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Year: 2009

Project FeederWatch Week 17 (and 16)

March 9, 2009 • • 2 Comments
A Common Grackle looks around the yard
A Common Grackle looks around the yard

On Sunday morning, I became the only person in Austin, TX to become excited about seeing grackles. That’s because 8 Common Grackles showed up, and while they’re as common as air around here, they rarely come to my yard, and this is the first time they’ve come since I started doing Project FeederWatch.

As if that wasn’t enough. 3 European Starlings, another common local bird but a rarity in my yard, stopped by for a round of vigorous splashing in the backyard birdbath.

This is a happy discovery I’ve made about listing: even if a newly listed bird is extremely common and I’ve seen it a million times in every parking lot in town, getting to add it to my list makes the bird new.

I watched the grackles for a long time, marveling at the dark sheen of their iridescent feathers, their bright laser-intense eyes and their long sharp bills. They are wonderful birds to watch and those shadow-colored birds look so great among all the other avian colors. A backyard needs some black (even if it’s really dark purplish) around the feeders.

A grackle considering his options
A grackle prepares to do his grackle display
Common Grackle doing the grackle display
Common Grackle doing the grackle display

Despite a name that’s fun to say, the grackle gets a bad rap around here. Of, course it’s easy to appreciate them when you don’t have a flock of thousands roosting in your trees, and so, I’m glad they came by, but I hope they don’t bring too many more friends, unless they show up with their Great-tailed kin so I can add another bird to my count.

Last summer, a pair nested in the neighbor’s tree and they brought their fledglings around to our feeders where I got some nice shots of junior begging for and getting a peanut from one of his parents. They also made sure their young knew where to find the birdbaths. Their bathing habits surprised me: they are probably the most frequent bathers of all my backyard birds. Not bad for a bird that many consider filthy.

Other than the grackles and starlings, all of the usual suspects made an appearance. Some quick observations:

  • House Sparrows seem to be coming around a bit more.
  • A wren built a nest in my neighbor’s plant.
  • White-wing Doves are increasing as the weather warms.
  • For the second week in a row, I only saw one each of the American and Lesser Goldfinches, and no goldfinches on Sunday. I wonder if the warm weather and weeds that are sprouting have inspired them to seek wild food, or in the case of the American Goldfinches, head north. I hope not, as I was hoping to see them in their breeding plumage.
  • Still no hummingbirds yet. Probably next weekend.

The Week 17 Count, which has the greatest number of species seen, thus far:

  1. White-winged Dove (12)
  2. Mourning Dove (2)
  3. Blue Jay (2)
  4. Carolina Chickadee (1)
  5. Black-crested Titmouse (2)
  6. Carolina Wren (2)
  7. Bewick’s Wren (2)
  8. American Robin (1)
  9. Northern Mockingbird (1)
  10. European Starling (3)
  11. Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
  12. Chipping Sparrow (8)
  13. Northern Cardinal (2)
  14. Common Grackle (8)
  15. House Finch (2)
  16. Lesser Goldfinch (1)
  17. American Goldfinch (1)
  18. House Sparrow (17)

My count for last weekend was sparse. We were in Houston, and so I only counted for a couple of minutes on Saturday morning and Sunday evening, but here is what I got for Week 16:

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

Grackle on the Feeder 2

If you’ve never watched a grackle through a good pair of binoculars, give it a go. They’re really quite exquisite birds.

Mike at 10000 Birds has a nice post celebrating grackles today. It seems that this weekend he also saw his first Common Grackles for the year.

For more on the Common Grackle, have a look at Common Grackle: The Overlooked Blackbird at Tails of Birding and, of course, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds: The Common Grackle.

Or, better yet, go out and find one to study. They’re everywhere.

Friday Hound Blogging: NaisaiKu III

March 6, 2009 • • 4 Comments

Phoebe Barks

can you call it fun
if no one ever gets hurt?
RED CUTS ON WHITE FUR
if no one ever gets hurt,
can you call it fun?

—

This is for my rough-and-tumble greyhound Phoebe. She’s always got a cut or a scrape or a bloody appendage. It’s all fun and games even when she gets hurt. We’re pretty sure she thinks that’s half the fun.

If you’re interested in the form of the poem, it’s a NaisaiKu and it was written for Week 3 of the NaisaiKu… Challenge.

[saveagrey]

Nycticorax

March 5, 2009 • • 6 Comments

A nycticorax nycticorax brouhahas behind my back,
Monkey swings a question: axes if I’ll take a hack.
Banging fall against my led racks one up for me.
On a wire, freezing fire, spinning tire, unicycle riders flee.
A liar pulls his pants up higher.
Typewriter, scared-of-spiders, aims a little higher:
Could the cold of clouds combine?
Do the roses know the thyme?
This is strange—her thin I thought; you thought it
Too. You know it’s true.

—

This is for read write prompt #68: meaning is optional. Surprisingly enough, it was fun. I tried to write something that sounded interesting and would be fun to read out loud yet with as little meaning as possible. Despite my initial attitude indicated by the words in bold, it was more difficult than I imagined it would be. It also required more thought than I anticipated. Who knew it would take so much time to write something that doesn’t mean anything?

Nycticorax nycticorax is the Latin name for the Black-crowned Night Heron. The literal translation is “night raven.”

Can you find the line from a Cure song that snuck in here slightly altered?

