Best Day of the Year!

Today has probably been the best day of the year for me. I didn't see a new species. I didn't have a record high species count for the property. Today was the best day because the Purple Martins that showed up yesterday are still around today! I had given up on having any martins in my housing this year. Yesterday an ASY male (left picture) and female (right picture) along with an SY male showed up and explored the gourds and the house. They were joined today by another SY male and female. I just love hearing their gurgling call as they fly around. It's so fun to have them!

I did get out and do a little birding this morning. The woods were pretty dead as far as activity goes. There were a few warblers singing on territory - Hooded, Kentucky, Northern Parula. A Summer tanager sang from high in the tree tops. A late Chipping Sparrow chipped from a cedar tree. A juvenile male Painted Bunting sang from a clump of thick vegetation. An Eastern Wood-Pewee and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo sang on the trail near the new pond. It's getting to that time of year when I stop seeing new things and start hearing the nesting birds singing. I watched the Red-shouldered Hawks flying around and finally found the nest. I couldn't see in it very well because it was obscured by leaves. I couldn't tell if there were chicks in the nest or not. I'll keep watching it.

The Eastern Bluebirds have four eggs in their nest. The second brood is well underway! If they lay five eggs, they should hatch sometime around May 17. I haven't seen any of the first brood flying around yet. Normally the parents will bring them to my water, but so far I haven't seen them. It probably won't be long, especially when the parents have another brood in the nest box to feed.

Birds Seen 5/3/10 (41 species): American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

Long, Hot Summer

Birding in the summertime doesn't happen very much between the craziness of my schedule and the heat. But I do get some birding in while I'm at camps and doing different activities with the teens. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Painted Buntings were everywhere at the Gulf Coast Christian Youth Camp just east of Columbus. I could hear them singing all over and found several of them.
• While doing a door-knocking campaign in Mont Belvieu, a Swallow-tailed Kite flew above us for several minutes, giving me the opportunity to point him to people who would have never seen him.
  
• An Eastern Bluebird pair build their nest in one of the poles at the camp. I saw the female leave the nest cavity one day. I decided to investigate and four four eggs in it. I haven't been back since then, so I don't know what happened.
• The Northern Cardinals are bringing their young birds to my feeders. It's always fun to watch the young ones beg for a seed and for the adults to patiently crack one open and feed it to them.
• I decided to take the slow way to work one morning and as I drove along, a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers landed on a tree just ahead of me. I stopped the car and was treated to great looks at them for several minutes.
  
• At the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, there were several Black-necked Stilts, a couple of Purple Gallinules, lots and lots of all the common herons and egrets, several Roseate Spoonbills and a few Wood Storks.
  
• Yesterday, lots of Black-bellied Whistling-ducks flew over us as we had a water fun day at a house right on the San Jacinto River in Highlands.

Normally I dread summer because of the lack of activity and the heat. But this summer I decided I was going to enjoy the birds wherever I was. It was fun!

The Purple Martins that nested in my gourds successfully fledged all four young birds. Just before they fledged and right after, lots of SY martins would come and check out the cavities and just hang around the housing in general. I'm hoping some of them decided that they like what they saw and join the pair that was there this year.

Fall migration will start happening soon. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes through. I have my hummingbird feeder out ready for them to show up. So far I haven't seen one. I'm going to try and get out in the woods more this fall to see any warblers and other neo-tropical migrants that come through. Hopefully I'll start blogging more about what I see.

Bluebirds Hatch and Purple Martins Build Nest

I checked on the bluebirds yesterday and the female was finally off the nest. All five eggs hatched! Here are a couple of pictures:



After I got the pictures of the bluebirds, I checked for any progress with the Purple Martins. They are slowly adding nesting material into one of the gourds. There was a lot of twigs and things that look like grass roots. They are beginning to add a little bit of mud as well. I'll know to start looking for eggs when the green leaves show up in the nest.

Saturday, April 25

Saturday was windy still, but there were several migrants still around. I guess the deluge we had Friday night was enough to keep them grounded into Saturday morning. The gully that runs through our property was as high as I've ever seen it. It was way out of its banks in several places.

