The Zen Birdfeeder

(Hard to remain) Wordless Wednesday

GGGGRRRRRR.......

Wordless Wednesday #1

See more funny pictures at icanhazcheeseburger.com

Wordless Wednesday

Guess who's lining her nest with alpaca wool?

Image captured by Wingscapes Birdcam

Birds by the Numbers

Actually, SQUIRRELS AND CHIPMUNKS by the Numbers

GRAY SQUIRRELS

16-20    inches in length

24    ounces in weight - that's 1 ½ pounds

2    litters each year (spring and late summer)

2-3    young in each litter

5    age to which a Gray Squirrel can live



RED SQUIRRELS

12    inches in length

5-1/2     ounces in weight

2    litters each year (spring and late summer)

3-7    young in each litter

10-12    age to which a Red Squirrel can live

EASTERN CHIPMUNKS

5-6    inches in length

3     ounces in weight

2    litters each year (spring and late summer)

2-5   young in each litter

3    age to which an Eastern Chipmunk can live

Do you love numbers as much as you do nature? 
Read all "Birds by the Numbers" posts!

Squirrel Obstacle Course

I've had this in my files for a long time now but thought you'd enjoy this video of those darned (or whichever adjective you'd prefer) squirrels.  It'll crack you up and confirm what we already know about these persistent creatures!

Playing Catch Up....Again

I know, I know, my posting has been sporadic at best.  And when I've posted, I haven't shared much about the birds in my yard.  December was busy with the store and all and that just morphed into January and before I knew it, it's February for gosh sakes!

Anyway, I did take some pictures during that time so I'll use those to help me recall what has been going on in my yard for the last two months.

Back on December 19th, something possessed me to shine a flashlight on the feeders on the west side of the house and I found a flying squirrel eating from my safflower cylinder.  I tried to take some pictures holding the flashlight between my legs, trying to aim it at the squirrel, and taking pictures.  Yeah, right.  I lucked out when I saw him again, coincidentally exactly 1 month later on January 19th.  This time I just used the flash.  It didn't concern him at all - he just sat there and devoured safflower seed for about 10 minutes before I finally shooed him off.
 

We had some wicked snow events in December that really increased the bird activity.  Jays have been coming in large numbers, feeding heavily through the snow, devouring seed pretty quickly.

On Christmas Day, had a Red-winged Blackbird visit the yard.  This guy's probably an immature male, with it's streaking.  Notice the pale yellow wing covert and characteristic pointy bill.  An unusual winter visitor!

On Christmas day, I made pinecone birdseed ornaments for the birds (here's a link to recipes.)

It took a little while for the birds to find them but I eventually had chickadees enjoying the seed and peanut butter treat.

Even though I have a heated birdbath, I still have chickadees getting water in odd places.  Like drinking the drips off the roof...

...or from icicles.

I find it amazing that they can hold on!

When the snow really hits, juncos come off the ground and out of the bushes to eat from food sources they typically don't frequent, like this seed cylinder.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk has been around more frequently.  Found him on December 31st "monitoring" one of my feeding stations, sitting right on the crook arm.  (Sorry, image quality is poor).

He then flew into a nearby tree and stood sentry for more than 15 minutes.

This chickadee felt pretty safe amongst the dense branches of a nearby tree.

That's the sharpie in the background!

As I've already posted, January 1 brought a new yard bird, the Red-bellied Woodpecker.  She visited for two days, but I haven't seen her since we returned from Atlanta to empty feeders.  On the day we saw the red-bellied, we also had SIX Hairy Woodpeckers in the yard.  We've never had that many at one time!

Saw Mr. Sharpie again on January 3rd.

This Red Squirrel saw his shadow back on January 5th but I told him he was a month early.  No shadows were seen today!!

Purple Finches nest here but have become a less frequent winter visitor over the years.  We have had an isolated 1 or 2 visit the feeders this winter, including this handsome group that visited January 6th.

I had a tail-less chickadee at the feeders last fall and now have one again.  I wonder if it's the same guy??

The snow has been accumulating rapidly this winter and with at least 2 more months (and sometimes even into April!) of winter, I'm not sure what we're going to do with more snow.  Up here in the foothills of the Adirondacks, we've had nearly 80 inches so far.  Here's a couple views of the snow taken from the front deck.

I'm glad to be back writing about what's going on around here.  I promise to be better now that things have settled down a little.

