It's Not About the Numbers...

Really, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the birds.  But the numbers are fun, too!

This year was a great year for us for birds and keeping track of the numbers of them.  We had 114 kinds of birds on our property list in 2014.  That beat our old record of 103 (in 2010) by 11!  We had 8 completely new birds on the property this year.  Last year I posted our list and explained more about it.  To read it, you can click here.

Since 2008, our list has been kept in a little spiral-bound notebook.  

This year I also kept the list on a spreadsheet on my laptop.  (I know, high tech, huh?).  I’ve recently entered all the past year dates from the notebook into my computer as well.  (and printed it out on paper... I'm not ready to completely rely on my computer!)

My computer spreadsheet, paper print-out, and old-fashioned notebook!

 It’s been quite interesting to compare years and remember wonderful days full of warblers arriving in the spring or exciting days when birds appeared that we never thought we’d see here. Such as three Sandhill Cranes on May 1st.

 Our list has grown over the years as we've become better birders.  (I say "we" because this includes my family members who also add birds to the list when they see them).  We've gotten better at identifying birds.  The list has also grown as we learn more about where to look for certain birds.  And it has grown as we have simply spent more time looking for birds.  Of course, some of it is just 'luck'!

Of the 8 new species, I'd say the Sandhill Cranes were in the 'luck' category.  It was a warm spring day, and my husband and I were both outside where we could hear them coming from a long way off.  I had time to run in the house and get my camera to document their fly-over.  

The other 7 new ones included:  American Black Ducks (very likely they've been in our swamp before, so they would fall into the category of better identifying skills).  We had a Black and White Warbler on May 1st.  (Probably from the category of spending more time looking).  Then a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on May 6th. (looking, identifying, and luck!)
He was a real cutie!

In May, of course, comes the flurry of migration and many beautiful warblers.  Our Chestnut-sided Warblers arrived on May 9th and started vying for nesting territory in our woods.

Just a couple of days later, I noticed a bird building a nest down by the swamp.  It was another first on the property list -- a Yellow-throated Vireo.

The very next day, I added another new one to the property list-- a Wilson's Warbler (which we've seen other places but never here before).

Lots more warblers came thru in May, either to nest here or just pass thru.  The last to come was another new one for us -- several Blackpoll Warblers on May 26th.  Learning from new birding friends was the key to seeing these tiny warblers (I was out hanging up laundry but heard their high-pitched calls and had just learned they were late-migrants so went looking for them).

Some birds on the list are "heard only" birds like Great-horned Owls.  I do try my best to see all the birds I can (after all that's a big part of the fun).  Cuckoos are some that can be hard to see, though we hear them calling often in the summer months.  This Black-billed Cuckoo posed nicely for me on June 4th. 

As summer waned, I started to watch for fall migrants.  One warbler I missed during spring migration made sure I saw it on September 1st by visiting our bird feeder area.  Here's a fall Prairie Warbler on the feeder pole - photo taken from the kitchen window!

 This fall I also decided to try to learn more sparrow id's.  That helped me to get the next new bird -- a Lincoln's Sparrow on October 1st.   (Its picture is in my post about sparrows.)  We had quite a good fall for rarities, too, adding Pine Siskin, Evening Grosbeak, Killdeer (not rare but not usually here on November 19th!) Ring-necked Pheasant, and Rusty Blackbird.  (See this post)

Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch

The final bird of the year (unless something unexpected appears this afternoon!) was #114,  a Common Redpoll on December 18th.

I was glad I had my camera handy, because it appeared briefly and didn't return.  

I came up with a total number of 139 different species on my spreadsheet of birds from 2008 til 2014, so we probably could have a year with more than 114 sightings.  It would take good id'ing, lots of time watching, and lots of luck.  

We really should have had 115 on the list this year.  Why?  Because somehow we missed writing down Wood Thrush!  I realized this when I computerized the lists of previous years and it didn't show up on the 2014 column.  Am I going to add it now? No, because the thing about keeping lists of the birds you see is that you have to be completely honest about it.   What good would it do to make up a bird sighting or list a bird if you are not sure of its identity?  As I said in the beginning, it's about the birds, not the numbers.  It's about the enjoyment and thrill of seeing each bird, whether it be a trio of Sandhill Cranes or hearing the song of a Wood Thrush.  Maybe next year I'll be better organized and not miss writing any down.... sounds like a good New Years resolution! 

