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Tag: project feederwatch

Project FeederWatch Week 15

The birds were especially active this weekend. They must feel spring approaching, and they are getting into the sing of things accordingly.

The American Goldfinches are starting to shift to their gold breeding plumage. I noticed one whose breast is already almost entirely gold. The rest are a splotchy goldish green color.

A third Carolina Chickadee came by and joined the two regulars. All three sang hard, trying to outchickadee the others.

A second male cardinal is also hanging around, and the two males spent a good chunk of Saturday morning chasing each other through the yard.

An American Robin made an appearance in the counts this week, and I saw a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers working the trees, though neither of them found the suet feeders.

The White-winged Doves are also increasing as it gets warmer.

For the second week in a row, I have not seen any Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

The Project FeederWatch Official Tally for Week15:

  1. House Sparrow (2)
  2. Chipping Sparrow (11)
  3. House Finch (2)
  4. Lesser Goldfinch (1)
  5. American Goldfinch (8)
  6. Carolina Wren (1)
  7. Bewick’s Wren (2)
  8. Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  9. Blue Jay (2)
  10. Carolina Chickadee (3)
  11. White-winged dove (13)
  12. Northern Cardinal (2)
  13. Red-bellied Woodpecker (2)
  14. American Robin (1)
  15. Northern Mockingbird (1)
  16. Black-crested Titmouse (1)

Project FeederWatch Week 14/Great Backyard Bird Count Days 2-3

The birds and I pulled double duty this weekend as we were counting and being counted for both Project FeederWatch and The Great Backyard Bird Count. The two projects have slightly different rules, mainly in that PFW requires 1 count for 2 days while GBBC has separate counts for each day. Also, PFW counts should only include birds that come to the yard for things I provided (food, shelter, water, landscaping), whereas GBBC includes any birds seen in the count area, so I included the robins and crow I saw hanging out in the neighbors’ trees.

Mainly, I saw the usual suspects, although a raptor did fly low over the feeders on Saturday. It’s the second time I’ve seen one in the yard since December, but unless he’s eating House Sparrows, he’s not having much success as my counts haven’t changed much lately.

What kind of raptor? He moved faster than any bird I’ve ever seen so I didn’t get a great look at his markings. His wings were sharply pointed, his long tail wasn’t fanned out, and when he reached the neighbor’s house he did an abrupt rolling turn and was gone. Speed and pointed wings.

I immediately assumed him to be an accipiter, either a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned. These two are hard to distinguish, but I went to the guidebooks and searched online to see if I could do it. None of the pictures really looked like the bird I had seen. The wings were too pointed for one thing and the brief glimpse I got of his underside just didn’t look like the pictures. After flipping through to the falcon section, I saw a picture of a Merlin. That was my bird.

I read up on Merlins and found they do occasionally visit bird feeders, flying low and fast to grab prey on the wing. I also found this chart showing shapes of raptors in flight.

This brings up another issue. While I don’t begrudge birds of prey their meals, I don’t like the idea of my feeders becoming a buffet for all the local raptors. I’ll have to keep watch and see if the Merlin becomes a regular visitor. If so, I’ll bring the feeders in for a while.

Other than that, the only interesting thing about the weekend was the moment when I looked out an hour or so before the Merlin flyby and saw the feeders full of birds, each one holding perfectly still like little statues as if time had stopped in the backyard. I guess they saw the Merlin before I did.

I’m happy to report that American Goldfinches are continuing to bring friends and a few of them are starting to show traces of their gold breeding plumage.

