Birds of 2013

Starting in 2008, we have kept a list of birds we see here on the 'family farm'.  I've always enjoyed birding, but at that time was inspired by my brother to start keeping a year list.  At the end of 2008, we had 91 species on our list.  That grew to 96 in 2009.  Each year I have learned more about where to watch for different birds in various places - from the feeders to the woods to the beaver swamp.  We had our top number in 2010.   That year, we saw 103 kinds, which fulfilled my goal to get over 100.  The following year, I decided not to keep track.... just to "enjoy" the birds.  That year I made a header in my notebook: "New in 2011".  Turned out I only had one to write down, which was Bufflehead Ducks on May 10th.  Each year the list changes a bit.  Here's our list for 2013:

1.   Downy Woodpecker         January 1
2.   Mourning Dove
3.   Tufted Titmouse
4.   Blue Jay
5.   Black-capped Chickadee
6.   House Finch
7.   American Goldfinch
8.   American Crow
9.   Northern Cardinal
10. Dark-eyed Junco
11. American Tree Sparrow
12. House Sparrow
13.White-breasted Nuthatch

 14. White-throated Sparrow
15.  Hairy Woodpecker
16.  Common Redpoll

17. Red-tailed Hawk

18. Starling

19. Great-horned Owl  (heard)      January 2

20. Red-bellied Woodpecker         January 3

21. Red-winged Blackbird       

22. Hoary Redpoll (we had a huge number of Redpolls and after really studying them, decided there were a couple of Hoary's!)

Flock of Redpolls in a tree by our house

23. Ruffed Grouse     January 27

24. Bald Eagle           February 10

Laura got to write this one down, as she saw it first!  This is NOT an eagle nest, it is a great-blue heron's nest.  To read the story of our heron's nest, click here.

25.  Carolina Wren            February 28

26.  Canada Goose            February 28

27.  Mallards                     March 11

28.  Fox Sparrow               March 13

29.  Sharp-shinned Hawk  March 11

We would probably be able to up our number if I was better at identifying raptors... but this one sat right over the bird feeders for awhile so I could get some nice photos of him.

30.  American Robin              March 11

31.  Wood Duck                      March 13

32.  Brown-headed Cowbird   March 15

33.  Great-blue Heron             March 19

34.  Song Sparrow                  March 21

35.  Pileated Woodpecker        March 28

36.  Snow Goose                     March 29

37.  Turkey Vulture                March 30

38.  Wild Turkey                    March 31

39.  Common Merganser    

40.  Tree Swallow                   April 6

41.  Eastern Phoebe                   April 7

42.  Ruby-crowned Kinglet

43.  Kestral

44.  Pied-billed Grebe

45.  Eastern Bluebird

46.  Northern Flicker                   April 8

47.  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker         April 17

48.  American Woodcock        

49.  Osprey                                April 18

50.  Brown Thrasher                  April 20

51.  Green-winged Teal             April 21

52.  Blue-winged Teal

53.  Chipping Sparrow              April 23

54.  Barred Owl (heard)            April 28

55.  Belted Kingfisher             

56.  Baltimore Oriole                April 30

57.  Red-eyed Vireo

58.  Barn Swallow

59.  Yellow Warbler                  May 2

60.  Warbling Vireo

61.  Common Yellowthroat

62.  Rose-breasted Grosbeak

63.  Ring-necked Pheasant

Sadly, the pheasant was seen in the road after it had been killed by a vehicle.

64.  Ovenbird                           May 6

65.  Chestnut-sided Warbler

66.  Black-throated Green Warbler

67.  Solitary Sandpiper

68.  Eastern Towhee

69.  Ruby-throated Hummingbird

70.  Eastern Kingbird

71.  Swamp Sparrow

72.  Northern Rough-winged Swallow

73.  Hermit Thrush                   May 8

74.  White-crowned Sparrow   May 9

75.  Catbird                              May 10

76.  Lessor Yellowlegs             May 11

77.  Wood Thrush                    May 12

78.  Great Egret                       May 13

A pretty rare bird for us, my husband saw this one while I was out and he snapped this photo.