The Journey off the Path

February 26, 2009 • • 7 Comments

In the dusky woods behind the lighthouse,
legends flourish and tangle, thick as weeds.
Liars, poets and pranksters all espouse
fair warnings they know you’ll never heed.
You’ll wish your sword weren’t now a plow
if you should dare proceed.

She warns you not to leave the path
or wander into dark and mossy woods.

In nightmares, ignored warnings bloom like flares;
branches claw the clouds; darkness settles round.
Wandering till trees repeat and even prayers
unheard are lost, and rising, make no sound.
Faint steps—wolf or bear? Turn, but nothing there.
Each steps’ crunch—bones rattling underground.
Each step deals a lonely solitaire
against your faith in being found.

She warns you not to leave the path
or wander into dark and mossy woods.

Desperate, you forsake the trail.
Without a map, you seek a fairer route.
When after darkest days, you find a vale,
a bright respite from fear and pain and doubt,
you discover, then, that only when you’ve strayed
you find your truest way.

She lies about leaving the path
to trap you in the dark and mossy woods.

—

This is a bop style poem written for Read Write Poem’s share the bop prompt. Participants were asked to donate two lines of poetry, and then pick someone else’s lines to serve as the refrain in their own poems. The refrain in this one was donated by Christine Swint who writes at balanced on the edge. I loved the mystery of the “dark and mossy woods” and wondered what was off the path.

I didn’t know where it would go (neither the path nor the poem), but it was fun using someone else’s idea as a jumping off point. As I wrote, I found the poem wanting to rhyme, which I don’t usually do, but this is all about experimenting so I followed that path and wound up using a sonnet-like rhyme.

And, for those who may be interested, Deb at Stoney Moss wrote a very cool poem with the lines that I donated. Her poem is called “A Vulture’s Love Is True.”

Update: Angie at The Space Between Words also used my lines. Her poem is “cathartes aura bop.” Go read it.

Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk?

February 24, 2009 • • 6 Comments
Accipiter hawk relaxing on the neighbor's fence
Accipiter hawk relaxing on the neighbor's fence

This morning, I noticed this crafty devil sitting on the neighbor’s fence.  He seemed pretty relaxed what with his feathers all fluffed out against the cold, and standing on just one foot. I watched for a few moments and then ran for my camera and binoculars. Even though I was in the house, I’d swear he heard the camera because he put his foot down and looked right at me when I started shooting.

Not wanting to risk being late for work, I didn’t study him for long through the binoculars, trying instead to get pictures, which turned out a bit fuzzy, as the light was low and my lens isn’t fast, but I thought they might be passable enough to figure out an ID.

Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk on the neighbor's fence
Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk on the neighbor's fence

I’m pretty certain he is one of the 2 accipiter species of hawks that can be found around here this time of year, but the question is: which one?

The Sharp-shinned Hawk and the Cooper’s Hawk look nearly identical, though the Cooper’s is slightly larger. The Sharp-shinned are roughly jay-sized while the Cooper’s are closer to crow-sized. The hitch there is that the females are larger than the males so a large female Sharp-shinned and a small male Cooper’s could be the same size.

Fortunately, I had the neighbor’s squirrel feeder to compare him to. I’ve never seen a crow near it, but I do see lots of Blue Jays hanging around there, and this hawk looked a bit larger compared to it than the jays.

Project FeederWatch has a good page about distinguishing between these two as does the Great Backyard Bird Count.

The Project FeederWatch site had this useful bit of info:

If you can see the back of the hawk, and it is an adult, then the color of the nape is a reliable field mark. Cooper’s Hawks have a pale nape with a clear contrast to a dark cap. Juveniles of both species can show a pale nape, however.

The bird in question had the decency to turn his head and in these 2 shots. It does appear that the nape is paler than the cap, which suggests Cooper’s Hawk.

Acciptiter 2

Accipiter 4

And, so, the question of the day: Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned? I’m leaning towards Cooper’s. Any of my birding friends out there want to weigh in? I’d love to know for sure.

If I’m way off, you can tell me that too.

Project FeederWatch Week 15

February 23, 2009 • • 1 Comment

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)

Friday Cat Blogging: NaisaiKu

February 20, 2009 • • 7 Comments

Simon Waits

piercing eyes scan all
he measures my weight in meat
jaguar on the couch
PIERCING EYES SCAN ALL
jaguar on the couch
he measures my weight in meat
piercing eyes scan all

—

piercing eyes scan all
he measures my weight in meat
jaguar on the couch
HE MEASURES MY WEIGHT IN MEAT
jaguar on the couch
he measures my weight in meat
piercing eyes scan all

—

piercing eyes scan all
he measures my weight in meat
jaguar on the couch
JAGUAR ON THE COUCH
jaguar on the couch
he measures my weight in meat
piercing eyes scan all

—

This is for The NaisaiKu Challenge. What is a NaisaiKu? The explanation is here, but mainly it’s a way to play with words and phrases using a 5-7-5 haiku as a starting point. Clever blogger that I am, I decided to combine this with some good old fashioned Friday Cat Blogging.

I attempted all 3 varieties of NaisaiKu, and like how they work together increasing the paranoia.

And, yes, I realize that the picture doesn’t match the words, but that’s only because Simon prefers to keep his eyes closed. But he is awake. Waiting.