I entered the woods in one of the most productive spots and it was the most productive again. I added three FOS birds there - Magnolia Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler and Canada Warbler. There were a couple of Ovenbirds around. A Kentucky Warbler and a Hooded Warbler were singing on territory. A Chestnut-sided Warbler chattered as he looked in the leaves for some caterpillars. When I got down to the new pond, a Dickcissel flew in and called from some of the trees that were knocked down during the hurricane. That's only the second time I've ever seen a Dickcissel on the property, although I know they migrate through here. I've got good breeding habitat for them.

Speaking of breeding, the bluebird eggs haven't hatched yet. I checked them today and they are still unhatched. They should hatch in the next couple of days. The Purple Martins have begun putting nesting material in the gourd. Hopefully it won't be long they lay eggs. I observed the female plucking feathers from her brooding patch on Saturday.

Bird species seen 4/25/09 (39 species): Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Tennessee Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler (FOS), Blackpoll Warbler (FOS), Black-and-white Warbler, Ovenbird, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Canada Warbler (FOS), Yellow-breasted Chat, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel (FOS), Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird

Birding On A Windy Day

A strong southerly breeze didn't give me a lot of hope that there would be many migrants around today. Many of them take advantage of the winds and just keep going north once they hit the coast. Those that did stop yesterday take off at nightfall (you can actually watch that on radar between 8:30 and 9:30 usually) and continue their journey north. So, I went out this morning not expecting to see a whole lot. Unfortunately, I was right. Most of what I saw were either year-round residents or resident migrants that nest here. I was only out for a couple of hours this morning. I got back in and Eastern Kingbirds showed up in some really great numbers! At one time there were six of them trying to get to the mulberry tree on the east side of the house. A mockingbird was vigorously defending "his" tree. That was fun to watch. I thought maybe I could go out in the afternoon and catch some of the incoming migrants as they stop to refuel before continuing north. It was pretty much the same story, except for the ten to fifteen Baltimore Orioles that I found in the top of some trees. Those were the only two FOS birds I got today.

The mulberry tree has been pretty productive today. Along with the Eastern Kingbirds, I've seen Orchard Orioles grabbing a few berries. I thought I saw a Baltimore Oriole, but the mockingbird chased it away before I could get my binoculars to see very well. I keep looking for Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in there. They typically show up in there every year.

An adult White-winged Dove showed up at my feeder today. I have never seen an adult at my feeders. That was kind of fun to see, although I know that if they start increasing in numbers, I'll soon want to get rid of them because of how much they eat.

I checked the bluebird nest this morning. The eggs haven't hatched yet. I projected them to hatch tomorrow, so we'll see if I'm right. The Purple Martins haven't continued their nest-building activities. It will happen, but I'm ready for them to get started now!

Even though it was a slower day, I did end up with 43 species. That's not too bad. I checked my list against the birds I saw last year on this date and I'm fifteen species ahead for this year. I'm not sure what to attribute that to. I have seen several birds this spring that I didn't get last year, but I don't think it is that many. Maybe I just had a better winter than I thought.

Bird species seen on 4/24/09 (43 species): Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird (FOS), White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole (FOS), House Sparrow

Update on the Purple Martins

I came home at lunch today to pick up Kristen for an appointment and went out to check the gourds where the martins are hanging out quite a bit. When I got out there, I lowered the gourds and as I got them all the way down, the male and female came in with the female carrying some nesting material! I was so excited! I didn't see any real efforts of nest building in any of the gourds, but today may have been the first day they're starting. We'll collect some pine needles this afternoon to put beneath the gourds for them to use.

On another note, there are a pair of House Sparrows trying to claim one of the compartments on the house. Once they get good and comfortable, I'll trap them and get rid of them.

Record-breaking Day!

Today was an excellent day for birding on the property! Until today, April 25, 2007 was the day where I had seen the highest number of species which was 55. Today, so far, I have seen 56 and the possibility of seeing others is there because there are a few pretty common birds I haven't seen today.

On my way to the woods, a crow flew over and called, instantly identifying itself as a Fish Crow. I haven't seen one in quite a while. Barn, Cliff and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flew overhead. A lone White-winged Dove flew over as well.

