Sabre Dance Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 My first impression was that this was a juvenile female robin just approaching maturity. Females do have lighter coloration, and there does seems to be the remnants of the spotted breast feathers. That would not account for the call, though. In my first "real job" after college, I worked with a lady who was an avid birder. At first, her talking about it kind of drove me batty, but eventually I got sucked in and bought a couple of field guides. I never got into birding per se, but it did make me more aware of our feathery friends. I learned enough to know that the odd-looking bird that landed (quite unceremoniously) in the tree behind my apartment was a green heron. I guess it is not all that rare, but also not so common around here. My co-worker was impressed that I saw one. It seemed to me that birding sure could be a great pastime. It gets you outdoors, you have to hike around a bit to see the more unusual birds and it is pretty inexpensive to get involved in. Good for families, too... Oh I also spent a lot of time as a kid studying WW II aircraft. I used to be able to tell you every variant of the Hawker Hurricane or the history of the He. 177 Grief. Did anybody get to see the B-17 Flying Fortress that was here at the airport over the weekend? Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 My first impression was that this was a juvenile female robin just approaching maturity. Females do have lighter coloration, and there does seems to be the remnants of the spotted breast feathers. That would not account for the call, though. In my first "real job" after college, I worked with a lady who was an avid birder. At first, her talking about it kind of drove me batty, but eventually I got sucked in and bought a couple of field guides. I never got into birding per se, but it did make me more aware of our feathery friends. I learned enough to know that the odd-looking bird that landed (quite unceremoniously) in the tree behind my apartment was a green heron. I guess it is not all that rare, but also not so common around here. My co-worker was impressed that I saw one. It seemed to me that birding sure could be a great pastime. It gets you outdoors, you have to hike around a bit to see the more unusual birds and it is pretty inexpensive to get involved in. Good for families, too... Did anybody get to see the B-17 Flying Fortress that was here at the airport over the weekend? Very cool. I once saw a blue heron taking flight. It was almost as painful as watching Dave Andreychuk in open ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Where's Tyrannustyrannus when you need him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Dwight Drane Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Did anybody get to see the B-17 Flying Fortress that was here at the airport over the weekend? Very cool. Didn't go to the airport, but it flew over the house at least 3 times yesterday. Thanks for pointing it out because I had no clue what it was. You can hear it inbound for about 30 seconds, but it wasn't as deep as a C130. With the AF base, you never know what surprises may be flying around and I know they use the airport for approach training. Neat backstory though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTS Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 It's a robin. My wife is a fairly accomplished birder. She didn't even hesitate, despite the description of the sound. Probably a juvenile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Didn't go to the airport, but it flew over the house at least 3 times yesterday. Thanks for pointing it out because I had no clue what it was. You can hear it inbound for about 30 seconds, but it wasn't as deep as a C130. With the AF base, you never know what surprises may be flying around and I know they use the airport for approach training. Neat backstory though. So cool. A couple weeks ago I was at a car show with d4rk and we looked up to see an F-86 Sabre go streaking over. Made our day. Different kind of bird watching :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Dance Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Didn't go to the airport, but it flew over the house at least 3 times yesterday. Thanks for pointing it out because I had no clue what it was. You can hear it inbound for about 30 seconds, but it wasn't as deep as a C130. With the AF base, you never know what surprises may be flying around and I know they use the airport for approach training. Neat backstory though. We went to tour it on Saturday (tours were free; rides cost $450 - eek!). We arrived at 3:00 or so following the suggested schedule on their web site (The Liberty Foundation - http://www.libertyfo...g/schedule.html). Unfortunately, they were running behind and still had two more flights to do before touring could begin. We couldn't stay the extra 90 minutes, but we did get to see them fire up the engines and take off. Pretty dang neat. Oh, the plane will be in Albany this coming weekend if anyone out that way would be interested... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude_Verret Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Did anybody get to see the B-17 Flying Fortress that was here at the airport over the weekend? Very cool. Saw it on Saturday while driving down Millersport, it was flying pretty low and turned right in front of us over the Marriott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Did anybody get to see the B-17 Flying Fortress that was here at the airport over the weekend? Very cool. We went to tour it on Saturday (tours were free; rides cost $450 - eek!). We arrived at 3:00 or so following the suggested schedule on their web site (The Liberty Foundation - http://www.libertyfo...g/schedule.html). Unfortunately, they were running behind and still had two more flights to do before touring could begin. We couldn't stay the extra 90 minutes, but we did get to see them fire up the engines and take off. Pretty dang neat. Oh, the plane will be in Albany this coming weekend if anyone out that way would be interested... My grandfather piloted a B-17 over Europe in WWII. Wish I had known it was there. I might have made the trip in to see it. A flight on one is on my bucket list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpabob Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 My grandfather piloted a B-17 over Europe in WWII. Wish I had known it was there. I might have made the trip in to see it. A flight on one is on my bucket list. Found a nice little video from someone who did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 Definitly looks like its close to being a Robin, What about an Oriole? I have seen many juvenile Birds around my house this spring/summer. They look odd at first because they are mostly grey but you can see their colors stating to come in. Main ones I have seen are Cardinals and Blue jays. And why does it have to be Genetically "Defective" just because its Different? How do you know that its Defective and not Better/an Improvement? This could be a genetically superior form of that Birds species! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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