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day

I interrupt my scheduled catch-up post to notify you that today, January 21, is SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY.

No, this is not a joke.  For more information including suggested activities to help mark the day, read today's post on the Huffington Post.

Today, how about we not yell and curse at the squirrels that torment us, and maybe even put out a little bird seed on the ground for our furry friends to help them enjoy on their special day.  There's even an ecard to send to your friends to mark the day.

Let me know how YOU will celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day!

Wordless Wednesday

Catching up: Birds in the Yard

I haven't posted much lately about the birds in my yard so I'm catching up with a recap of the past couple weeks.  Project FeederWatch Week Three had a little slower activity but lots and lots of chickadees (17 of them!)

 
Black capped Chickadee on Heated Birdbath

They come in waves, along with titmice and nuthatches making up their large winter flock.  Mr. Cardinal is still around as well as lots of Dark-eyed Juncos.

 
Dark eyed Junco

Week Three Totals
Blue Jay  9
American Goldfinch  4
Mourning Dove  8
Black capped Chickadee  17
Red breasted Nuthatch  1
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Dark-eyed Junco  14
Northern Cardinal  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
White breasted Nuthatch

11 Species
61 Individuals

Thanksgiving morning began with a Sharp-shinned Hawk stalking the yard, looking for an early meal.  Forgive me for the poor quality of the picture - I came downstairs, saw the hawk, picked up the camera and just started shooting.  Before I could adjust the settings, it had moved on.

 
Sharp-shinned Hawk

In late October, I wrote about the absence of squirrels in my yard.  Since then, 3 Red Squirrels have been around fairly regularly (a smaller number than usual) and Grey Squirrels remain absent altogether.

 
Red Squirrel

Our first American Tree Sparrow of the season visited the feeders on November 29.  This was pretty late; last year, tree sparrows returned in mid-October.  I always hope to witness the overlap of the American Tree Sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow - not a chance this year!!  This little guy had a very distinct center breast spot, which serves as a good identifying characteristic of the American Tree Sparrow.

 
American Tree Sparrow on WBU Catch-a-Seed Feeder Tray

Project FeederWatch Week Four was again marked by heavy (double digit) counts of chickadees, jays, and doves.  The tree sparrow seen just 2 days earlier did not show up on count days, but we did have a Ruffed Grouse walk through the corner of the yard!

 
Ruffed Grouse

Week Four Totals
Downy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  10
Black capped Chickadee  18
Mourning Dove  12
Tufted Titmouse  3
Dark-eyed Junco  9
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Cardinal  1
American Crow  1
Red breasted Nuthatch  1
White breasted Nuthatch  1
American Goldfinch  5
Ruffed Grouse  1

13 Species
64 Individuals

We have been hearing lots of reports of Pine Siskins in the area and thought we had a large flock move through about a week ago, but couldn't confirm it.  Then 2 siskins were seen hanging around with the goldfinches on December 5th. 

 
American Goldfinch flanked by Pine Siskins

It's easy to see a group of goldfinches and miss the siskins amongst them.  Stop to look for any streaked, pointy-billed birds, feeding or flocking right along with the goldfinches and you may find that you have Pine Siskins in your yard too!  Read more about Pine Siskins on WBU's rightbird online field guide.

Although my heated birdbath is a busy place all winter long, it is mostly visited by birds using it to drink.  But the other day, I saw a Blue Jay take a full-fledged, bone-soaking bath.  Here's a couple pix of the tidy bird.

 
 

The Hairy Woodpecker below was "frozen" on a tree for minutes on end.  I had heard the jays' alert calls, so I assume a hawk could've been passing through. I never saw the hawk, but whenever you see birds "frozen", or staying perfectly still for a long time (many minutes), look around to see if a hawk is near.  The birds I see exhibiting this behavior most frequently are woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and titmice.  In my experience, jays and doves just skidaddle.

 
Hairy Woodpecker

In closing, I may be posting a little less between now and Christmas as I spend more time at my Wild Birds Unlimited store in Saratoga Springs NY.  If you're ever in the area, stop by to see us!  Just like reader/commenter Ellen (LNMP) who stopped by and introduced herself on her return trip from checking out the Snowy Owls in Fort Edward.  Thanks Ellen and nice to meet ya!

 
 

Wordless Wednesday

 
It's also "Chipmunkless Wednesday"!

Seems they've finally hibernated here.  Have yours?