The woods were absolutely full of migrants today! I ended up adding thirteen FOS birds to the year list. I also added Warbling Vireo to the property list. I got some great looks at him! I had hardly gotten into the woods when I stopped to observe some movement in a tree to my right. Two Blue-winged Warblers were flitting around looking for a meal. An American Redstart was just above them in the tree. They moved on, but I could hear a lot of activity coming from around some thick stuff, so I started moving that way. A Kentucky Warbler flew in front of me and lit on a dead branch about three feet off the ground giving me several seconds of really good looks at him. A Worm-eating Warbler flew across low to some dead branches left after Hurricane Ike. I got to where all the birds were and it was almost impossible to look at just one. Yellow-throated Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, an Acadian Flycatcher were the most active. A male Hooded Warbler lit on an exposed branch about 15 ft. from me and sang. I spotted some movement in a little tree to my right and looked through my binoculars to see a beautiful male Cerulean Warbler. The Warbling Vireo flew in just above him. A Chestnut-sided Warbler hopped out behind the Cerulean. At one point, I had the Cerulean, Chestnut-sided and Warbling Vireo in one binocular view! I moved out a little bit an a Tennessee Warbler was in the top of an oak tree. I saw a larger bird fly into one of the trees. I found him in my binoculars and it was a Black-billed Cuckoo! That is only the second one I've ever seen on the property. To top it off, a Summer Tanager came flying in and began singing.

I moved on from that spot after the bird activity had quieted down. I came upon a spot where an Indigo Bunting was singing from the top of a small tree. I watched him sing for a couple of minutes. I found several other males and females in the branches of the tree that was laying on the ground. To my left, a Blue Grosbeak popped up out of the thick branches. I checked the radar on my phone and saw that the rain was making steady progress toward me, so I decided to move on.

There is a spot to the east of the new pond that has been pretty good for warblers in the past. I slowed down quite a bit there and I wasn't disappointed! A Yellow Warbler was hopping around in the branches looking for some food. Black-and-white Warblers clung to the tree trunks and branches. A male Blackburnian Warbler showed off his fiery throat for a few seconds. Black-throated Green Warblers joined the show. A male Scarlet Tanager flew in and showed off his brilliant red plumage. Red-eyed Vireos were busily looking for food, while one sang from a perch I could not find. I heard to my right the song of an Eastern Wood-Pewee and found him sitting atop a dead tree. I checked the radar on my phone again (which I found out when I got home was not showing the correct images!) and decided to call it a morning and go in. The mosquitoes almost carried me off when I got to the pond.

I loaded up our van with our trash and took it off. On the road to the dump, several Black Vultures were eating something and a Crested Caracara tried to get some of it too.

The Eastern Bluebirds have laid five eggs in their nest. The projected hatching date is Saturday, April 25. The Purple Martins are still hanging around the house and gourds. I haven't seen any nest building activity, but they are around a little more each day. They will probably start building anytime now.

Bird species seen 4/17/09 (56 species): Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Black-billed Cuckoo (FOS), Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee (FOS), Acadian Flycatcher (FOS), Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo (FOS), Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Blue-winged Warbler (FOS), Tennessee Warbler (FOS), Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler (FOS), Chestnut-sided Warbler (FOS), Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler (FOS), Cerulean Warbler (FOS), Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart (FOS), Worm-eating Warbler (FOS), Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager (FOS), Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak (FOS), Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole, House Sparrow

More on Purple Martins and additional sightings

The Purple Martins hung around for most of the day. I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots of them. Here is one:


As I sat outside on my backporch this evening, I added a few new birds to the day's list. A Great Horned Owl called from the woods. Cattle Egrets flew over. A couple of Killdeer chased each other around the yard. Chimney Swifts twittered overhead as the sun set. With those, it brings my daily total to 49 species.

Finally! Maybe . . .

I am cautiously optimistic today! There are four Purple Martins around my gourds and house today. They've been there all morning! I'm very, very excited about this! It's been five years since I put the gourds up. This is the most promising sign of them taking up residence with me that I've seen.

The Eastern Bluebirds are within a few days of completing their nest. They are using quite a few pine needles in their nest. Hopefully we'll see eggs soon.

The birding this morning in the woods was good. There are still a really high number of Northern Parulas flitting around and singing. Not to be outdone today were the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. There were parulas and gnatcatchers everywhere. I have never seen it like that. I did get a few FOS birds - Bank Swallow, Tennessee Warbler and Orchard Oriole. I saw several Black-throated Green Warblers. A male Yellow-rumped Warbler came out nearly in full breeding plumage. I always have to stop and figure out what they are when I see them like that. A Swallow-tailed Kite flew over while I was at the new pond and gave me some really great looks. A flock of eight Anhingas flew over while I was down there too. Red-eyed Vireos are beginning to sing on territory.

