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Have there been any other sightings that might unravel this mystery,...??...would the tropical storm weather bring some of these birds our way???
I do wish they were still here,...I have to say that photos of the Brewer's caught my eye, but the geographical info looked as though it wouldn't be possible...what about the voice they shared a gurbly-garbly sort of chatter, (....kind of like the pair of red-wings I had in the spring...) and flying they had a sort of squeaky "pzeerr"
I hear the crows gathering outside,...through the summer there are maybe a couple of dozen and fewer overwinter,..but each fall, hundreds seem to meet in my "back forty" to roost each night til they dissipate when the cold weather comes. Two nights ago I counted 328...It's a bit like that old Alfred Hitchcock movie, I swear!
I must pour a fresh cup of coffee and wait for dusk...
Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote: My guess about female cowbirds was stupid, since I forgot about you saying the iris was light-coloured. But female and young grackles lack the keeled tail, and the tail is quite a bit shorter/smaller than the male's. Nevertheless, it's quite possible that you did have a small group of Rustie's that were perhaps mixed in with the larger flocks. Unless the black plumage showed the rusty highlights of their winter plumage, I would have had trouble in identifying them, too, since I very seldom see rusty blackbirds. Also there is also a dim chance of small blackbirds being Brewer's from the West, which are more grackle-coloured. Cheers from Jim
----------
From: jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca>
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:10:56 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
Subject: Re: FW: [NatureNS] Re: rusty blackbirds
The flock has not returned,..they were merely passing through.
The sightings were on two consecutive evenings and their subsequent mornings, touching down only once, on the second morning, when i had distributed seed for the groundfeeding birds.
Regretfully there was only a brief opportunity for observation, had they remained it would've been good to have had others come and check them out!!
In my Sibley's or my Audubon guides for Eastern North America the rusty is the only one that fits. These birds had a pale iris, shared most certainly by the grackles but they were at least 2-3 inches smaller and lacked that long keeled tail...
(...oddly enough,..as if to offer comparison, or to tantalize,....five grackles came through yesterday at about 8:45.)...I'll keep watching,..and be ever grateful for your kind advice...thanks again!
Jan Foley
Head of Jeddore
Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote:
Could your brown smaller birds be female or young cowbirds? I didn't mean to suggest that starlings were part of what you were seeing, just that starlings frequently flock with those others, grackles and redwings and cowbirds. Cheers from Jim
----------
From: jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:45:42 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
Subject: Re: FW: [NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds
absolutely no starlings,..no speckles,...smoooth glossy coats mostly though some were duller and as I mentioned earlier,.8 or so with very scruffy brown mixed plumage these are bigger than starlings and smaller than grackles and odd burbly voices... grackles sound like rusty gates.
We had grackles nesting, fledged and fed by their parents from may to later in june in our front yard,...they used my withered hosta for nesting material and cost me a fortune in seed,..so i'm more than familiar with them.
Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote:
FW: [NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds Jan, I agree with Bob McDonald that your flocks were very probably common grackles, possibly with some red-winged blackbirds mixed in (and starlings often mix with these as well at this time of year, and all will roost together at night). I think that the rusty blackbirds should by now be perhaps showing some rusty feathers among their winter blacks? And rusty blackbirds are expectable only in small numbers together; they have apparently been in decline for quite a few years. Cheers from Jim in Wolfville
----------
From: jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:06:10 -0400 (EDT)
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds
Amidst the purple finches eating the fruit of our mountain ash trees these last three days was a single female pine grosbeak.
As well a flock of 25-30 of what must've been rusty blackbirds have been passing over...evenings to the swamp east northeast of my house and mornings they head to the point and marsh to the west southwest of my house. I wasn't sure what they were as they were flying high and only briefly past on the other three occasions,...but at about 7am today they touched down for 5-10 minutes to check on the birdseed scattered for the mourning doves and sparrows then flew off on their usual course.
The group was predominantly black with blue irridescent heads there were 7 or eight with duller brown plummage. All about 8" long....paler yellow (???) iris...?...can anyone confirm my I.D.?
