I agree, sold a ton of Native American art & antiquities in the past. A number of pieces making their way to museums, but most to private collectors. (state side)
I wish I could have kept it all, but glad that I hung on to this owl print.
Birding!
- Thread starter jjohnwm
- Start date
I wish I could have kept it all, but glad that I hung on to this owl print.
Yeah...i bird. I particularly enjoy learning and identifying them by song, only really pick up my binoculars if i hear something i want to see.
We have five owl species in the UK. Tawny owl, little owl, long eared owl, short eared owl, and my favourite by far, the majestic ghost like barn owl, pictured below.
Interestingly, we have Long-eared and Short-eared owls here as well. I've seen a single Barn Owl in Canada, many years ago in southern Ontario, and also several times in Cuba and Florida.
I found the Canadian example in a dilapidated abandoned old farm-house and made the mistake of mentioning it to the farmer next door, i.e. almost a kilometer away. He had come out to investigate the suspicious car parked alongside one of his pastures, with a giant spotting scope sticking out the window aimed at the grassy field. I told him I was birding, and mentioned the wonderful find right next door. The next evening, when I returned to observe the Barn Owl again...I found all the windows on the old house boarded up! No more entry for the owls, maybe even a nest of young left to starve inside.
The Short-eared and Long-eared Owls, along with the lovely Barn Owls, are among the most cosmopolitan birds on the planet. Look at a global range map for them; they're (almost) everywhere.
I found the Canadian example in a dilapidated abandoned old farm-house and made the mistake of mentioning it to the farmer next door, i.e. almost a kilometer away. He had come out to investigate the suspicious car parked alongside one of his pastures, with a giant spotting scope sticking out the window aimed at the grassy field. I told him I was birding, and mentioned the wonderful find right next door. The next evening, when I returned to observe the Barn Owl again...I found all the windows on the old house boarded up! No more entry for the owls, maybe even a nest of young left to starve inside.
The Short-eared and Long-eared Owls, along with the lovely Barn Owls, are among the most cosmopolitan birds on the planet. Look at a global range map for them; they're (almost) everywhere.
The Owl was definitely doing the farmer a good deed free of charge. Now he'll probably have a explosion of unwanted field miceNo more entry for the owls, maybe even a nest of young left to starve inside.
Whilst I'm at it I may as well post a few pics of other favourite birds of mine. I'd almost forgotten how blessed we are in the UK regarding birdlife.
Robin.
Magpie.
Goldfinch.
Jay.
Jackdaw.
Pied Wagtail.
Apart from the jay I can see these birds basically everyday. The jay is a little more secretive.
Robin.
Magpie.
Goldfinch.
Jay.
Jackdaw.
Pied Wagtail.
Apart from the jay I can see these birds basically everyday. The jay is a little more secretive.
Nice! Thanks for posting those.
Just about everyone in NA is familiar with our Robin; it's in the Thrush family, much bigger than yours and bears little resemblance aside from a similar rusty breast colour. Apparently homesick settlers gave it the name to remind them of the original Robin they knew from their homelands.
Your Magpie is virtually identical to our Black-billed Magpie; I believe that they were considered one single species until just a few years ago.
Our American Goldfinch is similar to your Goldfinch; both are pretty spectacular little birds...although I of course think ours is a wee bit more spectacular...
The most common by far of our several jays is the Blue Jay, which puts yours to shame, plain and simple.
Your Jackdaw is a Corvid, same family as Jays and Crows. It looks like a smaller version of our Common Crow.
And we have a couple of Wagtails that are similar to yours, but they are limited to the most extreme tip of Alaska. The closely-related Pipits are more commonly seen throughout the continent, especially during migration, but they are pretty drab and inconspicuous birds. Things like Pipits, many Sparrows, many smaller Shorebirds and the like are often lumped into the catch-all category of LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs).
With the single exception of the Pipits/Wagtails...all of these are easily observable right in my yard during the correct seasons. The likely most common bird in my yard at this time of year is either the Common Redpoll (a tiny finch that is strictly a winter bird around here) or the Black-capped Chickadee (very similar to the British Tits), but lots of Nuthatches, Blue Jays, woodpeckers (3 species during winter including the spectacular Pileated), Sharp-tailed Grouse, the odd Northern Shrike, Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, etc. as well.
Just about everyone in NA is familiar with our Robin; it's in the Thrush family, much bigger than yours and bears little resemblance aside from a similar rusty breast colour. Apparently homesick settlers gave it the name to remind them of the original Robin they knew from their homelands.
Your Magpie is virtually identical to our Black-billed Magpie; I believe that they were considered one single species until just a few years ago.
Our American Goldfinch is similar to your Goldfinch; both are pretty spectacular little birds...although I of course think ours is a wee bit more spectacular...
The most common by far of our several jays is the Blue Jay, which puts yours to shame, plain and simple.
Your Jackdaw is a Corvid, same family as Jays and Crows. It looks like a smaller version of our Common Crow.
And we have a couple of Wagtails that are similar to yours, but they are limited to the most extreme tip of Alaska. The closely-related Pipits are more commonly seen throughout the continent, especially during migration, but they are pretty drab and inconspicuous birds. Things like Pipits, many Sparrows, many smaller Shorebirds and the like are often lumped into the catch-all category of LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs).
With the single exception of the Pipits/Wagtails...all of these are easily observable right in my yard during the correct seasons. The likely most common bird in my yard at this time of year is either the Common Redpoll (a tiny finch that is strictly a winter bird around here) or the Black-capped Chickadee (very similar to the British Tits), but lots of Nuthatches, Blue Jays, woodpeckers (3 species during winter including the spectacular Pileated), Sharp-tailed Grouse, the odd Northern Shrike, Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, etc. as well.
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I’ve been dying to see an American Goldfinch in person, just haven’t been lucky enough yet. That along with the Pileated Woodpecker are high up on my list of birds to spot and photograph.Our American Goldfinch is similar to your Goldfinch; both are pretty spectacular little birds...although I of course think ours is a wee bit more spectacular...
Both of those are are year-round residents in your area. The Pileated can be less common in large parts of its range...but I'm astonished you don't have Common Goldfinches in your yard daily for many months at a time, and in good numbers.
They love Black Oil Sunflower sees, but so do many other birds that are larger and more aggressive and may hog the feeders. You can buy special feeders designed for use with Niger Seed, which is a tiny black seed, fairly expensive but very attractive to small birds. The feeders in question require the bird to cling to the side of the tube feeder while pulling the seeds out through the fine mesh. There are no perches provided. This keeps a lot of species from stealing the Niger seed because they aren't very adapt at clinging like that...which in turn keeps those feeders open for expert clingers like Chickadees, Goldfinches, Redpolls, Nuthatches, etc...and not much else.
Agreed. I think ours is beautiful but I can't deny that your blue jay is stunning.
Yes, the Corvid family is quite a large one. In the UK alone we have ravens, rooks, crows, magpies, jackdaws, choughs and jays. I believe they are the most intelligent birds. After watching what some of our local magpies get up to I can't argue with that either, lol.
