My Own Big Year

I am going to use 2008 to challenge myself to have my own big year. I won't travel around the state or nation to see as many birds as I can. I lack the time and funds it would take for that endeavor. No, what I'm going to do is spend as much time birding on my property as I can and try to break my record of species seen in 2004 - 129. I plan on taking Friday mornings and going birding as often as possible and maybe even take some Saturdays. Of course in the spring, I'll be out there as often as possible for the migration. But that's my challenge to myself for 2008. I would like to end the year with 150 species. I have 181 on my current property list, so I'll have to see most of them and possibly add a few more. I'll update my blog as often as I go birding and keep you updated on the status. I know it's not terribly exciting and there won't be any kind of reward, but I think it will be a neat thing for me. I need to take a little more time for myself anyway to reduce stress. I will have to miss the first Friday in 2008 because I'll be in Atlanta at the National Conferences on Youth Ministries (NCYM). So, I guess my first official birding day on the property will be January 11. I can't wait!

Other news from the property:
The goldfinches have shown up in pretty good numbers. I've got to get some more nyjer for them. I've had as many as 11 birds on my feeders. I am only putting out three feeders this year instead of the 8 that I have. It's just too expensive!

Last night about 11:30, my dogs went absolutely crazy barking and woke me up. I was treated t the sound of several coyotes barking and howling. It sounds like they have some little ones around as well. We see them occasionally, but that's the first time I've heard a big group of them like that in a long time.

Interesting Bird at the Feeders

Yesterday morning, I looked out at my feeders and noticed a bird hopping around under my tray feeder (on legs) and around my ground feeder (a piece of plywood directly on the ground). It was too big to be a sparrow, but not quite big enough to be a robin. I have seen robins around because of the water not too far away from my feeders. So, I grabbed my binoculars and looked. It was a Hermit Thrush. I'm not sure exactly what he was doing around the feeders, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. Maybe he was going for some of the insects that are attracted by the seed.

I am seeing more and more Eurasian Collared-Doves all the time around my feeders. They have even gotten over to my mom's feeders. About 15 years ago, my grandmother told me about "a dove with a black ring on its neck." She was sure it was a Spotted Dove, but I wasn't as convinced. I just wonder if that was one of the first ones that escaped captivity and started a population here.

I wonder about the goldfinches. I worked for years at Wild Birds Unlimited. We would tell our customers to put a finch feeder out around Thanksgiving. It seems to me that even in the ten years since I first started working for WBU that they have arrived later and later and leave earlier and earlier. It also seems that we have fewer numbers of them around as well. I know finches of all species can be very sporadic in their seasonal movement. Some customers would be covered up with finches one year only to have a few the next year. But it sure seems like there is a trend with them to me. I just wonder if they're going the way of the Purple Finch, nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos and Pine Siskins as far as not as many coming south. I remember as a kid having my feeders covered with Dark-eyed Juncos and now I'm lucky if I see one or two a year. Maybe in the next ten years, if the trend continues, we'll have fewer and fewer American Goldfinches in the area to have them replaced with Lesser Goldfinches that might be moving more northward.

Other birds seen at my feeders yesterday were: American Goldfinch (4), Blue Jay (1), House Sparrow (20+), Chipping Sparrow (5) and Carolina Chickadee (3).

Some Winter Activity

We've had a few winter birds showing up around the feeders here. I had four American Goldfinches this past week. They came to the finch feeders several times. I haven't seen them in a few days, though. I hear them calling occasionally from the trees. Two Chipping Sparrows have been visiting my ground feeder where I have put millet. They also hang out in the tallow tree in our front yard with the Yellow-rumped Warblers and Eastern Bluebirds. One of my favorite winter birds is the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that comes to my suet log. He showed up last year and has started coming again this year. So far I haven't had a White-throated Sparrow visit my feeders. I wish I had more time to go walking in the woods to see what is showing up down there.