Category: Birds

My adventures watching, photographing, studying, and writing about birds

Four Good Walks, Four New Birds

Gadwall over the Pond — Gadwall flying over the pond

I usually go walking around the building at lunch. My classroom has no windows and it’s just good to get out, breathe real air for a few minutes. I try to look for new birds as I go, and I’ll often bring some small binoculars in case something catches my eye. I’ve seen a few life birds this way, but this has been a lucky week.

On Monday, I saw a White-crowned Sparrow. Yesterday, I saw an American Kestrel. Both of those are life birds for me. In addition to those two, I also saw the usual Eastern Meadowlarks, Killdeer, and Mockingbirds.

When I got home, still feeling fortunate, I took a walk down the trail towards the little pond down the street. On the trail, I saw Black-crested Titmice and Carolina Chickadees chirping in the trees. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet darted around in a stand of cedar, and an Orange-crowned Warbler flitted about in an oak. Those last two are relatively new for me so it’s exciting to see them.

I walked to the little footbridge over the creek and watched the birds from there when a flash of something red darted out of a hole in a dead tree towards a stumpy cedar. I waited to see if it would return, but I didn’t see anything. Getting cold in the shade, I decided to get back in the sun and walk down to the pond.

Just before the pond, a pair of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers caught my attention as they drummed some avian beat poetry into a leafless tree. As if only waiting for the woodpeckers’ drumroll, a Great Egret swooped out of the reeds and away up the trail.

Around the pond, I saw a mockingbird, Eastern Phoebe, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler, my third life bird for the week. I had seen the warbler before, but never got a look good enough for an ID until today.

On the pond, Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks and a pair of Least Grebes swam patterns into the still water. The number of ducks surprised me. I didn’t count, but I would guess there were between 30-40.

I also saw a mystery sparrow (I think) on top of a tree. The light was as bad as my angle so I quit trying to ID, and with three new birds in two days, I didn’t want to get greedy.

Other than those, the only birds I saw on my walk were vultures, both Turkey and Black, circling endlessly over the pond.

Today, I took my usual lunch walk and saw the kestrel again in the same place at about the same time. Like me, he must a schedule that brings us together around noon. This time I got an even better look, and since I knew what he was, I was able to really watch him without the buzz of “whatbirdisthishwhatbirdisthis?” running through my mind. The knowing enables the seeing.

After work, wondering how well the pond birds keep a schedule and wanting another crack at that mystery sparrow, I went back to the pond. One of the ladder-backs was working the same tree as yesterday, keeping his appointments, obviously. I didn’t see the sparrow, but the rest of the birds from yesterday were there as were a few Northern Shovelers and an American Goldfinch. I got a better look at the Yellow-rumped Warbler, and I saw a fourth new bird, an American Wigeon, preening out on the pond.

This time I took a rough count of the Gadwalls and got 45. Then I just sat down in the cool blue evening and watched while the egret hunted along the far shore, his feathers glowing bright in the fading sun, while ducks swam through the shadows of the trees. Couting and keeping lists of birds in fun and, when entering the data into ebird, scientifically useful, but it’s just the sitting and watching them be birds that’s really magical.

It’s the birdwatching, more than the birding, that makes for the perfect end to a day.

Project FeederWatch Week 9

January 12, 2009 • James Brush • 4 Comments

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

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.

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

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

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

January 5, 2009 • James Brush • Leave a comment

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)

Wrens at the Pinecone Feeder

January 2, 2009 • James Brush • 5 Comments

For Christmas our nephew and neice (with some help from their mom, I’m sure) made us some pinecone bird feeders made by using peanut butter to stick birdseed to the pinecone. I hung them from a hanging plant and sure enough, the birds were interested.

The first visitor was a Carolina Wren who seemed to enjoy swinging back and forth on it between bites of seed. A little while later (after the light calmed down and made for better shooting) his smaller cousin, the Bewick’s Wren came by to enjoy some of the peanut buttered seed.