Project FeederWatch Week 14:

  • American Goldfinch (7)
  • Black-crested Titmouse(2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • House Finch (2)
  • Chipping Sparrow (20)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • House Sparrow (2)
  • White-winged Dove (9)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (2)
  • Mourning Dove (1)
  • Lesser Goldfinch (1)
  • Merlin (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (2)

Great Backyard Bird Count Day 2 (Saturday):

  • American Goldfinch (6)
  • Black-crested Titmouse(1)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • House Finch (2)
  • Chipping Sparrow (18)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • House Sparrow (2)
  • White-winged Dove (6)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Mourning Dove (1)
  • Lesser Goldfinch (1)
  • Merlin (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (2)

Great Backyard Bird Count Day 3 (Sunday):

  • American Goldfinch (7)
  • Black-crested Titmouse(2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (1)
  • House Finch (2)
  • Chipping Sparrow (20)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • House Sparrow (4)
  • White-winged Dove (9)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (2)
  • Mourning Dove (1)
  • Lesser Goldfinch (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (1)
  • Blue Jay (1)
  • American Crow (1)
  • American Robin (2)

Project FeederWatch Week 13

Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch

For Week 13 of Project FeederWatch, the Lesser Goldfinches decided to come around, which was especially exciting because they were a life bird for me, and my 10th for 2009. Goldfinches (Lesser and American) are both new to me and so I spent most of my feeder watching time this weekend watching them.

One of the best things about the Lesser Goldfinch is that they are permanent residents around here and so hopefully, they’ll keep coming to the feeder even after the Americans leave in the spring.

Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch

The nyjer bag seems to be the big draw (thanks again to my sister and her family for giving it to me for Christmas) and so I hung the fancy nyjer feeder, which hasn’t drawn a single goldfinch in the 2 years I’ve had it, above the bag. The bag is still favored, but some of the American Goldfinches finally discovered it, and not a moment too soon as the nyjer bag was getting a bit crowded.

At one time I saw 4 American Goldfinches and 2 Lesser chowing down on the nyjer seed. A few House Finches even came by, but they were more interested in the nearby hummingbird feeder, which I put back out this weekend on the off chance of seeing an early hummer.

American and Lesser Goldfinch
American and Lesser Goldfinch

The goldfinches are especially fun to watch because of their acrobatic nature: they seem as happy eating upside down as rightside up. The feeders are close to the window too, which makes photography sort of easy, but upon seeing these shots, I’m thinking I ought to clean the windows.

Other than the goldfinches, all of the usual suspects made appearances, the doves finally showing up just before dark on Sunday evening. At 16 species, this was my best count period for variety, though I’ve had higher numbers of individuals.

Two observations: Blue Jays only seem to come on Sundays. It is the only day of the week I’ve seen them the past few weeks. Doves are much scarcer than I thought they’d be. I knew the white-wing numbers decrease in the winter, but I never realized by how much.

And, now, the count…

  • White-winged Dove (1)
  • Mourning Dove (2)
  • Blue Jay (2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (1)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (2)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (11)
  • Northern Cardinal (2)
  • House Finch (2)
  • Lesser Goldfinch (2)
  • American Goldfinch (4)
  • House Sparrow (4)

Be sure to check out I and the Bird #93: The Compelling Nature of Birds at Vickie Henderson Art.

Lesser Goldfinch has left the blog post
Lesser Goldfinch has left the blog post

Project FeederWatch Week 12

Between friends being in town and an interminable fever/chills cycle, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time doing my Project FeederWatch counts this weekend, but I did observe some interesting things.

The Blue Jays are suddenly showing interest in the suet feeders again. They were all over them last summer, but lost interest when it got cold out. Now that it’s a bit warmer (or at least was on Sunday) they’re interested again.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker made an appearance this weekend. This is the first one I’ve seen in the yard and thus the first time he’s shown up in my counts. I wonder if the Golden-fronted Woodpecker that used to come by regularly last summer will be back around soon.

The House Finches are coming around a bit more regularly. Probably looking for the hummingbird feeder, which I may put back up this week. After reading Dave Bonta’s haunting and beautiful “House Finch,” I checked for eye disease on them and the goldfinches, but fortunately found none. I keep my feeders clean and thus far have been fortunate not to have seen any infected finches, which you’re asked to report to PFW if you see it.

Cardinals seem to enjoy coming around every day except my count days. Perhaps they had all headed down to Florida for the Super Bowl.

After deleting the fever birds (you know, the penguin and the albatross I saw), I got this count:

  • Red-bellied Woodpecker (1)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • House Finch (2)
  • White-winged Dove (8)
  • American Goldfinch (2)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (3)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • Mourning Dove (1)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (1)
  • Blue Jay (2)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)

Not many individuals, but a good variety of species.