79.  Bobolink
80.  Scarlet Tanager                         May 16
81.  American Redstart
82. Nashville Warbler
83.  Magnolia Warbler
84.  Wood Peewee                            May 18
85.  Black-throated Blue Warbler
86.  Least Flycatcher
87.  Veery                                         May 20
88.  Black-billed Cuckcoo  (heard)  May 30
89.  Killdeer                                      June 3
90.  Cedar Waxwing
91.  Great-crested Flycatcher           July 8
92.  House Wren       
93.  Purple Finch                              July 16
94.  Black Vulture                            September 11
95.  Blue-headed Vireo                    September 30
96.  Northern Harrier                       October 5

Northern Harrier flying low over the swamp.

97.  Yellow-rumped Warbler     October 15  (somehow missed this common warbler during spring migration so we were happy to see them in the fall-- a whole flock in our little woods)
98.  Brown Creeper                   November 1

That's it for 2013! Tomorrow begins another year, and a whole lot more birds to see!  Happy New Year!

A Christmas Eve Visitor

On Christmas Eve, we had a blast of lake-effect snow.  I was in my nice warm kitchen most of the day, doing some Christmas baking and cooking.  While I worked, I was entertained by the birds at the feeders outside the window.  Besides the birds, there was a visitor I hadn't seen for quite awhile.... a Red Squirrel.

At first he had his back to me.

What a handsome sight his rusty coat was against the white snow and green pine boughs!

He was busy eating and I was busy working, but I kept watching.  As the snow continued, he found a spot right under the White Pine branch to proceed with his meal.

Red Squirrels eat many kinds of wild foods -- the seeds from evergreen cones, most any kind of other seeds, plus acorns, insects, buds and twigs, mushrooms, and even eggs and young birds.  They store food for the winter in "middens"which are caches near their nests which can contain up to a bushel of dried foods.   This one seemed pretty intent on filling up his stomach right on my bird table however!

"Yum, yum!"

Red squirrels are very alert and territorial.  They can chase off grey squirrels (which are almost twice their size).  They are also very agile and quick!  They need to be, because they can be preyed upon by hawks, owls, coyotes, house cats, weasels and the like.  So, this one was keeping an eye out for trouble!

It's okay, just a junco! Back to eating...

He is pretty well hidden under those pine boughs anyway.  Can you see him in the next photo?  Look near the middle of the table, for his tail sticking out.

His tail is not as bushy as a grey squirrels, but it sure is a beautiful color!

Having him visit brightened my day, and I hope these pictures of him will brighten yours!

 

Merry Christmas!

"Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace"  

Luke 1: 78 -79 New Living Translation

Partridgeberry

Christmas Ferns

Close up of their "Christmas-stocking-shaped" leaflets

Mossy Christmas tree (yes, I did help shape this one a little bit, but only a little!)

Polypody Fern 'Christmas tree'

Club Moss 'Christmas tree'

Charlie Brown Christmas tree topper

It's snowing here right now.... so it looks like even after the big melt we had the last few days, it might be a white Christmas after all!

Merry Christmas!

Desperate Times Require Desperate Measures

Or, "The Dove who Dared!"

Yesterday I decided to remove the cage from one of our sunflower feeders.  Meant to keep squirrels and large birds from being able to eat from that particular feeder, it had seemed like a good idea.  But the small birds who could fit thru the holes were not using it.  Basically, it was being used as a perch for them to land on before hopping to the feeder next to it.  Only once in a great while would a bird go in for a seed, even after the feeder had been up for a couple of months.  So, I decided the cage might as well go.

It took the birds a little while to realize it was now just as easy to use as the other feeders.  Within a couple of hours though, the chickadees and finches were taking advantage of another spot to feast on sunflower seeds.   

The snow we've been having lately has brought huge numbers of birds to the feeders.  If the weather is really bad, I have to replenish the food a couple of time during the day.  Well, today, I looked out the window at noon and thought it was looking a little bare and the birds were hopping and scratching around trying to find food.  One dove, in particular, was desperate!!!

