A Ladder-backed Woodpecker, which did not show up in these counts
Since finishing my small year, I’ve enjoyed going back to not counting birds quite so much. I’m still participating in Project FeederWatch and I did the Great Backyard Bird Count the weekend before last, but it’s good to just enjoy the birds for what they are instead of as checks on a list.
Still, I do like participating in these citizen science projects and so I’m list blogging, which seems hardly worthy of the Kreativ Blogger Award kindly bestowed on my by Angie at woman, ask the question.
For the GBBC, I counted along the pond trail after work on Friday and then stuck with my backyard on Saturday and Sunday, which are my Project FeederWatch count days anyway. I didn’t do a GBBC count on Monday.
This year’s count yielded no surprises. I haven’t seen anything new in the neighborhood or in my yard this year, and I haven’t seen any American Goldfinches. Maybe the Lesser Goldfinches have claimed the yard, but last year I regularly saw both species.
And here are the counts. The numbers in parentheses indicate the greatest number of individuals seen at one time…
The above recording is a Carolina Wren followed by a response from a Black-crested Titmouse. The wren follows and then they sing together after which the titmouse gets in the last word. I recorded it on my iphone so it’s nothing fancy and doesn’t sound professional by any means. I edited it down from 55 seconds to cut the dead space between songs.
I’ve been trying to record some of the backyard bird sounds hoping this will help me learn their songs over time in much the same way that photographing them has helped me learn their names.
Project FeederWatch contines. Last month, I noted I hadn’t seen any cardinals or Mourning Doves since the count period began, but in the past month both birds have checked in. I also had a European Starling visit the back porch to investigate one of the feeders. They’re common here, but I rarely see them in the yard. Last year, I only had them show up once. Three came by for a swim in the birdbath.
American Goldfinches are the only birds from last year that haven’t come around. I’ve talked to a few people around here who say they haven’t seen many this year either.
Here’s the current tally with the highest number of individuals in parentheses.
White-winged Dove (23)
Mourning Dove (1)
Blue Jay (3)
Carolina Chickadee (2)
Black-crested Titmouse (2)
Carolina Wren (2)
Bewick’s Wren (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
European Starling (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Chipping Sparrow (15)
Northern Cardinal (1)
Lesser Goldfinch (5)
House Sparrow (17)
Here’s a picture of a Black-crested Titmouse leaving the feeder. It’s not a good picture, but I like the motion.
A Black-crested Titmouse takes flight
Update: This post was included in I and the Bird #117 at the Marvelous in nature. This week’s host, Seabrooke Leckie, actually drew all of the featured birds including my wren and titmouse singing it out and linked to all the posts from her drawing. It’s awesome. Check it out.
I learned so much about my backyard and its avian visitors last year that I decided to participate in Project FeederWatch again. Plus, it’s good to be a part of this citizen science project sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Unlike last year, I won’t be posting my weekly counts here. Instead, I’ll do updates monthly or so.
I started counting for this feeder watch season on the weekend of November 14th. Most of the usual suspects have checked in, though I haven’t seen any Northern Cardinals or Mourning Doves yet.
American Goldfinch hasn’t stopped by either, though they didn’t show until January last time. The Lesser Goldfinches have grown scarce since I moved the feeder. I guess they don’t approve of the new location, so I’ll probably move it back.
The Chipping Sparrows returned for the winter, right on schedule in early November, and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Orange-crowned warbler, the other winter residents, are enjoying the suet feeders.
An accipiter, probably Sharp-shinned Hawk, swooped through the yard too, but not on a count day. I haven’t seen a hawk in the yard since March so I’m assuming it’s one of the migratory sharpies.
Here’s the tally after one month with highest counts in parentheses:
This is the visitor I saw at the hummingbird feeder yesterday. It hangs from the roof, so this crafty little devil had to climb down the chain to the hanging plant to get to the feeder.
I’ve seen more hummers around lately, but now I know why the sugar water has been disappearing unusually fast the past few days.
I finally got to see an American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. They’ve been coming around all winter, but they’ve mostly headed north now, leaving before turning yellow. This little straggler made my day on Saturday when he stopped by the nyger bag for a few seeds in between visits by the always yellow Lesser Goldfinches.
Project FeederWatch ended last weekend. For those just tuning in, PFW is a citizen science project run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The idea is that you commit to keeping a record of all the birds that visit your feeders, birdbaths, birdhouses, and landscape features from November to April. In addition to being a part of something that helps scientists learn about and help birds, participants have the opportunity to learn a surprising amount about what goes on right outside their doors.
This is a summary of some interesting things I learned.