Project FeederWatch Week 11

I’d like to say I just did a half-assed count this week because I wanted to see how many birds I’d see if I didn’t really try, which might help me determine which of my backyard birds are more casual and which require more looking, but that wouldn’t be true. I just did a half-assed count. Still, I was surprised that I saw so many species. I didn’t see very many individuals, though.

The only unusual bird was the Ladder-backed Woodpecker who made his second appearance in my counts. They’re not really that unusual around here; I just don’t see them in the yard very often.

The week 11 count for Project FeederWatch:

  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • House Sparrow (2)
  • American Goldfinch (1)
  • Carolina Wren (1)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (8)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Carolina Chickadee (1)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Blue Jay (2)
  • Ladder-backed Woodpecker (1)
  • White-winged Dove (5)
  • Squirrels (lots)

BeĀ  sure to check out I and the Bird #92 at The Marvelous in Nature.

Project FeederWatch Week 10

American Goldfinch in winter non-gold plumage
American Goldfinch in winter non-gold plumage

I didn’t have any new birds show up in my Project FeederWatch count this week, but I did get the highest number of different species and the highest counts so far.

The American Goldfinch and Ruby-crowned Kinglet both brought friends, and I saw a House Finch for the first time in several weeks. The Chipping Sparrows edged out the House Sparrows for greatest number of individuals seen thus far. Other than that, it was the usual suspects doing the usual things.

The count for a crisp and pleasant weekend:

  • House Sparrow (7)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (3)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (24)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (1)
  • House Finch (1)
  • American Goldfinch (2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Blue Jay (1)
  • White-winged Dove (3)
  • Mourning Dove (1)

I’m hoping the goldfinch will continue and that they turn gold before they migrate since I’ve never seen one in the gold plumage.

Project FeederWatch Week 9

This was another good weekend of feeder watching. The titmice thought so too, especially since they finally noticed the pinecone feeder.

Black-crested Titmouse on the pinecone feeder
Black-crested Titmouse on the pinecone feeder

I’ve been trying for a couple of years to attract American Goldfinches to the yard. They’re only here in winter and I’ve seen them along the trail by the creek, but never in the yard. I’ve moved my nyjer feeder from place to place with no luck until this weekend when a lone American Goldfinch graced my yard, though he preferred the regular tube feeder over the nyjer feeder. He showed up on both count days so I’m hoping he’ll tell his friends and come back. Hopefully, I’ll get a picture.

Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow

The Chipping Sparrows showed up in record numbers for the year. I counted 19 at one point. I know that in late March and early April they’ll flock up and I’ll see 60 or 70 at a time in the weeks before they head north, but 19 is more than I expected at this point.

A Northern Mockingbird eyes the suet feeder
A Northern Mockingbird eyes the suet feeder

The suet feeder continues to be one of the most interesting feeders in terms of what it draws. Last summer it was dominated by Blue Jays and a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, but those don’t seem interested anymore, happily surrendering it to the mocker and the smaller birds.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet considers the suet feeder
A Ruby-crowned Kinglet considers the suet feeder

The Orange-crowned Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet also returned, which was expected since I had seen them most days since my last count. The above shot of the kinglet was taken through a dirty window, but I was surprised to have gotten anything considering how jumpy they are.

And, now, the official count for Week 9, which is probably my highest count at least in terms of number of species:

  • Northern Cardinal (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (19)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (2)
  • Carolina Wren (1)
  • American Goldfinch (1)
  • White-winged Dove (7)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
  • House Sparrow (4)
  • Mourning Dove (3)
  • Blue Jay (2)

Also, if you’re in Austin (or just interested), check out Mikael’s list of the 20 most common year-round resident backyard birds in the north Austin area.

Project FeederWatch Week 8

The first Project FeederWatch count for 2009 was a pretty good one. Two new birds entered my count, and both of them are also life birds for me.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet came by on New Year’s Eve. I had seen him the day before, but couldn’t get a good enough look at him for an ID. He came again on Wednesday. I was sitting on the porch when I noticed him at the suet feeder. They’re tiny birds, but I was close enough to see most of the field marks without binoculars.