You see, doves are mostly ground feeders.

"Things are getting a little sparse here, please feed us!"

They will eat on the top of the bird table or on the deck, but typically they don't perch on the feeders.
So when I saw this dove on the feeder which no longer had the 'small-bird-only-cage', I had to watch to see what would happen!

 She spied all those seeds....

And she got one.
But she was curious.... she had to see what was on the other side, even if it was slippery walking around!

"Oh, more of the same on this side!"

"I'll eat some of these."

"Whoa, it's slippery!"

"I'll use my tail to balance myself better and eat a few more".

I was quite impressed with her daring and poise!

The other doves who weren't so brave also needed food, so after I took these photos, I went out and spread more seeds for them.  As you can see, they are quite plump-looking so I think they are pretty well feed!  ;-)

 Then again, considering the weather, they do need to keep their metabolism up!

"It's cold out here!"

Virtual Birding

During the night the wind blew and lots of snow came down, so the first thing I did when I got up was feed the birds.  I was not even back inside the house before they started coming... the chickadees first, then juncos, and so on.

As I watched out my kitchen window, more and more birds came.  Since church was canceled because of the snow, I thought it would be a good day to keep track of all the birds I could see.  Then I thought of a blog I follow called "I Love Shelling". The lady who writes it sometimes takes videos or photos along the beach in Sanibel, Florida and posts them on her blog for people to go "virtual shelling." Well, if you can go virtual shelling, how about virtual birding?

First, here's how it looks from my kitchen window.  You can see the shells that just might have been my inspiration for the 'virtual birding' idea.  Oh, and hey, if you'd rather go shelling on a nice warm beach instead of looking at snowy bird photos, just click here and there's a video near the bottom of the "I Love Shelling" page!

Here's a list of the birds I saw today:
Chickadees, Juncos, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, House Finches, Goldfinches, Tree Sparrows, House Sparrow, Bluebirds, White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Mourning Doves, and Cedar Waxwings.  Now, I must say that there are not photos of every kind on the list.  But see how many you can identify in the following photos:

There are 4 kinds in this photo. 

Here's a close up of the little one in the back of the above photo:

Two kinds here.  The one on the left has some leucistic feathers on his head!

Whoops, time for a short break while the snowblower man comes thru!

And the first two birds back after that were:

Now, let's see what might be happening out the back windows... looks like there are birds in the crab apple tree!

There are three (of one kind) in the photo above.  Here's a closer look in the next photo:

But wait, what's that?  Who's singing, "Gone away are the bluebirds?"  There are some here today!

Can you identify the three birds in the next shot?

There are two fairly easy to see birds next, plus parts of two Blue Jays.... can you find them?

I couldn't leave out this pretty female Cardinal.

Or the handsome Hairy Woodpecker.

How about three more cute chickadees?

It's pretty hard to capture chickadees in a still photo, so here's a short video of them flitting around the feeder.

In the afternoon, I took a hike on my snowshoes to see what I could see away from the house.

I was hoping to see a golden-crowned kinglet in the snow-covered hemlocks.  Even if there had been any around, they probably heard me coming.  The snow had an icy crust on the top that made each of my steps very loud!  I paused to listen once and awhile, but I only saw one nuthatch and one chickadee and....I think, three snow geese.  I was in the woods, looking up-- when three large (goose-sized) birds flew over.  I got my binoculars up in time to see they were all white with black wing-tips, but I didn't get a great look at them because of the trees.  We usually see snow geese in large flocks, up high, during migration. Seemed a little odd to see only 3, and flying lower than they do when migrating.

So, don't feel bad if you can't identify all the birds in my photos -- I quite often am left wondering what it was that I saw!  It was just really neat to see those 3 large white birds.... whatever they were!  I hope you enjoyed your virtual birding with me, too.

Oh, and I also have to share this cute fellow.  Not a bird, but he was at the bird feeders today!