The Zen Birdfeeder

One Hour, One Window 6-30-07

I haven't had a One Hour, One Window post for awhile, so here goes.  I actually only had 1/2 hour this morning before heading out to the store.

White breasted Nuthatch on WBU Advanced Pole System®

I didn't have time for many pix but here's who visited in that short 30 minutes of time:

American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Red breasted Nuthatch
Downy Woodpecker (taking loads of suet back to the nest)
Hairy Woodpecker (with young!)
Purple Finch (also with young)
Rose breasted Grosbeak (male)
Northern Cardinal (male)
Mourning Dove
White breasted Nuthatch

White breasted Nuthatch at the suet log

And lots of chipmunks and Red Squirrels, one who was nice enough to pose for a picture!

What do you see in One Hour from One Window at your home?

Fledgling Sapsucker

We returned from Florida yesterday to a yard full of empty feeders.  Leaving for a period of time and allowing feeders to go empty is not detrimental to the birds, especially during the summer when natural food supplies are plentiful.

We knew that we'd be returning to some fledgling birds and we weren't disappointed.  Hairy Woodpeckers have fledged as have the Yellow bellied Sapsuckers.

This well-camouflaged fledgling sapsucker was tucked in a notch of the mountain ash in the corner of the yard.  This tree has had multiple years of sapsucker use, though you can see some newer holes oozing sap.


When dad came to the tree, junior got vocal...

...then watched dad drill more new sap wells.

Sapsucker wells are often visited by other birds such as hummingbirds, orioles, and nuthatches, as well as other creatures like bats, red squirrels and insects such as this Red Admiral.

When the young sapsuckers tuck themselves up close to a tree, their brown streaky pattern keeps them well camouflaged.  Note the strong wing streak.

Sapsuckers primarily eat the sap that flows from the wells they drill.  Sap holes usually produce for 3-4 days before they become plugged.  Sapsuckers will work the holes to keep sap flowing.  When new holes are needed, they drill them close to the old holes.  Besides sap, they also eat a large quantity of insects.  Mayflies and ants are the most important insects in their diet.

Welcome to the world, young sapsucker!

Merritt Island NWR and WBU Pathways to Nature

On Wednesday, I made my first visit to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on central Florida's Atlantic Coast.  Merritt Island is owned by NASA and administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  The refuge has a diversity of habitats as it serves as a buffer zone for space shuttle launch activities.

Merritt Island NWR has more threatened and endangered species than any other national wildlife refuge in the continental US.  It is a major population center for the Florida Scrub Jay, pictured below, which is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Similar in size and color to the Blue Jay, the Florida Scrub Jay lacks a crest and has grey shoulders.  They eat insects and small vertebrates as well as acorns from scrub oaks.

Only 5,000-10,000 Florida Scrub Jays are left in the world.  In Florida, they have lost 70% of their habitat due to development.  You can read more about the Florida Scrub Jay on WBU's rightbird online field guide.

The new Wild Birds Unlimited Trail at Merritt Island was dedicated on Wednesday.  Partially funded by WBU's Pathways to Nature Conservation Fund, the trail and two blinds provide outstanding access for viewing refuge wildlife such as the Anhinga (below) or the Tricolored Heron (bottom). 

A portion of sales at all Wild Birds Unlimited stores helped fund this and all Pathways to Nature projects across the country.  We hope you can visit one or more of these wildlife viewing sites that your WBU purchases helped build!

   

There's Gold in these Hills...Goldfinches, that is!

Goldfinch activity at the feeders has been very heavy.  My goldfinches seem to especially like the sunflower chips (hulled sunflower seed) I have in two feeders in back of the house.

There are also 2 finch feeders that I serve WBU Finch Blend in (niger seed with very fine sunflower chips).

Other birds are busy with breeding activities at the nest, so the goldfinches' constant presence is especially conspicuous.  I wake up every morning to a backyard full of goldfinch song and their characteristic "sweeeet" calls.

Goldfinches are late breeders and will begin nest-building and breeding activities in July.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy these yellow beauties at the feeder.

Birds are Busy at the Eliminator Squirrel-Proof Feeder

I sat down to take a few pictures of birds at our Eliminator feeder and had this great avian show of color in a span of about five minutes.

 

The Eliminator feeder is part of our woodland Advanced Pole System® set-up at home.  Like a lot of folks in the area, we have large trees very close to our home and this set-up lets us feed the birds near these trees using squirrel proof feeders and seed that squirrels don't care for (safflower).

The WBU Eliminator closes under the weight of a squirrel and we've found it to be effective with all sizes of squirrels as well as chipmunks.  Here's a red squirrel that tried every single seed port and came up empty!

It can even be set to close under the weight of larger birds such as crows and grackles.  I believe it is - by far - the most effective squirrel-proof feeder out there.  And the birds love it!

