Some Birds I have seen On Our Camden Campus

Pictures taken by Panasonic GS15 and GS19, and processed with Pinnacle Studio software


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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7490id.html

All last week (second full week of April 2005) I was seeing a very tiny bird darting through the bushes around BSB.  I was finally able to capture some frames.  It turns out to be a pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  The female is the more active one  while the male stood still for a while so I could get some pictures.  I was able to capture some shots of the red spot on his head.  A light breeze ruffled his feathers producing an interesting effect in the last picture.  The first three shots show the bird in one of the small tree trees behind BSB.  The other pictures show the bird in the small trees on the west side of BSB. 

Click to see video - Windows Media Player format
Click to see video - Windows Media Player format Click to see video - Windows Media Player format  
 
  
Frames clipped from video Panasonic GS-15 (2005)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet



Frames clipped from video Panasonic GS-19 at Fine Arts (8/29/2006)
 Around lunch time August 29, 2006 by the Fine Arts breezeway I saw this lone bird.  It was moving quickly in the branches.  Some finches moved into the tree and disturbed the bird.  I was too far away to get good video.  I had trouble trying to figure out what it was until I checked a video I had of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet that I took at BSB last year.  The old video showed a bird that "wagged" its tail and and flicked its wings.  Those same actions are seen with this bird.  The wing bars are also consistent with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  You can see the "wag" in the two pictures above - the left shows the tail down while the right show the tail straight out.

 

 

On October 16, 2006 around mid-afternoon while walking in the Quad area, I heard this bird high in the trees.  There was another bird but I couldn't get a good look at it.  This bird flew into some lower branches near the Fine Arts building and I was able to get some video to identify it.  It was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and it looked like it was checking the branches for insects.   

 

On October 26, 2006 after parking my car I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet amongst  the Finches near where I park my car.  The battery was dead in my camera so I couldn't get any shots.  It was eating the weed seeds in the open patch of ground near where I park.  I put down some seeds for the Finches and the Kinglet flew to within three feet of where I was standing.  It then was startled and flew off.  A working camera would have been nice at that moment.  I walked across both parking lots and as I approached BSB I saw the shadow of my Mockingbird approaching me from behind.  I knew it landed somewhere in front of me but the sun was blinding me as I walked forward.  I finally got into shade of the building and started to look in trees for the Mockingbird but couldn't see it.  Just then a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flew up into the tree in front of me.  This was odd because this is a flighty bird.  But this time it flew toward me.  And then it flew in front of me toward the west side of BSB.  This may have been the same bird I saw at the far corner of the parking lot.  Both times the bird moved toward me rather than the normal action of quickly leaving the area.  The bird is tiny with quick-jerking movements.  That's what makes it stand out.

 

On March 13, 2008 I saw at least one of these birds.  In mid afternoon I took a walk to the Robeson library.  On leaving BSB out the back door I saw a bird a very tiny bird moving very quickly in one of the pine trees.   I could see stripes on the wings and I did get some video.  But there were also some Goldfinch in the area and they have similar wing stripes with their winter plumage.   As I was walking towards the library I heard an odd peeping sound in some of the low bushes by Fine Arts.  I should have pulled out my camera but I thought it was a Starling.  But the peeping repeated itself - if it were a Starling the notes would have changed.  By the time I did pull out my camera the peeping stopped but I could see a very tiny bird at the base of one of the bushes.  Once I started taping I could see the chevron shape of the wing stripes that says this is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  The video is limited.

 

On March 21, 2008, while taping a Cardinal by the Fine Arts building, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet came into view.  It looked like it was hunting for insects.  The few seconds of video is imbedded in the Cardinal video - click here to see the video.

On April 3, 2008 this bird was heard at the Fine Arts building.  I had a very hard time sighting the bird but it continued to sing for a long time.  I captured the audio but there is a lot of background noise.  Here are a few poor frames I was able to clip from the video - I needed it to ID the bird.
 

Frames clipped from video Panasonic GS-19 at Fine Arts (4/3/2008)
Mouse click here to hear audio.

 

Coming into work on April 25, 2008 I had a great experience with the Ruby-crowned Kinglet as part of the "best birding day".
Video in Windows Media format
MS Photo Story presentation Video in Real Media format
Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Fine Arts -frame clipped from video Panasonic GS-19  (April 25, 2008 - morning))

Also got some audio:

The sound of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the morning.

Another version of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

 

 

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Ed McHugh, OIT Camden Computing Service.
Copyright © 2004 [OIT Camden]. All rights reserved.
Revised: Monday, April 28, 2008

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