The Zen Birdfeeder

Zen Nature Lessons

This monthly feature highlights 3 blog posts from the last month that exemplify the Zen nature lessons of Attention, Acceptance, and Responsibility. I encourage you to take a moment to enjoy these thoughtful posts.

Attention
Aunt B's Backyard is a new blog for me - beautiful photography and wonderful things going on in her backyard. "Take the Time to Observe the Beauty that Surrounds You" is a great zen lesson in attention. She wraps it up perfectly: "Such beauty there is to behold in this world!"

Acceptance
The Zen acceptance lesson this month is not a blog post but rather a poem.  It was sent to the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Germantown, Maryland by one their customers and was written by a customer's son who is in first grade.  To me it demonstrates his understanding of nature and love of living things, all at a very young age. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Responsibility
The debate about drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge seems to never go away. DC Birding Blog discusses the issue in "Small Savings for a Big Loss". I was particularly taken with the US Fish & Wildlife map showing how widely the birds that nest in ANWR travel. Check out the post and make sure to enlarge and check out the map.

Namaste

Wordless Wednesday

Aftermath (taken March 30th)

Sharpie Session #3

It must've been the distress call that made me look. My window sound monitor had been on all day, I had my head down at the computer, but something made me look up.  What I saw was a fascinating part of nature, though I have to admit my heart went out for the poor little tuftie.

I didn't see the strike.  It occurred not more than six feet from a feeding station.  There were no feathers settling to the ground from an airborne hit.  What I saw was just nature in action: a bird-eating hawk dispatching its prey, a Tufted Titmouse.

Over the past few days, I've told the stories of recent Sharp-shinned Hawk visits to my yard, providing interesting information from the "Essential Field Guide Companion" by Pete Dunne.  Here is more information from that source, this time about the sharp-shinned hunting habits:

• Most seed-eating birds fall within their prey range
• Sharp-shinned is most partial to smaller species (chickadees and sparrows).  This partiality is not absolute.
• Kills prey by constriction (that is, does not use its bill)
• Plucks prey before eating, usually on the ground where the kill was made and less commonly from a stump or elevated perch

This might have been the hawk's second kill recently near the same feeder - earlier on this same day, I had found a small tuft of relatively recent "disconnected" feathers while filling the feeders.

The hawk is pictured in a position called "mantling".  Once the prey is subdued, a predator bird may assume a position of spreading its wings out and over the prey to shield it from theft by other birds.  This sharpie had good reason to mantle its victim.

It seemed like it took a long time for him to kill the titmouse, though in looking at the camera times, it was over in less than 20 seconds.  It was the distress calls and struggling of the little bird that made it seem like an eternity.

Finally, the struggling stopped. The cries stopped. The hawk looked as if it had won a wrestling match with a pin, both shoulders to the mat.
   

But the story didn't end there.  No longer in a mantling position, the prey started looking real good to another, larger predator.  A huge form entered the scene - a Barred Owl seeking an easy meal!  At first I thought it was a large hawk (we have had goshawks in the yard), but then the large eyes and rounded head became evident - the owl I had seen in late February was paying another call.

It all happened so fast. The owl approached, the sharp-shinned took off, the owl turned, then both were gone. I don't know how the story ended other than the fact that some bird of prey had been fed.

I had to force myself to remember that it was all a part of nature and that predators take the slower, the sick, the less experienced.  The fittest, fastest, and healthiest survive, enabling the best birds of a species to live and carry on.

Zen Nature Lessons

This monthly feature highlights 3 blog posts from the last month that exemplify the Zen nature lessons of Attention, Acceptance, and Responsibility. I encourage you to take a moment to enjoy these thoughtful posts.

Attention

The Owl Box blog is a new blog for me. The post called "Birding on the bolt" features the birds seen while just driving around.  Also check out "The Land of Ice and Snow" on The Feather and the Flower as he takes the road less travelled to work and sees birds he would ordinarily miss.
How about coining a new acronym: BWDA - "Birding While Driving Around"?

Acceptance

There are lessons to be learned for young and old alike when hawks visit our yard.  Read "I Will Survive" (another post from The Feather and the Flower) as an ornithologist and his 4-year old daughter witness both unsuccessful and successful hawk strikes at their feeders.      

Responsibility

Every Friday, A DC Birding Blog features a post entitled "Loose Feathers" that provides links to Bird News from around the world and to news about Climate change and the environment.  To care for birds, we must care for the environment in which they live.  Stay current by checking out Loose Feathers on a weekly basis.
      

