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Was visiting family on Martha's Vineyard over Christmas. Everyone else went running on the beach, but I chose to stick closer to home. I was walking by a wooded area and noticed this hawk, fairly low and less than 20 feet away. I was able to watch it for 5 minutes, went back to the house looking for a bird book (mine was at the car at the beach), came back out and watched him for 5 minutes more.

I've had others point them out to me, but this was the first I've ID'd on my own. A nice Christmas present.

OK, this is from St. Lucie County (central east coast), but I hope any other Florida birders who take part in the Christmas Bird Count will add their results here.

It was miserable rainy weather all day, with constant cloud cover, dulling colors and keeping birds pretty quiet. Our group, out of Fort Pierce, had only about 91 birds, maybe 3/4 or less usual sightings. The temps were in the high 60s-70s.

However, our group of 3 was blessed to get a first for count circle ... 2 whooping cranes. I took some convincing, as the markings were not the clear black and white of the matures. There was no doubt, however, they were bigger and whiter than the sandhill cranes we see very often here. It appears they were first year immatures turning mature. WCs had been spotted on a huge ranch just north of our CBC area, so it was not totally out of the realm of possibility. It was a life bird for my husband and me.

The small birds were esp. quiet. We did see many red-shouldered hawks but not as many kesterels as usual.

We didn't see any of one of my favorites, roseate spoonbills, but another group saw them on a spoil island in the Indian River.

No cardinals (altho we have them on our patio) and only one blue jay. Lots of mourning doves.

Our group saw 41 species. Usually we see more in the rural area we cover, including caracara.

I am a new resident of Denver area and recently started going out on organized bird walks. I am impressed with variety of birds even after the Christmas blizzard of '06, but I am having trouble getting any birds interested in my new hopper feeder filled with black oil sunflower seed. Any ideas why or any other tips about backyard birds in central Colo.?

How refreshing to see that not everyone in EONS is preoccupied with sex. Nothing against sex, just think that it should be kept personal and private.
I have always had an interest in birds and my wife and I feed and water them year round in Michigan. This year I actually considered stopping feeding them what with all the scare about bird flu, but my wife insisted on continuing, so we're still active birders.
One parting thought: the dinosaurs kept our predecessors in check during their reign but now we feed their decendants for our amusement. Wasn't that a nice turnabout?
Look forward to reading some more of your posts.

Season's Greetings, Eons birders! Winter is a great time to bird the Maine coast. Especially when it's balmy like today. I just made a quick trip to nearby Two Lights State Park (as if one lighthouse wasn't enough of a tourist draw) with dog and binos. And was lucky enough to spot a Dovekie flying low over the water, landing, and making some feeding dives. It's been several years since I've seen one. It's hypothesized that after some winter storms the plankton and small invertebrates near the ocean's surface may be dispersed to deeper water, prompting these birds (and other alcids) to forage closer to shore.

If you're not familiar with this endearing relative of puffins and penguins you owe it to yourself to grab your favorite field guide and check it out.

Peace & good birding,
Scott

Hi Everyone, I just joined eons and your birding group. Have loved birds since I was a little kid - and that was some time ago! I'm no expert though, you never stop learning. I live in rural Oregon, in the foothills of the Cascades where we have many a bird. We(my husband and I) maintain feeders and birdbaths and there is plenty of natural cover. I go on local birding trips occasionally with a group at Portland Audubon. Looking forward to being in your group.

Greetings, Eons birders -- anybody doing Christmas Bird Counts? I participated yesterday in the Portland, Maine CBC. Along with an old friend and his teenage son we covered Peaks Island, two miles out in Casco Bay. We came and went (birding all the way) on the mail boat that serves the island's 500 or so year-round residents. And birded the island and surrounding water on foot.

It was probably the balmiest day, weather-wise, in the history of Christmas Counts in Maine -- sunny with hi temps near 50. Doing a CBC without gloves, etc. was almost more comfort than we could stand.

We found 50 species total in our territory, including 2 lingering Swamp Sparrows, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Bald Eagles, 19 Black Guillemots, and 41 Great Cormorants. Along with about 1,000 Herring Gulls, as you might expect on an offshore island.

Total species count for the Portland CBC this year was 101 species -- it's a big deal to "break 100" this far north!

Peace & good birding,
Scott

Hey, Eons birders -- to expand on a recent message thread with janymae: there are local bird clubs and "where to go birding" books covering nearly the whole continent at this point. If you're interested in connecting with other birders and finding new spots close to home, you can get info online in a flash.

For books try Amazon.com and American Birding Assoc. Sales (www.abasales.com).

For bird clubs try view link or view link to get started. Neither of these nationwide lists is fully comprehensive so refine your search in addition to checking these sites.

There's also more info in my blog entry on "Virtual Birding."

Peace and good birding,
Scott

Hi,
Just joined eons. I don't get out much to birding places, did go to Plum Island, MA and loved it. I live in SE MA near a cranberry bog, so in addition to my feeders, I can also see hawks, owls, herons, ducks, geese all from my window, although not all at the same time. Looking forward to being in group.

Hi, I'm dodgema, a new member of Eons, and so happy to find a birding group.

My husband and I are members of the St. Lucie County Audubon and will be doing the CBC here Dec. 16. In fact, we just gave a presentation this week of a great trip we took to mainland Ecuador to the group. It was a really good DVD by our friend and co-traveller.

My grandmother gave me a bird book eons ago when I was a little girl, but I really didn't get interested in it until about 25 years ago. As a local news reporter on weekend duty, I was assigned to cover the bird count. I spent most of the day with a group and really got hooked. I passed the addiction to my husband and we've birded frequently since. However, we are not intense birders.

Living in Florida, I got a lot reinforcement when I started, as there is such a variety here, esp. in the winter. And many are quite large, which is great when you're starting. We regularly see sandhill cranes wandering in our golf courses and yards, even across the street. Cattle egrets, white ibis, wood storks and even the occasional roseate spoonbill are seen in residential areas.

Since retiring over 10 years ago, we've been lucky enough to be able to travel a lot, and most of those trips have been nature tours. If you're interested, I've "scrapbooked" them on our web site ... view link with a section devoted to birding in addtion to the trips ... view linkBirds/birds.htm I also have put my husband's and others bird photos on a photo page ... view linkBirds/birdphotos.htm

I hope to be able to get back here regularly and share birding stories.

BTW, we spent 3 weeks in Colorado in September on a trip on our own. We even saw quite a bit of snow in the mountains. And, while we were visiting San Luis Lake park, we did hear the ever-familiar sound of sandhills flying over.