Crow with White Feather

Once I started watching birds, I look at all birds. About one month ago I was driving down Elizabeth Avenue when I spotted a crow with some white on it. I wanted to stop but traffic was backed up on both sides of the road. By the time I found a place to turn around and return the different crow was gone.

Having forgotten about it, I was driving down Elizabeth Ave. on Wednesday when I spotted a crow with a white feather picking at garbage. This time there was no one behind me and I pulled into a driveway and grabbed my camera.

I got a couple of shots but this unusual specimen did not want to pose. I think he was more interested in the trash. I got two shots on the ground and then it flew up on a house where I was able to get a couple of shots of the different markings.

I ran a Google search and came up a discussion on similar birds found in the U.S. http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=65078

If you have any insight on this aberration, please leave a comment.

Photo Updates

I have a number of photos that were taken after I posted info about the species. However, with a lens upgrade, a little more experience and some occasional sunshine, I have gathered some better shots and some female gender shots of some species that I would like to share.

I will name all of the birds at the end of this post. See if you can identify them.

Hint: This is the male of the species and it is a warbler.

The second image offers a little more detail on the wing tips.

Hint:  This is a female of the species shown above.

Hint:  This is not a warbler. I only had one picture of it in my earlier post. Note that it is walking around very comfortably on duck weed. It doesn' weigh very much.

This is a type of warbler and is the female of the species.

This is one of the recent Spring arrivals and is one of the easiest gulls to identify.

Now, let's see if you were able to identify all of these birds. They are in the order top to bottom:  Boreal Chickadee; Blackpoll Warbler (male and female); Northern Watertrush; Yellow-rumped Warbler (female) and Ring-billed Gull.

Flies

I was just browsing through many unprocessed photos and found this Yellow-rumped Warbler. He has three flies in his mouth - count them!

How did he do that?

Nesting Box

How fitting that I just posted photos of the Tree Swallow! I looked out my window Sunday morning and what should I see but a pair of Tree Swallows checking out my nesting box. I have had the box up for two summers with no activity at all. This summer I relocated the box according to the reference materials and voila, there were my first nesting box visitors.

The pair of swallows sat on the power line for a while then the male swallow flew into the box to check it out. The female continued sitting as if waiting for directions from her mate. Then the male peeped out and seemed to call her to come have a look. He disappeared back into the box and she went to have a look for herself.

She looked in and then joined her mate and they stayed inside together for a while. There was a noise in the neighborhood and the two of them popped out and flew away. What kind of bird conversation must they have had? What do they say to each other to decide to move in or move on? They certainly seemed to know exactly what they were looking for and it also seemed to be a joint decision. So far, they have not returned.

I must be doing something right to have at least attracted them to have a look. I will continue reading and make adjustments in the yard as needed to bring new life and many birds into my territory. This was the first pair of Tree Swallows that I have seen in this area. How amazing it is that a bird just passing by can spot a potential nesting area! It is similar to the Bluejay. I never see him in the neighborhood until I put peanuts in my feeder and right out of the blue, there he is. I am determined to create a bird friendly yard that will attract many species. This week I am adding a water feature to the yard. If it ever stops raining and the ground and pools can dry up, that should help.