  Namaste

Bidding Adieu to the Pine Grosbeak

A single Pine Grosbeak returned to my feeders last Thursday.  It had been absent since the end of January and returned to my feeders, perhaps for the last time, on a beautiful sunny day.

The Pine Grosbeak came our way courtesy of the Winter Finch Irruption of 2007-08, showing up in New York in numbers that are seldom seen.  The entire northern tier of states was visited by this bird, allowing many birders and birdfeeders, including me, to see this boreal bird for the first time.

View this graph from the ebird site that shows just how many more Pine Grosbeaks were reported this winter than in the previous 4 winters.

Pine Grosbeaks reported during last weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count were significant - way more than any GBBCs this decade.  Click "Multi-year animation" on this GBBC map to see Pine Grosbeak reports from 2000-2007 to compare to this year's map above.

And data maps in Project FeederWatch show many Pine Grosbeak reports in the US, while very few were reported over the last 19 PFW seasons.

 

The ebird graph indicates that Pine Grosbeak frequency and abundance peaked in December and has been dropping off since. It also seems to point to a departure in March. So I'll get in a last post featuring this calm and approachable bird, a 2008 life bird and yard bird for me, just in case the visit on Thursday was the last.  Safe journey back to the boreal. 

Practicin' Up for The Great Backyard Bird Count

Except for redpolls, woodpeckers, and the mixed winter flock of chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches, feeder activity is overall slower the last few weeks or so. 
My Project Feeder Watch days were Monday and Tuesday - here's what I'll report to Cornell:

Common Redpolls  100
Black capped Chickadees  10
Dark-eyed Junco  3
Downy Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
Blue Jay  2
Red breasted Nuthatch  1
White breasted Nuthatch  1

9 Species
124 Individuals

Missing in Action: Evening Grosbeaks, the Pine Grosbeak, even Mourning Doves.  Earlier this count season, I had reported up to 30 Evening Grosbeaks, 24 Blue Jays, and 19 doves - quite a change. 

Birds move around in winter to find reliable sources of food.  I'm sure my weeklong absences (and empty feeders) in mid-January and again earlier this month gave the birds good reason to move on.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy the visitors I do have in the true spirit of Zen Acceptance.

REMINDER:  The Great Backyard Bird Count starts Friday! 

Until then, test your Zen Attention with “Eagle Eyes”, Cornell's new, interactive game!  When you’ve finished, be sure to send it on to friends, especially if they have young people at home.

To enter your bird count checklists, go to http://www.birdcount.org and click on the big “Enter your Checklists” button at the top of the page.

You can send your photos to the GBBC website from February 15 through March 1, 2008. A select number of photos will be posted during GBBC weekend.

Check out the GBBC blog at http://www.birdcount.org/blog, run by Audubon’s Senior Scientist, Rob Fergus, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Science Editor, Laura Erickson.

Wild Birds Unlimited is a proud sponsor of this citizen science project. 

If you live in the Saratoga Springs NY area, and your kids age 16 or younger participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, bring them in before the end of February with proof of their participation and they'll receive a free sample bag of WBU birdseed.  Sorry, this fun offer is made by Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs ONLY and will not be available in other Wild Birds Unlimited stores.   

THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT - Count for Fun, Count for the Future!

Rediscovering that "Your Yard Rocks!"

I am personally going through a lesson in Zen attention and acceptance lately.  I was out of town for 6 days recently and returned last Tuesday to empty birdfeeders and a paucity of birds.  The regulars are returning but activity is still a little slower than it had been prior to my trip.

The flocks of Evening Grosbeaks that had been regularly visiting are gone.  My feeders that had become a good, reliable source of food had "gone dry" and they moved on.  Didn't even leave a note.  So I've been lackadaisical at best about posting lately.

So it was time to just stop, pay attention, and accept and be grateful for what is still going on at my feeders and in my yard:

Every morning, I put on my glasses and view Common Redpolls on the feeders off my balcony railing.  Every day over the last week, I have had redpolls at my feeders, in numbers from 4 to up to 50. I get to scour those flocks for signs of a Hoary Redpoll.  No luck yet, but it makes me pay closer attention.

I am still getting a daily visit from a single Pine Grosbeak.  This is one very special visitor from the far north, new to my yard list last year, courtesy of the 2007-08 Winter Finch Irruption.

The winter flock of Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, and Tufted Titmice is large and boisterous.  The birds that make up this "regular" group are cheerful and always around to brighten any day.

