Any other bird watchers here?

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I've casually bird watched for about 4 years (although I've loved birds ever since I was a kid). I didn't realize how spoiled I was living in NYC and having easy access to Central Park until I moved away from it! I've never seen so many warblers as I did there. But Southern California is a great place to bird watch too, and my family lives in the southeast so depending on the time of year I visit them I can get some nice sightings.

Have you guys seen any cool birds recently? Do you have a memorable birding experience to share?

Some recent ones for me: California towhee, blue-winged teal, lesser nighthawk, green heron.

Most memorable: PALE MALE!! I wasn't one of the dedicated regulars that watched his nest overlooking Central Park, but I did visit several times. But my most amazing experience was in the early morning a week or so after the fledglings had left the nest. They were still staying in the area, and I was lucky enough to be able to watch them hunting (one got a squirrel, the others were hanging about in the area). As I was watching I saw something large and pale out of the corner of my eye moving rapidly toward me. At first I thought it was a pigeon, but I quickly realized it was way too huge for that. As he flew by me (no more than 15 feet away!) I was ecstatic to realize I'd had a close encounter with Pale Male! I don't think I'll ever be able to top that story.

Wednesday morning I was sitting alone on the terrace of the Houses of Parliament when I saw a Wren, at first I thought it was a large Bumblebee, lots of people in UK have never even seen a Wren, I have seen them on three occasions at the Houses of Parliament, not the sort of bird you expect to see in the centre of London.

I'm in the bird watching club at my school. We went to go watch some swifts fly into a chimney a couple of weeks ago.

I put out food and water for them,I have been marking all the ones I identify in my bird book.I have found they really love the black oil sunflower seeds.I buy it at the feed store in 50lb bags,it's cheaper that way.I have a heated birdbath for the winter and make my own suet cakes for them,some times crack some black walnuts and leave out.I also planted bushes and plants that have seeds and berries for them.

Nambo: Neat! I had no idea wrens were rare in the UK. It's interesting what birds are common/rare in different areas.

Makayla: I'm jealous! I wish when I was in high school there had been a birding club. When I was a kid my grandma's chimney always got chimney swifts during the summer, you could hear the babies peeping from the chimney inside the house.

Misslizard: Oh that sounds fun! I just have an apartment balcony right now, so I can't do a whole lot of feeding. I just leave a hummingbird feeder up and I'm trying to grow some hummingbird friendly flowers too.

Not on purpose, but when I see some birds, I like to watch them and if I can I feed them too. Here's a Coopers Hawk I was lucky enough to see staring down someone's bird feeder . I think I saw an Eagle a couple weeks ago too, but it was so fast then *poof* it was gone. If not an eagle, some very large kind of hawk.

I didn't realize how white the background would be. That's a result of the flash.

I like watching birds, and aircraft. Been on a few bird counts.

I'm a city kid so all I ever saw when I was little was robins, pigeons and blue jays. Now crows are moving in and they are really fun to watch. The place where I work is in a woodsy area and I'm amazed at how many different kind of birds there are around here. I think there may be a rare kind of woodpecker here, but I can't tell for sure. I've only seen it very early in the morning when it's too dark to see much more than a silhouette. It likes to hang around very high in the trees and its call sounds like an evil laugh. It's pretty big.

^^^Maybe this.http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pile ... dpecker/id
They look similar the the Ivory Bill,which is suppose to be extinct,supposedly it has been sighted here,not much proof.But now we have it on some of our license plates.
People here call the pileated woodpecker a "Good God",supposedly from how large it it.They had a nest here in a big dead gum tree,it was fun to watch them.
Last night I saw a Coot on the road,not an old man but the bird variety