I went inside and came back with my Sibley guide and some binocs and was able to study him long enough to ID him. Thus, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet became my last life bird for 2008.

He was good enough to come by the feeders again on both of my count days, but he didn’t bring any friends. He did venture over to the pinecone feeders for some peanut buttered seeds.

On Sunday another new bird showed up at the suet feeder and became my first life bird for 2009: the Orange-crowned Warbler.

At first sight I thought he was the kinglet again, but on closer inspection I saw that he had no wing bars and a yellowish breast. When he turned upside down to get at the suet, I got a good look at his rump, which was bright yellow.

He came back a few times and each time, I was able to use my guide books to narrow him down more and more until I was certain he was in fact an Orange-crowned Warbler, which is one of only a small number of warbler species that winters this far north.

Other than those two, the usual suspects all made an appearance, with the Chipping Sparrows hitting a high count and the House Sparrows still unusually low. Perhaps they’re still leery about the hawk we had last week.

Here’s the count:

  • Black-crested Titmouse (1)
  • Carolina Wren (1)
  • White-winged Dove (6)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • Chipping Sparrow (9)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (2)
  • House Sparrow (1)
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Orange-crowned Warbler (1)

Project FeederWatch Week 7

I was very curious about what my Project FeederWatch count would reveal for week 7 because of the hawk I saw sitting in the tree above the feeder on Christmas morning. It was an accipiter, either a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The two are very similar in appearance, though the Cooper’s is slightly larger. This one looked a little bigger than a Blue Jay, so I’d bet on Sharp-shinned if I was forced to make a call.

He had some unlucky something in his talons, and he flew off when he saw the dogs. He flew to a neighbor’s tree, prompting an outcry from some Blue Jays that seemed to chase him off. I didn’t see another sparrow in my yard until yesterday, and I wondered which birds if any would show up for my Sat/Sun counts.

As it turned out, most of the usual suspects came by including a second chickadee so my chickadee count is now up to two. A Mourning Dove also stopped by on Saturday evening so I did get to add a new bird to my count list. Only one sparrow, though, and not a single House Sparrow. I guess the sparrows also know that accipiters are sometimes known as sparrowhawks.

I haven’t seen him back either, which is good. I love birds of prey as much as the next person, but I really don’t want my feeders to become a songbird buffet for the local hawks.

And now, drum roll please, the count:

  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Carolina Chickadee (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (3)
  • White-winged Dove (6)
  • Blue Jay (2)
  • Chipping Sparrow (1)
  • Mourning Dove (1)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)

Project FeederWatch Week 6

Week 6 of Project FeederWatch began warm, overcast and muggy. A gloomy day good for staying in, which is likely what the birds thought since I only saw 2 sparrows, a cardinal and a dove.

I was getting bored until evening when I saw a mockingbird check out the suet feeder. I hadn’t seen a mocker in a few weeks and never one at the suet feeder. He inspected it for a while and then seemed to be working out how to get the suet. He finally figured it out, though, and now I wonder if he will claim it as his considering how territorial they can be.

An Arctic front blew in Sunday morning and that brought the birds out. After filling the feeders, a cardinal was already on the platform feeder before I reached the door. A female cardinal also came by, giving me 2 cardinals in my weekly count for the first time. I pulled out the binoculars to watch them and saw that the male seemed to be standing on both feet so I don’t know if this is a new Mr. Cardinal or if the crippled one is now back to fighting form.

The mockingbird was back on Sunday working the suet feeder, and I saw a couple of wrens digging around in the piles of leaves by the fence posts.

Sunday turned into a great day for watching the feeder birds from inside the house.

Here’s the official count:

  • Chipping Sparrow (5)
  • House Sparrow (5)
  • White-winged Dove (6)
  • Northern Mockingbird (1)
  • Northern Cardinal (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (3)
  • Carolina Chickadee (1)

I’ve also added a count to the left sidebar that shows all the birds I’ve counted during Project FeederWatch and the greatest number of individuals counted at one time. I’ll try to keep that updated through April.