What Were They Thinking?

Looking back through my photos from 2014,  I realized there were a bunch that didn't make it onto the blog that should have.  The reason they should have is not that they are great photos, or worthy of posting because of their beauty.  Really, it's because.... well, what were they thinking?

"What are you laughing at?  Do I have something stuck in my whiskers?   Help me out here, I don't have a mirror!"

"Didn't your parents teach you, it's not polite to stare?"

 "Ha ha! That red squirrel doesn't know the best way to eat is upside-down, and the best seeds are always on the bottom!"

"Did you see those squirrels?  Aren't they ridiculous?  I'm a little worried about that chickadee, too, it never moves a muscle."

"Maybe I'd better not eat too much... I might not be able to get back out of this thing!"

"I'm keeping an eye on all of you!"

"And I'm keeping an eye on the sky.  Wonder when that flight is coming in?  The arrivals board says it's 'ontime'." 

"Oh, I guess it's running a little behind."

"Just give in, you know I'm going to win this Survivor challenge!"

"Want to settle this here or duke it out in the alley?"

"While they fight, I'm going to get this stick in here no matter how hard I have to push!"

"I've got a bigger one! (and I got it in the box, too!)"

"I hope I will grow into these big feet, like Mama says."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, happy new year to everyone!"

Naughty or Nice?

A friend of mine gave me a bag of 'Premium' bird seed as an early Christmas gift.  So our birds are getting a little spoiled for the holidays!  The mix includes shelled sunflower seeds as well as various nuts.  I've been doling it out slowly, and the Blue Jays are really enjoying the peanuts.

Blue Jays -- are they naughty or nice?  They have a reputation which includes such things as being thieves and gluttons.  The one in the following photos certainly did appear to be a greedy glutton, as you will see!

 

I can't say if this Blue Jay is a he or she, because both sexes look alike.  For the sake of this story,  I'm going to call it Jay and say he's a boy.

Jay had his eye on the peanuts I had just put out, and he wanted them all! 

Blue Jays can carry food in their throat and upper esophagus (sometimes called a gular pouch).  They've been known to fit 5 acorns (yes, acorns!) in their throat and bill at one time!

 Jay, however, didn't quite have it all under control.  He had picked up a couple of nuts when something startled him.

And there goes a peanut.... flying away.

He got things back under control though, and managed to pick up the rest of the peanuts.  I don't know how many, but he was loaded to the tip of his bill, for sure!

He flew off to cache them somewhere to eat later.  Jays belong to the Corvid family along with Crows and Ravens; and they are some of the smartest of birds.  Getting back to the "naughty or nice" question, I'd say "neither".   They are just doing what Blue Jays do.  If they are equipped to carry food away and save it for later, and they are smart enough to do it, then that's okay with me.  And I enjoy watching their antics while they do it.

Jay even came back for more... once the peanuts were gone, he was satisfied with sunflower meats.

While most of the photographs I include on my blog posts involve a fair amount of time-- getting just the right shots, this story took only 6 minutes from the beginning to ending photo.  

I hope you enjoyed watching Jay's antics as much as I did.  While not my favorite birds, I do admire Blue Jays for their beauty and intelligence.  So, actually... I guess they have to go on my 'nice' list. 

A Birds-Eye View

There are a lot of sayings about eyes.  When I 'googled' it, I found a list of 432 quotes having something to do with eyes--

Eyes are the windows to the soul.  Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  A sight for sore eyes.  

(I could go on... according to the list there are 428 more!)  Obviously, eyes are important.  When we think of birds though, we are more apt to think of their beautiful feathers and pretty songs than their eyes.  But birds eyes are interesting... let's take a look at some of them.

Here's a male Cardinal - of course we notice his red feathers, but if we look with 'eagle eyes' we'd see more details.

How about a Chickadee? Doesn't it look 'bright-eyed'? (not bushy-tailed though!)

