Spring Migration Peaks

The peak of spring migration began with a flurry of activity on the property! On Sunday afternoon, the variety of birds was really good. I saw 39 species with 10 FOS (first of season) birds. On Monday, the activity seemed to slow down, but I still saw 42 species with three FOS birds. Over the two days, I saw 54 species. The birdbath in the woods is really attracting a lot of attention. Here are a couple of male Baltimore Orioles that were photographed with my BirdCam. And an Indigo Bunting.


I have been watching a Barred Owl on a nest all spring. On the 15th, we could see movement in the nest, so we knew there was at least one baby in there. On Sunday, I walked along the trail and one of the babies was sitting on the edge of the nest, and I could see another in the nest. Here is what the baby Barred Owl looked like as he posed for his photo!


The Eastern Bluebirds had five babies and all five fledged on Tuesday, April 26. I'll be watching for the babies at my birdbath. In a couple of weeks, I should see nesting activity again as the adults start their second brood.

One of the most surprising finds on the property this spring didn't involve birds at all. While out birding on April 15, my friend and I went down to the old pond. We saw a Yellow-crowned Night-heron sitting on a branch low over the water. After he flew away, we walked to the edge of the water hoping to see some Wood Ducks. What we found were nine baby alligators with a six foot mama alligator! After locating the mother, we enjoyed looking at them!

Birds seen April 24 & 25, 2011 (54 species):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Barred Owl, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Blue-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Sparrow

A Quick Walk in the Woods

It had been a week since I filled my feeders in the woods. I want to keep them going so that when the fall migrants come through, they'll be attracted by the resident birds that visit them. I walked down and heard several birds still singing. At one point, there were several Indigo Buntings singing in an overgrown field with lots of dead snags. A juvenile male flew into a tree right above my head and investigated me closely before deciding he needed to get out of there! A female Orchard Oriole was getting nectar from trumpet creeper flowers. A juvenile White-eyed Vireo perched right in front of me and gave me a great look. Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and Carolina Wrens were all vocalizing quite a bit. A Pileated Woodpecker vocalized from somewhere deep in the woods. It was a quick walk because of all the mosquitoes, but a fun one to do a little summertime birding.

Nighttime Birding with Cooler Temps

Last night, the kids and I decided to enjoy the cooler temperatures and went outside. We got a fire going in the chiminea and just sat around it visiting. It was amazing to me how many Indigo Buntings I heard flying overhead. After hearing probably 20 of them, I started keeping count of how many calls I heard. It was well over 50 in about two hours. There was also a strange call that I heard that I couldn't identify. It sounded closest to a Whooping Crane, but not exactly. I'm not ready to write that down on my list from the call. It was definitely something I've never heard before. I also heard a Killdeer (which isn't that uncommon at night around here) and what sounded like a Green Heron.

Yesterday was the first day after the cool front came through, and I still had two hummingbirds at the feeders. I'll be interested to see how many stick around. On Monday, I'm going to work at building up my brush pile a little bit to provide some cover for the wintering sparrows while they're here. I'm also going to get some plywood for a ground feeder for them.

I signed the kids and me up for Project Feederwatch. It's sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Basically you pick two consecutive days of the week to watch the birds in your backyard from November through April. If the bird is attracted by something you've done for them - coming to a feeder, coming to water you've provided for them, coming to berry-producing plants you have planted - then you count those birds. There are some special rules about how to count the birds that you have to follow. It will be a fun project for us to be involved in. I'm thinking of doing an Excel spreadsheet for our own records to see what the winter bird population does from year to year at our feeders. It's a fun project for the whole family that allows regular people to contribute scientific information to help those at Cornell.

Fun Feeder Bird

Yesterday a male Indigo Bunting visited my feeder. I was pretty excited because they don't show up very often at the feeders. I remember as a kid having my feeders covered in blue with Indigo Buntings. Occasionally a blue head would raise to reveal the red chest of a Painted Bunting. I haven't had that here. But, seeing the one bird at my feeder was fun yesterday.

After I posted my blog yesterday, I added three other species - American Crow, Little Blue Heron and Blue Grosbeak. The Blue Grosbeak was perched on the fence surrounding our dog yard. That was fun seeing him up here around the house.

Fall Migrants

This morning as I was heading to my car to leave for work, I heard an insistent buzzing call coming from the fenceline behind my house. I grabbed my 8x21 binoculars out of my glove box and went to investigate. There were four Indigo Buntings there. I would guess one is a male that has molted into winter plumage, but couldn't tell for sure. Anyway, it was neat to see them. As I was walking back to my car, I looked up to see two Barn Swallows flying overhead. It won't be long until they really start migrating back south. I usually see them in the hundreds as they are heading south. They fly through my yard and pasture behind the house in large, loose flocks.