Observations about Specific Birds:
Wrens:
A Bewick's Wren stops by for a snack
We get both Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens at our house. They both like suet and mealworms, but the Carolina Wrens will also take seeds from the cake feeders. Carolina Wrens also seem to be more willing to poke around the ground in the flowerbed, while Bewick’s Wrens prefer scouring the trees and plants for bugs. Carolinas also seems to be much more vocal; every morning, I can expect one singing (surprisingly loud) from the fence.
Hawks:
Accipiter hawk relaxing on the neighbor's fence
On several occasions, on count days and non-count days, I saw unidentifiable accipiter hawks swooping through the yard. On one occasion, I got some pictures of one sitting by the neighbor’s feeder and on another day, I saw one sitting by my feeder. I never got a good enough look to ID any of the ones I saw on count days, but readers of this blog thought the one I photographed was a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
I assume he’s been eating sparrows since those are the only birds whose counts have been lower than I expected them to be. The wrens, titmice, chickadees, and finches all seem to show up in basically the same numbers each week so I suspect they’re avoiding the hawks.
Goldfinches:
Lesser Goldfinch
I was thrilled to see goldfinches show up in my yard at long last. I have my sister to thank. She got me some nyjer bags for Christmas, and the goldfinches arrived withing days of putting them out.
Lesser Goldfinches will only take nyjer seed from the bags, while American Goldfinches who seem to prefer the nyjer bags, will use the tube feeder when the bags are crowded.
American Goldfinch in winter non-gold plumage
I had hoped to see the American Goldfinches in breeding plumage, but they seem to have mostly left, although I did see one this weekend in transitional plumage. I hope he sticks around so I can see him in his full golden glory.
Blue Jays:
Blue Jay
Through most of the winter, the Blue jays came around only for the peanuts. As things warmed up, and nesting season began, they started taking suet again, which they didn’t touch during winter, ceding it instead to the wrens, titmice, kinglets, warblers, and mockingbirds. They also come around more and more for the regular seeds, but the peanuts are still the favorite.
Cardinals:
(no pictures. try back next year)
During the fall and winter, the cardinals only come around in the very early hours before dawn and the dusky hour between sunset and dark. During spring and summer they come around the feeders at all times of the day.
Doves:
One Mourning Dove and two White-winged Doves
White-winged Doves are the most prevalent and obvious birds at our platform feeder during spring and summer, but through fall and winter, there are substantially fewer and the Mourning Doves come around a bit more frequently.
Mockingbirds:
A Northern Mockingbird eyes the suet feeder
The mockingbirds come regularly for suet in the winter, but lose all interest in it when it gets warmer out. There is a pair nesting in the neighbor’s cedar tree, but their only interest in my yard now is the birdbath.
Titmice:
Black-crested Titmouse on the pinecone feeder
The Black-crested Titmice are almost always the first ones to check out a new feeder, and often the first ones to the worms in the morning, thus earning them the nickname Pigmice. They’re still my favorites, though.
Every morning in winter, one or two would burst from the wren box and start scolding me from a nearby tree until I had the worms out. Now that it’s warmer, they’ve left the box for the wrens and are nesting elsewhere, but they’re still first in line at the worm feeder most mornings.
And, now, some lists…
The Visitors:
The numbers are the highest numbers of individuals seen at one time.
White-winged Dove (25)
Chipping Sparrow (24)
House Sparrow (20)
American Goldfinch (8)
Common Grackle (8)
House Finch (5)
Northern Mockingbird (4)
Brown-headed Cowbird (4)
Black-crested Titmouse (3)
Mourning Dove (3)
Carolina Chickadee (3)
European Starling (3)
Blue Jay (3)
Lesser Goldfinch (3)
Bewick’s Wren (2)
Carolina Wren (2)
Northern Cardinal (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (2)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (2)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (1)
Accipiter sp. (1)
American Robin (1)
Red-winged Blackbird (1)
Song Sparrow (1)
The Permanent Collection:
These are the birds that appeared in all 20 counts.
White-winged Dove
Carolina Chickadee
Black-crested Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Bewick’s Wren
Chipping Sparrow
All of these are permanent residents except the Chipping Sparrows. They will depart for points north in the next week or so, and return in October. If past years are any guide, we will see flocks of 60-70 in the yard for a day or 2 and then they will be gone.
House Sparrow only missed one week (Dec 27), which was incidentally, the first time I saw an accipiter hawk. Smart sparrows.
Passing Through:
Birds that came for a distinct span of time and then left.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1.3.09 – 2.7.09)
American Robin (2.28.09 – 3.14.09)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1.3.09 – 3.14.09)
Red-winged Blackbird (3.7.09 – 3.14.09)
I’ll be curious to see if these species come around these times next year.
