Australia and New Zealand are beautiful. Three weeks would be grand. We were in South America over the holidays and we spent a wonderful three weeks there. While in Peru, there was this bird singing like crazy. I finally found him in a tree top but he blended in so well with the tree that it was fruitless to take a photo.

Many people keep a list of the birds they see. What is that called, a 'life list?'

A Life List is the list of all the species you have seen in your lifetime of birding. Then there are the lesser lists: Country lists, State lists, year lists and even yard lists. I keep a yard list and I figure that my yard goes all the way up, that's why I have birds like Sandhill Cranes and Ringbilled Gulls on my yard list...they flew over and I saw them from my backyard!

To revive an old thread...

I was extremely lucky this past winter: we had a gyrfalcon visit! It was amazing; I'd never seen one this far south before. The raptors really seem to be making something of a comeback in my area, the last few years.

Last month I was lucky enough to watch a peregrine falcon hunting, as well- we have a couple nesting pairs here. I see them fairly regularly but have never seen one hunt before. I have to admit, I felt a little sorry for the pigeon, but what a thrill! I think it was the male hunting; the pair I see most often has four chicks to feed this year!

Congrats on the Gyrfalcon visit, that is really special!

The most memorable Peregrine sighting I ever had was at the canyon of the Little Colorado River, where it is very deep and narrow. I saw 2 peregrines flying over the canyon and suddenly one of them dove straight down into the canyon. I followed his dive in my binocs and watched him pull out just above the water, then slowly circle up and up until he rejoined the other bird far above the canyon. The sight of the blue-grey bird circling against the red canyon walls is something I will never forget!

Has anyone experienced aggressive Cardinals attacking the mirrors of your vehicles? We have a male cardinal, or perhaps several male cardinals, that attack our mirrors! The cardinals actually caused damage to the mirrors so we now cover the mirrors with t-shirts. They also attack one specific window of the house. It sounds like it will bust the window! I have trimmed back the bushes near that window to try to deter the birds but that hasn't helped. We love the wild birds that visit our yard. We get several different kinds from woodpeckers to blue jays to hawks, and of course the cardinals. We toss them the seed our domestic indoor birds don't consume. We have a white face cockateil and a rescued mourning dove. Our indoors birds are also aggressive, that is, when they hear a bag of chips being opened, lol.

We have a lot of birds, as the property is ocean on one side and old protected forest on the other. Flickers, woodpeckers, the small fellows, wrens, chickadees, titmice, and more....

Yesterday, I was out on the front lawn with the dog, a small, white fellow, who was playing with his squeaky toy. The red-tailed hawk made a slow, low pass, circled and came in again low, and then a third time...it was almost comical, the bird checking out the dissonant messages, sounds like an edible mouse...looks like something else. Very interesting. We confused the hawk. Or maybe he was laughing?

Or both, that's cute!

For over three months this year, I had the pleasure of drinking my morning coffee on my deck while watching a visiting peacock amble through my yard. He had escaped from a peacock farm about 2 miles away. What a wonderful way to start the day!

On vacation to Wyoming we stopped at a Scenic View. We were blessed to see several Steller's Jays. My daughter and I had hoped to see them but didn't really expect to. It was so cool.