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<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"> <TBODY> <TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"> <TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off"> <DIV> Have there been any other sightings that might unravel this mystery,...??...would the tropical storm weather bring some of these birds our way???</DIV> <DIV>I do wish they were still here,...I have to say that photos of the Brewer's caught my eye, but the geographical info looked as though it wouldn't be possible...what about the voice they shared a gurbly-garbly sort of chatter, (....kind of like the pair of red-wings I had in the spring...) and flying they had a sort of squeaky "pzeerr"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> I hear the crows gathering outside,...through the summer there are maybe a couple of dozen
and fewer overwinter,..but each fall, hundreds seem to meet in my "back forty" to roost each night til they dissipate when the cold weather comes. Two nights ago I counted 328...It's a bit like that old Alfred Hitchcock movie, I swear!</DIV> <DIV>I must pour a fresh cup of coffee and wait for dusk...</DIV></TD></TR> <TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> <DIV id=hotbar_promo></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BLOCKQUOTE id=e6c5d7d7><BR><BR><B><I>Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">My guess about female cowbirds was stupid, since I forgot about you saying the iris was light-coloured. But female and young grackles lack the keeled tail, and the tail is quite a bit shorter/smaller than the male's. Nevertheless, it's quite possible that you did have a small group of Rustie's that were
perhaps mixed in with the larger flocks. Unless the black plumage showed the rusty highlights of their winter plumage, I would have had trouble in identifying them, too, since I very seldom see rusty blackbirds. Also there is also a dim chance of small blackbirds being Brewer's from the West, which are more grackle-coloured. Cheers from Jim<BR>----------<BR><B>From: </B>jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca><BR><B>Date: </B>Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:10:56 -0400 (EDT)<BR><B>To: </B>Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca><BR><B>Subject: </B>Re: FW: [NatureNS] Re: rusty blackbirds<BR><BR> <BR> The flock has not returned,..they were merely passing through.<BR> <BR>The sightings were on two consecutive evenings and their subsequent mornings, touching down only once, on the second morning, when i had distributed seed for the groundfeeding birds.
<BR> <BR> Regretfully there was only a brief opportunity for observation, had they remained it would've been good to have had others come and check them out!! <BR> <BR> In my Sibley's or my Audubon guides for Eastern North America the rusty is the only one that fits. These birds had a pale iris, shared most certainly by the grackles but they were at least 2-3 inches smaller and lacked that long keeled tail...<BR> <BR>(...oddly enough,..as if to offer comparison, or to tantalize,....five grackles came through yesterday at about 8:45.)...I'll keep watching,..and be ever grateful for your kind advice...thanks again!<BR> <BR><BR> <BR>Jan Foley<BR> <BR>Head of Jeddore<BR> <BR><BR> <BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><BR><B><I>Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca></I></B> wrote: <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>Could
your brown smaller birds be female or young cowbirds? I didn't mean to suggest that starlings were part of what you were seeing, just that starlings frequently flock with those others, grackles and redwings and cowbirds. Cheers from Jim<BR>----------<BR><B>From: </B>jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca><BR><B>Date: </B>Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:45:42 -0400 (EDT)<BR><B>To: </B>Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca><BR><B>Subject: </B>Re: FW: [NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds<BR><BR>absolutely no starlings,..no speckles,...smoooth glossy coats mostly though some were duller and as I mentioned earlier,.8 or so with very scruffy brown mixed plumage these are bigger than starlings and smaller than grackles and odd burbly voices... grackles sound like rusty gates. <BR>We had grackles nesting, fledged and fed by their parents from may to later in june in our front yard,...they used my withered hosta for nesting material and cost me a fortune in
seed,..so i'm more than familiar with them.<BR><BR><B><I>Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca></I></B> wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>FW: [NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds Jan, I agree with Bob McDonald that your flocks were very probably common grackles, possibly with some red-winged blackbirds mixed in (and starlings often mix with these as well at this time of year, and all will roost together at night). I think that the rusty blackbirds should by now be perhaps showing some rusty feathers among their winter blacks? And rusty blackbirds are expectable only in small numbers together; they have apparently been in decline for quite a few years. Cheers from Jim in Wolfville<BR>----------<BR><B>From: </B>jan foley <jfoley572001@yahoo.ca><BR><B>Reply-To: </B>naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<BR><B>Date: </B>Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:06:10 -0400 (EDT)<BR><B>To: </B>naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<BR><B>Subject:
</B>[NatureNS] Re: pine grosbeak and rusty blackbirds<BR><BR> <BR> Amidst the purple finches eating the fruit of our mountain ash trees these last three days was a single female pine grosbeak.<BR> <BR> As well a flock of 25-30 of what must've been rusty blackbirds have been passing over...evenings to the swamp east northeast of my house and mornings they head to the point and marsh to the west southwest of my house. I wasn't sure what they were as they were flying high and only briefly past on the other three occasions,...but at about 7am today they touched down for 5-10 minutes to check on the birdseed scattered for the mourning doves and sparrows then flew off on their usual course. <BR> <BR> The group was predominantly black with blue irridescent heads there were 7 or eight with duller brown plummage. All about 8" long....paler yellow (???)
iris...?...can anyone confirm my I.D.?<BR> <BR> <BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <BR> <HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=1> <BR> <BR><BR>Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the <B>All-new Yahoo! Mail <BR></B><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR> <BR> <HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=1> <BR> <BR><B>All new Yahoo! Mail - <BR></B> <BR> <HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=1> <BR> <BR>Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane. <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>__________________________________________________<BR>Do You Yahoo!?<BR>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <BR>http://mail.yahoo.com <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><p> 
<hr size=1>Share your photos with the people who matter at Yahoo! Canada Photos
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