Red eyes, Golden eyes

Tweet There hasn't been much in the way of nice sunny days this winter, but the warmer than usual temps have made it hard not to go out and take some pics of birds.

On a sunny day after work recently, I decided to take a little drive on lightly traveled roads to see what I could find.

I happened upon a nice looking bird with awesome looking red eyes. Nope, too early for a Red-eyed Vireo. This adult Cooper's Hawk was sitting in a tree just off the road. I watched it for a while, taking pics out the car window, using the car as a blind.

The bird kept repositioning, changing its demeanor constantly.

Closer look at those red eyes.

Yesterday after work, I went down to East Fork State Park to check out the Common Goldeneyes that have been hanging out there. I went to a somewhat secluded little cove to watch them. I love to watch ducks perform their courtship rituals in the early spring.

The sun was replaced by cloud cover when I arrived at the lake. I was able to quickly spot a male Common Goldeneye by himself.

Soon after, I was able to spot a female Common Goldeneye. The male swam towards her. He then performed his courtship display. Like most ducks, the males bend their heads back while calling. I describe the call as sounding similar to a loud zipper. The female appeared not interested as usual. The female is the duck on the other side of the rocks.

The male goldeneye then swam up to a pair of Horned Grebes and displayed to them. They paid no attention whatsoever.

An approaching fishing boat spooked the goldeneyes, causing them to fly. I was able to catch the male flying away.

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I guess winter was cancelled?

Tweet I can't believe it's February already! Where did fall end and winter begin? The feeders have been busy this winter, but alas no Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, American Tree Sparrows (only 1 all winter so far) and no Fox Sparrows.

Definitely one of the most mildest winters I can remember, as we have only really had one snow that amounted to anything, and that was just a dusting. Hoping for good birds, I set out that day to see what I could see.

Surprise, the best birds found were "Spring" birds. A couple of Eastern Phoebes were hanging out in a mixed species flock at Stonelick State Park. I was lucky to catch this one in the brief little sun available.

As I looked again, I noticed a second phoebe behind this one on the sidewalk. This would make three total Eastern Phoebes I have seen this January. This is strange, since this bird was missed totally on the Cincinnati Christmas Bird Count this winter.

I think the second phoebe must have seen its shadow, as it didn't stay long.

And, here is a bird find for you. See if you can find the bird in the pic below:

What camouflage!




And here is the bird close up.

American Pipit! Found three of them at East Fork a couple weeks ago.

Ducks have been hard to find this winter, as the water up north hasn't really stayed frozen for any length of time. I have found a few, but none close enough for a pic. Here is a far away Ruddy Duck from a few days ago at East Fork State Park. I like Ruddy Ducks, they are so sassy looking.

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