggs — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:34:46 +0000

After being away for a few days, we returned home today to a few surprises in our yard. Cedar Waxwings were everywhere, including a lone Bohemian Waxwing. Juvenile and Adult Cedars were eating blueberries that we left on our high bush plants, swallowing the berries whole and getting into fights with each other and the Gray Catbirds who liked them also.

While I was in the yard trying to photograph the Cedar Waxwings, a Merlin flew by within two feet of where I stood and chased down a Song Sparrow. Narrowly missing the sparrow, the Merlin disappeared into the trees near the Winnegance Bridge.

Quite a few Warblers and Blue Jays were around, but the Warblers were to panicky to get good id’s. Tree Sparrows were very numerous along with a Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

During low tide, the river held 38 Canada Geese, one Green-Winged Teal and a lone Greater Yellowlegs.

On our way home today from our trip, we pulled off the side of the road to look at a map. As we were preparing to pull back out onto the road, a movement caught my eye. A Pileated Woodpecker was working a rotting tree stump no more than 15 feet away.

I must have looked suspect to passer-bys as I had half my body protruding out of the moon roof in our SUV taking pictures and video of this large woodpecker. At one point, a Bald Eagle flew overhead and the woodpecker slid around to the other side of the stump until all was clear. We would have never known that this fella was there if I had not seen the movement out of the corner of my eye.

Enjoy the photos and video below. *Tip* For full view of the pictures that are “tall and narrow”, press F11 on your keyboard to make your browser window as large as possible. If you do not do this, the picture will resize within your browser and you may not get the full size.

The following steaming high definition video portrays a Pileated Woodpecker searching for food in a rotted tree stump. A broadband connection is recommended to view the video.

Dimension: 518×291 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 12.6mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming Video of Pileated Woodpecker | ©2008 birdingmaine.com

Happy birding!

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