Feeders in the Woods

After finally getting the tire on my four-wheeler repaired, I took some seed down to the feeders in the woods. I haven't filled them in months. It was just too hot to walk down there! I'm pretty excited to see what finds them this winter. I hope Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pine Warblers and House Wrens find the suet and Bark Butter. It's possible, but not probable, that Golden-crowned Kinglets or nuthatches will show up down there. I'd love to see some Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows on the seed. Maybe even Brown Thrashers will find it. Once the birds begin using the feeders again, I'll put the BirdCam down there to see what is visiting.

I'm thinking of putting a ground feeder on the west side of the property along the road that the drilling company cleared and putting millet on it. My concern is that it will turn into a cow feeder instead of a bird feeder. I'll have to see what happens. Maybe I can put up a little fence around it to keep the cows out. I'd love to have a feeder there to see what sparrows and possibly towhees are there in the winter.

The hummingbirds appear to just about be gone. I'm going to take down most of the feeders and clean them up for next year. I'll leave a couple out for the next couple of weeks and see what happens. I really hope to get a wintering hummer this year. That would be a lot of fun!

Cool Mornings

I love the fall season when the first cool mornings arrive. I like to take my coffee outside and watch as the bird activity picks up. Cardinals are normally the first birds to arrive at my feeders. They are usually followed closely by Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds buzz around my nectar feeders. They are down to the point now where one bird tries to dominate all the feeders. There are still enough around where she has a tough time with that, but she tries. I saw my first winter resident migrant this morning. A Brown Thrasher was in the thick yaupons along the fence line. If he hadn't made the "chip" call, I probably never would have seen him. Fall migration was really great in my yard on Sunday, Sept. 19. A male Baltimore Oriole caught my attention in the hackberry tree in my back yard. I got my binoculars to take a look at him and also found a Philadelphia Vireo and Black-and-white Warbler in the same tree. I normally don't get a lot of migrants in my backyard, so that was a lot of fun to see them. Also, an Indigo Bunting visited my ground feeder yesterday.

The hummingbirds were not as plentiful this year as they have been in years past. So far I've only gone through just over 20 lbs. of sugar. They aren't draining my feeders after a couple of days now either. Others have said they are having higher than average numbers of hummingbirds at their feeders. In a couple of weeks, the majority of them will have migrated out of here down to Mexico and Central America.

I've had a ton of fun with my BirdCam! I have put it on my birdbath to see what visits it during the day. Here's my favorite picture of a Eurasian Collared-Dove that just splashed the water to take a bath.
The birdbath as it was made was far too deep for birds to get in and bathe in it. I had tried putting bricks and other rocks in it to make it more shallow, but the birds never seemed to be comfortable getting in. So, I went to Home Depot and bought 40 lbs. of concrete and filled in the birdbath to make it more shallow. I added some of the rocks into the concrete to give the birds a little better footing. Now it goes from very shallow at the edges to about 1" deep in the middle. The birds have been using it like crazy now! So, if you're looking for a birdbath to add to your yard, and you actually want the birds to use it, go with the more shallow ones over the really deep ones.

Birding On A Cool Fall Morning

Even with the cooler temperatures, there are still at least three hummingbirds hanging around my feeder. I took all but one feeder down for the winter. I'll keep a feeder going throughout the winter with the hope that a Rufous Hummingbird or other western hummingbird will find me.

I went walking in the woods for a little bit this morning. The mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad today. That was a welcome relief! I did find four FOS birds today. A Chipping Sparrow was in my backyard. I haven't seen him down at the feeder yet, but he'll be there at some point. Down in the woods, we found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was in a tree in the pasture. He flew right above us giving us some great looks at him. A Belted Kingfisher alerted us to his presence with his rattle call and we watched him fly overhead. As far as neotropical migrants, they were non-existent down there. This is the worst year for fall migration that I can remember since we've been here.

Birds Seen 10/19/09 (23 species): Cattle Egret, Sharp-shinned Hawk (FOS), Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher (FOS), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FOS), Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Chipping Sparrow (FOS), Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

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.

Slow Fall Migration

So far the fall migration here has been slow. The kids and I went out in the woods on Monday as a part of their science. They have expressed an interest in learning about birds and birdwatching. So we went out and weren't impressed! We would walk 50 feet, stop and scan the trees and understory for movement, not see anything and move another 50 feet. Nothing was moving. Not even the resident birds. I think in the whole time we were down there we saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker, caught a fleeting glimpse of a Barred Owl as it flew away from us and heard a few others. I'm ready for the winter residents to come in so I'll have something to see when I'm down there!