Spring Migration Recap

Its the middle of June and spring migration is over.  I thought it would be a good time to summarize my observations, the comings and goings that marked the spring migration of birds, at least in my yard.

Fox Sparrow 4/12/07

Common Grackle            Returned 3/24 (21 days EARLIER than '06)
Song Sparrow                 3/25
Red winged Blackbird      3/26 (19 days EARLIER)
Fox Sparrow                   4/5 Observed for 15 days before moving on
Brown headed Cowbird    4/10 (4 days LATER)
American Tree Sparrow   4/20 last seen
Yellow bellied Sapsucker  4/21 (12 days LATER) 
Chipping Sparrow            4/22 (6 days LATER)
Tree Swallow                   4/23 (7 days LATER)
White throated Sparrow   4/23 (8 days LATER) Observed for 17 days
Evening Grosbeak            4/27
Yellow rumped Warbler     4/30 (3 days LATER)
Eastern Phoebe                5/2 (20 days LATER)
RTHummingbird - male     5/6 (3 days EARLIER)
Rose breasted Grosbeak    5/11 (1 day EARLIER)
Grey Catbird                     5/11
Indigo Bunting                   5/12
RTHummingbird - female   5/14
White crowned Sparrow      5/16  Observed 4 days

Rose breasted Grosbeak 5/15/07

Remember we had a late winter storm in mid-April that seemed to slow what had been an early migration year.  Also note the 11 day gap around those storms when no new migrants were noted.

Its fun to keep track of migration return dates and last seen dates (though last seen dates are harder to keep) and look at the differences from year to year.

How far did some of these birds come? 

Tree Swallows winter from the Gulf Coast southward to Panama.

The Yellow bellied Sapsucker migrates from the southeast quarter of the US to Panama and the West Indies.

Chipping Sparrows travel from Mexico, Central America and the southern tier of the US.

Ruby throated Hummingbirds winter in southern Mexico and Central America and south to Costa Rica.

Rose breasted Grosbeaks return from southern Mexico to northern South America and the Caribbean.

Indigo Buntings fly from southern Florida and central Mexico south through the Caribbean, central America and northern South America.

To get an appreciation of the distance these birds covered, here's a Google Earth map that shows northern South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico in relation to Saratoga Springs NY.   

A Little of Everything: Squirrels, Birds, and Plants

Being a mama squirrel is hard work! This pooped parent needed a break and took a 10 minute nap in a tree, away from those demanding kids.

A beautiful female Purple Finch enjoying safflower seed from a new WBU Quick Clean Tube feeder.

These feeders make regular feeder cleaning quick and easy.

Hardy Geraniums are in full bloom.  I love these perennials and don't mind when they volunteer in the middle of the yard!

A male hummingbird at the window feeder.

 

Gotta go!

Digiscoping the Night Sky

Inspired by a post on the Beginning to Bird blog, one evening late last month I pointed my digiscope skyward.  Not at the birds, for it was almost 9:00 at night.  I pointed it at the moon which was about 4 nights from being full.

I was out again the next night, and the night after that.

My thanks to the author of Beginning to Bird for the inspiration and a lesson in Attention.

One Way to Beat the Squirrels

The red squirrels and grey squirrels are out in force.  Nursing squirrel moms are particularly active and looking for ways to access the feeders.

Here's a very big nursing female grey squirrel trying to access the peanuts, seed cylinder, and suet hanging above the baffle.

This is the Wild Birds Unlimited Advanced Pole System(R) (APS) at work.  Grey squirrels can jump 8-10' horizontally and 4-5' vertically.  Place the pole system 8-10' from squirrel jumping-off points (trees, roofs, wires, cars, bushes, well heads - just about anything that will give them an advantage!) and the top of the baffle 4-5' high and you will successfully keep squirrels off your feeders.  Make sure no feeder dangles lower than the top of the baffle or else squirrels will use them to access the whole set-up.

Here's a nursing red squirrel - smaller but feistier than the grey.

Baffles place a physical barrier between squirrels and your feeders.  In future posts, I'll cover various squirrel-proof feeders and seed that squirrels don't care for.

Download our Handling Pesky Squirrels  brochure (a 748K pdf file) or visit WBU's Squirrel Free Birdfeeding website page.

Rain Covered Blooms and Birds

It rained on and off all day today but I still tried to get out between the raindrops to photograph more first blooms.  Here are our first irises.

An early Rose Rugosa bloom,

and one waiting for its own day to bloom.

Candytuft flowers.

The rain and cooler temps kept the birds busy at the feeders.  Here a soggy-looking female Downy Woodpecker gets a mouthful of suet, perhaps to take back to the nest.

Raindrops bead on the back of a Mourning Dove...

and on the back of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  A bit out of focus, but notice the raindrops on his back.

In contrast, the Blue Jays looked soaked to the core during the rains.

 

No crests in sight on this rainy rainy day.