Birding!

[tiger15]

Just saw a documentary about south american hummingbirds over the weekend, fascinating stuff, had hidef slow speed video of it feeding, its actual tongue shape is so unique.

I saw the same video in YouTube. It is amazing to see a congregation of Ruby Throated hummy at the coast before migrating over the Gulf of Mexico to SA. I am not sure what geological factors limit only one species of hummy found east of the Rocky whereas multiple species are found throughout the west.

Another interesting fact is that humming bird are found only in the new world, whereas biologically equivalent Sun Bird that share the same diet, habitat and body design are found throughout the old world with no overlapping. Attached is a video I took in the Hong Kong Bird market in which the first cage bird is a sun bird that looks remarkably like a hummy. The second bird is a South American finch, Green Singer, that sings like House Finch in my backyard. I am not sure what species of birds are in the third and forth video clips except that they are SE Asian bird.

 

[duanes]

Here in Panama, they are everywhere, and ery territtoral.
They have constant battles over floral turf.

 

[jjohnwm]

I snapped this pic a couple days ago while ice fishing; we were roughly a mile out on the ice, and it was about -20C at the time. I had just stepped outside the tent, and when I glanced at my truck I was a bit amazed to see these four House Sparrows huddled under the wheel well, on the leeward side of the vehicle. Tough little guys.

 

[PhishMon84]

I snapped this pic a couple days ago while ice fishing; we were roughly a mile out on the ice, and it was about -20C at the time. I had just stepped outside the tent, and when I glanced at my truck I was a bit amazed to see these four House Sparrows huddled under the wheel well, on the leeward side of the vehicle. Tough little guys.
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I cannot imagine being a mile out onto ice- thats hockey heaven. are you on a great lake?

 

[jjohnwm]

I cannot imagine being a mile out onto ice- thats hockey heaven. are you on a great lake?

I think it's a great lake ...but, no, it isn't one of the 5 Great Lakes. I'm on Lake Winnipeg, which is on a completely different watershed than the Great Lakes. They flow east to the Atlantic, whereas L.Winnipeg empties north to Hudson Bay.

The lake is about 400 km long, and roughly 30 km wide where we fish. Parts of it are closer to 100km in width. It's a big-ass lake.

At risk of being forced to turn in my Canadian card...I don't play hockey, but the rough, pressure-ridged surface of the lake is deeply covered and drifted with snow most winters. Unless you have a snow-plowed area, like the ice fishing towns near shore, you won't be skating much without doing a bunch of shoveling first.

 

[PhishMon84]

I think it's a great lake ...but, no, it isn't one of the 5 Great Lakes. I'm on Lake Winnipeg, which is on a completely different watershed than the Great Lakes. They flow east to the Atlantic, whereas L.Winnipeg empties north to Hudson Bay.

The lake is about 400 km long, and roughly 30 km wide where we fish. Parts of it are closer to 100km in width. It's a big-ass lake.

At risk of being forced to turn in my Canadian card...I don't play hockey, but the rough, pressure-ridged surface of the lake is deeply covered and drifted with snow most winters. Unless you have a snow-plowed area, like the ice fishing towns near shore, you won't be skating much without doing a bunch of shoveling first.

Hey, my last name is like smith in Quebec, had a cousin play for the Canadiens, played for 20 yrs myself. started skating at 3 years old. I shovel the nearest pond every snow fall here with my 70 yr old neighbor and his grandson. Up for the challenge

You can eat the poutine and catch dinner for us!

 

[tlindsey]

I snapped this pic a couple days ago while ice fishing; we were roughly a mile out on the ice, and it was about -20C at the time. I had just stepped outside the tent, and when I glanced at my truck I was a bit amazed to see these four House Sparrows huddled under the wheel well, on the leeward side of the vehicle. Tough little guys.
View attachment 1558305

The sparrows found a warm spot lol.

 

[jjohnwm]

The sparrows found a warm spot lol.

They were nicely protected from the wind, and certainly there was still some residual heat from the truck, but I just can't see what prompted them to go way out on the ice like that in the first place. Nothing out there for them to eat. We are accustomed to being watched carefully by Ravens and Bald Eagles while ice fishing, and we need to cover and guard any fish we want to bring home for ourselves or else they will be stolen. But...seed-eating sparrows?

 

[PhishMon84]

They were nicely protected from the wind, and certainly there was still some residual heat from the truck, but I just can't see what prompted them to go way out on the ice like that in the first place. Nothing out there for them to eat. We are accustomed to being watched carefully by Ravens and Bald Eagles while ice fishing, and we need to cover and guard any fish we want to bring home for ourselves or else they will be stolen. But...seed-eating sparrows?

Do ppl setup semi permanent camps on the ice, given how far out it is? maybe they followed the humans and their messiness

 

[jjohnwm]

Do ppl setup semi permanent camps on the ice, given how far out it is? maybe they followed the humans and their messiness

They do indeed; there are large numbers of small huts on skids, camping trailers set up on blocks with removable floor panels and other DIY creations that are installed in December and then removed in springtime, but those are mostly grouped together in little ice villages near town. People have wood stoves, generators, solar panels, lghts, cooking stoves, camp beds, etc. Some folks even bring out little arbors, potted evergreens, etc. and decorate them for Christmas. The area is kept pretty clean. And I never see these semi-permanent installations more than a quarter-mile from shore, and usually clustered together pretty closely.

But those things mean that you are essentially stuck in exactly the same spot for the whole winter; moving one is a big deal. We use pop-up ice huts, essentially hunting blinds, which can be set up in a few minutes and moved around easily. Lots of flexibility that way, just a little bit more work each time you go out...plus you don't have any neighbours if you don't want any...and I don't!

When I took the pic, we were in a fresh virgin spot, no other huts or vehicles anywhere nearby, completely pristine white ice and snow...absolutely nothing to attract these little birds away from the feeders in town where they spend their winter.