Accipiters in Iowa

Today we tried to sort out the genus Accipiter. Rummaging through the photos archive revealed no photos of this genus :( Time to hunt!

In Iowa there are Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northen Goshawk.

Sharp-shinned Hawk is found here in winter or year-round, according to different sources. A small hawk that sounds as a "typical" hawk should: a high-pitched kik-kik-kik.

Cooper's Hawk is almost exactly the same in coloring, but larger. Its call is much lower and more resounding.

Northern Goshawk is rare in Iowa (and I've never seen it), mostly seen in winter. Big, very distinct in coloring, both adults and juveniles. The voice is similar to all other hawks on the planet, but a little raspy or even creaky. Said to be more silent than other hawks.

Bird Spring 2015

Oh my! It's been a year since I've been in my own blog. And it's been almost two years since we've moved in Ames, Iowa. It's my second spring here and I finally decided to learn local birds.

For this I'll be using The Sibley Guide to Birds, which is a terrible bird guide, but the best I could find here. I miss the Collins guides, Americans are not really concerned with nature in any way, and it shows in Americans guides.
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My other resource is www.allaboutbirds.org.

Matthew and I discussed in what order we will proceed--randomly, after sightings, from the beginning of the book, from the end, or alphabetically--and decided to go with the alphabet. Just another way to learn letters!

New World

It is my first blog entry from the New World. We moved to Ames, IA. It's amazing how different everything around from what I'm used to! Something around 247 species of birds are waiting for me to see. So far I've seen:

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Cardinal

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bluebird

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Jay

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Catbird (this one was dead when we found it)

There were also Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) and Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), but I'm not sure about my identification.

And... we saw a turtle, a strange thing after living in St. Petersburg, but after all, we moved 30 degrees to the south.

Chaffinch

I heard the first chaffinch this year today. I was awoke by chaffinch's singing. This means that wrens are here and can be watch! Hurrah!

Long-tailed duck

I am about birds again. Last week my friend and I saw a long-tailed duck on the Neva. As far as I understand it was an immature specimen. Why then it is migrating to the North?

Waterfowl

Though it is still cold a spring is coming and birds are arriving. There is an earliest open water patches on the Neva. As soon as the Neva opened a natatorial birds have been arriving. Last week (February, 24th) I saw a flock of he-mergansers. They stayed on the Neva more than three days.
Today I saw a red-wing among a fieldfares in Botanical Garden.

Shrovetide

A spring is coming! Today is a second day of Shrovetide. In spite of February cold some birds arrived to us. I saw singing greenfinches, a flock of fieldfare, and one blackbird among the fieldfare. In this year I want to see owls. I think it is time for hunting :)