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Tuesday's snowstorm brought us a foot of new snow. The feeders were covered but the birds were active as it snowed throughout the day on Wednesday.
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco
Common Redpoll (carrying around a few extra ounces?)
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Feeding the birds carries with it the responsibility to also care for the environment in which birds live. An expanded Bottle Bill for New York state is my #1 hot button environmental issue for this (and past) NY legislative sessions.
I'm tired of seeing used water, juice, and tea bottles filling trash cans around our communities. It troubles me even more when I see them littering our sidewalks, gutters, and parks. I don't notice it occuring much at all with soft drink cans and bottles that carry a deposit. That's because New York's existing Bottle Bill WORKS!
Our current Bottle Bill became law in 1982, long before bottled water and iced tea became so popular. Now tea, juice and water containers are showing up everywhere. It's time to update the NY Bottle Bill to match our drinking habits. Read what's at stake.
Bigger Better Bottle Bill (A. 8044/S. 5856 & S. 3434): This bill would amend New York’s Environmental Conservation Law § 27-1003(1) and the State Finance Law to expand and update the definition of "beverage" in the State Returnable Container Act (the bottle bill) to include non-carbonated drinks other than milk and liquor, and to direct the unclaimed deposit money derived from that program to the Environmental Protection Fund.
Year after year, as state lawmakers fail to update our bottle deposit law and close New York's litter loophole, more than TWO BILLION bottles and cans end up in the trash or polluting our rivers, streams and neighborhoods.
It is time to update our successful recycling program with an expansion of the state's bottle deposit law. Now is the time to call on state lawmakers to include the Bottle Bill in New York's budget.
Governor Spitzer has been a vocal advocate for updating New York's bottle deposit law. He included it in his Executive Budget Proposal this year. Now it's time for our state lawmakers in the Senate and the Assembly to act.
Ask your lawmakers in Albany to support updating New York's bottle deposit law in this year's budget. Visit http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/BBBB_2008 to act now.
I've already responded to this Call to Action - I hope you'll consider joining me by contacting your legislators today with this easy-to-use form powered by Environmental Advocates of New York.
Don't live in New York state? Check out the Container Recyling Institute's site to read find out about Bottle Bills across the US.
Number of beverage cans and bottles that have been landfilled, littered and incinerated in the US so far this year:
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Had the Wingscapes BirdCam aimed at the heated birdbath one day last week. Not super busy, but here's what visited:
Grey Squirrel
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Tuftie coming in for a landing
Heated Birdbaths and Wingscapes BirdCams are available at many Wild Birds Unlimited stores.
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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. 
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Two WBU customers have recently reported the appearance of a Barred Owl near their homes. And then just this morning, we were lucky enough to have one just 20 feet from my back balcony.
These gorgeous birds are a joy to hear with their familiar "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" call. They will sometimes respond to imitations of their call, even poor ones!
But it's even more special to see a Barred Owl. Seeing them in town is not a rare occurence. Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior Vol III says that while little is known about this common bird, "a fairly common occurence...is to have one show up in a city park during winter. These are probably males that have temporarily left their territories due to lack of food and have come into the city to feed on small birds and rodents."
Wanda P. saw this owl just last weekend (and reported it to the Great Backyard Bird Count). "He flew from tree to tree in a circle and then came right back to the tree with the feeder."
Judimarie and Andy B. had this owl appear in their driveway! "Imagine my husband's surprise when he pulled into the driveway after a long day at work and found this Barred Owl waiting for him on the back of our pick up! We live in Luther Forest and this was a first owl sighting for us. He was intently watching our pine tree and didn't seem to notice that I was there trying to get a photo of him. From measuring the tail light on the truck, we estimated that he was 20-22 inches."
Barred Owls are usually most active between midnight and 4am but our customers saw these owls outside these hours. I saw this owl at 8 in the morning.
I had been exercising in my room when I noticed some movement in one of the large pine trees. A Grey Squirrel was working his way up the tree, and then I noticed the owl on the front side of the tree! He didn't seem interested in the squirrel (Barred Owls have relatively weak talons and prey on smaller rodents like mice and voles.) I got to enjoy his presence for about 5-8 minutes and when he flew off, I marvelled at his silent flight and huge 4-foot wingspan.
Barred Owl courtship behaviors have begun which include calling to each other. Listen for them in early evening or early morning when the moon is full and the air calm.
Read more about the Barred Owl on Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Online Field Guide.
Special thanks to WBU customers Wanda P. and Judimarie and Andy B. for sharing their Barred Owl stories and pictures!
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White-breasted Nuthatches, those cool little birds that can move DOWN trees, are feeling the need for spring - if ya' know what I mean.
When you see one in your yard, keep an eye out for a second one. The White-breasted Nuthatch begins active courtship in late winter, long before most of our other feeder birds. Nuthatch pairs remain together all year, but in February, their bond becomes even closer. They'll stay within 50 feet of each other and stay in constant touch with their calls.
To differentiate the male from the female, look for a subtle difference in their cap: the male's cap is black, while the female's is grey. Seeing them together is a great time to look for the difference; seen individually, it may be harder to notice the difference.
Female taken yesterday
Male taken last year
Nuthatches are the Wild Birds Unlimited Bird of the Month this month. Read Fun Facts about nuthatches on our website and read more about the White-breasted Nuthatch on WBU's rightbird Online Field Guide.
For all of you out there longing for the arrival of spring, our little friend the nuthatch let's us know it's not that far off.
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Hope you didn't miss the Total Lunar Eclipse last night!
After being partly cloudy all day, the skies cleared up nicely before the eclipse started at 8:43p EST. It was also COLD out there - only 11 degrees, which made the tripod frigid and the camera battery and photographer cranky.
Here's a link to NASA's sight about the eclipse.
Partial Eclipse digiscoped images:
8:48p
9:05p
9:26p
Total Eclipse began at 10:01p, just in time for me to watch the Project Runway Reunion Show. By the end of the show, the moon was beginning to be visible again.
What a great show in night sky!
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The Wingscapes BirdCam Blog recently featured us in their "BirdCam Week at The Zen Birdfeeder" post. Back in December, I highlighted just some of the many images and videos of birds taken with the motion-activated BirdCam. If you didn't get to check them out back then, here's the links:
Monday: Downy-ing the Suet
Tuesday: Eliminator Squirrel-Proof Feeder
Wednesday: Captured Critters
Thursday: Bathing Beauties and Odds & Ends
Friday: Avian Avideo
Here's a recent picture taken with the Wingscapes BirdCam
Check out the post on the Wingscapes BirdCam Blog. And many thanks to Bart and Melissa over at Wingscapes.
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