Quick Walk at the End of March

I took a quick walk in the woods on Monday. I didn't have a lot of time to spend birding. Fortunately it's still early in the spring, so I'm not missing a whole lot yet! The Barred Owl was in the same place he always is along the trail. It is fun to see him when I go down there. There are still quite a few winter residents around - Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Wren, American Goldfinch and White-throated Sparrow. The White-throated Sparrows are eating something in the trees. I regularly see them several feet up in the trees. As far as the spring migrants, I saw several Chimney Swifts flying over. I need to get on the roof and take the cover off my chimney. Purple Martins and Barn Swallows flew overhead feeding on flying insects. In the woods there were several Northern Parulas. I saw three at a time just west of the new pond. I heard a Hooded Warbler singing and finally found him in some of the thick understory. The warbler numbers should begin increasing significantly over the next couple of weeks. Indigo Buntings have begun to come into the area, so I should start seeing them at the feeders in the woods soon.

We have Eastern Bluebirds nesting again. The pair that had nested in my aunt's box were killed by a House Sparrow a month ago. Another pair has five eggs in the box in my yard now. I killed a wasp out of the box at Mom's, so I need to go over and check to see if that box is being utilized.

Birds Seen 3/28/11 (24 species):
Turkey Vulture, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carlina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Hooded Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Spring!

Leaves are coming in on the trees. Warmer temperatures are here. My yard needs to be mowed. Birds are singing. All signs that spring is here! I have been walking in the woods as often as possible. On March 7 I saw the first Northern Parula of the season. They are typically the first of the wood warblers to migrate into the area. They nest in a tree right on the property line. It has a lot of Spanish moss. They build their nests in the tufts of moss. I have seen Purple Martins, Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Tree Swallows so far. Hooded Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrushes should be showing up anytime now. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds has taken up residence in the nest box in our yard. Their nest was completed on Monday. I keep checking for an egg, but none so far. I've got my sparrow spooker ready to put on as soon as I see an egg in the nest. The Purple Martins that nested in my gourds last year haven't returned yet. I'm anxious for them to be back! I'm going to take the cover off my chimney this year and allow Chimney Swifts to nest in it. As new houses are constructed, metal flues instead of clay have been used leading to a loss of "habitat" for Chimney Swifts and their population has dwindled. So, I'm going to do my part to help out. I wish I could build a Chimney Swift tower, but it is cost-prohibitive.

I have checked my BirdCam at the feeders in the woods regularly, but only have Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and Carolina Wrens. Indigo Buntings should start showing up next week and Painted Buntings should show up a week after that. They really show up in good numbers the second week of April along with Blue Grosbeaks and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. I should get all of them at my feeders. I've been researching what I can feed to attract orioles and tanagers. I've read sunflower hearts for tanagers and suet or fruit for orioles. I'll have all that down there to see what shows up. I hope that some of the warblers find the Bark Butter and get their picture taken by the BirdCam.

I watched a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks flying around along the gully and found their nest. I hope I can get close enough with my camera to get some shots when they're feeding the chicks. That will be fun!

Several winter birds are still around. When I was walking yesterday, I saw Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and American Goldfinches. It's a fun time of year to go birding!

Birds Seen 3/15 & 3/17 (38 species):
Great Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Project FeederWatch Week 16 and Other Stuff

Project FeederWatch numbers are down this week and last week. This is the time of year that I would rather be out in the woods seeing what spring migrants are coming through rather than watching my feeders. The American Goldfinch numbers have decreased significantly over the past two weeks. They went from 57 over the weekend of 2/13 to 24 over the weekend of 2/20 to six over the weekend of 2/27. I still have a good number of Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos at my feeders. Pine Warblers are still coming to the suet, but it won't be long before they abandon the feeders. The Red-winged Blackbird numbers dwindled some, but there are still quite a few Brown-headed Cowbirds that visit my ground feeder. There was nothing out of the ordinary captured by my BirdCam in the woods last week. I walked down yesterday to fill the feeders and watch them for a little bit. An Orange-crowned Warbler is still coming to the Bark Butter. There were still several American Goldfinches on the feeders. White-throated Sparrows are cleaning up what was spilled on the ground.

I am anxiously awaiting the spring migrants. So far the only ones I've seen are Purple Martins flying overhead. "My" martins haven't returned yet. These are the earliest dates I've seen for the following wood warblers: Northern Parula, March 9; Hooded Warbler, March 16; and Black-and-white Warbler, March 13. Those are typically the first wood warbler migrants on the Upper Texas Coast. The rest come through during April and into the first couple of weeks of May. I am trying a new position for my BirdCam to capture images from three feeders at one time. I should be able to get some good shots of Indigo Buntings, Painted Buntings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Blue Grosbeaks as they visit the feeders. It's possible Summer Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles and warblers will visit the suet. This is the first year I've had the feeders in the woods during spring migration, so I really don't know what to expect to see.

After discovering the two bluebird bodies in the nest that the House Sparrow killed, I removed the sparrow nest and opened the box to encourage the sparrow to move on. I left it open for a week and think the sparrow decided to move to my martin house. He's been singing out there for a while. I closed the bluebird box and on my way to work yesterday saw a male bluebird sitting on the top of the box. There has been a pair checking out the box in our yard. I haven't gone over to Mom's to see if there is any activity at the box in her yard. It's still a little early for bluebirds to actually nest, but they're checking out their options.