Woodpecker activity is strong, especially late in the day.  Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are regulars at my suet feeders and seed cylinder feeder.  The hairies alert me to their arrival with their loud PEEK call, summoning me to my window in advance of their landing.  I have 3 hairies and 3 downys regularly enjoying my offerings.

The downy I've named "Sweetie" continues to bring a smile to my face as I've seen her poking her head out of her adopted roosting place.  I've been able to see her emerge from the box on two cold mornings and head straight to the suet.  And I've seen her tucking in for the night, or maybe just ducking inside to warm up for awhile.

   

A Sharp-shinned Hawk visits regularly. Just yesterday, one was proudly perched on top of my Advanced Pole System.  What a sight!  I missed that photo-op but here's one perched in my plum tree that is only 10 feet from my front window.

Common Ravens regularly fly in an east-west flight pattern in the skies right out my window.  In the late afternoon, I've seen them come in to roost in the tall pines south of my house.

Many "common" birds and a few special visitors have graced my yard in the days since my return.  I have no reason to be in the doldrums or to succumb to the "Mundania Monster", as Lana of The Dreaming Tree called it.

In fact, just recently I had one of the absolutely BEST compliments when the Birdfreak Team told me, "Your yard rocks!"  WOW!!!!!

Thanks to the Birdfreak Team for reawakening me to the fact that my yard really does rock!  It doesn't have to be filled 24x7 with large flocks of winter finches or uncommon migrants or great woodland birds. I have chickadees and titmice and downys and hawks....every single day!  Jays and doves, juncos, finches, and nuthatches, all no more than 20 feet away and just right outside my window!

That's why I love to share the passion of feeding the birds.  Anyone can put out feeders to have the opportunity to see these treasures daily in the little bit of nature around their home.

ps: Thanks to Lana and the Birdfreak Team for helping out a fellow blogger!

Project FeederWatch JayDay

Last Wednesday/Thursday PFW count days were all about the jays.  I spoil them with lots of WBU Supreme Blend (black oil sunflower, striped sunflower, sunflower chips, safflower) but also with lots of peanuts (shelled and in-the-shell) and occasionally, tree nuts.  Sure, they dominate the feeder but they also alert the winter flock (and me) to incoming predators.  And they're gorgeous to look at - so much blue on a bleak winter day.

HIGHLIGHTS:  Two dozen jays, 15 doves and a baker's dozen chickadees.  Two winter finch visitors this count, a single Evening Grosbeak and a single Common Redpoll.

Here's what I'll report to PFW:
Blue Jay  24
Mourning Dove  15
Black capped Chickadee  13
Dark-eyed Junco  6
Tufted Titmice  4
Hairy Woodpecker   3
Downy Woodpecker   2
White breasted Nuthatch   2
Red breasted Nuthatch   1
Common Redpoll   1
Evening Grosbeak   1

Zen Nature Lessons

This monthly feature highlights 3 blog posts from the previous month that exemplify the Zen nature lessons of Attention, Acceptance, and Responsibility. I encourage you to take a moment to enjoy them.

Attention

The Brownstone Birder shares how he has learned to pay more attention to notice drab-colored birds in his post "Watch out for Dirty Birds".

Acceptance

They're not cute. They're not called magnificent. But we must accept the Turkey Vulture for what it is - an interesting and beneficial bird with its own strengths.  Read Tails of Birding's post "Turkey Vultures - Avian Victims of Prejudice." 

Responsibility

Monarch reviews Richard Louv's book, "Last Child in the Woods - Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder."  (Coincidently, this book is currently on my nightstand as well.)  Monarch calls upon parents to take responsibility and try "kicking your children outside for a few hours instead of allowing them to continue playing on those computer games."  Read his review, then read the book.   

Namaste

Zen Nature Lessons

This monthly feature highlights 3 blog posts from the last month that exemplify the Zen nature lessons of Attention, Acceptance, and Responsibility. I encourage you to take a moment to enjoy them.

Attention

Even on a damp, overcast day, you can find striking colors in nature.  The DC Birding Blog found "Blue".

Acceptance

Laura of Somewhere in NJ speaks poetically of the changing of seasons in her post "Night Sounds".  Beautifully written! 

Responsibility

Fragments from Floyd reminds us of the benefits of getting kids out in nature.  In the post "The Gift of a Green Hour", the National Wildlife Federation Green Hour program is highlighted and we're encouraged to utilize the resources NWF provides to help reduce the consequences of “nature deficit disorder” in our kids. 
Namaste