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.

A Renewed Hatred for House Sparrows

Yesterday, I went out and got my Purple Martin housing ready for their return. A customer told me that the Eastern Bluebirds on her property have already begun making nests in her boxes. I decided to go and check out the box that the bluebirds have used over the past four years. As I walked toward the box, a male House Sparrow flew out. I opened the box and he had already begun constructing a nest. It was obviously a sparrow nest and not the neat, compact nest a bluebird makes. I pulled the nest out and when I did, two bluebird bodies fell out of the box. I examined them and they both had the classic look of a sparrow kill. He probably watched for them to enter the box and then went in and killed them. He built the nest on top of their bodies. I will begin this weekend a new effort to rid the world of as many House Sparrows as possible. I modified my trap to keep the blackbirds and larger birds out and will begin trapping again. I hate House Sparrows!

Project FeederWatch Update & New Property Birds

Quite a bit has been going on lately with the birds on the property. Unfortunately with all that has been going on in my life, I haven't had a chance to write about it!

With Project FeederWatch, the species count at my feeders has remained pretty steady, between 23 and 27. I've been amazed at the number of Dark-eyed Juncos that are still coming to my feeders. Most years I don't see any. This year I've got at least two most of the time in the yard, and sometimes as many as six. Song Sparrows are quite abundant as well. On my last two count days, there were seven of them on the feeders. The American Goldfinch numbers really picked up on January 23 and 24. I counted six the week before that. There have been at least 50 over the next weeks, with a high of 70 on the Feb. 6 and 7 count days. Probably the most exciting bird for me this year is the female Purple Finch (pictured) that showed up at the feeders in the woods. I had my BirdCam set up on the big tube feeder on January 26. I got the memory card on the 29th and saw her pictures. She makes property bird #198 for me. Purple Finches are rare on the Upper Texas Coast, showing up occasionally in the winter.

In other bird news, I still regularly see an American Woodcock when I'm walking in the woods. He usually sits alongside the trail until I get close and the he flushes, normally scaring me. This morning he flushed and flew straight ahead of me giving me excellent looks at him. Along the final stretch of the trail to the feeders this morning, I could hear a bird making a call I was not familiar with. It was an Eastern Towhee sitting at the top of one of the thick brush piles. That's not a bird I normally see in the woods. That was fun to see him. The birds are beginning to sing as the weather warms up. Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, White-eyed Vireos, White-throated Sparrows and Pine Warblers are getting tuned up for their spring songs. I have seen two Barred Owls along the trail that runs alongside the gully near where I put up the nesting box for them. The first time I saw them, they flew toward the box. I got to the box and saw something sticking out of the hole and got excited until I realized it was a raccoon. I don't know why he was in there, but I sure am hoping it wasn't to raid the nest.

So far this year, I have seen 50 species of birds. I am looking forward to spring!

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!

Project FeederWatch Week 5

This week had 20 species at my feeders. The only ones that hadn't been on the list before were the American Robin that visited my birdbath and the Downy Woodpecker on my suet log. My bluebirds have found the new mealworm feeder I put up for them. The birdbath is very popular since it's the only water for quite a ways around. The American Goldfinches are holding steady with ten birds at the feeders. If they hold to the pattern over the past years, their numbers should begin increasing quickly at the feeders next week.

Project FeederWatch Week 5 (20 species):
Eurasian Collared Dove - 2
Mourning Dove - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 2
American Robin - 1
Brown Thrasher - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3
Pine Warbler - 3
Chipping Sparrow - 5
White-throated Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Cardinal - 4
American Goldfinch - 10
House Sparrow - 22

I didn't have a lot of time to go birding around the property. There were a couple of American Crows that were around most of the time. Northern Flickers are still calling all over the place in the woods. There are now two American Pipits at the pond consistently. Eastern Phoebes are abundant in better numbers than I remember in a long time. The Yellow-rumped Warblers are still enjoying the bountiful crop of berries on the yaupons, bayberries and cedar trees. I did see one small flock of Cedar Waxwings last week for the first time this season. I'm toying with the idea of putting a ground feeder in the woods. I have a feeling it would just be a possum, squirrel and raccoon feeder, but maybe some birds could get to it when they're not around. I'll have to do some clearing to surround it with barbed wire to keep the cows out first. Winter is my second favorite season for birds around here because of the variety we get at the feeders.

Project FeederWatch Week 4

I had another good weekend for Project FeederWatch. I ended up with 19 species. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet is actually coming to the feeder now. The number of American Goldfinches rose this weekend. I saw a couple of Dark-eyed Juncos at the feeder. When I was a kid living at home, my feeder used to be covered with Dark-eyed Juncos every winter, but now I don't see that many. I saw more today while out birding on the property than I've seen in the seven years we've lived here.

Project FeederWatch Week 4 (19 species):
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Eurasian Collared Dove - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Brown Thrasher - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 15
Pine Warbler - 2
Chipping Sparrow - 8
White-throated Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 2
Northern Cardinal - 3
American Goldfinch - 6
House Sparrow - 30

I took a couple of hours this morning and went birding around the property. I went to my ground feeder to see what was showing up around there. The Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere! As I was watching the feeder, a Fox Sparrow hopped up in a little southern bayberry bush. He is a new property bird for me - #197! I got some great looks at him before he flew into the thick yaupon holly bush behind him. The Dark-eyed Juncos have shown up in good numbers. I counted at least 20 individuals today. I haven't seen that many since we moved here. I would see one or two most years, if I saw one at all. That was pretty exciting for me to see all of them. My BirdCam quit working, so Wingscapes is sending me a new one. I hope it gets here quickly so I can set it up on my ground feeder to get some shots of them. Hopefully the Fox Sparrow will find the feeder and be caught by the BirdCam. There were two American Pipits at the new pond today.

December 5 & 6 Property Birds (43 species): Snow Goose, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Crested Caracara, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, American Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow