The Zen Birdfeeder

Feeder Birds and Some Cool Links

The goldfinches have been busy lately, and seem to especially appreciate my relocation of the sunflower chips feeder to the backyard and the addition of a second feeder filled with chips. They like sunflower chips as well as, and at times, better than niger seed.

The suet sandwich feeder is a regular stop for Mr. Hairy.  The Red Squirrels are able to eat the very edges of the suet, but woodpeckers and nuthatches are able to dig in further to extract suet from deeper in the feeder.  During the winter, the Brown Creeper feeds only from this feeder.

Brown Creeper Jan 2007

The next picture shows the hairy looking up in response to another male hairy.  He flew off shortly after, calling after the intruder.  I've been hearing at least one of these altercations daily between male Hairy Woodpeckers.

Check out a nice birdbath photo on the Stokes blog with a zen-like message of birdbath RESPONSIBILITY.

And to close, check out some links to way cool pictures of Red-winged Blackbirds on the back of a Red-tailed Hawk posted on the Birdchick blog.

Late May Blooms at Home

Today, our first blue flax blooms appeared.  I just love these plants.  The flowers last only one day, but the next day, an abundance of new flowers appear.  It prefers dry, full sun areas in light sandy soil - perfect for my yard.  Factoid: Blue Flax was discovered by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the late 1700's.

Down in the wooded, shady back of the property, I found the starflower and Canada Mayflower.

While trying to identify these two wildflowers, I found a great site on wildflower identification.  It was right on, and forces you to really pay attention to the small details of the plant.  Check it out - it's a new favorite of mine!

Wilton Wildlife Flora

May means Red Trillium is in bloom.

 

Wild Violet, considered a weed in some circles.

Fringed Polygala.  Is it poly-gay-la or polyg-ala??

Even fungi are beautiful!

Sapsuckers, Indigos, and More

I had a great 10 minutes of birding first thing this morning, when I was just strung along from one bird behavior to another.

I stepped outside to try to find my resident warbler that I think is a Yellow-rumped but continues to be heard much more than seen.  Or that maybe I'd see that singing phoebe too.

Movement in a tree in the corner of the yard turned out to be a female Indigo Bunting.  We are all enamored with the brilliant blue of the male, who is easy to see and quite show-offish as well.  The female in contrast is secretive, drab, and not an exhibitionist like the male.  They don't necessarily hang around together either to help you locate the female.  Resist temptation to only search out the male Indigo, for the brownish female is beautiful too!

I go inside to get my camera, but she is gone by the time I return.  But I wasn't disappointed.  In the same tree, she had been replaced by a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

The sapsucker loves our mountain ash trees.  Soon after drilling sap wells, these trees drip liberally with sap.  At times they look as if they've been sprayed with a hose with the wetness of the running sap.  Here's a close up of some sap wells I took in 2005.

When the sapsucker flew off to the side of the house, I followed, didn't find him again but heard the incessant begging chatter that had to be a young bird.  Sure enough, a fledgling Purple Finch sat on a branch, chattering non-stop.  A male approached, the young bird opened its mouth and quivered its wings, and I was lucky enough to observe the priceless scene of adult feeding young.

Meanwhile, two male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds fought each other in the trees, one taking small u-shaped dips at the other.

A female White-breasted Nuthatch approached to feed, but I was a little too close for her comfort.

What a great burst of activity to start out my day.

And as I write this, as if to prove a point, Mr. Indigo boldly helps himself to some WBU Supreme Blend from my hopper feeder tray.  What a show-off!

Crown Point Birding

While at the Crown Point Bird Conservation Area to observe the bird banding, we also enjoyed the great birding opportunities there.  You didn't have to hike far to see and hear many many birds.

Nesting Tree Swallow

Over 180 bird species have been observed at the Crown Point BCA. Many of these are spring migrants, with 47 species of Neotropical migratory songbirds and 18 species of forest dwelling Neotropical migrants having been observed in spring.

Baltimore Oriole in treetops

We saw or heard 51 bird species during our day at Crown Point, including 3 new birds for me: Warbling Vireo, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, and the Lincolns Sparrow.

Watching a parade of Double crested Cormorants fly past on Bulwagga Bay.

So Long, White Crowned Sparrow

We bid goodbye to the White Crowned Sparrow, who we enjoyed seeing at the feeders, albeit for a brief period of time.

First seen here on May 16th and last seen May 20th or so.  Just a 4 day visit; what a great example of the need to pay attention to the changing landscape of birds visiting our feeders.

White Crowned Sparrows are migrants through New York - they breed in the far north.  Visit Cornell's All About Birds to learn more about this migrant.  Be sure to check out the range map to see just how far they still had to go after leaving upstate New York.

Hopefully we'll see them again in September/October on their way back south.

Crown Point Bird Banding

Today we visited the bird banding station at the Crown Point Bird Conservation Area on Lake Champlain, New York.  The Bird Conservation Area is part of the Crown Point State Historic Site in Essex County and is located at the tip of Crown Point peninsula. Jutting northward into Lake Champlain and bordered on the west by Bulwagga Bay, the peninsula serves as a natural migrant trap, especially in spring.

We watched Master Bander Mike Peterson remove a House Wren from the mist nets.

 

Our friend Mona Bearor of the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society was able to hold and release a female Nashville Warbler.

We watched the banding, sexing, and measuring of a Lincoln's Sparrow.

   

Banders Mike Peterson and Gordon Howard operate the Crown Point Banding Station, which has been in operation since 1976. 

In those 32 years, they have banded 13,422 birds of 97 different species.  In 2006, they banded 870 birds of 63 different species, including 22 warbler species.  So far this year, they have banded 61 species, including 20 warbler species. The most common bird so far has been the Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  Most of the birds they net are on their spring migration to the boreal forests of Canada.

To find out more about the Crown Point Banding Station, listen to a 22 minute radio documentary called "Ring 'em and Fling 'em" that was aired on WRPI-Troy.  Or watch this 2 1/2 minute video that shows Mike removing a bird from a mist net (scroll to bottom, "How Birds are Banded" > Play Video).

The Crown Point banding station is open from dawn to dusk daily and closes Memorial Day.  It is a great activity for the family and for school or youth groups.  If you can't make it up there for the 2007 season, calendar it for a 2008 visit.

Our thanks to Mike and Gordon for being such great hosts and for the work they do to protect and understand birds. 

One Hour, One Window 5-18-07

This is my 2nd edition of "One Hour, One Window", a recap of the birds I observed within just a One Hour period of time through One Window (alright, one side) of the house.

Another great One Hour report, 22 species in all, including one very large, special visitor:

• Mourning Dove
• Blue Jay
• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (lots!)
• Gray Catbird
• Downy Woodpecker
• Black Capped Chickadee
• Purple Finch
• American Goldfinch
• Dark-eyed Junco
• White Crowned Sparrow
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• Ruby Throated Hummingbird
• Chipping Sparrow
• Canada Goose (overhead)
• Hairy Woodpecker
• American Crow (overhead)
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Tufted Titmouse
• Yellow-rumped Warbler (heard)
• American Robin
• Red Winged Blackbird

And our special guest, a Northern Goshawk!

The goshawk showed up on the power pole twice within a 10 minute period of time.  Couldn't get the digiscope set up in time though.  This is one big bird!  Find out more at WBU's rightbird Online Field Guide.

Share your "One Hour, One Window" observations anytime on The Zen Birdfeeder!

A Day Filled with Song

Lots of singing going on today.  Robins typically sing more for us here first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon, but today I had a robin kickin' his head back and belting away midday.

Had a couple visits from the Gray Catbird today.  When he sang, the feathers on his neck would ruffle, though I couldn't seem to catch that in any photos.  Just singing today, didn't hear his cat-call.  He didn't visit the feeders, though we have had catbirds eat WBU Fruit Cakes Dough in the past. 

There are lots of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks around.  Since the breast pattern of the males varies from bird to bird, I'm trying to sketch them out so I know just how many individual males we have. This is going to take awhile so I'll have a follow-up post on that later.  Here's a couple of the guys.

They were singing away today too - their song has been described as a robin with singing lessons.

Red isn't the Only Color that Attracts Hummingbirds

At Wild Birds Unlimited, we sell lots of red hummingbird feeders, but we also offer purple and amber colored feeders.  We are often asked if hummingbirds will really use a feeder that isn't red.  Of course they will!  And here's a couple good looks at hummers visiting our purple WBU Small Decorative Hummingbird Feeder.