I spent yesterday in a recliner in front of our backdoor watching the birds at our feeders because of hyper-extending my knee pretty badly on Sunday. There was no way I could have walked in the woods. The worst part is it was an absolutely gorgeous day! Sigh . . .
But, the day wasn't completely without highlights! Pretty early in the morning, a Dickcissel showed up in the tree behind my feeders. I got some excellent looks at him. Later, he hopped down to my ground feeder and ate some of the millet there. He went to my birdbath a couple of times and drank from it. I got several really good looks at him, as did my wife and kids. I checked the UTC Checklist and Dickcissels aren't even mentioned to be here at the end of March, so this little guy was very early. The first week of April it's considered uncommon and then common by the second week of April. I guess he wanted to get a jump on all the other Dickcissels and get some good territory to nest in! He was only the second Dickcissel I have seen on the property in nearly seven years. It was neat to enter the Dickcissel into my Project FeederWatch records. When I was finished, they very politely wanted me to go back and confirm that I actually meant Dickcissel because their records show it is early for my area.
American Goldfinches were coming to the feeders. I had five of them. One of the males had nearly completed his molt into breeding plumage. There was one streak of the light brown on his chest. The rest of his plumage was breathtaking! A House Wren has found my suet and visited several times yesterday. Also, a male and female Yellow-rumped Warbler ate from the suet throughout the day. The male has changed into his breeding plumage. I always enjoy seeing them in that plumage because we don't get to see them like that very often. Like the goldfinches, they leave about the time they molt.
Several Northern Rough-winged Swallows flew over. That was the first time I've seen them this year. Cattle Egrets were following the cows in the pasture. A Pileated Woodpecker flew across the pasture on his way to the woods. The numbers of Mourning Doves and Eurasian Collared-Doves is going up at my feeders. I had four of each yesterday. The most I saw all winter of each was two.
The eggs in the Eastern Bluebird nest should hatch on Wednesday or Thursday. I'll walk/hobble over there to see what's going on with them on Wednesday afternoon.
Birds seen 3/29/10 (22 species): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow (FOS), Carolina Chickadee, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Dickcissel (FOS), Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow
Showing posts with label feeder birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feeder birds. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Inside Birdwatching
Between the insanely high numbers of mosquitoes and the all-day rain even we had yesterday, I didn't get out to do any birding on the property. I did take some time to pull up a chair and watch through the back door as much as I could.
I finally had a pair of cardinals at my feeders again! It has been at least a couple of months since I have seen cardinals out there. My other feeder birds included Carolina Chickadee, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove and Blue Jay. An Eastern Phoebe came to check out my bird bath and got a drink out of it. I'm not sure why he chose my bird bath over all the water on the ground! I still have one Ruby-throated Hummingbird hanging around my feeder. It's a female or juvenile. I am glad to see my feeders becoming more active since it's just three more weeks until Project FeederWatch begins. It would be embarrassing to send in reports of no birds at my feeders! One of the more interesting sightings from yesterday was the hundreds of Northern Rough-winged Swallows that were passing through. They were all moving from northeast to southwest.
It's been nice to see the American Crow population rebounding. When West Nile Virus hit several years ago, it really took a toll on the crow population around here. There were years when I didn't record a crow on the property list (2004 and 2005.) Now I see or hear them almost daily.
I got kind of excited yesterday when I realized it is just about three months until the Purple Martins return! I'm looking forward to seeing the pair that nested with me this past year return. The male should be in his adult plumage and looking great! I'm hoping they attract lots of their friends!
I finally had a pair of cardinals at my feeders again! It has been at least a couple of months since I have seen cardinals out there. My other feeder birds included Carolina Chickadee, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove and Blue Jay. An Eastern Phoebe came to check out my bird bath and got a drink out of it. I'm not sure why he chose my bird bath over all the water on the ground! I still have one Ruby-throated Hummingbird hanging around my feeder. It's a female or juvenile. I am glad to see my feeders becoming more active since it's just three more weeks until Project FeederWatch begins. It would be embarrassing to send in reports of no birds at my feeders! One of the more interesting sightings from yesterday was the hundreds of Northern Rough-winged Swallows that were passing through. They were all moving from northeast to southwest.