Birds seen 4/3/09 (44 Species): Anhinga, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Upland Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow (FOS), Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Tennessee Warbler(FOS), Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole (FOS), American Goldfinch

Finally!

After five and a half years, a Red-bellied Woodpecker has finally found my feeders! I was beginning to think they would never come to my feeders, although they are regularly in the hackberry tree right behind them. They try to nest every year in the top of a telephone pole at the end of our driveway. This morning there was a male and female there checking out the hole that has been drilled. Unfortunately, there were also a couple of starlings eyeing the same hole. I hope the woodpeckers win that battle.

The male Red-bellied Woodpecker at
the top of the telephone pole in my yard.

A Purple Martin flew over this morning serenading me with his bubbling song. I've got my martin housing up, but I'm beginning to lose hope that I'll ever have martins nest in them. I know it's early in the season, but I'm not anticipating having them this year. But, I'll keep them up just in case!

The Carolina Wren that comes to my suet has been singing his heart out for the past few mornings. I woke up early this morning and listened to the chorus of birds in the pre-light hour. I haven't seen the Eastern Bluebirds that were checking out my nest box in a while. I see the pair that nested in my aunt's yard regularly over there.

We're about two weeks away from when I typically see my first Northern Parula on the property. About a week after that I'll start seeing Hooded Warblers. It's hard to believe spring is upon us again! It will be interesting this spring to see how the birds respond to the thinned woods because of Hurricane Ike. I know our woods took a hard hit. Maybe they'll be easier to see?

Little Time For Birding

Today was a pretty nice day around the property. I didn't get a lot of time to go birding, but I was out in the woods doing some clearing on the fence line. I saw a Red-tailed Hawk for the first time in a long time. Robins were everywhere. I heard Purple Martins today for the first time this year, although I never actually saw one. Yellow-rumped Warblers were abundant today. Nothing spectacular, but a good day overall.

While down at the pond, a Great Horned Owl called repeatedly. When I got home, I lit a fire in the chiminea at the house and a Barn Owl flew past several times, screeching to make his presence known. After four or five passes, he lit on the kids' clubhouse and sat there for a few minutes. It looked like he was watching my bird feeders for rodents coming to snack on the seed.

Birds Seen 2/7/09 (21 species): Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Feeder Birds Today

This morning there were 25+ American Goldfinches on my oil sunflower feeders. A couple of cardinals showed up to snack on the safflower. Until all the Brewer's Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds showed up. After they got their fill of millet, cracked corn and whatever else they could find, they left and the other birds returned. When the goldfinches came back, they were accompanied by a female House Finch. I haven't seen a House Finch at my feeders since May 22, 2007. I keep thinking they'll expand into this area, but so far I haven't seen any signs of that happening. I know lots of people don't like House Finches, but I really like them.

I haven't seen a Purple Martin yet, but they're coming back. If you haven't, check out the Purple Martin Conservation Association website and click on "Martins Are Back" to the right. When the map opens, you can see all the areas where martins have been reported. Also, you can click on the individual states to see who has reported martins and from which specific city. I think I'll get out and put my martin housing up and see if we have any takers this year. It's a beautiful day to do that!

More Tropical Storm Birds

There were a couple of other interesting bird sightings during the tropical storm on Tuesday. After the "eye" had passed over us, I went outside to check on a couple of things and to put some more seed out for the birds that were showing up in large numbers. I had ten cardinals, six Eurasian-collared Doves and four Blue Jays. The Carolina Chickadees were trying to figure out where their feeders went and never got the idea to head to the ground to pick up a seed. I put the feeders back out pretty quickly once I saw that. As I was putting the feeders back out, a flock of about 50 Tree Swallows flew over. They were flying against the wind so the entire flock was doing a zig-zag pattern as they flew. They flew right over my head, so I got great looks at them. I've seen a flock like that once, but it was in January several years ago. The other interesting sighting was the hundreds of Purple Martins that were soaring overhead. It sounded like I was standing next to a large colony with all of them calling. I tried counting at one point, but couldn't. I would estimate there were 150 to 250 martins at a time flying around.

