Update on the Martin Nest

I checked the gourd the Purple Martins are using and there is some significant progress on the nest. I grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures:

As they collect mud for their nest, some gets on the entrance hole.


The entrance is to the left. There is quite a bit of stuff toward the front. You can see the mud mixed in with the nesting material. They are using the pine needles that we collected for them. We watched them land several times, grab a beakful of pine needles and take them into the gourd. This picture is already outdated!

I am so excited to finally have martins nesting! It's been five years of waiting. I'm looking forward to having them every year from now on!

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.

Slower Day, But Still Good!

Today was definitely a little slower than the previous two, but still a lot of fun to be out there. The sheer numbers of birds weren't around, but there were still quite a few. I added six more FOS to the property list today: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Philadelphia Vireo, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, Yellow-breasted Chat. It was definitely the day of the thrush! I enjoyed seeing all of them. The Yellow-breasted Chat was in some of the thick yaupons along the trail to go into the woods.

I saw something today I've never seen before. There were between 100 and 200 Chimney Swifts flying low above the trees very, very fast. It was as if they were feeding on something. They stayed in basically the same area for long periods of time. Barn Swallows would join them occasionally, but mostly it was just the swifts.

This was a productive weekend for my yearly property list. I added 21 FOS birds this weekend. They really showed up in great numbers. I just wonder how many more I would have gotten if it hadn't rained quite so much and I could have spent more time birding. I saw a total of 74 species on the property this weekend, fifteen of which were warblers. This is definitely one of those weekends that I'll remember for a long time!

Bird species seen 4/19/09 (43 species): Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (FOS), Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker ,Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo (FOS), Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray-cheeked Thrush (FOS), Swainson's Thrush (FOS), Wood Thrush (FOS), Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat (FOS), Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting

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.