Sometimes Birds:
Birds that are here year-round. They don’t come by the yard very often, but were kind enough to stop by on at least one count day.
Accipiter sp (Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Red-winged Blackbird
European Starling
Spring/Summer Birds:
These are the birds that hang around the yard only during spring and summer along with their arrival dates.
American Robin (2.21)
Common Grackle (3.07)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (3.21)
Biggest Flocks:
These are the largest groups of individuals seen at one time.
White-winged Dove (25 on 3.14.09)
Chipping Sparrow (24 on 1.17.09)
House Sparrow (20 on 12.06.08)
American Goldfinch (8 on 02.21.09)
Common Grackle (8 on 03.07.09 & 03.21.09)
Life Birds:
A Ruby-crowned Kinglet considers the suet feeder
These are the birds I had never seen and saw for the first time as a result of paying closer attention to the feeders.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Orange-crowned Warbler
Brown-headed Cowbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Accipter sp. (probably Sharp-shinned Hawk)
Non-avian Feeder Visitors:
A possum visits the bird feederFox Squirrel
Fox Squirrel
Virginia Opossum
Project FeederWatch was a fun and eye-opening experience. I intend to continue counting birds and uploading my counts to ebird for the rest of 2009, and I will definitely be participating again next year.
Sometimes the most interesting visitors come by night. I usually bring the feeder in after dark, but some nights the possum beats me to it. Phoebe discovered him up there and despite her best efforts throwing herself into the air, she couldn’t get him so no possum stew for the pups.
This was the last week of counting for Project FeederWatch, and the hummingbirds finally showed up. When I looked out the window on Saturday morning a very fluffy looking Black-chinned Hummingbird was huddled on one of the hanging flowerpots near the hummingbird feeder. He occasionally would drink and then go back to perch. When the sun finally came up, he buzzed over to a tree and watched the feeder, diligently chasing away any other hummer that happened to come near.
Here’s my last count for the 2008-2009 FeederWatch Season:
White-winged Dove (12)
Mourning Dove (1)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (2)
Blue Jay (1)
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Black-crested Titmouse (1)
Carolina Wren (1)
Bewick’s Wren (2)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
Chipping Sparrow (5)
Northern Cardinal (1)
Common Grackle (5)
House Finch (4)
Lesser Goldfinch (3)
House Sparrow (4)
Tomorrow, I’ll do a post about what I learned about my backyard from participating in Project FeederWatch.
This was a busy week for the birds. At 19 species, this week had the most diversity and even included a lifer: the Brown-headed Cowbird, my 100th life bird. The cowbirds came in a small mixed flock of icterids that included a few grackles and a Red-winged Blackbird.
The Song Sparrow is also new to both yard and life list. I saw my first ones last Wednesday at the pond down the street. I guess one of them decided to come check out my feeders.
Other than that, it was mostly the usual suspects, though the Orange-crowned Warbler didn’t turn up. Perhaps he has headed north.
Still no hummingbirds. The black chins arrived on the 16th last year and on the 17th in 2007. I suspect the drought and resulting lack of wildflowers has them going elsewhere.
The highlight for Week 18 of Project FeederWatch was a Red-winged Blackbird at the tube feeder. This was only the second time I’ve seen one in the yard (the other time was June 12, 2007). I watched him for a few minutes, but he flew away before I could get my camera out.
The White-winged Doves took the lead this week for “greatest number of individuals observed.” During the summer months, we see more of them than anything else.
It was a mostly dark and gray weekend, so no pictures. Just the list, which includes most of the usual suspects:
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 prepares to do his grackle displayCommon 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:
White-winged Dove (12)
Mourning Dove (2)
Blue Jay (2)
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Black-crested Titmouse (2)
Carolina Wren (2)
Bewick’s Wren (2)
American Robin (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
European Starling (3)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Chipping Sparrow (8)
Northern Cardinal (2)
Common Grackle (8)
House Finch (2)
Lesser Goldfinch (1)
American Goldfinch (1)
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:
White-winged Dove (5)
Mourning Dove (1)
Blue Jay (1)
Carolina Chickadee (2)
Black-crested Titmouse (2)
Carolina Wren (1)
Bewick’s Wren (2)
American Robin (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Chipping Sparrow (5)
Northern Cardinal (2)
House Finch (1)
Lesser Goldfinch (1)
American Goldfinch (1)
House Sparrow (7)
If you’ve never watched a grackle through a good pair of binoculars, give it a go. They’re really quite exquisite birds.
