maven&meddler

We’re having a great time bird watching here at Rancho Maven again, this winter. I’ve been putting out a lot of seed, but also more of the suet/seed bricks this year, since I adore the Flickers and Downey Woodpeckers.

Here’s a rundown of some of the more interesting birds this month:

There is currently a lovely pair of Downey Woodpeckers

And a pair, and possibly a third, Flicker

This Spotted Towhee showed up a few days ago

Red Tailed Hawks are common

As are Mourning Doves

and we have a boatload of California Quail all the time

And that’s just in addition to the usual Goldfinches, Rosy House Finches, Cassins Finches, Chickadees, House Sparrows, Starlings and the occasional crow and owl.

I found a totally awesome bird website that you can really have some interactive fun with. It’s the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.

This is a great way to identify and have a bit of fun. You can identify by shape or taxonomy. Then you go to the specific bird’s site, and hear the various calls. The recordings are really good. They also have video of some species.

Want to up the fun factor? Go to the owl page where they show a list of photos of various owls common to the states. Scroll down through it, turning ‘on’ all the sound profiles. It’s a scream.