Birding on Jan. 26

I spent a couple of hours walking in the woods this morning and had a really nice time. It wasn't all that cold. There were quite a few birds moving around this morning as well. I saw a few new ones for the year. The first one I saw was a Gray Catbird in some yaupon and southern bayberry thickets. I was following a White-throated Sparrow when I came across him. I would have missed him completely if it hadn't been for that sparrow! I was walking along the gully and a Blue-headed Vireo was working a tree with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I finally saw a Downy Woodpecker. I used to see Downies all the time, but haven't seen them regularly over the past year or so. The Downy was chasing the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker I have seen this year. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers all over the place this morning! I saw one Orange-crowned Warbler. The robins were thick down in the woods. They acted and sounded really nervous. I expected to see a Cooper's Hawk chasing them, but never did.

It is WET down in the woods. It's good that we've gotten this much rain from the standpoint of filling the new pond (it's probably 1/3 full), but it sure has made walking difficult in lots of places. I took the four-wheeler down on Friday and looked at the old pond and it is filled completely. Maybe we'll dry out a little bit.

I am going to plant some wildflowers on the slopes of the new pond. Bluebonnets should work well there since they like soil that is well drained. I think I'll go ahead and plant the bluebonnets next weekend and the rest of the wildflowers around the first week of March when we probably won't get another frost. That will look really nice down there!

Birds I saw this morning (21 species): Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch

'08 Property Birds as of Jan. 26: 39

Robins, Robins Everywhere!

This morning while it was raining, I looked out and saw 200+ robins covering my yard. They were probing the mud. I used to see that many years ago, but haven't seen them like that on the lawn in a long time. It was pretty neat!

I also had my FOS Cedar Waxwings this morning. They were checking out the yaupon, cedar and deciduous holly berries. We may not see as many of them this year since the yaupon berries didn't produce a good crop this year.

'08 Property List as of Jan. 25: 35

Finally Out Birding

I finally got to go walking out on the property this morning. There is water EVERYWHERE! We've had 4+ inches of rain since Jan. 15. Water is standing everywhere and the gully is out of its banks in several places.

I saw a few birds on the property that I haven't seen in 2008. Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Flicker, White-throated Sparrow and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was fun to be out birding. The Red-tailed Hawk was hanging out around the new pond.

Speaking of the new pond, the bottom is completely covered now. It needs to rise about four feet to be at full capacity. I may order some fat head minnows to put in there to start getting the balance of the pond in shape for stocking it with catfish. Plus the minnows might encourage some herons or egrets to come by and see what's going on in it.

'08 Property List as of Jan. 19: 32

From The House This Morning

Still feeling a little weak, I decided not to try and push myself too much by doing any active birding this morning, so I went from window to window in my house with binoculars in hand. I was treated to quite a show from the birds. I added four to my property list just from the little while I watched out the windows. So, two birds a day for the first twelve days of the year means I'm on pace for 730 on my property list by Dec. 31! (Something tells me that won't be happening!)

One of the nicest birds I saw today was a really nice looking Pine Warbler flitting around in the cedar trees along our driveway. Several Yellow-rumped warblers were in those trees as well, as were lots of American Goldfinches.

I'm looking forward to feeling better and getting down in the woods to do some "real" birding!

'08 Property List as of Jan. 12: 24

"Birding" on January 11

Well, my "Property Big Year" got off to a slow start thanks to 1) being out of town on my first Friday off and 2) recovering from the flu on my second Friday off. But, I was able to get out just a little bit and see some birds. All of them were ones that you would expect to see around here on January 11. Guess I'll have to really double my efforts to make up for the past two weeks!

Last night, I was having a restless night and around 10:45, a Great Horned Owl began calling from somewhere just around our house. I couldn't tell exactly what direction he was calling from, but he was close. That was pretty cool to hear.

'08 Property List as of Jan. 11: 20

New Property Bird

I looked out at my feeders this afternoon and saw a lone sparrow at my ground feeder. Expecting a House Sparrow, I looked with my binoculars anyway. To my surprise, a Savannah Sparrow was eating the millet. Pretty good way to start the new year. That makes property bird #182.

My first bird for 2008 was an American Goldfinch. I wanted it to be a good one instead of a House Sparrow! I have quite a few goldfinches this year. Probably 25+.

I will keep a record throughout 2008 of the birds I've seen on my property. Should be fun to watch!

Property birds as of January 1: 7