Spring Series #3 - Spring Bird Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Spring Series - #3 Spring Bird Study

For this Bird Study Challenge we didn't do anything special or extra - mostly just continued to notice and listen to birds when we have the opportunity.

We have spent a lot of time lately talking about and listening to birds. My little girls are starting to point them out and get excited to see them. We have been visiting local ponds and a farm where we can see ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens.

But the bird songs my kids are most familiar with are the ones we hear in our own neighborhood. We sit on the back porch early in the morning to listen to house finches, european starlings, and mourning doves. My kids always stop and put a hand to their ears when they hear the calls of Canada geese, black-billed magpies, or California gulls.

Yesterday we were lucky tohave a Great Horned Owl nest with the mother and 2 babies pointed out to us at some local gardens we were visiting. It has reminded us to go looking for the Great Horned Owls we were able to watch and study last year.

This is a new bird for us and we are working on identifying it:

We have frequently seen it at Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country. When we were there yesterday we noticed a tree with multiple nests in it and we could hear lots of loudly chirping babies waiting for their dinner. The moms and dads were busy coming and going, but we managed to get this quick picture. WhatBird doesn't seem to be working this morning so we'll have to wait for another time. Any ideas?

UPDATE: For some reason I'm not able to view my pictures as larger images - sometimes this happens, but I don't know why. Sorry :(