It’s about time this part of the site got updated. We have two new tuyuur today. First is the beautiful Indigo Bunting. He’s a real cutie and was recently spotted at the Mantiq bird feeder. He’s a little guy, about 5 inches in length and weighs about half an ounce. But he is also a great navigator who migrates by the stars at night. Also, if you kidnap one and take him far away, he’ll be able to find his way back. He’s a cool little bird.
This bird is not under Zionist control
At sort of the opposite end of the birdie spectrum is the Great Barred Owl. He was sitting on our deck this morning. No kidding. Went to get the camera and he had taken off. He hangs around our neighborhood and feeds on small rodents. Wish he’d go after the damned feral cats we have around here. Funny, when he hangs around the bird feeders none of the other birds stop by.
Looking for those cats
We haven’t updated this section for a while. Today’s photo is of the Red-Winged Blackbird, a beautiful bird that recently has been seen at Mantiq al-Tayr’s bird feeder. This is most unusual because they rarely come to seed feeders. The photo is from Cornell’s site. Click on it and you’ll go to the page there about this great bird.
Today’s photo is of the Red-Tailed Hawk which lives throughout the United States. Their wingspans can be up to 52 inches. If you have street lamps arching over major roads in your area you are likely to see them perching there waiting for cats to appear. The Red-Tailed Hawk loves to eat small to medium sized animals and we believe here at Mantiq al-Tayr that cats would be a good food for them. The picture is from the Cornell website which is linked to on the main page.
Here kitty kitty
Today’s photo is of the American Goldfinch. The picture below is of the male when he is in his full breading plumage. At this time of year the males (and females) are much more bland looking with only hints of yellow. But the male will molt completely in the spring turn out looking like the guy below. These birds love to come to bird feeders, so get your feeders out and watch them change colors over the next few months. The photo is again from Cornell’s website on birds.
I'm hot and I know it.
Today’s photo is of the Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker a small and very migratory woodpecker found in the eastern and central United States and in Canada and he migrates all the way down to Central America. Woodpeckers use their pecking sometimes to establish territory and these guys like to bang on street signs and other metal objects to increase pecking range. The photo is from Cornell’s website on birds.
Good Name for a Congressman
Mantiq is a bird-lover! Makes me admire you that much more!
Sweet pictures.
Fyi, one of my favorite web cams, directed at a stork’s nest in the Rhineland [actually PfalzStorch has several web cams, but the following is my favorite because I know the pair that nests there, year after year].
http://www.pfalzstorch.de/bilder/live1.html
This is the time to watch them. Five chicks have hatched in the past two weeks, and they’re growing fast. It’s a sheer wonder to see.
For user-posted picture archives: http://tinyurl.com/ouj83c
Here’s a nice little animation showing a chick peeking out from under its parent’s tail feathers : )
http://tinyurl.com/q2zwrn
Cheers, fellow bird-lovers.
Update: I’m very sad to report that, as of May 14-15, none of the 4 newly hatched stork chicks in the Bornheim 1 nest has survived.
The young ones here and here, however, are thriving.
The red-winged blackbird is my long-time favorite, but what a beauty is the indigo bunting .
Suzeebelle,
You have great taste.
Thank you for your kind words elsewhere on this blog.
MT
Yes the Indigo Bunting is a beauty. Red-winged blackbirds rule.
DEAR PEOPLE: OF COURSE, “MANTIQ AL TAYR” is a BIRD LOVER. HIS NAME IS BASED ON A FAMOUS COLLECTION OF VERSES BY HAFEZ, I THINK, WHO WAS A PERSIAN SUFI MYSTIC. CHAUCER EVEN MADE A TRANSLATION OF IT. “MANTIQ AL TAYR” MEANS “PARLIAMENT OF BIRDS” JUST AS THE STAR SYSTEM IN “STAR TREK”, “ALTAIR 6 IS IN A CONSTELLATION CALLED “AQUILA”(“THE EAGLE”) & “ALTAIR” MEANS BIRD IN ARABIC & PERSIAN. THE JAPANESE ANIME CALLED “BIRDY, THE MIGHTY” HAS A HEROINE NAMED “BIRDY” AND SHE IS AN “ALTAIRIAN”!
I got to see a flock of Lazuli Buntings out in the Gaza Strip, Utah/Nevada. Amazing. We’ve got a Downey Woodpecker hanging around this winter and what a clown he is. Dang bird can hang upside down on a branch and spin 180 degrees in the opposite direction and not miss a stroke. Well, in any direction for that matter.
When things in the human world start getting a little heavy, I try to take a few minutes to hear the birds sweetly sing. The twitters of the finches and the calls of the chickadee bring me back to simple truth, and seem to make my studies in human misery a little more tolerable. Thank you for sharing your love of our feathered brethren. May they bring you peace.
Wilf,
Amen
We’re so much alike. Mantiq I love you. I keep my sanity by walks in my beautiful garden full of flowers, vegetables, birds & butterflies. It is a totally organic garden & the creatures are amazing. We have several bird feeders & baths & a small pond so the birds are quite happy & beautiful. However, I have had NO luck in
photographing them so I am in love with your pix. Thank you so much for sharing them!!!
“This bird is not under Zionist control” Quote of the day. . . lulzy stuff . . . great to see a sense of rationality & humour in one of these sites . . .