Another New Property Bird for the Year

Chipping Sparrow is year property bird #137 for me. As I got back from walking in the woods, two of them were flitting around in the trees behind my feeders. Later I saw them eating millet from my ground feeder. For some reason I never recorded them in the winter of this year when I saw them. But, they're on the list now.

There was nothing really new to report from the woods. It was a brief walk. I was only out about 30 minutes. I got a couple of really good looks at a Northern Flicker. That was really nice. There were probably 30 Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures eating what was left of the carcass of a wild hog that I shot yesterday. It will be interesting to see how much they cleaned up.

I know that this blog is usually for birds, but I just had to show off this picture of a monarch butterfly I took at the Houston Zoo on Thursday. He was flitting from flower to flower pretty quickly, and I just snapped this picture as soon as I saw him in the view finder. I was impressed with how it turned out.

New Property Bird!

This evening I walked outside and saw a sparrow at my ground feeder. I grabbed my binoculars expecting it to be my FOS Chipping Sparrow. What a surprise to see a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow eating the millet! That makes property bird #187 for me, is #138 on my property year. I have wondered why I don't see at least a few White-crowned Sparrows around the property. I've got good habitat for them. Maybe I'll start seeing them more often.

I also saw my FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler this evening.

Birds I've Missed This Year

I ran a report on my Birder's Diary and found that I haven't seen 51 species on my property this year. A few of them I wouldn't expect to see every year: Black-throated Blue Warbler, White-tailed Hawk, Black-chinned Hummingbird and Harris' Sparrow. However, I didn't see some that I haven't missed in a year since we've lived here: Wood Thrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Eastern Screech Owl and Yellow-throated Vireo. There are quite a few that I missed when the year started that I have a good chance to get before the year is out: Greater White-fronted Goose, Ross' Goose, Canada Goose, Anhinga, Osprey, American Kestrel, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark. I think I can get my year list to 140 before the year is out without much problem. It will be fun trying!

Lazy Day Watching The Feeders

Today has been pretty active around my feeders. I have been watching on and off since early this morning. I have safflower in my hopper feeder, on my tray and in my tube feeder because of the grackles and blackbirds. I have oil sunflower in my mesh feeder and in my ball feeder. Then I have millet on the ground and in my ground tray feeder. I've also got a suet log with suet in it. The cardinals, Carolina Chickadees and Eurasian Collared Doves have been hitting the safflower this morning. The chickadees have also been on the oil sunflower. House Sparrows have been on the millet on the ground. So far I haven't seen any winter sparrows. The Carolina Wrens have been on the suet log quite a bit. I'm hoping to attract a woodpecker or sapsucker this winter. I'm probably not going to put any thistle out this year because it's so expensive. I'll probably just enjoy the goldfinches at my oil sunflower. They'll find it. I've enjoyed being able to just sit and watch the birds around my feeders this morning!

Another Property Bird

It's been a while since I've blogged and quite a bit has happened since then. On Oct. 17, I stepped outside our west door and saw a bird on one of the power lines. I grabbed my binoculars and looked at the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher for a few minutes until a mockingbird came and chased him off. That made Property Bird #135.

I went on a retreat with the jr. high kids from church to the Gulf Coast Christian Youth Camp in Columbus. I woke up early on Saturday and walked down the road to see what I could see. I had a great look at a White-crowned Sparrow. Also, I saw a Bewick's Wren and House Wren. Toward the end of the road, several Song Sparrows flew up and landed on the fence. It was great to see quite a few of the winter residents there.

October 10

This morning was just too nice not to go birding! It was cool, low humidity and fall migration is in full swing! Swallows were flying overhead migrating south. Mostly Barn and Northern Rough-winged were the ones I saw. The winter migrants were more plentiful in the woods. I added a couple new fall migrants to my list. Within about two minutes of each other, I saw a Northern Parula and a Magnolia Warbler. Both of them were in fall plumage. Indigo Buntings are still in good numbers. I had one female/juvenile Painted Bunting hop around in the branches of a fallen tree. The hummingbirds are virtually gone. There are one or two at a time now. I saw Brown-headed Cowbirds at my feeders for the first time since spring.

Birds Seen Oct. 10 (28 species): Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, White-winged Dove, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Sparrow

A Fun Morning

This morning was fun! I stepped out of the house ready to head to work and noticed a flurry of activity in the hackberry tree behind the house. There were several small birds. I went inside and grabbed my binoculars. There were Carolina Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Indigo Buntings all flitting around in the tree. At the top was a Northern Mockingbird and a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting next to him! A couple of Killdeer called incessently as they flew overhead. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew in the tree and started pecking at the bark. A minute later, a Red-bellied Woodpecker flew to one of the branches, made his way out to the end and plucked the berries off the branches. All this time, the "normal" birds were at the feeders: Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Eurasian Collared Doves, House Sparrows. It was a lot of fun watching them. I was a little late getting to the office because of it, but it was worth it!

Swallow Migration

Every year during October, swallows of all kinds migrate right over my yard, flying from northeast to southwest. I can sit for a few minutes and literally see hundreds of them fly over my yard and the pasture. It's amazing to see how many of them there are! On Sunday afternoon, I stood outside for about twenty minutes just to see them. The vast majority of the swallows flying by were Northern Rough-winged, but several Barn were in the mix as well. Last year every swallow that migrates through this area came through at some point. It was just one day when about all I saw were Bank Swallows. The Tree Swallows come through a little later than the rest. It is always fun to look out my window and see the swallows heading south for the winter.

One More Winter Resident

Yesterday I looked out our kitchen window and saw the first Eastern Phoebe of the year sitting on the fence. They love our fences out here to watch for food in the winter.

Brown Thrashers are everywhere! I hear them calling all over. The abundance of tallow tree berries is attracting them. Sigh. That just means there will be more tallow trees next spring . . .

The hummingbirds have made a bit of a resurgence at my feeders. Yesterday there were 20 - 30 around my feeders. I was ready to take down several feeders until yesterday. Maybe their migration isn't as close to being done as I thought.

Seeing A Lot In Fall Migration

Today was a pretty good day in the woods. There are several winter residents showing up already. According to the Upper Texas Coast checklist, they are showing up right on time. I saw Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Thrasher, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Harrier. I was very glad to see them. It's always good to see those birds coming in for the first time and know they'll be with us through the winter.

Some fall migrants were passing through as well. Orchard Oriole, Painted Bunting, Indigo Bunting and Nashville Warbler were in the woods. The Painted Bunting was a female or juvenile male that lit about 15 feet from me and gave me some great looks! Indigo Buntings were everywhere in the thick brush.

I'm still seeing a few hummingbirds. There were probably 10 to 15 last night around the feeders. They'll stick around for the next couple of weeks.

Birds Seen 10/4/08 (31 Species): Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Horned Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Nashville Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole

Species Seen as of 10/4/08: 134