It's been nice to see the American Crow population rebounding. When West Nile Virus hit several years ago, it really took a toll on the crow population around here. There were years when I didn't record a crow on the property list (2004 and 2005.) Now I see or hear them almost daily.
I got kind of excited yesterday when I realized it is just about three months until the Purple Martins return! I'm looking forward to seeing the pair that nested with me this past year return. The male should be in his adult plumage and looking great! I'm hoping they attract lots of their friends!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Interesting Bird at the Feeders
Yesterday morning, I looked out at my feeders and noticed a bird hopping around under my tray feeder (on legs) and around my ground feeder (a piece of plywood directly on the ground). It was too big to be a sparrow, but not quite big enough to be a robin. I have seen robins around because of the water not too far away from my feeders. So, I grabbed my binoculars and looked. It was a Hermit Thrush. I'm not sure exactly what he was doing around the feeders, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. Maybe he was going for some of the insects that are attracted by the seed.
I am seeing more and more Eurasian Collared-Doves all the time around my feeders. They have even gotten over to my mom's feeders. About 15 years ago, my grandmother told me about "a dove with a black ring on its neck." She was sure it was a Spotted Dove, but I wasn't as convinced. I just wonder if that was one of the first ones that escaped captivity and started a population here.
I wonder about the goldfinches. I worked for years at Wild Birds Unlimited. We would tell our customers to put a finch feeder out around Thanksgiving. It seems to me that even in the ten years since I first started working for WBU that they have arrived later and later and leave earlier and earlier. It also seems that we have fewer numbers of them around as well. I know finches of all species can be very sporadic in their seasonal movement. Some customers would be covered up with finches one year only to have a few the next year. But it sure seems like there is a trend with them to me. I just wonder if they're going the way of the Purple Finch, nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos and Pine Siskins as far as not as many coming south. I remember as a kid having my feeders covered with Dark-eyed Juncos and now I'm lucky if I see one or two a year. Maybe in the next ten years, if the trend continues, we'll have fewer and fewer American Goldfinches in the area to have them replaced with Lesser Goldfinches that might be moving more northward.
Other birds seen at my feeders yesterday were: American Goldfinch (4), Blue Jay (1), House Sparrow (20+), Chipping Sparrow (5) and Carolina Chickadee (3).
I am seeing more and more Eurasian Collared-Doves all the time around my feeders. They have even gotten over to my mom's feeders. About 15 years ago, my grandmother told me about "a dove with a black ring on its neck." She was sure it was a Spotted Dove, but I wasn't as convinced. I just wonder if that was one of the first ones that escaped captivity and started a population here.
I wonder about the goldfinches. I worked for years at Wild Birds Unlimited. We would tell our customers to put a finch feeder out around Thanksgiving. It seems to me that even in the ten years since I first started working for WBU that they have arrived later and later and leave earlier and earlier. It also seems that we have fewer numbers of them around as well. I know finches of all species can be very sporadic in their seasonal movement. Some customers would be covered up with finches one year only to have a few the next year. But it sure seems like there is a trend with them to me. I just wonder if they're going the way of the Purple Finch, nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos and Pine Siskins as far as not as many coming south. I remember as a kid having my feeders covered with Dark-eyed Juncos and now I'm lucky if I see one or two a year. Maybe in the next ten years, if the trend continues, we'll have fewer and fewer American Goldfinches in the area to have them replaced with Lesser Goldfinches that might be moving more northward.
Other birds seen at my feeders yesterday were: American Goldfinch (4), Blue Jay (1), House Sparrow (20+), Chipping Sparrow (5) and Carolina Chickadee (3).
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