Some birds are named for their eyes.  Here's a Red-eyed Vireo:

While it's pretty easy to see why that vireo would be called Red-eyed to distinguish it from the 13 other vireos listed in my Sibleys Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, I wondered about another bird named for their eyes --  Dark-eyed Juncos.  Yes, their eyes are dark-- but so are many other birds.  So I looked up Juncos, and found out there is a Yellow-eyed Junco (they mostly live in Mexico so I don't have a photo but you can see one by clicking here) and it made sense!

We do have some yellow-eyed birds here though, such as Grackles and Rusty Blackbirds.

Just like human eyes, some birds' eyes change color as they age.  Notice the young Grackle on the left - its eye is not yellow like the parent on the right.  Of course it's feathers are a lot different, too.

Other birds eyes change color as they get older as well.  Red-bellied woodpeckers eyes are more brownish when they are young and get redder with age.

This Killdeer parent has red eyes, too.

We can't see the baby Killdeer's eyes in that photo because it's so well hidden underneath its mommy.  'What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve over' (the baby isn't scared of the lady with the camera if it can't see me!)

Someday it will grow up and be able to 'keep an eye on the sky' like this:

Scientists know quite a bit about the anatomy of birds eyes.  They know that birds have 3 types of photoreceptors (rods, cones, and double cones) while humans have only the first two kinds.  So birds may see colors better than we do.  While scientists know this, of course they can't be sure exactly what birds see.  It is thought that they may even be able to see ultraviolet light!  

I wonder how this male Indigo Bunting would look to a female Indigo Bunting?  He might be some real 'eye candy' and turn out to be the 'apple of her eye".

Birds eyes are larger than our eyes relative to the total area of our heads, which is another advantage.  That probably allows them to see better than we do, too.  A starlings eye is 15% of its head mass while the average humans is less than 2%.  The cone cells in a humans retina number about 200,000 per square millimeter, while a sparrow has 2 times that many and a hawk has 5 times!  Hawks can see details at distances 2 to 3 times further away than us.  So if you say someone has 'eyes like a hawk' that is a really good thing.

Birds have some advantages over humans in sight, but we have something they might 'give their eye teeth for' (if they had teeth).  That's the fact that we can move our eyes around in our heads and they can't.  To make up for it, they can move their heads quite a lot.  Of course we think of Owls, which have the most head-turning ability, but most birds have a fair amount -- like this Northern Flicker:

This time of year, we mostly have to get our bird-fix by watching the birds at our feeders.  So I've been 'keeping one eye' on the windows.  When I saw this Evening Grosbeak, I almost 'could not believe my eyes'. 

Of course, Blue Jays are quite common in comparison.  Though there is more to them than 'meets the eye' when you see the intricacy of their facial feathers!

Though our birds eat a lot, I'll keep putting seeds and suet out for them.  Sometimes 'their eyes are bigger than their stomachs' - like the Titmouse with this chunk of suet.

The price of bird food is worth it because the birds are 'a sight for sore eyes', especially this time of year.

My Winter Wonder-ings

I wonder if any one else sees the face in this old fence post?

Do you see his one eye winking? And his rather small nose, but large smiling mouth-- chewing on a piece of grass?  With a white snow cap, of course!

I wonder if you see a running River Otter?

I wonder if the school children who rode in this old bus were just as happy as the children are now when they get a 'snow day'?

I wonder if Queen Ann likes her summer or winter lace better?

Or if the 'Ladies-in-Waiting' feel just as beautiful as the Queen when they are coated with diamonds?

I wonder where the rest of the Tree Sparrows are?  These two are visiting our feeders but we usually have a flock of them.

I wonder if God knew some of us would need a least a little color to brighten our winter days, so He gave us Rose hips (above) and Winterberries...

and male Cardinals, of course...

I wonder if the birds who built these nests close together in one small tree did it at the same time, and if they did... did they enjoy each others company?

I wonder how thick the ice will get on the swamp this winter (last year it was 17"!) and if the Painted Turtles are buried deep enough in the mud?

I wonder about a lot of things.   Some of them are fanciful and some are down-to-earth (even under the mud).  

Finally, I wonder when I will be able to sit on the dock in some warm sunshine? 

I'm afraid I know the answer to that.... not for a pretty long time!