Winter Bird Feeding

I had my first American Goldfinches yesterday at my feeders. I put some thistle out that had been left over from last year and they still came. The goldfinches must not be too picky around here!

Also yesterday, I had a hummingbird show up at my feeder. I keep a feeder out year-round in case I get a winter hummer in my yard. So far I've never seen one. But, yesterday one showed up. I don't know what kind it was. I was looking through a pair of 8x21 binoculars through my windshield. To make matters worse, the binoculars were fogging up. I know it wasn't a Buff-bellied or male Rufous, but other than that, I'm not sure what he/she was. Hopefully it will show up again and I can make a positive identification.

In The Woods On A Brisk Fall Morning

I took a two-hour walk through the woods this morning to see how many winter migrants had come in. I wasn't disappointed! The Yellow-rumped Warblers are here in really good numbers. I also saw three Brown Thrashers, one Hermit Thrush, several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and an Eastern Phoebe. As much as I hate to admit it, the road that leads to the drilling site has provided some excellent habitat for brush-loving birds. I counted twelve Gray Catbirds, one House Wren and several White-throated Sparrows. It's excellent habitat for White-crowned Sparrows, so I'm going to keep my eyes open for them. I was also hoping to hear a Red-breasted Nuthatch with the irruption this year, but didn't hear or see one. Maybe one will make his way over this way during the winter.

Here's my complete list (25 species): Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle

I went walking in our woods on Sunday and found several winter migrants there along with most of the "regulars." I found a couple of Northern Flickers, a Hermit Thrush, an Eastern Phoebe and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I will be interested to see what has come in with the strong north winds we had yesterday.

Two Great Horned Owls have been calling to each other over the past week. I hear them every night when I go outside. They are hanging out around the three acre clearing in the woods that the drilling company cleared.

Update on the drilling: The clean-up is going slowly. They have pulled up some of the boards from the drilling area. They have also pumped the drilling mud back into the casing. They are leveling the pond area and will dig out some more of it once more of the boards are taken up. I think that it's going to be one of my favorite spots on the property. It's so quiet down there. I'm going to build some Wood Duck boxes and see if we can get some nesting around it.

Fall Migrants

This morning as I was heading to my car to leave for work, I heard an insistent buzzing call coming from the fenceline behind my house. I grabbed my 8x21 binoculars out of my glove box and went to investigate. There were four Indigo Buntings there. I would guess one is a male that has molted into winter plumage, but couldn't tell for sure. Anyway, it was neat to see them. As I was walking back to my car, I looked up to see two Barn Swallows flying overhead. It won't be long until they really start migrating back south. I usually see them in the hundreds as they are heading south. They fly through my yard and pasture behind the house in large, loose flocks.

Hummingbirds and Possible Pond

Yesterday afternoon, there were 15 to 20 hummingbirds around my feeders. This morning there were 20 to 30 flying around. They were quite active!

Tomorrow we meet with the landman from the oil company to discuss compensation for their use (destruction) of the land. I have proposed digging a pond in the area. That would do a couple of things: 1) It would keep that area from turning into a tallow forest. 2) It would provide some excellent habitat for Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Prothonotary Warblers and other waterbirds. So, we'll see what they are willing to do. They dug a water well where we could erect a windmill to pump water into the pond if it started to go dry. I would build a blind where I could approach the pond and not scare off any birds that were on it. I hope this happens and the area doesn't turn into yet another tallow forest. There are already several small tallows starting around the edge of the cleared area.

This morning a Red-shouldered Hawk flew across the yard with something in its talons. I couldn't get my binoculars to see what it was.

Gone!

The past two days have seen a significant decline in the numbers of hummingbirds at my feeders. A decline along the lines of 20 to 30 at a time to one. I've always wondered what it is that makes all the birds leave at the same time. I filled my feeders last night in the hopes that others north of us experienced the same thing and their hummingbirds will find me soon.

I occasionally write about other wildlife seen around the property, and want to tell about what happened on Monday night. About 2 a.m., the dogs started barking like they were seeing something they didn't like. I got up to see what it was. The moon was nearly full and provided quite a bit of light along with all the artificial light around. A lone coyote was at the western edge of our yard just sniffing around. He finally ran off to the west and my dogs quieted down.

An update on the well: It is dry!!! This morning there were eight flatbed trucks waiting to go in and take the equipment away. I will be glad when they're gone. I want to dig out a pond in the area where they cleared to provide some habitat for Wood Ducks and Prothonotary Warblers. It would be perfect for that! It shouldn't cost all that much to get a bulldozer out there to dig it out.

More Hummers

The hummingbirds are slowly increasing in numbers at my feeders. This morning there were 20 to 25 at first light. I moved the feeders to the backyard because my dogs were bothering the birds quite a bit in the front. So far it doesn't appear the move had bothered them any.