The hummingbirds are still holding about 20 at the feeders. It will be interesting to see if the front this weekend takes them all away. It's getting to be that time where they go away until spring.

Nothing is eating from my feeders except for one Mourning Dove and a couple of Eurasian Collared Doves. I've had several customers in the store ask me where the birds are. It's a slow time at feeders in October and November in this area. The plants produce their seeds and the birds eat them. No matter how fresh the seed in the feeder is, it's not going to be as nutritious and fresh as what's recently been produced on the plant. So, the birds eat the wild seeds to fatten up for winter. I know at some point after much of the wild seed has been eaten or knocked to the ground, they'll be back and the blackbirds will flock to my feeders and eat all the oil sunflower within a day. Maybe I should invest in some safflower!

Window Birdwatching

I was doing a little window birdwatching this morning. The hummingbirds continue to increase around the feeders. This morning, even with the rain, I had 10 to 12 buzzing around. It won't be long before they're really thick. While watching the hummingbirds, several other birds flew into my backyard. A Great-crested Flycatcher perched in one of the trees and showed off his flycatching skills for me. Six Eastern Bluebirds flew in and came to my birdbath to quench their thirst. A male and female Baltimore Oriole flew in and feasted on the hackberries along with a Northern Mockingbird. A little bird was flitting around in the trees. I suspected a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, but that wasn't what it was. I never got a really clear view of it, but what I saw reminded me a lot of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. If that's what it was, he would be a month early. Hopefully as it cools more, I'll start getting out to see what kind of fall migrants are coming through. My first warbler on the property was a Canada Warbler in September 2003 just after we moved here.

We spent the weekend in Fredericksburg with my mom and step-father and extended family. We go every year to their place. I didn't get a chance to do any birding this year, except for what I saw in the backyard. There wasn't much to report. I did see some Black-crested Titmice. The boys and I slept in a tent and early on Saturday morning a Great Horned Owl called from somewhere to our east. I am still amazed at the numbers of White-winged Doves. They are everywhere there. What amazes me more is how they have naturally expanded their range from the Rio Grande Valley to areas far north of their historic range. I commented to my step-father that if we had been there 15 years ago and saw a White-winged Dove, we would have jumped up and grabbed our cameras to document the occasion. Now, they're just everywhere.

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.

October 10

This morning was just too nice not to go birding! It was cool, low humidity and fall migration is in full swing! Swallows were flying overhead migrating south. Mostly Barn and Northern Rough-winged were the ones I saw. The winter migrants were more plentiful in the woods. I added a couple new fall migrants to my list. Within about two minutes of each other, I saw a Northern Parula and a Magnolia Warbler. Both of them were in fall plumage. Indigo Buntings are still in good numbers. I had one female/juvenile Painted Bunting hop around in the branches of a fallen tree. The hummingbirds are virtually gone. There are one or two at a time now. I saw Brown-headed Cowbirds at my feeders for the first time since spring.

Birds Seen Oct. 10 (28 species): Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, White-winged Dove, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Sparrow

Seeing A Lot In Fall Migration

Today was a pretty good day in the woods. There are several winter residents showing up already. According to the Upper Texas Coast checklist, they are showing up right on time. I saw Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Thrasher, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Harrier. I was very glad to see them. It's always good to see those birds coming in for the first time and know they'll be with us through the winter.

Some fall migrants were passing through as well. Orchard Oriole, Painted Bunting, Indigo Bunting and Nashville Warbler were in the woods. The Painted Bunting was a female or juvenile male that lit about 15 feet from me and gave me some great looks! Indigo Buntings were everywhere in the thick brush.

I'm still seeing a few hummingbirds. There were probably 10 to 15 last night around the feeders. They'll stick around for the next couple of weeks.

Birds Seen 10/4/08 (31 Species): Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Horned Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Nashville Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole

Species Seen as of 10/4/08: 134

Slow Summer Days

I've been outside quite a bit the past few days that I've had off and not much is moving around these days. The White Ibis still fly over with great regularity. I just wonder if they're having a population explosion because I don't recall ever seeing this many of them, except in the past couple of years. There are juveniles in the flocks now. A Downy Woodpecker is in our yard quite a bit. I've never seen them with regularity in the yard, so that's kind of fun. The young bluebirds are still hanging out in the yard. It seems that they are getting the hang of foraging and taking care of themselves. I see the male around pretty regularly. One of the most exciting things that happened is a Yellow-billed Cuckoo showed up in the trees to the west of our house on Saturday. I was sitting at our dining room table and saw him fly in and perch on a power line. There was no doubt what he was. I grabbed my binoculars just to get a good look at him.