I love these kinds of simple homemade gifts. So do the birds.

Project FeederWatch Week 7

December 31, 2008 • James Brush • Leave a comment

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

December 22, 2008 • James Brush • Leave a comment

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.

Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaup

December 16, 2008 • James Brush • Leave a comment

I’ve heard it said that you should write what you know. I think it’s just as useful to write what you want to learn. That’s part of why I enjoy writing about my birding experiences.

The day before Thanksgiving I walked to the pond down the street to see what kinds of ducks were around. Mostly Gadwalls and some Northern Shovelers. I saw a Lesser Scaup too, or so I thought. Had I looked closer I would have seen that it wasn’t a Scaup, but rather something new to me.

I posted some pictures and Ted commented and pointed out the error I had made. I consulted my Sibley guide and found that while Lesser Scaup and Ring-necks are similar, there are differences such as the white ring on the Ring-neck’s bill and the white spur on his side. Also the scaup has a grey back while the Ring-neck’s back is black.

I went back and compared pictures from a few weeks ago with a Lesser Scaup picture from last year and saw the difference.

Since I had never seen a Ring-necked Duck before (at least while knowing what it was) I walked back down today to see if there were any still there.

It’s a cold day today, but there were actually more ducks than usual. I didn’t count, but I suspect there were 20 or so Gadwalls and at least 10 Ring-necked Ducks.

Ring-necked Ducks in the pond down the street

I watched for awhile and tried a few pictures, but it was dark and so I had trouble getting a stable shot. Still, this one was passable and now that I know the field marks well enough to distinguish Ring-necks from Scaup, I’m confident in adding this new bird to my life list.

And then there’s the beauty of writing what you want to learn. I think I’ve learned a good bit about birds just from writing about what I’m seeing and experiencing in the field. Or in my backyard as the case may be. But, it’s easy to get overconfident and not notice what should be obvious (ie: that wasn’t a Lesser Scaup) and so the writing and posting what I think I know helps me nail down what I do know and still need to learn. I still have a lot to learn about ducks, for instance, which I’m discovering are kind of tricky.

Soon, the cold started to get to me and it was time to head home and feed the pups, but as I was going I noticed a buck nibbling the grass on the far side of the pond.

Amazing what else you can see when going out to look for birds. Of course, seeing deer around here isn’t that amazing. Had I been awake the other night I would have seen the one that came to our front porch to eat our plants.

For more bird blogging, be sure to check out I and the Bird #90.

Project FeederWatch Week 5

December 15, 2008 • James Brush • Leave a comment

This was a busy weekend and so I only got to watch the feeders for a few minutes at a stretch, mostly as I was passing by the windows.

If squirrels were birds, I’d have a pretty high count this time, but since they’re not, I didn’t see very many and nothing unusual.

The count for Week 5:

Carolina Wren (1)
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Black-crested Titmouse (1)
Bewick’s Wren (1)
White-winged Dove (1)
Northern Cardinal (1)
House Finch (2)
House Sparrow (3)
Chipping Sparrow (4)

The only noteworthy thing is that I finally saw the female cardinal again for the first time in months. She and the crippled Mr. Cardinal were foraging below the platform feeder earlier in the week, but, alas, I did not see her on my count days, the only cardinal then being Mr. Cardinal.

The weather was mostly overcast, warm and humid. A front came through last night so now it’s in the thirties.

I do love Texas weather.

Project FeederWatch Week 4

December 8, 2008 • James Brush • Leave a comment

Week 4 of Project FeederWatch brought a new bird into the mix: the Ladder-backed Woodpecker. This is the first one I’ve seen since July when they were fairly regular visitors to the yard.

Mr. Cardinal also returns after 2 weeks. He’s the only one I can identify as an individual, and that’s because of his injured leg. I first saw it back in June. It was twisted behind him at a painful looking angle. I didn’t expect to see him much longer after that, but he keeps coming back. It’s been 6 months now, and he’s hanging in there.

And, now for this week’s count: