Project FeederWatch Week 8

As I look at my records from last year, either 2009/2010 was a down year or 2010/2011 is an up year. I don't have enough data to really make comparisons yet. In 2009/2010, the highest number of species I had was 15 in weeks 19 and 20. In 2010/2011, I have only had two weeks (1 & 2) with fewer than 19 species. It will be interesting to see in years to come if this is an up year or if it's normal. Week 8 saw the highest species count of the year - 27 species. There were a few highlights from Week 8. Two Ruby-crowned Kinglets have found the suet and are using it regularly. Five Pine Warblers are now coming to the suet. A House Wren has found the suet and is using it when the Carolina Wren doesn't chase him off. An Eastern Phoebe visited my birdbath to get a drink of water.

Project FeederWatch Week 8 (27 species):
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Eurasian Collared Dove - 1
Mourning Dove - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 3
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 2
American Robin - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 5
Chipping Sparrow - 5
White-throated Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 8
Brewer's Blackbird - 4
Common Grackle - 3
Brown-headed Cowbird - 3
American Goldfinch - 15
House Sparrow - 13

I did spend a few minutes away from my feeders going birding on the property. There was a flock of 25+ Dark-eyed Juncos in the pasture. I haven't seen this many juncos since I was a kid. The flock of nine American Pipits is still hanging out in the grass near the new pond. I spotted four Pileated Woodpeckers while in the woods. It's amazing how hard they can peck on trees. It sounds as if they are right above you when they're really quite a ways off! There are still hundreds of American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers all over the place. I saw my first Song Sparrow of the year in the pasture where the cows are fed hay. I have my BirdCam on the feeders in the woods and have some pictures below. The first picture is of a female Pine Warbler coming to get the sunflower hearts. The second image is of an American Goldfinch eating a black oil sunflower. The third image is of a Carolina Chickadee (top) and a Carolina Wren (bottom) on my suet log which I have loaded with Jim's Birdacious Bark Butter. I really liked how clear the wren is.

2010 Year-end Review

2010 was a good year for property birding. I ended up with 140 species (2nd best total on the property), four new species and 24 species of warblers (19 spring migrants). The new birds I added to my property list in 2010 were Prothonotary Warbler (4/5), Hairy Woodpecker (6/21), Fulvous Whistling-Duck (7/31) and Fox Sparrow (12/6). Those four new species give me a total of 197 species on the property.

Besides the four new birds, there were several highlights in 2010. Regularly seeing an American Woodcock in the woods is thrilling. I saw a Brown Creeper in the woods for only the second time in seven years. Nine American Pipits have taken up residence in the clearing by the new pond. A Dickcissel visited my feeders in my backyard several times this spring. Eastern Bluebirds nested again and fledged ten young in two broods. Even though they were very late coming in, Purple Martins nested and fledged three young (they lost two eggs to a House Sparrow). A Killdeer nested and fledged four young. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet began visiting my suet feeders in my backyard. Five Pine Warblers regularly visited my feeders in the winter months. A Downy Woodpecker found my suet feeder for the first time in 2010. Blue Jays and American Crows have made a nice recovery from West Nile Virus. Their numbers are up quite a bit. A Barred Owl pair nested in the box I put up for them.

The numbers of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were down this year. It seems they migrated further west this fall. Several people in west Harris County reported more hummingbirds than usual at their feeders. So far I haven't seen any ducks on the new pond, which is surprising to me. It is surrounded by cattails and has several small fish in it now. Maybe I need to plant some things they like eating.

2010 was a good year for birding on the property. 2011 has begun well. I'm hoping to break the 2008 record of 142 species this year. I am also going to work hard on adding the last three I need to get to 200 species. Getting some ducks on the pond would help with that!