I sure wish I could have gone down to Galveston to see if any pelagics had been pushed onshore by Edouard's winds. I guess I'll have to look at Texbirds and live vicariously through those who had the chance.

Just A Few Notes from May 10

This morning there weren't many birds moving. I'm thinking spring migration is winding down to the end. I still haven't seen or heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Hopefully they'll start singing soon!

Probably the most interesting bird I saw today was while I was looking out of the bathroom window waiting for the shower to warm up! Four Mississippi Kites were flying around over the woods. One had something in his talons and was eating it on the wing. That was pretty neat. I kept trying to turn one of them into a Swallow-tailed Kite, but couldn't!

The SY male Purple Martin was back this morning with a female. He was singing and going to the house. She never landed on the house, although she had a couple of close fly-bys. I've known of martins to start nest as late as the last week of May, but that's not very common. We'll see . . .

Birds seen May 10 (30 Species): Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Cardinal

'08 Property Birds as of May 10: 118
'04 Property Birds as of May 10: 105

Cautiously Optimistic

This morning I watched an SY male Purple Martin performing the "Claiming-Reclaiming Display." In the Stokes Purple Martin Book, they describe that behavior as "accompanied by song and involves the male leaving a nest hole, flying in a large circle, and returning to the hole in a steep dive punctuated with fluttering wings as he lands. He then quickly enters the hole, turns around, and sings from this position. It is done most frequently when male martins are trying to attract females to their territories." (pg. 36) I can't describe how happy I would be if I could get martins. They would have a good home here.

One reason I'm cautiously optimistic is this is the first time I've seen an SY male martin doing anything around the house. In the past, I would hear martins around it, but they were always ASY males with females just coming to check it out. So, combine the fact that this is an SY male (SY males are the ones that almost always establish a new colony) and he's doing the claiming-reclaiming display, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll keep you updated.

Walking in the Woods on Feb. 15

Kristen and I walked down in the woods this morning. It was very cloudy and it sprinkled on us a little bit. The birds weren't very active this morning.

I got a little excited because the first Purple Martin I've seen this year flew over. I also added a Tree Swallow and a House Wren to the 2008 list.

Birds Seen today (33 species): Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

'08 Property List as of Feb. 15: 55
'04 Property List as of Feb. 15: 49

Purple Martins, Please!

I got out and cleaned out the starling nests that were built last year and will go by the store and get some wood shavings to put in my gourds. I just ordered a perch from Nature House and will install that when it comes in. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I can do. This will be my fifth year to try and attract martins. I am hoping that the bluebirds that nested in my box last year is a good sign. I had given up on bluebirds ever nesting in our boxes and then suddenly there they were! Maybe I should just give up on martins ever nesting with me . . .

I've been watching the "scout" sightings on The Purple Martin Conservation Associate website. It's fun to watch them move north and see who sees them first in the different areas. I don't know as many people this year. Hopefully I'll be able to add my name onto their active colonly landlords this year!

I sit here wondering what's down in the woods with the passage of the cold front. How many warblers and other migrants are hunkering down in our woods waiting for the south winds to return? Can I go down there? No. I have to go to LTC this weekend and miss one of the better birding moments of the spring. Sigh. And then I'm busy the next two weekends taking lifeguard classes. They didn't have anything available in May, so I get to take two weekends in April. Fortunately I can get out in the evenings and see what's happening. I'm scheduling NOTHING during the day for the last weekend of April and first weekend of May.

On another note, I haven't seen the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at my feeder lately. I wonder if he's gone up north to establish his breeding territory. What I have seen at my feeders lately is House Sparrows. I'm not real happy about that.

Once again, the Purple Martins have not nested in my gourds or house. I'm really disappointed. When I look on the Purple Martin Conservation Association website, I'm doing everything right - good location, good clearance, good EVERYTHING!!! So why can't I get martins? I hold out hope because of a customer at the Dallas WBU store who came in all excited one day and told me that she finally had martins nesting with her. I asked how long she had been trying to get them and she said, "Ten years." Six more to go . . . I keep a glimmer of hope. I sold a martin house to a guy mid-May one time and warned him that the martins wouldn't nest with him that year. He said he understood but wanted the house up anyway. Two days later, he came in and told me that he had a pair of martins hanging out around his house. A week later he came in and told me that they were nesting. So, there's always hope. It just diminishes GREATLY the further through April we go.