I cleaned my birdbath and put some bricks in it that make the water depth about 1/2 inch. That should be better for the birds than the two rocks I had in there before which were kind of slick and didn't give the birds a good place to stand in the water. I'm really hoping the fall migrants find it and use it. The Baltimore Orioles used it quite a bit last year. Fall migration will be on us before we know it. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still three short of tying my 2004 number. I should be able to get it pretty easily. I'll be able to pick up a couple of the warblers that I didn't get in the spring as well as Baltimore Orioles. I didn't get one last year, but in years previous I have gotten an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Also, it won't be long until the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds come through on their southward migration. It's usually the end of August that they start getting really thick around my feeders. I'll put one feeder out in a couple of weeks to see if any of them are hanging around here early. In case you haven't seen it, here is a video I took in 2006 of the hummingbirds at my feeders.

Hummers Increasing and Fall Migrants

Last evening when I got home from work, there were five to eight hummingbirds buzzing around the feeders. I was very glad to see them! I wonder if the northerly winds we got from Hurricane Humberto brought them in.

This morning, there were anywhere from ten to fifteen birds at a time around the feeders. It seems to me that it was around this time last year when they really started increasing in numbers. I took some video of them on Sept. 16 last year, so it's close.

A really neat thing happened as I was watching the hummers this morning. A male Baltimore Oriole lit on the pole where the hummingbird feeders are hanging. He stopped for just a few seconds and then flew off to the tallow tree in the front yard. He was joined by at least one more in the tree. I usually see several Baltimore Orioles in the trees around the yard in the fall. Normally I don't see that many in the spring, but this year was an exception. I saw quite a few of them in the spring.

I think I may try to get out in the woods this afternoon and see if I can find any fall warblers.

Fall Migration

Fall migration is underway. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out and observe any of it! I hope to get out in the woods this weekend. Hopefully the birds will be around with the oil/gas well drilling underway. It's a noisy process. Not to mention the 3+ acres of hardwoods that were cleared to make room for the well.

The hummingbirds are still very light at my feeders. Two or three at a time are all I've had so far. If I remember correctly, it was the middle of September last year before the birds showed up in large numbers at my feeders. So, it should be any day that I'll see them.

Not many hummers and fall migration

The hummingbirds haven't increased in numbers at my feeders at all. I do see different dominant birds out there. Last year it was mid-September before they really thickened up at the feeders.

Not too long ago, I heard Indigo Buntings in the weedy areas of the yard. Now that summer is over, I'll probably start heading down into the woods to see if I can find any fall migrants. The first warbler I saw on the property was in Sept. 2003 when a Canada Warbler popped out while I was in the woods. Fall migration can be just as productive as spring, but it can be more challenging. The females and juveniles can be very difficult to identify, as can males that have already molted into non-breeding plumage.

Late Summer Musings

It looks like the bluebirds are only going to have one brood this year. They are probably young birds taking their first shot at raising a family. Since they were successful this year, they will most likely be back next year and raise two broods. I still see two of the juvenile bluebirds around pretty often.

I love this time of year when the cardinals bring the juvenile birds to the feeders. By this time they have learned to eat by themselves and don't be nearly as much to be fed.

A Carolina Wren is calling outside right now. I need to get some suet in my feeder for him.

I had kind of an interesting experience on Saturday. It wasn't on the property. It was a the Gulf Coast Christian Youth Camp in Columbus. One of the kids at the camp found a female hummingbird on the ground at the gym. I'm not sure if it was a Ruby-throated or a Black-chinned. Anyway, she appeared to be stunned and I figured she had run into something like one of the lights at the top of the gym. So I held her for a little while and let the kids see her. Then I went to put her on a branch and she fell off. I picked her back up and held her in my hand. She started scratching at her neck with her feet. She arched her back and made a little squeak and then just died in my hand. I've never watched a hummingbird die. I don't know what did it, but it must have been pretty traumatic.

Fall migration isn't too far off. We should start seeing the migrants come through soon. I have seen more Baltimore Orioles in the fall than I have in the spring. This spring was pretty good for them, so I'm hoping that I see lots of them this fall.