Project FeederWatch Week 3

The number of species at the feeders and birdbath increased quite a bit over the past two days. I've seen 19 species. The rules of Project FeederWatch say that if you put something out in your yard for the birds (i.e. feeders, bird bath, brush pile) and the birds use it, you count them. Several of the birds have used only the bird bath because they have very little interest in the feeders.

Project FeederWatch Week 3 (19 species):
Eurasian Collared Dove - 5
White-winged Dove - 1
Mourning Dove - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 2
Brown Thrasher - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 12
Pine Warbler - 2
Chipping Sparrow - 8
White-throated Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 4
American Goldfinch - 1
House Sparrow - 20

Other than feeder birds, this weekend was great around the property. The American Goldfinch was the first one to visit my feeder. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet found the birdbath, as did the Yellow-rumped Warblers (in the picture). I may bring my BirdCam from the woods to get some shots of them bathing. The Yellow-rumped Warblers were literally covering the hackberry tree in my backyard eating the berries it produces. While walking in the woods on Sunday afternoon, I saw my FOS Snow Geese, Ross's Goose, Sandhill Crane, American Pipit and Field Sparrow. The geese and cranes were flying overhead. The pipit was near the new pond. The Field Sparrow was in some thick weeds along the gully. Both Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls are calling in the woods. An American Woodcock flushed from right beside me as I walked on the trail in the woods. I watched where he put down and got some really great looks at him walking around probing for insects in the ground.



Property Birds Nov. 28 & 29 (45 species):
Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, American White Pelican, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, American Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Ground Feeder Fun

I've been very pleased with the visitors to my ground feeder. I set it up on the west side of the property where there is tall grass and several small trees that provide excellent cover for the birds - yaupon holly, southern bayberry and cedar. I just took an old piece of plywood, put some fencing slats around it to create a border and put it on the ground. I had to put barbed wire around it to keep the cows out of it. So far my BirdCam has photographed three species: Northern Cardinal, White-throated Sparrow and Brown Thrasher. I'm looking forward to seeing
what comes as the winter progresses.


Female Northern Cardinal


Male Northern Cardinal


Brown Thrasher


White-throated Sparrow

Project FeederWatch Week 2

The numbers of birds are still down at the feeders, but they seem to be picking up a little bit. I have my BirdCam set up on my ground feeder on the west side of the property. The habitat there is great for sparrows and towhees. I checked it today and had a male and female Northern Cardinal and one picture of a White-throated Sparrow (below).


I hope that I'll finally see a White-crowned Sparrow on the property. I'd also love to get some pictures of Dark-eyed Juncos and Eastern Towhees.

Project FeederWatch Week 2 (10 species):
Eurasian Collared Dove - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 3
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 2
Pine Warbler - 1
Chipping Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
House Sparrow - 20

I went into the woods this morning to mark the next trail I want to clear. It is hard to walk through there, but that makes it easier to see birds. Joshua and I marked the new trail and then walked to the trail we just finished clearing. As we were about to turn onto it, I heard a bird calling. I got closer and closer to it and finally a Brown Creeper climbed up a tree trunk. I have very rarely seen Brown Creepers on the property. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew into a tree just behind the creeper. Hermit Thrushes were everywhere. There were more than I ever remember seeing. Yellow-rumped Warblers were in nearly every treetop. An Orange-crowned Warbler and two White-eyed Vireos flew around in some yaupon thickets. Except for fighting mosquitoes, it was a very fun day birding!

Project FeederWatch Week One

Week one of Project FeederWatch (PFW) is over. I had 11 species visit my feeders over the two days. That equals the highest number of species I had visit on PFW days last year. The opening week of 2009 I only had three species. Bird activity is still low at my feeders, but the number of species is varied.

PFW Week 1 (Total Species - 11):
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 5
Mourning Dove - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 1
Pine Warbler - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
House Sparrow - 12

I went down into the woods to clear more on the trails. We finally got through with the first one! It looks great and will be easy to walk on. There are several big trees on either side of the trail. It connects the new pond to the trail around the fence line. We've got a little clearing to do on the fence line now. Tallow trees have grown up in the trail and a tree fell across the fence. I don't think it will be too hard to clear it. Here's a map of the property with the existing trails and proposed trails.

While we were down in the woods, two Hermit Thrushes were chasing each other. They seemed oblivious to our presence and came close several times. Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere. Eastern Phoebes and Northern Flickers called from the treetops. I am still waiting to see Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Maybe if I just went birding instead of being in the woods with a chainsaw. Hmmm . . .

Time for Project FeederWatch

Project FeederWatch starts on Saturday, Nov. 13. I signed up again this year. It's fun to know that my observations are going to help the scientists at Cornell Lab of Ornithology understand the overall picture of the bird populations across the U.S. My count days will be Sundays and Mondays. If you're not familiar with Project FeederWatch (PFW), it is a program where people watch the birds for two consecutive days at their feeders, birdbaths, or anything they have put out specifically for birds and report the highest number at any given time. I am hoping that having the feeders in the woods and the ground feeder on the west side of my property will help the numbers of birds I see.

On Sunday, I noticed a sparrow that looked a little smaller than the House Sparrows at the ground feeder in my backyard. I grabbed my binoculars and saw the first Chipping Sparrow of the season. Several people have told me in the store that they have already had American Goldfinches coming to their feeder, so I went ahead and put out my thistle feeder. So far I haven't seen anything on it. I keep hoping every time I get my memory card from my BirdCam that I'll have a picture of a Red-breasted Nuthatch on the feeder, but no luck on that yet. The wintering birds have arrived in good numbers. Yesterday there were Yellow-rumped Warblers all over the place. Eastern Phoebes were calling. I saw a Hermit Thrush last week. Northern Flickers make their presence known with their cirr call. I still haven't seen any Ruby-crowned Kinglets or Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.

The boys and I have begun clearing trails in the woods to make walking easier and give us access to different parts of the woods. As we go, I'm cutting wood for firewood. We got within 30 feet of finishing our first trail yesterday, but darkness got us before we could finish. We should be able to get that done on Sunday pretty quickly. There are several small tallow trees to cut out and one pretty good size one in the way. I'm hoping by spring migration to have several trails cut through the woods. It would be nice to be able to get to areas now where walking is nearly impossible because of all the blackberry vines and trees that have fallen.

Here are a couple of pictures of a Tufted Titmouse on one of the feeders in the woods. I just love these little birds!